The day I...
'Today is the day.
Today is the day.
Today is the day my life changes'
A boy walked a narrow path heading up a snow covered mountain.
His clothes dirty, torn and far to small for his frame covering the bare minimum.
The weather was cold and snowy, the path slippery and rugged with an ever increasing incline.
On first sight one noticed how thin the boy was, skin meeting bone.
Trees with no foliage could be seen on all sides of the path a single slip could spell disaster.
Dirty hair, dirty skin, shivering from head to toe he kept walking.
Footsteps could be seen along the path but no one was in sight.
Like a walking corpse the boy pushed himself to keep going.
Light shined from over the hills breaking the dusk apart, the first sign of a new day.
It was hard to see still, the path was unclear and his footing unsure.
He needed to persevere a little longer, just a bit more he thought.
Avoid this rock, climb this hill, ignore the pain, the hunger is an illusion, today is the day.
A tone of blue yellow and purple could be seen pocketed on his skin.
Black and crimson scabs covered his elbows, knees and feet.
One could see the determination in his eyes, he couldn't fail now.
Not now.
An hour passed and dawn had arrived.
The cold intensified as the heat from the sunlight displaced the cold air from the earths surface.
_[Final edge sect]_
Excitement appeared in his eyes along with a new resolve, to see the arch alone gave him hope.
His steps became lighter, his pace increased, his fatigue lessened.
In front of him an arch stood high overlooking the barren landscape, standing alone against the winds.
No walls could be seen on either side only the arch stood surrounded by the barren snowy landscape.
The boy could neither read nor write but he knew what the symbols at the corners of the arch represented.
Standing below the arch the boy drew a breath to calm himself before stepping forward.
'Please.
Please be true'
Apprehension and hope pervaded the boy's thoughts as he crossed the arch.
If what was told to him was true the arch before him would change everything.
The landscape behind the arch was the same as everywhere else frozen and barren.
As the boy crossed the archway a feeling of being lifted up and dropped abruptly passed.
The barren landscape warped slowly disappearing behind him, opening up to a refreshing wind, before him the trees vibrant, flowering and filled with life.
His steps slowed, tears filled his eyes as his belief was fulfilled.
Looking back he no longer saw the barren landscape, the arch was now surrounded by a vibrant forest while inside the arch one could see a snowy landscape with a path leading into the distance.
The boy was shaking, his freezing body was warming up from the excitement.
'It was true, I'm really here'
The boy fell to his knees as his strength gave way.
"Stand up child, you are not done yet" A voice spoke to him.
The boy looked around finding no one, he then looked toward the sky wondering if it was possible, a man was standing in the air above him.
"Congratulations, you have passed the first test of discovery and second test of endurance, now it is time for you to stand once more and walk onto the stone before you"
The man gestured down below, far down the mountain a square platform made of stone could be seen.
The boy stood slowly seeming to be on the verge of falling once more yet he held firm.
No fatigue could be seen in his eyes, his body felt further away from him yet he took a step 'There, just… get there' he huffed.
The man watched for a moment analyzing the boys condition from afar and concluding that no interference was necessary, no longer paying attention he seemingly disappearing in the wind.
The boy made his way down the path, it was well maintained and clear while not being too steep nor having any sudden drops or steps.
It took him no more then ten minutes to reach the bottom of the mountain, he could see several other children waiting below the platform while an older woman sat atop in silence.
Appearing behind the crowd some of the children looked over for a second before looking away.
Curiosity could be seen on many children's faces as they looked around them, others seemed to be afraid, some stood bravely full of expectations.
It was clear to see that children where of many different background.
A child wearing a nightgown, one wearing nothing but hem shorts and straw sandals, another dressed in fine cloths, some in bearskins or animal hides, a few even carried large bags filled to the brim while covered head to toe in luxuries.
The color of their skin, the features of their faces and even the color of their hair all varied from child to child.
The children gathered from across the globe trekked the snowy landscape only to end up here, some knew what was about to happen others simply walked the path that was set before them and a few simply ended up here thinking it was all a dream.
The older woman looked at the children below her, then looked into the sky before looking away.
"We will now begin the welcoming ceremony, everyone gather together"
The children did not all know what was going on, but the woman was an adult with an air of authority so they simply followed instructions.
The children originally spread just far enough apart to spread their arms now stood shoulder to shoulder.
"Now then, I will call each of you up one by one onto the stone platform, I want you to stand in the center of the platform until I say so. You have already passed the test of your endurance both mentally and physically, you have also passed the arch confirming that you have strong spiritual roots, now it is time for your spiritual roots to be tested so that you can be assigned proper guidance".
The woman's mouth did not seem to move yet every child could hear her voice inside their heads.
No children above the age of 6 or below 4 had been brought here, their minds easier to amaze and mold into ones own liking.
"Now then, girl with the braids up front come up here"
A little girl with braids looked around only to find herself to be the one singled out, she was flustered but soon made her way up
"Stand in the center child"
The girl stood at the center of the platform while the others watched from below.
Slowly a dim light spread below her feet.
The older woman looked at the light, a golden brown, pale green and a clear blue light shinned on the stone.
"Oh not bad, triple element spiritual root made of metal, wood and wind you have a good future ahead of you"
The girl not knowing what this meant paid attention to the tone of the older woman and used it as a metric, 'it wasn't bad… right?' she thought.
"Step aside child, next you boy with the big forehead"
Another child looked around and found that this time it was he whom was being stared at.
He put his head down as he walked onto the platform grumbling.
The same process would repeat once more. A warm orange light, a soft green light, a strong blue light and a sort golden light emenated from the stone platform.
"four element spiritual roots, everything but earth. Next".
The boy stepped aside and the next child went up.
This time it was the skinny boy, the old woman spared no time activating the platform the moment he reached the center.
"Four element spiritual roots, everything but water, step aside skeleton. Next" it was clear to see that she had no liking of those with four color lights.
This process kept repeating, triple element and quad element, made up the vast majority of the test takers while only a couple of double element spiritual roots appeared.
The old woman was pleased seeing a few double element spiritual roots while most the children were still unaware of the meaning of these lights.
"Good, now we can proceed"
The old woman stood still clapped her hands together while mumbling under her breath while the children stood behind waiting.
The stone platform then started to shine as many lines spread out and many symbols glowed around the children.
In a bright flash the children and the woman disappeared from the platform.
The man in the sky once more appeared overlooking the forest.
"How goes the search?" the man spoke.
"It's not good, the spirit of this world is dying... those born with strong enough spiritual roots to enter the gate are becoming harder to find" another man's voice sounded.
"...sigh" the first man looked depressed.
"Master, earth is no longer able to support cultivation, the latest children's spiritual roots have degraded by a level or more, if not outright disappeared, the other sects have already abandoned the mortal realm and headed to the spiritual world over a century ago! is it not time for us to do the same?" the voice from the void spoke.
"Yes, it might be about time. With all other sects having left earth, it allowed us to gather children from across the world to fill our ranks like never before but the longer we lingered… the talent is no longer there. We will search for three more years for any remnants, after that we will leave earth" the first man spoke dejected.
"I will do as you say master, I will double the effort for these last years to leave no talent behind!" the voice spoke.
With that the man in the sky waved his hand and the arch leading into the winter landscape disappeared from the barren landscape, while the passage closed no longer leading into the frozen landscape.