Rising Kite - A story from the world of HWFWM

“Soooo… What do you think so far? I wanted to change up the ambience a little with the water domain. Mysterious, beautiful, dangerous. It did…” Third had started before trailing off. “I believe I can sense some hostility from you aura there, trial-taker. A thirst for vengeance against the foes I have created for you, mayhap”

Kite currently sat on one of the bridges leading between platforms. He was tired, wounded and very, very wet. He had cleared two more platforms in the water domain, and things had unfortunately not been either straightforward nor pleasant. The crustacean-centaurs made of ice were not too bad, but they had been joined by smaller fishes of ice which fired spikes of ice at him while keeping their distance, often higher up in the water domes.

He thought he had managed to get to a certain level of proficiency in handling them, but those damnable squids kept popping up when Kite was least ready to handle them. Just before stumbling out on the bridge where he was currently resting, Kite had been hard pressed by three pairs of pincers as the squid had struck, and he had almost fallen out of the watery dome and off the edge while trying to get the creature off him. Had it not been for a fully-charged Sage destroying two of the snipping ‘centaurs’, things might have gotten worse. A lot worse.

Kite was about to give the orb a rather sharply worded answer as Glint floated up from her bottle, apparently sensing Kite’s distress. It had mostly been him checking in on her during the last days inside the gate, convincing her to stay cooped up inside as it was dangerous. In her usual manner, she had still taken every opportunity to take a look about and right now Kite was too distracted to mind her. As the carp fussed about him, he felt himself drying as she started gathering the water clinging to his skin and gathering it into a freely floating ball of water.

He idly reached out a hand to stroke her smooth scales, his frustration giving way to thoughtfulness as he pondered on how to to approach the challenges ahead. Suddenly, a thought struck him as he looked at the shimmering, pink little carp, followed by a sharply worded internal reprimand against himself.

Kite turned to Third, a wide smile on his face. The construct, apparently missing out on the dangerous gleam in Kite’s eyes, interpreted it as approval.

“Ah, so you approve of it, trial-taker? You seemed to be struggling a bit, so I was worried, but your stoic approach to adversity is to be commended!

“Yes indeed, dear Third. This challenge has truly forced me to rethink things. I believe that I have learned quite a lot. And I even have a new idea on how to approach this domain. Call it a previously overlooked asset. Truly, one’s path never ceases to provide lessons.” he said, voice slightly tinted with glee.

“I must at least make another informal protest, trial-taker. Since I am the deviser of this realm, I know this is not how the challenge was intended to be conquered.” Third complained for the ninth time as it floated not far from Kite.

The young man was currently in one of the watery domes, but near the top. He sat mounted on Glint in her enlarged form, calmly firing arrow after arrow down towards four of the crustacean-centaurs who milled about on the platform beneath him. Around him were the remains of the ever-frustrating smaller ice fish, destroyed with ease once Kite had actually thought to make use of one of his most formidable aquatic assets; his bound familiar.

Glint was normally bound rather close to the ground, which meant that even humanoid foes could usually reach her with attacks. Due to this, Kite had kept her in her bottle as he didn’t want to risk her being hurt when there was little to be gained. In the water domain, this changed drastically. Not only was she free to traverse the whole sphere, but her water control could greatly hamper the movement of their foes as she could direct the water to fight against their movements. This was no paralysis by any means, but the small, fragile ice fish who usually relied on staying out of reach had been laughably easy to dispatch when Kite could both reach them in close combat and reduce their speed.

The ambushing kelp squids, as Kite had named them in his mind, also suffered from the familiar’s presence as they needed to launch themselves further to reach Kite and were rather easy targets once out in the more open waters of the upper parts of the dome. The poor crustacean-centaurs fared the worst, as they were too heavy to swim upward in the domes and lacked ranged alternatives, leaving Kite to finish them off at range at his leisure. It was not very quick, but very reliable.

After claiming the treasure guarded by the four monsters, more quintessence and an awakening stone, Kite at least tried placating the frustrated construct.

“It was a great challenge, Third. It really was. Rarely have I felt so paranoid and wary as when I traversed those murky depths.”

“Really?” The orb asked, sulking but with a slight hope in its voice.

“Really” Kite confirmed. “This would have been the result against almost anyone with water as part of their path. I was lucky that my familiar could help me navigate it just now.

I believe it might be wise to give your designs some thoughts after this. Challenges more heavily skewed, such as this domain, will give more uneven results. Some will struggle, almost facing an impossible challenge while others might have abilities which trivializes it all. It is up to you on how you test the trial-takers of course, but if you are meant to test any and all paths, then it might be worth thinking of keeping to the more balanced approach for each domain. Give more options and make the enemies more versatile, maybe?”

Having spent almost two weeks with only Glint and the orb as company, Kite had gotten quite adept when reasoning regarding the different challenges. He even found it rather fun to discuss different trials with the orb, as long as he could distance himself from the thought that his suggestions might spell death for real people in the future.

Third seemed a lot more cheerful as they talked about it, discussing back and forth with Kite as he walked toward the next dome. It felt nice not being completely alone in that foreign realm.

As Serene sat in solitary contemplation, she felt a transcendent tune harmonize with her as the song of her goddess joined with hers.

“My singer, your worry can be heard in your timbre. While it provides bittersweet longing, it is not the ultimate song of your path.”

“I am sorry, my lady goddess. It is merely mortal folly, to worry about what I can’t affect at the moment. I just hope that Kite does not feel too lonely inside the trial. Ever since I met him, I’ve felt that it is among people that he really comes into his own. He has always done well on his own, but I think that something is missing when he is alone. It is like his path is not only one to power, but also one towards people. That earnest curiosity…”

“Which led to your paths converging in the first place. As I said before, it was an important moment that will probably affect your song for decades to come, my singer. I know that moment, and he, is important to you, but I will urge you again; Trust in him. Fortune has a good eye toward him, as she has to most who appreciates what they have while keeping their curiosity for more.

But to aid you, I have a distraction for you, to prepare for when you ascend to the next step. An important secret of my clergy, one that you have earned, little singer. Now listen well, and sing along with me.”

Kite felt that his current conflict was going better than expected as he was weaving through clusters of seashell houses while pursued by glowing, thin tendrils. Unlike his previous battles in the underwater dome, this one was well lit thanks to the water ruler which hovered ominously in the upper parts of the dome.

Third had called it the Water’s Light, and it came in the shape of a huge, gelatinous body which pulsated frequently to keep itself in place. From the body hung myriads of tendrils, quite thin on such a huge body but very numerous. The whole creature was glowing with an inner blue light, which would have been rather pretty if Kite didn’t have a distinct feeling that the creature was very dangerous.

So far, he had been able to avoid being grasped by the blue threads pursuing him. He did not know how the eyeless creature tracked him, but suspected some form of supernatural senses. Wherever he could, he slashed with his sword to chop off what he could of the tendrils, but it seemed to be able to regrow them steadily. What had him at least a bit confident of putting up a fight was that Kite had made a guess, and seemed to have guessed correctly.

Every time he had sliced off parts of the tendrils, there had been a distinct blue pulse shooting through the body of the gelatinous creature. This had led Kite to believe that the heightened regeneration had not been an innate regeneration, but an activated and sustained effect. And Kite knew quite well what to do with those.

As such, he had begun hitting the tendrils again or even firing arrows up into the main body of the thing, his dispelling force causing the light to wink out and the tendrils to stop regrowing. And as such he had continued, the pressure gradually easing up on him as the tendrils shortened.

Just as he thought that this would be the way to ride out this challenge, the creature seemed to reach the end of what patience that was contained in the unsettling, glowing body. Its inner light suddenly changed to an angry red, and points of light began gathering in spots on its body and at the tips of each tendril. Kite had a bad feeling and dashed toward one of the seashell houses, but he was not fast enough.

A pulse of red light spread through its body and each tendril fired a thin, straight beam of energy straight out from it. Most tendrils were floating freely and not pointing anywhere in particular, causing the discharged attack to create a momentary web of magical death throughout the dome. Some were pointing at Kite though, who managed to get a barrier up just in time to catch the beams. He had a moment to realize his mistake as the beams, apparently disruptive force, punched through his barrier like drills through paper. His armor was hit in multiple places and Kite felt pain course through him. Fortunately, the armor protected better than the barriers but the rank disparity hampered its protective ability.

As Kite saw the lights charging up again, he realized that he might need to take a risk here. But as he would not be the only one, he first needed to ask his companion as well. Ducking into one of the seashell houses, he sent his thoughts and intentions to Glint. He got a determined affirmative response, and together they awaited the next discharge. Kite felt it more than saw it, as even his rudimentary magical senses found it hard to miss. The roof cracked and fell apart, and up from the newly made hole came a huge, shimmering carp bearing her bonded essence user.

The pair flew through the waters, Glint making impressive evasive maneuvers as the next discharge had been built up. She dove through the net of energy beams which flashed into existence before winking out, actively pushing at the aiming tendrils through her control over the water in an attempt to throw off their aim. As the attack winked out, she instead swam up toward the base of the creature where those very tendrils were connected to the rest of its bulbous form.

All Kite had to do was hold out his greatsword at his side, as Glint started making small charges who each passed by a couple of tendrils at a time. The blade chopped through the thin appendages, and after a couple of passes and dodging two more salvos of energy beams, every tendril was cropped down relatively close to the semi-translucent body. By this time, Kite was gritting his teeth through another wound as a stray beam had hit him, but in this scenario it had been Glint’s safety that both their lives were depending on.

“My turn to take over. You have done very well, Glint.” Kite relayed via their link as he guided her upward, towards the top of the monstrosity. As they passed above it, another discharge had been built up. This time, it was harmlessly sent toward the now empty platform below as the monster’s tendrils were too short to aim at Kite without firing through its own body.

Glint shrank back to her original size as Kite dropped down to land on the top of the gelatinous beast. He could feel a tingle through his greaves, thankful for the stone armor between him and the creatures. Then he brought forth his spear and started stabbing downwards. Void rifts, dispelling strikes, mana-implosions and transcendent light wracked the bulbous monster as Kite rained down what attacks he could. Its size and nature gave it little ability to shake him off, as its movements were simply too slow and ponderous. Feeling it weakening after a time, he gave a command to Sage, along with power stored by Kite during this whole battle.

The floating symbol of his familiar aimed down and the dark spaces which constituted its body started glowing as Kite gifted it the charges from Potential of Stolen Power. As he did, he saw Sage’s lines configure into a new symbol of the idiographic language which constituted his form. He didn’t have the chance to interpret its meaning before the power stored in the familiar, boosted by Kite’s own ability, was unleashed.

Normally, the attack took the shape of a channeled beam of either disruptive or resonating force. Now, it instead sent out a storm of small, glowing motes of energy which covered a wide area in front of the familiar. In this case, that meant the whole top of the creature’s body. As the motes landed on the monster, everything was still for a moment. Then one of the motes detonated in a small shockwave, blue from the disruptive force as resonating force probably would be rather ineffective against the gelatinous creature. The first detonation reached multiple adjacent motes of light which detonated in turn, causing a devastating chain reaction to spread over the whole top of the huge foe.

It bucked and spasmed beneath Kite’s feet for a few seconds, almost succeeding in throwing the young man off its back before it stilled. Standing there ready to strike again, Kite waited for five heartbeats, then five more.

“Congratulations, trial-taker! You have defeated three out of six rulers of this trial. Only three more to go!”

An hour later, Kite was sitting deep in meditation. He had found a seashell building close to a bridge which seemed to lead to a new domain, apparently of the wood element as he could see the thick jungle covering the large platform. While hard to gauge at a distance, he thought it to be the largest platform so far.

But right at this moment, Kite was on the precipice of something else. He had felt it being close for a while now, something just beyond his reach. Apparently, his triumph here in the water domain had pushed that something over the edge, as a gray light with flickering streams of bronze shone from his body.

WWJS:

Congratulations!

Your ability [Gaze of Adamance] has reached bronze 0. [Gaze of Adamance] has received additional effects.

Gaze of Adamance

Special ability. Cost: None Cooldown: None Current rank: Bronze 0

Effect - Iron: Provides perfect peripheral vision and increased ability to swiftly process visual stimuli.

Effect - bronze: Gives the ability to see magic and magical effect. May be activated for a cost of low mana per second to provide 360-degree vision.

Kite could feel an icy cold pass through his eyes, followed by a rather painful burning sensation. He did his best to endure, having been warned about this phenomenon by both uncle Walker and master Stone, and continued to sit with eyes closed even as the pain faded away in an attempt to let his body adjust internally to the changes. After a while, he was no longer able to contain his curiosity and opened his eyes.

An almost overwhelming amount of new sensory stimuli bombarded his mind. Not only was his eyesight sharper, but everything had a completely new layer to it as he could now see the magic infusing the world around him. And inside the astral space, there was a lot of magic. All of the water around him had a certain tint which he realized was its water affinity, as did the long seaweed seen through the round, open door of the seashell house. Glint was shimmering even more lustrous than before, and he had to almost avert his eyes from Third who was currently hovering nearby.

“Each new step on one’s path is like being reborn.” Kite quoted from a book which auntie Crow had him read even before leaving Starberry peak for the first time. “I believe I can understand the sentiment.”

The world felt truly new as he gazed upon it with, literally, new eyes as they had been reforged through the increasing magic in his body and soul. But he felt that his ability provided something more as well, and he tentatively activated that part of his new perception power.

He fell over where he sat as a wave of dizziness threatened to empty a stomach which had not eaten food for over two weeks. Having long since adjusted to his perfect peripheral vision, he realized that now being able to see in every direction around him at once was a different beast entirely, especially as his spirit attribute had not yet reached the bronze rank of his perception power.

“This… this will need some adjusting to.” he croaked where he lay, Glint hovering concerned above him.

Kite took a full day to rest up after the water domain, and most of that day was spent trying to acclimate himself to the new mode of vision available to him. He found that practicing in short bursts was the most manageable way, as he could gradually sustain it for longer and longer. At the beginning he remained in the closed off, still space of the seashell house before eventually moving carefully around the platform. The murky water helped limit the amount of impressions, even if the gently swaying seaweed all around him caused new bouts of nausea.

After many hours spent practicing with his new power and perception exercises taught to him by his uncle, Kite felt a bit more reassured to be able to use the ability without hampering himself, but he would probably still need to limit himself to shorter bursts while he waited for his spirit attribute to catch up.

As he was walking over the bridge towards the jungle canopy of the much larger platform in front of him, Kite was talking idly with Third.

“May I ask things about previous trial-takers?” he wondered, posing it as a question to the construct.

“You may, trial-taker, but only regarding things that you have already witnessed yourself.”

“When was the last time someone passed this trial then?”

“So far, not one person has.”

This caused Kite to halt, turning to the construct. “No one? At all?”

“Not this particular trial, no. Each one is uniquely crafted as the gate assumes control over the magic inside the proto-space. As long as the officiator can construct a stable trial, the gate will allow it to remain until a trial-taker clears it, spending the magic of the gate. After that, the gate will depart and the proto-space will dissolve along its natural course.” Third explained. As usual, it seemed more than happy to share surface-level information about the trials.

“Then, how many have attempted to clear this particular trial?” Kite continued.

“During the one hundred and two years since the deployment of this gate, you are the fourteenth trial-taker. Before you there have been three trials of iron rank, eight of bronze rank and one of silver rank.”

“You mentioned that before; that the trial is adjusted after the rank of the trial-taker. Could people of even higher ranks make an attempt?”

“They can, but due to the low levels of ambient mana in this region, the jade-sky gate would be unable to sustain a gold-rank trial. As such, a gold rank token will not work with a gate at this location.”

Kite wanted to ask more, but they were drawing near the jungle-filled platform and he needed to be more alert. The jungle seemed thick but not impassable, and there were paths leading away from the small patch of open ground where the bridge ended and the platform began.

As he stepped on the platform, he felt the familiar softness of the woodland ground, even though the plant life was quite different. He continued to make pulses with his evolved perception power, satisfied that he could endure it for longer and longer now. Casting a forlorn gaze over his shoulder along the bridge to the water domain, one such pulse revealed that a monster was currently leaping straight for him as it had shot out from the vegetation. It had apparently taken the opportunity as his back was turned, and was almost upon him with great speed.

Kite only had the time to slightly duck, not having the time for even his short spell chants. Claws raked across his stone armor and side of his head, fortunately not too deep. There was still quite a lot of blood pouring down the side of his head as the beast passed him and landed in front of him.

It was a huge feline, not unlike the moss prowler he had fought in the early days of his training. This particular one was larger, with leaves and even flowers growing out of its back, the rest of its body consisting of green fur and pieces of bark like armor. It was only up close that Kite could feel its bronze-rank aura as it gave him a glance before leaping back into the jungle around him and disappeared.

Kite remained where he was, rattled and on edge by the sudden ambush as he popped a healing pill into his mouth while frantically looking about. Third, on the other hand, seemed elated by the encounter.

“Ah, the Woodland’s Alpha. I thought that it would be interesting if the wood domain broke the pattern a bit, so I made it into one huge platform with the ruler instead prowling around as a constant threat. Will the hunted be able to become the hunter? Only time will-”

Kite stopped listening as he had detected a slight rustle behind him via his perception power, and only a moment later the alpha tried pouncing at him again. More ready this time around, he had the time to chant a clipped “ward”.

There had not been time to take many steps into the woodland domain before the feline had attacked. The force wall sprang up between Kite and the alpha, but at an angle. As it was airborne and unable to do anything to change its trajectory, the beast collided with the wall while its forward motion carried it onward along the translucent barrier to where it ended. At the edge of the platform

Not simply surrendering to such an unexpected tactic, the woodland alpha shot out a few roots to anchor itself in the edge of the platform just as it went over. At this time, Kite was already turning, greatsword in full swing toward his foe, covered in sundering spatial tears [Void-Sunders-Firmament]. In the final instant he adjusted the angle just slightly, and cleanly severed the closest chunk of earth and stone from the platform. The very chunk where the beast had anchored itself.

That was why Kite and Third could only listen to a yowl of fury which quickly grew more distant as the ruler of the woodland domain fell toward the cloud cover far, far beyond.

Silence reigned between them for a long minute.

“Trial-taker?”

“Yes?”

“I believe I am rather cross with you.”

“Grand elder Lark.”

The statement was curt and neutral, as mistress Dew didn’t even open her eyes where she sat in meditation among the trees, just beyond the clearing which housed the jade-sky gate.

“Frost among Morning Dew.” The grand elder greeted in return as he had just appeared standing a few meters away from the seated woman.

Both had their auras thoroughly restrained so as to remain undetected by the young men waiting near the gate.

“What might an adventurer of your stature be doing just lazing about our territory?” Lark continued.

“Keeping an eye on things. It is a contract.”

“Why was the sect not informed first then? It would be well within our capabilities to handle any issues within our territory.”

“Even if it is your very own initiates who are the problem?”

“The initiates are doing nothing wrong.”

“Oh really? An interesting definition there, grand elder. I would say that lying in ambush for a trial-taker of the jade-sky gate has gone rather far beyond the limits for decency already.”

“A student of the Victorious Sunset sect is beyond reproach from the likes of you, outcast. The simple reason of what they are makes their actions honorable in the eyes of the heavens.” the grand elder sneered. He had already begun making plans for righteous retribution since the last time he had met this woman, and there was no way that he would let her meddle in sect affairs again.

“I believe that the adventure society would have strong opinions regarding that as well.” mistress Dew stated, an amused smile on her lips which did nothing to hide the frost in her tone.

“And I do not care what your society thinks. That branch director of yours thinks that he can come here and start to claim power and rights which have been the sects for generations. That institution is merely one of servants, who provide glorious opportunity for the actual warriors of these lands.

If you think I will let you interfere in my initiates’ business here, on our lands, then you are gravely mistaken.” The grand elder was still calm, but his words had a definite growling tone to them.

“And the queen’s law-”

“Is nothing, not in the lands of our sect. We are the only power here.”

“I believe that she might disagree.” mistress Dew stated, actual amusement in her voice.

“An empty throne rules no one.”

“So you mean to hinder me enacting it then? If the trial-taker succeeds?”

“What I will hinder is you overstepping your bounds on our lands. It would be my pleasure to show you the error of your actions.”

Mistress Dew smiled. “Then it will be very interesting to see how this all plays out, won’t it?”

During his whole time fighting through the jungle plateau, Kite had endured a constant stream of sulking grumbling from Third. As he had fought off elusive warriors made of plant and vine, Third had sulked. As he had avoided giant carnivorous plants, Third had sulked. And as he finally defeated a huge, five-armed ape guardian which had flung heaven-knows-what at him to attack, Third had been sulking.

Taking the orbs perspective, Kite could understand its frustration as its carefully crafted scenario had gotten a rather anticlimactic end. It did feel as if something had been lacking during most encounters, and Kite shuddered at the thought of constantly staying on watch for the bronze-rank ambusher throughout this whole plateau.

“Third, I understand that you are disappointed. But I will not apologize.” Kite repeated for the thirtieth time.

*Grumble grumble* “-put wings on everything next time-” *grumble grumble* Was the orb’s mumbled response.

They were currently housed in a small cave found on the huge plateau of the wood domain. Kite had thoroughly checked the space for anything hostile. Ignoring the grumbling of the orb, he fell into meditation. While it was not directly quantifiable, he did feel that he was making good progress. Kite preferred to fight along his companions, but had to admit that the solo-challenge was a good way to really push his abilities to their utmost.

“But on the other hand, what about someone like Serene? Her path has so much worth but would be woefully inadequate for a challenge such as this. Independent strength surely cannot be the only way to reach the heavens. There must be a reason to push some people’s path like this though. Why else would the Queen of Jade and Sky create something so wondrous, if deadly?” he mused, before once more clearing his mind and falling deeper into the meditation.

Kite slept in that very cave after sweeping the area around it and setting up a few alarm rituals which would warn him if anything crept close. As he had done so, he had once more sent thoughts of thanks to auntie Crow. Kite was by no means an expert ritualist, but the thorough understanding of the basics had him proficient enough for a couple of every-day magic rituals when he felt that the small expense in materials was worth it. The basic cleansing ritual had been much appreciated by his whole group during their time on the road. While nowhere close to the cleaning power of many alchemical compounds, such as the vaunted crystal wash, it had still been a lot better than having to bathe in the wilds of the Autumn lands during the winter.

As he awoke, he once more had a moment to appreciate the increasing physical benefits of his gradually rising attributes. The cave floor had not been very comfortable through his bedroll, but where he once would have been stiff for almost the whole day afterwards, any such aches were swiftly dealt with by his increased recovery attribute. According to what he had been told, this was only a first and rather minor step as his body would move away from mortal limits entirely.

Kite had scouted out the different bridges towards the final two domains, one which seemed to be perpetually wreathed in a storm, occasional lightning flashing. The other was instead completely still, a grand castle of gleaming, unyielding metal.

Having already made his choice, Kite set out toward what he assumed to be the domain of air. The final stretch on the trial of the jade-sky gate had begun.