The first thing that went through my mind was danger. How does this thing know my birth name? What are these things in the first place? Are they an addition to my ascension or something else? Were they dangerous? Of course, my first response wasn't something as silly as exiting my Duranian and essentially running away. After all, the back who is facing the knife gets stabbed. It was better to make an upfront confrontation with situations such as these, gain as much information as possible, and then make your choice based on that. So after calming my fretting mind, I moved the piece of my soul that I controlled to stand next to the water well along with the other three.
Once I arrived, the hermit smiled with an unnatural "U" shape and said to me, "I'm so happy to see you after all this time Ikusho, and how you've grown. Let's see, I'd say that it's been around... 1000 years now. Though, to you, it must've been only 350 years since we first met. But, it seems as though you've forgotten me, I suppose being the Demon King for that long does put a weight on your mind. Let me see... ah yes, I always had a wooden staff I walked with, maybe that'll jog your memory."
The hermit suddenly snapped his fingers and a large wooden staff that was about a head taller than him appeared in his arms. The staff had an intrinsic design then, when staff made a full rotation, depicted the story of a carp jumping through Longmen, or more popularly known throughout the Mountain Region as the Dragon's Gate... the Dragon's Gate?
Suddenly flashes of images went through my mind. One of me on the peak of a mountain, sitting cross-legged as I watched the clouds move beneath me. One of me lying on the ground, snow filling every corner of my skin, dehydrated, and starving. And another of me kneeling next to a table and drinking tea, on the other side of the table was the hermit with the exact same cane he was wielding now. As these three pictures floated through my mind, my suspicion grew larger.
As of lately, I have had such a great memory that could even see back into my days as a toddler. This was a memory from when I was fifty. The odds of my forgetting something were unlikely, and the fact that I only remembered it after he mentioned it to me left a sour taste in my mouth. How did I know this man wasn't placing memories in my mind that weren't there before to get me off guard? Whatever this thing was, it seemed to have intelligence so that was a possibility.
The hermit suddenly gave a slight frown, "Hmm, how sad to see. You've come all this way, yet you still remain as skeptical and self-hating as ever... haa, If it's like that then so be it. I'm already here, so, despite my not agreeing with your ways, I'll continue. If it's what has been beckoned of me, then I must. And judging by our other two guests here, I'm guessing you've yet to merge your mind and heart... You must've had a hard time to have lived for this long, yet not reached tranquility. Or this is just the way for you, everyone has a different purpose after all. However, I do predict that eventually, the scales will tilt once again."
This hermit was confusing me now. He must have either a great way of reading others, or was maybe connected to me somehow, and could sense my suspicion. Other than that, I could tell whoever this was, he was very knowledgeable. He spoke as if he had everything figured out, yet at the same time, he knew nothing. The way he moved while speaking was hypnotic and his tone brought together the highs and lows into a semblance of harmony. But what was most conspicuous to me was that I had no way to read his thoughts based on the factors I would normally have to work with. He had to have great control of his body to do this, which told me he wasn't your everyday hermit.
I burrowed my eyebrows and asked him, "Who are you, or more realistically, what are you?"
His face turned neutral as he responded to my question, "According to how you think, you're more interested in the question, "What do you want from me?" Correct?... But, if you want to know so badly, I don't have any qualms with telling you. As you probably guessed already, I'm a result of your ascension into Stone Class. Now, I can't tell you why I'm here. But I can tell you that I'm from the Mountain Region, in case you already couldn't tell. Oh, I suppose I'm also a God, but, as I've given up the powers gained from that name, it's a hollow title at best. The best I can do is answer some basic questions for you. Of course, the answers I give may not be the ones you enjoy."
After he finished his sentence, he turned around and began walking back into the house he came from while saying to me, "I'll be living here from now on. If you ever have a question about something, and I mean anything, come and ask me. I may have a difficult answer for you, but you should know a different perspective is always helpful... Ikusho, you are too far down the path you've chosen to turn back now, so you must not falter in your dedication to it... but always remember, the world seeks balance. Where there are highs, there will be matching lows. You can either accept this, like I have, or go against it, as many have tried before. Either way, I will help you, because it is my obligation."
He opened the door of his house, entered the building, and shut the door behind him and his words echoed through the town square, "At least remember this. You are the epitome of unbalance. No matter who you are, unbalance will be the end of you. So find your balance within your unbalance, or you will never reach the goal you seek."
Like that, he was gone. I was still debating in my mind between the two ideas of a pauper or an actual God, but either way, he was him. And he... certainly had a character. What he said about balance did strike my curiosity somewhat, but right now, I had other things to focus on, primarily, the two copies of me standing next to the well. They were both eerily silent, so I chose to try and start some sort of conversation, "And who would you two be?"
They both looked at me in unison and through the masks of both of them, I heard a varying response. From the one in the joyful mask, "Logic." And from the one in the sorrowful mask, through a mix of tones and dialog patterns "Oh, you don't even know who I am? That upsets me greatly! I could smash this well into pieces! But then again, what about the poor pieces of stone that would fly into the town square? Or perhaps the shrapnel that would fall into my stomach... Oh, how frightening! Ah, but then again, it would be rude of me not to introduce myself, but then again-"
"They are Emotion."
"Oh, yes, that's right! We are Emotion, and don't forget the name! But... if you do forget... I wouldn't mind telling you again. It makes sense, I'm not too... rememberable after all..."
Huh, how weird. The hermit God thing from before did mention that my brain and heart were separated, so I assume this is what he meant. Is this a representation of the difference between reasoning and emotions? Or perhaps it's the wall that separates the two of them... Very interesting. Well, in all honesty, I wasn't too interested in forming my rationality and emotions back together. That would only revert me to an earlier self. That was something that already almost happened to me once in this world, I wouldn't let some self-proclaimed God force me into that position again. Emotions are only variables that get in the way of the power I seek. It wasn't worth even participating in them.
I looked at the two of them, and said to both of them, "Well, I hope you two can live in a separate house for as long as this Duranian stands. I have to go and explore the changes that were made to the island, so, I'll be off." As I said this, Logic gave me a simple wave goodbye, while Emotion gave me a sob-filled goodbye, "Why are you leaving?! Is it because you hate me!? Oh, he does hate me. Logic, what should I do?! I think I even hate myself now! What will I do?!"
Logic simply looked at Emotion and said in its forever monotone voice, "He will be here again. We are too interesting for him to not try to figure out, and too essential for him to ignore."
Emotion suddenly clapped in joy as he danced and sang, "Yes oh yes! The master will be back. Yes oh YES!! He will be back! He's not leaving, he's not leaving, he's not leaving, he will be back!"
The "song" slowly left the range of my ears as I approached the island. The island was something of interest to me, as it seemed a lot different than before, not on the surface though. The trees were all the same, the giant tree in the middle was as viny as ever, and the grass was still reminiscent of that found within the jungle. But as I landed at the foot of the giant tree, I noticed something strange. The tree around me began to grow taller and taller before overshadowing even the biggest tree. They grew human legs and slowly crawled towards me. Of course, I wouldn't just sit around and let this happen. I flew back into the air and once I was above the main tree, all of the trees shrunk back into the ground and went business as normal. As I stood in the air, contemplating what could have just happened, I felt the faintest of breathing on my neck.
This caused me to fly even farther away from the island, as I had no idea what was going on. But after thinking about it for a second, an idea formed in my mind. It was a fact that somehow my ascension caused living things to appear in my Duranian, so was it so strange for the island to become an organism as well? I did know that in the higher Classes, you gained the ability to put a living animal in your Duranian, so being able to create one from ascension wasn't too far-fetched, at least it made more sense than that hermit. If the island is gaining consciousness, then what were those trees doing before?
Suddenly the answer hit me: it must've been the Illusion Branch. I'm not sure why, but this island, or whatever it was becoming, had abilities pertaining to the Illusion Branch. This would be incredibly useful if I learned how to use it correctly. Ever since I heard of the Illusion Branch, I could only think of the practical uses it would have outside of battle. For example, what if you applied the idea of physics to your illusion and tried out a blue-print of a building before using the money to build it? As long as you had a good enough idea of the laws involving it, it could become a simulation for anything you wanted to test. As I looked at the island, along with figuring out those three ghosts and investigating those unknown gears in the sand pit, I decided that I would have to figure out how to use this island.
I would do it now, but this was only a preliminary check of the goods I got to get ideas flowing. I still had something more pressing to take care of. I needed to finish my ascension to Stone Class. My body and Duranian may have upgraded to the Stone Class expectation, but I was still missing an essential piece of the puzzle.
I needed to upgrade my Fruits.