Location: Spiritroot Trail – Kael's Path
The sun filtered softly through the forest canopy, casting flickering patterns on Kael's path. It was the gentlest of the four routes—a slow, winding trail sloping upward, flanked by spirit trees with blue-glowing leaves that whispered as the wind passed. Small butterflies made of light flitted through the air.
Kael walked with the ease of someone on a picnic, hands folded behind his head.
"Man, this is the life," he hummed.
As he stepped over a mossy log, he began singing in a patchy mash-up voice:
"I'm Kael-kun from Mistwood town,
I eat ramen up and wear a crown,
If you're shady, I'll smack you down,
Just like Dorae-Shinchan style showdown!"
He twirled around a spirit fern and struck a pose.
"Doo-doo dooo~ where's my gadget pouch?"
A squirrel spirit blinked at him.
"Never mind you, fluffy tail! I'm on a mission!"
Kael leapt onto a rock, arms wide. The breeze rustled his jacket as he shouted, "I call this mountain... Kael's Crib!"
He danced his way through the trail, flipping over a thin stream and cartwheeling beside luminous mushrooms.
"If Liora saw me now, she'd have my head," he chuckled. "But she's not here, so... FREEDOM!"
He started making up a song that mixed more cartoon themes:
"Zoooooooom goes my blade, like a Bey-chan spin!
My lightning dance is a guaranteed win!
Eat your veggies, stay in school—
Or I'll summon Pikashin with a spinning tool!"
Suddenly, the wind around him shifted.
Kael stopped mid-spin. His eyes narrowed.
The blue butterflies scattered.
Up ahead, nestled between two large stone roots, a figure emerged from the earth. Carved entirely from rough granite, with glowing green veins running through its body, it stood over two meters tall. Its chest bore an ancient rune that pulsed softly.
Kael wiped the grin off his face.
"Huh," he muttered, stepping back a pace. "Guess it wasn't all flowers and fluff after all."
The Stone Guardian let out a low grind, like mountains shifting.
Kael unsheathed his short blade, flicking it once to send a gust of wind spinning around his wrist.
"Well then," he smirked. "This might actually be interesting."
Location: Skyroot Ridge – Anay's Path
Anay's trail had no gentle curves or glowing butterflies.
The terrain was sharp, with cracked rocks jutting like broken teeth. Each step tested his balance. Mist coiled like living smoke around the roots of towering trees.
He moved with care, each breath steady. His senses from Kael and Liora's earlier training sharpened his focus.
Birdsong was absent here. Only the quiet hum of energy resonated.
Midway through the ascent, Anay paused beside a shrine-like stone structure. It pulsed faintly—a resonance temple. His spiritual weapon stirred within.
Zettai Anant shimmered in sealed form.
Anay touched the stone.
A sudden vibration.
The air fractured like glass, revealing a spirit illusion—a beast coiling in the air, testing him.
"This is a resonance trial," Anay whispered. "Part of the forest's will."
He closed his eyes.
He didn't strike. He breathed.
Felt.
Balanced his own pulse with the forest's.
The beast blinked, then bowed.
The illusion faded. The shrine let out a hum of approval.
Anay opened his eyes, stronger.
He continued climbing, now with light-footed steps, the pulse of Zettai Anant synchronized with the rhythm of the woods.
The forest had tested him.
And he had listened.
The Silent Climb – Liora's Path
Location: Mistwood Expanse – Liora's Trail
Unlike the twisting paths taken by Kael and Anay, Liora's journey toward the peak unfolded with graceful simplicity.
She didn't sprint.
She didn't fight.
She walked.
The forest seemed to know her—or perhaps, it remembered her. Trees shifted just slightly to make way. Vines pulled back. Spirit wisps floated overhead, then dipped in silence, as if bowing in acknowledgment. Each of her footsteps was soundless, her movements flowing like water.
Her trail curved through soft meadows kissed by moonlight even in daylight, through low hills blanketed in pale moss. The wind was gentle here. No traps. No beasts. No resistance.
But it wasn't ease.
It was respect.
She stopped once beside a crystal-clear pond, where white lotus flowers bloomed. She stared into the water for a moment—not in reflection, but as if listening to something beneath it. Then she continued.
The final climb was a narrow staircase carved naturally into the mountainside, overgrown with spiritual grass. She ascended without pause, her balance unwavering.
And at the summit—a stone circle awaited. No traps. No guardians. Just a field of whispering wind and untouched calm.
No beast even dared to walk on her way
She stood at the edge of the peak and looked down across the forest.
No words.
No dramatics.
She had arrived.
And was the first
To be continued...