Dream of the Guardians I-1: Rising

Chapter 5 - Forged in steel

Being in the middle of nowhere, Chris decides to go into the mountain and makes his way against some fierce animals such as wildcats and bears ending their hibernation. For any human without powers, it would have been a very dangerous journey, but for Chris it was very easy to build solid stone walls to block the attacks of wild animals.

Having wandered the mountainous region throughout the day, he eventually reaches a cave to shelter from the rain:

"Wow, here it starts to rain more suddenly than in the temple, even the air feels less dense." Chris says loudly panting despite being alone, trying to catch his breath so quickly, "Walking up a hill almost makes me faint."

"If that alone is enough to exhaust you, you will not survive. You'll die." says a male voice, much lower than that of the monks of the temple.

"The only person in the whole area, you must be the old friend of-" but Chris is abruptly interrupted.

"Hama must have left you here, she always does what she pleases, I seriously don't understand the Air element. Everyone justifies their actions by being "free," only causing unnecessary problems." complains a man at the bottom of the cave.

"I don't plan to make trouble; I just want to rest." replies Chris with a very much exhausted expression in his eyes, «One thing after another, Karen leaves the temple, Fanny gets fed up with me, Yamamoto kicks me out of the temple, and Hama leaves me in the middle of nowhere. Now a man complains about my very existence. I'm fed up. »

The hermit sees Chris carefully, the awkward silence lengthens, the docility of the young man in front of him makes him more uncomfortable than watching a man kiss a dog on the muzzle. The man's piercing gaze makes Chris stay defensive while trying not to be a nuisance.

"How disgusting." the hermit replies as he looks away from his figure, "I hate unnecessary problems, but what I hate most are weak people like you."

"And who cares about that?! You are just a filthy man in a cave in the middle of nowhere!!!" Chris explodes when he receives a strong criticism.

As soon as Chris finishes speaking, he notices the atmosphere around him, the environment is flooded with a suffocating pressure that makes all his senses indicate the same thing: Death. The hermit wields a sword, and the pressure increases as he wields it in his direction.

All the animals of the region ran in terror with the pressure and throughout the area all can see an immense flare rising from inside the mountain to the skies, splitting the storm clouds and interrupting the torrential rain. Just outside the cave, Chris is all badly injured, his clothes have almost been completely incinerated, and his whole body is smoking.

The hermit comes out of the cave with the sword that almost destroys the entire area and is a little surprised that the young intruder has survived his attack. He claims that even a powerful adept would not be able to withstand an attack of that magnitude, so it will give him a chance to survive.

«Chance? What the hell are you talking about? You almost killed me just for being in front of him. » Chris thinks as he tries not to lose consciousness.

"I hate the weak, I'm not going to repeat myself." says the hermit who prostrates on top of him while the twilight sky clears over them, "I can't stand a world where you are weak, so either you get stronger, or I destroy you."

«I'm fainting, I don't understand what he's saying anymore. » Chris is already losing consciousness.

Chris wakes up in the same place and the hermit has dinner prepared at the campfire in front of him. With his body sore and his guts roaring from not eating all day, Chris extends his arm to reach for a piece of meat from the campfire, but the hermit hits his hand in reprimand.