The Hachi moutains, a mysterious forest which appeared out of thin air three hundred years ago, the resting place of the temple which housed the Celestial Prism within it. The temple was considered sacred after Lucious sealed the prism within it, it was not a place anyone not even the king of the Ronowa Empire himself was permitted to step upon.
Lucious was referred to as the EssenKing, the king of all essence. The difference between the King of the Ronowa Empire and the Essenking was that the king himself handled the political and social affairs of the kingdom while the Essenking only handled the affairs of Essence, anything regarding essence the Essenking was to be first notified.
The only reason why the king himself would be involved in the matters of essence is if it threatens the affairs of the kingdom. Overall the king had more authoritative figure than the Essenking, however there was no Essenking currently as the previous one passed away and they were yet to find a suitable individual for the job.
A gentle breeze blew through the large trees as the trio navigated through them. The more they ventured into the forest, the more the light that penetrated it reduced. It is said that plants requires a process known as photosynthesis to complete it's growth and two important things were required, sunlight and water.
But given the landscape and nature of the forest one couldn't help but wonder, how did this trees grow so tall? The absence of light became noticable and it became quite difficult to see.
"When traveling through a forest like this, the need for vision becomes void. Most creatures has mastered the art of stealth, patience and quick strike in order to hunt their prey. They can stay still for several hours just to catch their prey." Abigail said leading the way, she passed down her wilderness survival knowledge to them for the sake of the success of this mission.
Rai however had no use for her lectures as it was knowledge he himself possessed, in his old life during the assassination request he had gone on quests quite similar to this.
"Keep your eyes opened." Abigail warned.
"Why do I get the feeling that we are being watched.." Micheal whispered as he felt an ominous presence surrounding them.
"Yeah.." Rai responded as he also felt like they were being watched. In-between two tall trees, a pair of huge red glowing eyes mysteriously appeared from afar. Due to his exceptional sense of sight, Rai was the first among the three to sight it.
"Over there!" Rai exclaimed.
He dashed forward instantly leaving Micheal and Abigail a bit dazzled. "Wait!" Abigail called out to him, it was quite unwise to hunt down something you're not sure of.
Rai movements were swift and athletic, he ran with his hands floating behind his back in order to increase his stride without obstruction.
Micheal and Abigail ran after him in pursuit to prevent him from doing something as stupid as confronting whatever it was that watched them.
Rai jumped from tree to tree with a series of kicks that catapulted him to the top of each tree he leaped to. "He's too fast!" Micheal exclaimed as he was unable to catch up to him. Abigail on the other hand easily caught up to him, but the instant his legs left the ground it became difficult to follow.
In a matter of minutes, both individuals lost sight of Rai and stopped to catch their breath. "How...can he move and jump so fast?" Micheal questioned as he gasped for air slowly.
"In all the years I spent training and surviving in the wild, I gained immeasurable strength and speed as a result. But somehow I wasn't able to catch up to him? You really do surprise me." Abigail said in her thoughts as she as well gasped slowly for air.
"Let's keep moving, we will catch up to him eventually." Abigail said as they both proceeded forward in the direction Rai ran into.
30 whole minutes had passed since they lost contact with Rai after he ran in pursuit of the strange eyes that gazed upon them, the whole climate of the forest had changed. They had traveled so deep into the forest where the sunlight couldn't penetrate it anymore, all they could see at this point was the trees that they stood near to.
For Abigail it wasn't a problem as she had also honed her senses but not as much as Rai, she traveled using sound and the direction of the wind as her radar. However in the case of Micheal it was rather hopeless, all he could do was stay close to her if he was going to make it out alive.
The leaves surrounding them rustled which alarmed the senses of Abigail. "What was that?" She spoke with an alarming tone.
Both Micheal and Abigail turned in circles to identify what was responsible for making such noises as the wind was too weak to do so.
"Ah man, I never thought I'd go out like this." Micheal said, he immediately assumed that it was over for them.
"Oh, it's just you guys." A familiar voice spoke from above.
"Wait, Rai!?" Micheal proclaimed.
Up above the tree in front of them, they spotted Rai crouching on one of the tree's branch as he spoke to them from above.
"It got away." Rai sighed, he jumped off the branch and landed in front of the visibly annoyed individuals.
"Don't scare us like that man!" Michael yelled.
"Are you crazy? Don't take off like that!" For the first time since they met, Abigail displayed worry. Not because he got lost, but because he got lost on a mission.
"Yeah yeah, follow me." Rai said plainly as he ran forward once more but this time, he did so at a speed that Micheal could match.
"You bastard!" Micheal shouted as they followed him from behind. After a few minutes of running after Rai, they were caught a glimpse of light as they continued running forward.
"Is that?" Abigail murmured as they approached the light, as they emerged from within the dark part of the forest. Their eyes met with that of an ancient structure. It's stone walls adorned with intricate carvings depicting forgotten legends. Moss and vines intertwine with the weathered stones, shrouding the temple in a cloak of nature's embrace. As sunlight filters through the dense canopy above, beams of golden light pierce through the foliage, casting a ethereal glow upon the temple's entrance. The air was thick with mystery, as if the whispers of the past echo among the ancient trees.
"Is this..." Abigail uttered.
"The ancient temple of Lucious.." Rai responded as they all gazed upon the temple, it's name was unknown so they referred to it as the temple of Lucious.