'What a narcissistic little thing!' The Guardian Spirit smiled wryly. 'To think she actually gained some insight into the element of Self!'
The Guardian Spirit could only shake its head.
★★★
Suddenly, the little kitten felt the pressure bearing down upon her vanish. With the dissipation of that pressure, she also felt herself lulling into a tired sleep as her eyes gradually closed. Only to be awoken by the feeling of a liquid being suddenly poured into her throat.
Soon, she felt her muscle aches lessen and her tiredness begin to evaporate. She also felt her aura spike to life once more, previously being weakened to a point where it was producing a negligible amount of aura.
'Ah, that must have been a Vitality Potion!' The little kitten's eyes opened to see the Guardian Spirit floating in front of her, a familiar empty bottle in its hand which it soon discarded flashily, as always.
"Keke, don't puke now." The Guardian Spirit cryptically said, its right hand prepped in a snapping motion.
'Eh?' Before the little kitten could digest the Guardian Spirit's words, it snapped its fingers and suddenly the world around her turned dark and then she found herself in an entirely new environment.
As usual, the little kitten found herself in a terrible state, the world around her spinning. It was extra worse due to her weakened condition. Preventing herself from puking took all of her willpower.
'C-couldn't you have waited a few minutes before sending me through hell?!' The little kitten felt indignant.
"Keh, all to bolster your perseverance, all for you." The Guardian Spirit nodded and put on a wisely air. Though in the eyes of the little kitten, all she saw was an irritating piece of oversized red fluff.
The little kitten let out a long sigh to calm herself before surveying her new surroundings. This place was a rather humbly sized room, coloured fully golden and only featuring a metallic door as an exit and strange floating moving images on the opposite wall.
Looking at these moving images, the little kitten could see several people in action. Some were fighting off against other humans or Magical Beasts, some seemed to be partaking in some sort of complex puzzle and she saw others crossing difficult landscapes. While looking through all these scenes, her vision eventually stopped on one in particular where she saw a familiar figure.
'Jonathan?' The little kitten's eyes opened in recognition.
Indeed, on one of the screens was the familiar figure of Jonathan. His ink black hair was ruffled in the wind as he leapt gracefully through the air, a blazing flame passing by in his wake, nearly striking him. Though she couldn't hear him, the kitten saw his mouth moving and could tell he was in the middle of a chant.
When that chant came to a close, a figure suddenly formed behind him to his right. This figure was rather large, probably 4 meters tall and seemed to be fully crafted by azure lightning. This summoned figure let out a loud, crackling screech before charging forth in a jagged fashion at an opponent that stood several meters in front of Jonathan.
This enemy was a human figure wearing a plain red mask with no eye holes. His clothes were plain black and tight fitting.
Try with all his might, this red masked figure was unable to dodge in time as the azure lightning figure was simply too shockingly fast and travelled in a bizarre and unpredictable motion, bearing down on the red masked figure in a matter of seconds.
The azure lightning figure exploded into a series of lightning which shot through the red masked figure's body, looking extremely painful. Soon, the red masked figure fainted upon the floor, black smoke lifting off its charred body.
After a few seconds of simply laying there, the red masked figures body suddenly began to vanish into dust. This dust swirled into the air for a few moments before forming back into the familiar form of the red masked figure. Except, instead of a red mask, the figure now donned a blue mask.
"That's the human you were travelling with, isn't it?" The Guardian Spirit's voice broke her out of her attention.
'Yeah, how did you know?' The little kitten asked.
"Keke, I can see all of Thunder Mountain. I've been watching you lot for a while now. You know, as soon as you step on Thunder Mountain, the trial has already begun. I assess you before you enter the ruins and will pick the appropriate test based on one's performance and personality." The Guardian Spirit informed.
'Huh, is that so? Then what was my assessment?' The little kitten tilted her head in the Guardian Spirit's direction.
"Arrogant, puny and ditsy..." The Guardian Spirit deadpanned. The side of the little kitten's mouth twitched, but stopped when the Guardian Spirit's voice continued. "...Yet, full of potential, with a lot of natural talent and rather hard-working."
'Heh, the second parts right enough.' The little kitten humphed.
"Talking about potential... You have no idea of the amazing thing you just achieved back there at the end of the 'Stairs of Ascension' test, do you?" The Guardian Spirit narrowed its eyes as it suddenly spoke in a serious tone.
'Huh? What do you mean?...' The little kitten's eyed turned to the ceiling as she tried to think back to what the Guardian Spirit could be talking about, before eventually returning her gaze to the Guardian Spirit as she shook her head in defeat. 'I don't understand.'
"Keke, I thought as much. You, puny cat, found some insight into an external element!" The little kitten's eyes grew wide when she heard the Guardian Spirit's words.
'Insight into an external element?' The little kitten repeated. 'As in an element that is not naturally aligned to me?'
"Indeed, and a rather rare element at that..." The Guardian Spirit spoke mysteriously. "...The element of Self!"
'Self? What kind of narcissistic element is that?' The corner of the little kitten's mouth twitched in vexation. She didn't know whether to be excited or angry.
"Don't take the element of Self at face value. Not only is it one of the rarest in the Rare Elements category, nearly at the Holy level, it can be rather powerful when used, equalling the strength of certain Holy elements, such as Space and Time in battle." The Guardian Spirit explained. "Though, your level of insight into the element of Self is rather minuscule and needs much more tempering."
'Its that amazing?' The little kitten asked doubtfully.
"The element of Self can draw power from the world around you and forces it to bend to your will, fuelling your soul and body, just like it gave you the strength to reach the 100th step of the 'Stairs of Ascension'. The element of Self is all about bolstering your body and soul, relying on your own self to challenge all obstacles." The Guardian Spirit continued its explanation. "So when you were able to push yourself to the limit back in the 'Stairs of Ascension' and find your sense of self, the element of Self seemed to come naturally to you. "
'I see... How can I gain more insight into something so vague.' The little kitten was still rather perplexed by the idea behind this element.
"All you have to do is stay true to yourself and continue to study yourself. What is it that makes you, you? The element of Self can't be forced and can only be trained cautiously. Due to the element of Self's rarity, finding any spells or anything else to help you in this endeavour will be met with several difficulties, but you must keep your eye out for them." The Guardian Spirit told her seriously.
'Hmm, I will!' The little kitten nodded her affirmation.
