When Marshall finally managed to gain control over demonic energy, Gi Gaia led him out of the cavern with the pond. They walked through the stone walls until they stopped in a cave with an exit. Marshall's eyes widened as he stepped towards the forest in the distance, eager to leave.
Gi Gaia extended an arm in front of him, stopping him, "Not so fast. Look up."
As the disciple tilted his head, he saw a large cloud of demonic energy writhing and twisting over the ceiling, near the exit.
"You have to use your own demonic energy," she gave a heavy pat on his chest, then pointed at the black cloud, "to suppress that thing."
Marshall scratched his head, his brows furrowing as he tried to figure out how to achieve that.
Gi Gaia explained, "Channel the energy, feel it flow through your veins and to your hands. Extend it from your fingers and wrap it around the cloud. Then suppress it and pull it all into this sphere." She held out a clear quartz sphere.
The disciple's gaze flickered between the massive cloud and the small ball. "Into this tiny thing?"
"Yes, into this tiny thing," she muttered, seeming dissatisfied. "You stole my blessing, so you have the power to do that and more."
Marshall sighed, rubbing his face. "Can you please explain it to me properly? I don't understand a thing that's going on. What blessing? And that prophecy—the crystal had other memories, but nothing to make the prophecy clear."
Gi Gaia put her hands on hips, squinting at him in thought, then flipped hand, "Fine! Listen up, I'll say it only once."
He nodded, waiting with the last bits of patience in his system.
"The first person to unite demonic and spiritual energies will become the sovereign to rule over both the Sacral Grounds and the Stygian Regions. Everyone wanted to become the sovereign, obviously," Gi Gaia grumbled, sharply fixing her vest.
"Unite them?" Marshall pressed.
"Yeah, but as you can imagine, it's no easy feat. Demonic energy is of inherently destructive nature, which is incompatible with spiritual energy. Those with a well-developed spiritual flow have failed to acquire demonic energy. In simple words, it didn't 'stick' to their bodies."
She continued, her hands quickly whipping through the air as she spoke, "But I found a way. I took my divine shrine and trapped a demon in it. It grew with time, eventually possessing the shrine. So I prayed for years and years, multiplying the demonic energy in it. Until..."
Gi Gaia shot a glare at Marshall, then poked him in the ribs, "You broke into my cavern! A child that hadn't developed a spiritual flow—the perfect vessel for the demon from my shrine to possess! It chose you over me, who had prayed to it all this time! Gah!"
The disciple scratched the back of his head, at a loss of how to react, "I... I'm sorry. I didn't want this either. I never meant to steal your, err, blessing."
"Ah, forget it," Gi Gaia waved, cooling down. "I know it's the demonic energy chose you just because you were defenseless and easy to control. At least until my cousin placed a seal on you... I know you were just a child, but damn it, it was so annoying!"
Marshall cleared his throat, turning his attention back to the cloud of demonic energy above them, the weight of responsibility heavy on his shoulders. "Is this also something you prayed for?"
She shook her head in denial. "No. This thing was trapped deep inside this cave," she pointed into the pitch black tunnel of unknown depths behind them, "it came from there."
As the disciple stared into it, a chill ran down disciple's back and arms. The shadows seemed to spill from the tunnel, coming at him. He shuddered, looking back to the exit. It was better not to even think about what was hiding in there. Just finish the third challenge and leave. No more, no less.
"Alright," Marshall took the quartz sphere from Gi Gaia and was about to step forward, but she yanked him back again.
"Watch your step, will you?!" she blurted out.
He looked down and saw a spiritual array of dark green symbols glowing faintly in on the ground. The circle was keeping the demonic energy in place.
"Don't step on it or you'll set the energy loose," Gi Gaia warned. "If you do, then it will be more work for you. Right now it's trapped here, so all you have to do is pull it into the sphere. You don't want to run around collecting it, do you?"
"Definitely not." Marshall raised his hands, taking a deep breath and letting his mind settle into a state of detachment. "So, how do I... pull it into the sphere?"
Gi Gaia let out something that was between a sigh and a scoff. "Don't overthink it, just do it! Take the energy and push it into the ball, that's it!"
The disciple let out an awkward chuckle. He extended a hand towards the cloud and concentrated, feeling the demonic energy surge through his arm, all the way to his fingertips.
Once he could feel the black energy writhing at the tip of his fingers, he aimed it at the energy within the spiritual array. Smoky tendrils crept around, hesitant to enter.
As soon as he steeled himself and pushed through the array, the cloud of demonic energy hissed and swallowed his gentle attempt.
Gi Gaia's lip curled in disgust, but her eyebrows arched as if she was about to cry. "What are you doing, huh? Why are you stroking the demonic energy? It's not a puppy, for heaven's sake!"
She clicked her tongue, clapping. "More force! More energy! Don't be gentle with it! It won't bite you if you take control over it! But if you keep hesitating and doubting, prepare to be bitten."
Marshall gritted his teeth and focused his will. He was never one to do it slow and cautious, so why was he faltering now?
The disciple pushed more force into the tendrils and watched them expand menacingly. He felt the cloud of demonic energy resisting him. But instead of trying to take over, the cloud backed away from his energy. It must have been intimidated.
He continued to pour more energy into his push, sweat breaking out on his forehead. It was taking too much effort. Before he could grab a hold of the retreating cloud, his own energy slipped away, the black tendrils of smoke dispersing like a fog.
Gi Gaia wasn't happy. She slammed her foot into the ground. "Again!"