Steven walked to the door, placed their hands on it, and then began to push, trying to see if he could open the temple door like David but try as he may, no matter how hard he pushed the temple doors wouldn't open.
"I don't get it, how did he do it?" Steven asked himself as he sat down on the floor next to the temple doors, wondering how David managed to open the temple door.
"The legend says only the Golden Dragon Warrior can enter the temple but if David could enter that would mean…No, It's not possible, he can't be the next…" Steven stopped speaking to himself upon hearing sounds coming from the hole David came out from.
Steven then got from the floor and then went to the hole.
He then bent down to inspect the hole to find out what was causing the sound he was hearing from it but as he did so Susan's head popped out of the hole
"SUSAN!!!!" Steven yelled, shocked and confused to see his sister in a hole in the ground.
"Steven?" said Susan, just as shocked to see him as he was to see her.
"Hey, Susan, why are you taking so long, we don't have all day you know," said Flora down below from the hole.
Steven upon hearing Flora's voice just rolled his eyes out of annoyance.
Susan then began to try to climb out of the hole but was struggling to do so.
Steven, seeing her struggle, just sighed before deciding to help her.
"Here, take my hand," said Steven before extending his hand to her.
Susan hesitated to accept his hand at first but eventually did so and allowed him to help her out of the hole.
Once she was out of the hole she turned to her brother before saying to him softly, "Thank you".
Steven upon hearing his sister speak to him so lovely almost smiled before he could Flora in her air form came out of the hole before reforming next to Susan which greatly annoyed him.
After Flora was out of the hole Akiri was next to come out, jumping out of the hole, using his mighty strength, and landing next to Steven.
"What's he doing here?" asked Flora, not trying to hide in any way that Steven's presence shocked, annoyed, and enraged her.
"I was about to ask you all the same question," said Steven with a glare to Flora.
Flora immensely annoyed and enraged by Steven and the way he glared at her was about to strike him using her powers and so was Steven but luckily before any of them could deliver the first blow Susan came in between them.
"Flora, Steven, please play nice," said Susan, pleading with them not to start a fight with each other.
"Fine," said Flora before taking a deep breath and calming down.
Steven was still annoyed by Flora's presence but for Susan's sake chose to control himself.
"What are you doing here Susan, don't you know how dangerous it is to be outside the academy so late at night," said Steven, showing a little bit of concern and care he had for Susan.
"I know but I think David is in some kind of trouble. I saw him leave the academy…" Susan was cut off mid-sentence by Steven saying, "You snuck out of the academy for weak, pathetic kid. Unbelievable!!!!!!!"
Steven, now angry at Susan for sneaking out of the academy because of David, grabbed hold of Susan's hand.
"You're coming with me," said Steven before he began to drag her away.
"Steven, let go of me. Where are you taking me?" asked Susan as Steven continued to drag her away.
"Back to the academy," said Steven.
"No, no before I find David," said Susan before she turned her hand into water to escape her brother's grasp.
"What's your problem? Can't you see I'm trying to protect you? David isn't worth your time, he's just some ordinary air dragon warrior," said Steven.
"He's my friend, Steven," said Susan.
"Your only true friends, the ones that deserve to be your friends are Flora and Akiri. They may be fools but at least they are strong enough to defend and protect you," said Steven.
"Of course, everything all comes down to strength with you. It's the only thing you respect. Strength, strength, strength, the only thing you care about" said Susan filled with sadness and rage as she spoke.
"You don't care about the person, their qualities or attributes. If they are strong enough, that's all you need to acknowledge them. It's because of this obsession with strength and power that we drifted apart, it's because of this obsession that you became so cold and distant, and it's because of your obsession that my entire life got ruined" said Susan with tears filling up her eyes as she spoke.
Steven upon hearing everything she said, was felt speechless, seeing the pain and sorrow in her eyes that were slowly filling up with tears as she spoke broke him.
Susan then continued, with tears now falling from her eyes she said, "Do you know why Akiri and Flora are the only friends I have apart from David? It's because of you. Your aggressive nature drove other students in the academy away from me because they feared that if they got too close to me you would beat them up, so they avoided me. Akiri and Flora were the only ones who stayed by my side when I was all alone, friendless, and brotherless".
Susan then began to wipe away her tears before saying, "David is the only friend apart from Akiri and Flora who still stayed by my side despite knowing about you. He is worthy to being my friend not because of his strength but because he stayed by my side and agreed to still be my friend even after meeting you".
Steven upon hearing all that Susan had to say remained quiet, bowing his head down in shame and unable to look Susan in the eye.
Flora and Akiri remained silent throughout the entire ordeal, only watching like silent spectators as Susan revealed how Steven's actions had negatively affected her life.
Steven, in his moment of silence, began to think about everything he had done since he got in to the academy, all the fights and trouble he had gotten into, and how it must have been for Susan all this time, having to endure a life of isolation because of him.
"He's in the temple" Steven finally spoke after a moment of silence.
"What?" said Flora and Akiri upon hearing what Steven said.,
"David, he's in the Temple of the Golden Dragon Warrior," said Steven.
Flora, Susan and Akiri then all turned to the Temple of the Golden Dragon Warrior, finding it hard to believe that David actually went into the temple.
"How is that possible, only the Golden Dragon Warrior can open the temple's door, right," said Flora.
"Your guess is as good as mine. I mean if I didn't see it myself, I would have never believed that whelp would be able to enter the temple," said Steven.
"If David could enter doesn't that mean that he's…?" Akiri was cut off midsentence by Flora saying, "No, that can't be possible there is no way it could be".
Steven then sighed before saying, "I found it hard to believe as well but the fact of the matter is, David was able to open the temple's door and we know all that there is only one person that can do that".
There was a moment of silence shared between them all, almost as though they were afraid to say what they were all thinking, finding it hard to believe in the seemingly impossible scenario.
Susan then sighed, breaking the moment of silence before saying, "There's no point in remaining silent, if David was able to open the temple's door, then it means he truly is a Golden Dragon Warrior".
David looked at the creature formed from the four elemental pillars, unsure of what to do as they had not moved an inch since they had transformed from simple pillars to monstrous beings; they just simply stood there with eyes closed shut.
The creature that was formed by the pillars were truly monstrous in appearance with the fire creature having the lower body of a snake and arms with razor-sharp claws added with the horrific fact that it was made of fire.
The water creature resembles some kind of sea beast with a large squid-like tentacle, a large fin on its back, and a set of teeth that resemble that of a great white with a body made completely out of water.
The creature formed from the stone pillar had the appearance of a man with a massive body made of hard rock and stone.
The last was the creature made of air, having wings that resembled that of a bird attached to its back and on all fours with razor-sharp claws on its feet and face that looked like some kind of unholy amalgamation of a bird and beast as it had that beak but within the beak were rolls of sharp teeth and had large thick fur covering its face instead of feathers.
Being in the presence of such a horrific creature was enough to frighten anyone for a lifetime and David was no exception as shivered and shook uncontrollably due to his fear, wanting nothing more for the eyes of the horrific beast in front of him to stay shut but sadly, much to his horror, the beast began to slowly, one of the other, opened their eyes and upon seeing David they charged straight for him.
David cursed his luck before he began to run, wanting to avoid being a late-night snack for the four elemental creatures that chased after him.
David ran as fast as he could but it was all in vain as there was nowhere to run, the temple doors would not reopen and there was only so much room within the chamber for David to run while trying to avoid the beasts.
David soon came to the terrifying realization that he would have to fight the creature.
David just sighed, seeing that there was no other option before he stopped running and took a stance in front of the creatures.
The creatures then charged straight for David.
David tried using the power of the wind to blow all the creatures away but upon doing so the creatures did something he was not expecting, they changed, with the creature made of rock and stone turning its body into solid metal and the water creature turning in to hard ice, they were able to fight the force of the wind and reach David before delivering a powerful that sent him flying and crashing on the temple walls, and upon hitting the wall the fire creature turned the red hot flames that made up its body into lightning and then struck David with a bolt of lightning before he could even hit the ground.
David, after receiving such a powerful managed to get back on his feet, a little hurt from the combined attack of both the water and rock and fire creatures but was still able to fight.
David then noticed that there was an odd scent in the air around, he then spotted the wind creature which oddly enough was the only one who did not seem to have undergone a transformation sending a gentle breeze of the strange scenting air his way which greatly surprised and confused David as its attack did seemly, he was trying to harm him.
Then the fire creature now with a lightning body instead of a fire made its way to the air creature before turning to look at David with a sinister smile on its face before sending a small spark of lightning David's way ignited the air around him, causing a massive explosion.
David managed to survive the explosion and then got up on his two feet again.
Upon getting up David looked at the creatures as they reverted back to their original forms before realizing the secret to their power.
Remembering the writing he saw on the walls say, that to wield the true power of the golden dragon warrior he had to have a golden heart fueled by the blood of the golden dragon and must be able to conquer the four elements in any form.
David then realized that four creatures were the embodiments of the elements not just in their most basic forms but also in their other forms which is why they could switch from one form of a particular element to another, that's how the fire creature could change from fire to lightning, the water from water to ice, the rock creature from stone to metal and the wind creature who seemed to not have changed in appearance but in reality it had, having changed from the regular harmless form of air to a more flammable one which how the lightning creature was able to cause the explosion around him by igniting the air.
David then looked at the creature that stood in front of him, realizing that defeating them would not be an easy thing to do as they possessed the power of the four elements in every form giving them unbelievable strength, powers, questions, and abilities.
David for a brief moment, seeing how powerful the creatures were, wondered why he was there at the temple facing those four creatures in a battle he was not sure he could win; he then remembered the many unanswered questions he had about himself, his mysterious power and his unclear past.
Those questions were the reason he came to the temple in the first place and finding answers to them was something he was determined to do.
He would back down or give up in search to find the answer he sought because he knew if he did burden of those unanswered would weigh on him and would never let him rest in peace.
David took a deep breath and then summoned every single ounce of strength he had before charging straight for the creatures, not caring about how powerful they were as only one thing mattered to him at that very moment and that was getting the answers to his unanswered question.
Charging straight for the creatures, David began to throw flaming fireballs straight for the creatures which did nothing but greatly enrage them and cause them to attack him.
The stone creature was the first to attack, launching its rock fist straight for David only for David to turn to air before the blow could reach him before reforming behind it and sending several fireballs straight for the stone creature but his attack seemed to be inactive as the creature's tough stone skin was too hard to harm in any way by David's flames.
The second creature to attack David was the wind creature, moving as fast as the wind, the creature flew straight while he wasn't paying attention and then summoned a gust of wind that sent David flying and crashing straight into the wall.
Next was the water creature, firing David with jets of water before using the water to lift him up and then drive him back down hard to the ground.
Finally, the fire creature, moving like a serpent with its snake-like body slithering about, made its way to David who was now lying on the floor, hurt immensely by the attacks of the other creatures.
David watched as the fire approached him with a fireball on one of its arms, ready to deliver the final blow.
David, still driven by the determination to fight for the answers that he was looking for, managed to muster the strength to continue fighting, slowly getting back on his two to face the fire creature.
The creature smiled at David sinisterly, thinking that David was too weak to continue the fire and it would only take a single blow from it to end it all.
The creature then threw the fireball at David, thinking it would end the battle, only for the flaming ball to be extinguished by water that gushed out of David's hands.
The creature shocked that David still had the strength to fight, changed its form, turning its body fire to molten lava, it then sent red scorching hot lava straight for David but managed to avoid the creature's attack by turning to air and blowing away before reforming behind the creature and then attacking the create a massive wave of water, cooling and hardening the lava that made up the creature's body, turning in to a frozen, motionless statue.
David upon seeing that the fire creature was now defeated turned to the other creatures, still immensely drained and exhausted; he summoned the strength he needed to stay on his feet before he began to approach the creatures.
The stone creature was the first to attack David but he was fast enough to dodge its attack before countering with an attack of his own, summoning massive boulders from the ground and then sending them straight for the creature.
The creature's hard stone body however was too tough for the boulder and it ended up breaking apart upon impact, David seeing this realized the creature's skin would be
tough to be affected by simple attacks and it would take a much more powerful attack to defeat it.
David then had an idea.
David once again summoned massive boulders but this time, using the power for fire, he ignited every single one of the boulders before sending them the creatures' way.
The boulder hits it and manages to crack the creature's hard stony body forcing it to switch into its metal form just to stay in one piece.
The creature then attacked David, sprouting metal spikes out of its body and then sending them flying straight for David.
David, seeing the spikes head straight for him, used the power of the earth to create a protective shield made of rock and stone that protected him from the spikes.
David then charged straight for the creature and began to attack it with fireballs, hoping that the heat of fireballs would melt away the creature.
David's idea seemed to have worked as the intense heat from the fireballs began to slowly melt away the creature's body, forcing it to change once more this time replacing its metal body with a crystal one.
David upon seeing the creature change once more continued to attack it with fireballs but this time the heat from the flames had no effect on the creature.
The creature then began to fire crystal shards out of its body straight for David, forcing David to once again create a shield made out of rock and stone to protect him.
David seeing that his fire attacks had no effect on the creature decided to attack him using the attack he used on the creature back when it was made of stone, summing massive boulders from the ground and then igniting them with his flames before sending them all fly straight for the creature.
The creature's body however was harder and tougher than its rock form, so much so that the boulders upon colliding with the creature's body simply broke part.
David upon seeing that his attack once again had no effect on the creature began to struggle to think of a new way to defeat the creature.
The creature then began to attack, trying to use its massive crystal fists to try and slam into David but David was too quick for it, avoiding every single one of his blows and attempting a few attacks of his own using the power of all the four elements but his attacks still had no effect on it as the strongest blow delivered by David would only succeed to make the creature take a few steps back at most without suffering any form of damage.
David managed to dodge another attack but he could tell that his body was beginning to tire, panting profusely with sweat dripping down from his body and his muscles beginning to ache in pain due to how much strain they were in, it was clear to him that he could not continue like that for much longer.
David knew he needed a plan and a form of attack that would actually hurt the creature.
David thought for a moment before getting an idea, since none of his attacks could harm the creature maybe he could overwhelm it by attacking him with everything he had.
Even though he was sure if his attack would effectively harm the creature's seemly indestructible crystal body it was the only one, he had so he had no choice but to do it.
David then charged straight for the creature, first attacking it with an inferno of flames that completely engulfed the creature, then using the power of the wind to summon a massive gust of wind to lift it off the ground and sending it flying straight to the wall, he then attacked using the power of water, firing jets of water out of his hands to hitting the creature a number of times before ending it all by creating the biggest boulder he could manage using the power of the earth and then sending it flying straight for the creature which crumbled and broke apart upon hitting the creatures hard body.
David panted out of exhaustion as he put everything he had into those attacks, hoping that they would be enough to put the creature down.
The creature then, much to David's annoyance, anger, and frustration, rose up from the rubble created by the broken pieces of the boulder he sent its way.
David then, upon examining the creature closely, smiled as its entire body was covered in cracks which meant that his attacks did harm the creature and left it in a state where all it would take was only a single blow to put it down for good.
The creature seeing the cracks on its body understood that David could now easily defeat it with a single deceive blow and so, in an attempt to stop David from delivering it by striking the ground and summoning crystal which sprouted out of the ground underneath David's feet.
David, sensing the crystal spikes about to sprout out of the ground underneath his feet managed to dodge them before they sprouted out of the ground by jumping out of the way just as they were about to sprout out of the ground.
He then quickly understood what the creature was doing; it was trying to keep him far from it using the spikes as the creature understood that a single attack from David was all it would take to bring it down in its current state.
The creature then tried once more to attack by summoning the crystal spikes from the ground but David continued to dodge them all before turning to air and blowing away.
David upon shattering the stone creature's crystal body of the other creatures turned to face the other water and wind creature.
With a deep sigh, David said to himself, "Only two left", before summoning the little strength he had left to face the two creatures that remained.