"Before embarking on this trial, there's something you must know."
Lin halted, intrigued. "What is it?" His eyes wandered past the diminutive pixie, following the steps that ascended into the heavens until veiled by clouds.
Fiend-Root hesitated, then exhaled deeply. "As matters stand, and considering they won't hinder your path, moving forward implies a perilous journey for you, your kin, and those dear to you."
The small woman avoided meeting the boy's gaze, a poignant sight revealing a struggle between needing his aid and the difficulty of asking. She was vulnerable, aware that his involvement endangered those close to him.
"There's danger," Lin mused, arms crossed. "What about the rewards?"
"To complete the millennial-essence collection, you must trace the first line of the eighth-point star-diagram. The second line requires merging the millennial-essence with your spiritual-qi to nurture the sprout into bloom and seed." The Pixie smirked, observing the spark in the boy's eyes at her cryptic words.
"Star-diagram? Spiritual-qi? Eighth-point? Why am I on the eighth-point?" Lin's calm expression masked impatience, evident in his eyes.
Fiend-Root, avoiding eye contact, perched on his head and pointed forward. "Proceeding means accepting risk and being ready to pay the price. Hardships await; you'll be rigorously tested. I can share this only because you're within this realm; the retreat is still an option... and I won't be departing anytime soon." A pause, then a murmur: "No one will be departing either."
The great-sage grinned, fueled by adventure and a thirst for knowledge. "I've decided." Lin stepped forward.
Reality shifted; the white stone steps vanished. Above, a starry sky; below, scorched earth. A single step transported him to a mysterious realm.
The scent of ash overwhelmed him. A force sought to drain his life essence from beneath.
"Which dao do you fear the most?" Fiend-Root's sudden question echoed.
"Dao? You mean elements?" Lin leapt, sensing the dread vanish once he left the ground.
"Some daos surpass others; combinations are needed. Any forbidden daos?" The Pixie patiently explained.
Lin squinted, gazing into the distance. "Death, the dao of death. It's the end, oblivion."
"Curious." Fiend-Root shielded herself with green energy, countering the suction force. "Why death? Above it, destruction and creation; chaos above them. Others surpass chaos too. Why death specifically?"
"It's death, the end itself." Lin shrugged, walking without looking back.
The Pixie eyed him. "You've died before. Why fear it now?"
"One of my soul-fragments once told me that after my demise, they sensed a calling and followed it to the source. Without their guidance, I wouldn't survive." Lin sighed, recalling his past.
"Mortals have the faintest chance of reincarnation. You're the first ascender to bring his people. The faith of your kin increases your chances. The ark allowed them to navigate chaos, reaching this superior world." Fiend-Root explained generously.
"Chances for what?" Lin approached a hill covered in grey grass.
"Live... to truly grasp your fate." Fiend-Root sighed.
Suddenly, a deadly threat. Lin dodged a sharp object narrowly. Another danger approached from behind.
"Why are you attacking me?" Lin questioned, dodging with improbable agility.
Covered in black cloth, the assailants spoke in a foreign language. Lin discerned their patterns, realizing one was patient, the other distracting. The dance of danger unfolded in the grey grass.
As Lin faced the sudden threat, his eyes locked onto the dark figures emerging from the grey grass. Dark-elves, their skin cloaked in shadows, and their eyes, a haunting shade of purple. Unlike the benevolent elves he had encountered before, these two emanated an air of malevolence, a stark departure from the grace he had come to associate with their kind.
The male dark-elf, eyes ablaze with cruelty, lunged at Lin with a lethal grace. His every move seemed orchestrated to inflict harm, a stark contrast to the elves who had once guided Lin on his journey.
Beside him, the female dark-elf moved like a wraith, silent and deadly. Her eyes, though sharing the same eerie purple hue, betrayed no emotion. In the dance of combat, they were a formidable duo, striking with ruthless precision.
Lin, his great-sage instincts on high alert, deftly evaded their assaults. Yet, there was an unsettling realization — these dark-elves were unlike any adversaries he had faced. Vicious, merciless, they seemed driven by a motive shrouded in the enigma of the grey grass.
In the midst of the chaotic ballet, Lin sought answers between parries. "Why attack me? What purpose hides in the shadows of your blades?"
The dark-elves, silent as the night, continued their assault. Their movements were almost synchronized, a deadly harmony that left no room for negotiation or reason.
As the struggle unfolded, Lin couldn't shake the feeling that this encounter was more than a mere clash of blades. There was a deeper mystery, a hidden narrative that connected these dark-elves to the cryptic trial that lay ahead. The eighth-point star-diagram, the millennial-essence — were these assailants merely obstacles, or did they hold a key to the secrets veiled in the realm Lin had stepped into?
Amidst the whirlwind of combat, Lin pondered the true nature of this encounter and the shadows that clung to the dark-elves like a sinister cloak.
In the midst of the frenzied duel with the dark-elves, Lin relied heavily on his life-bound tool, "First-Light." The versatile weapon morphed at his will — a spear for pushing back the relentless female dark-elf, a blade for forcefully disrupting the calculated attacks of her male counterpart. The unpredictable shifts in his weapon's form kept his adversaries off balance, a calculated chaos that befuddled their attempts at coordination.
Yet, despite his mastery over First-Light, there was a glaring frustration. Lin couldn't tap into his martial-spirit, a potent force that typically granted him remarkable abilities. In this perilous engagement, he was grounded, unable to unleash the power of his spirit-wings, a staple in his combat repertoire.
Compensating for this limitation, Lin drew upon an unprecedented well of power within himself. It surged through his veins, a force eclipsing the familiar energies of qi-vitality, spirit-energy, weapon-intent, or soul-force. Although the quantity was less than what he was accustomed to, the potency of this newfound strength intrigued him.
In the heat of battle, Lin contemplated this novel force, realizing it aligned with what the Pixie had cryptically referred to as "spiritual-qi." It hummed within him, a mysterious energy that transcended conventional systems. The boy grappled with this new paradigm, navigating its dynamics while simultaneously fending off the relentless assaults of the dark-elves.
As the clash persisted, a symphony of clashing blades, Lin's mind raced. What secrets lay within this spiritual-qi? How did it intertwine with the challenges of the eighth-point star-diagram and the millennial-essence?
In the dance of blades and ethereal power, Lin sought not only to survive the onslaught but to unravel the enigma that bound him to this mysterious realm. The dark-elves, relentless in their assault, unwittingly became conduits for his exploration of this uncharted power, a power that might hold the key to his success in the trials that lay ahead.
In the midst of the escalating clash, a palpable shift occurred in the demeanor of the dark-elves. A solemn murmur enveloped the air, a chant uttered with pious reverence. Lin, eyes narrowed, watched as a malevolent greenish-black energy cloaked the male's short-swords and the female's daggers. The whites of their eyes turned bloodshot, casting an intimidating and demonic aura.
In this eerie moment, Fiend-Root's voice cut through the chaos. "You're almost seven years of age, yet you've never taken a life. I'm amazed how that stinky black and white fellow allowed that to happen after finding you." The unexpected remark sent a shiver down Lin's spine, worry gnawing at him about potential repercussions from Kai, the talking raccoon.
Kai's voice resonated from the ring of origin, its tone stern. "Brat, you must strike true and end these dark-elves. Failure will bring severe consequences to your friends and family. Don't make me lose face in front of Fiend-Root."
Lin, feeling the weight of responsibility, responded, "I can't just take a life without reason. There has to be another way." For the first time ever, the boy questioned the talking-raccoon and attempted to reason with him. Even he was shocked at how fearless he became despite knowing full well how daring that was of him.
Kai's voice, edged with frustration, snapped back, "This is not the time for your moral qualms. These are not creatures you can reason with. You have a duty towards your friends and your family — their safety rests on your actions now."
As Lin grappled with the urgency of the trial, Fiend-Root's frustration became palpable. The Pixie, usually composed, now radiated impatience as she heard the exchange. It was evident that Friend-Blood's words had hit a nerve, and the tension in the air heightened.
