66 A Will Grows Through Struggles II

Anna Hale was taking uneasy steps forward, but it was getting harder to move at each step she took. The ice would turn colder, and the fire would turn hotter. The wind would blow harder, and she would get weaker.

Anna would usually not have a problem with the ice at all. Ice was nothing but a form of water, and she was a Water Cultivator. If anything, she would use this opportunity to cultivate. The problem, however, was the fire. It intermingled with the ice, denying Anna any control.

She could not even protect her body from it. The strange combination of ice and fire wore down on her body slowly, and when her body was barely able to take it anymore, it started wearing down her mind.

Looking at it, Anna could only sneer inwardly. That Guardian was surely a very cruel being. In truth, this was just the unacceptance of the defeated. She could not deny that she was surprised at how the Guardian had seen through her.

Because Anna knew exactly why she was in this place. She knew exactly why her Trial was that way. She had lived her life in such conditions, after all.

The mist covering her face turned fainter as she let out a sigh. Her shoulder drooped down even more and her steps almost came to a halt. She was moving forward at a pace so slow it was unbearably frustrating.

She raised her head, looking at that infinite expanse of white that was the sky above her head. The searing winds made her black hair whip violently behind her back, and the fluttering snowflakes were thrown in face with violence, disappearing from view as they penetrated the shroud of mist.

She looked ahead, gazing intently at the intermingling ice and fire. As they collided, the snow would melt, turning into water. The smoldering rock would cool down, hardening. The water would evaporate, turning into a faint mist of steam. The flames would disappear, dispersing in the air.

Anna stopped walking. She stood still, looking ahead in a daze.

Even if the elements collided, even if they neutralized each other, there was a balance. It lasted for no more than a split-second; a moment so fleeting it would seem like an illusion. Nevertheless, she saw it.

For but a moment, in the middle of that tempestuous and mutual destruction, there was a point of equilibrium. A moment where there was stillness and ice and fire coexisted in harmony.

Moving forward without knowing where you are going was nothing but foolishness. Moving forward while ignoring your surroundings was nothing but foolishness. There was a point where moving forward would bring nothing but suffering. One had to know when to stop, or they might lose all they had achieved.

If you moved back or moved forward at that point, balance would be ruined, and everything would disperse in the air. Like the heat of the dying flames. Like the water turning into steam.

For the first time in her life, she stopped moving. For the first time in her life, she understood that she was a fool. Because if you never stopped moving, you would never be able to properly look around.

Sometimes, standing still was the best way to move on.

---

Amon slowly opened his eyes. This alone was a struggle in and of itself. His eyelids were heavy, and he felt it would be easier to simply keep his eyes closed and let his consciousness fade away again than to try and wake up. Still, he could not give up.

A simple act, which should have taken no more than the fraction of a second, seemed to take a few minutes. When he finally managed to completely open his eyes, Amon was greeted by the same sight he had seen before he passed out.

The red clouds were still above his head, glowing ominously in the sky. All of the same size. All of the same shape. All unmoving.

Amon looked at the sky in despair. His body was completely numb and it felt heavy, as if invisible chains bound him to the smooth ground beneath him. His throat and mouth were so dry that his tongue seemed to stick to the insides of his mouth.

His head throbbed in pain, almost in sync with his heartbeats. It clouded his thoughts and made him even more uncomfortable. He could not even move his head to look at his body properly. Just the thought made his head nearly explode. Maybe waking up had been the wrong choice, after all.

In such conditions, he could only look up to the dark sky, silently gazing at the red clouds.

Amon had lost track of time long ago. He could have been stuck there for ages, or maybe moments. His senses seemed as confused as his thoughts, and he had trouble discerning what was real or not.

In a daze, he looked at the equal red clouds in the sky. He did his best to focus on them, but no matter what he did, they were all the same. Unmovable and equal in all ways. He could see every deformity in their shape, every depression, every imperfection.

His thoughts started scattering again, and his mind was turning more and more sluggish. Just like him walking before, it was as if his mind was dragging its feet, about to fall down from the exhaustion.

Even if his body was numb and heavy, Amon could still feel the cold golden token gripped tightly in his right hand. He could not move to look at it, but he knew it was there. He, however, was not sure of he would be able to break it.

The scalding heat coming from the ground had probably filled his back, legs and arms with blisters long ago, but Amon felt none of it. As he looked up, his senses of time seemed to turn even blurrier. He did not know if time was slowing down or speeding up. All seemed the same, and he felt even more lost.

There was an incongruity. It was as if he did not fit in at all. There was no sync between him and his surroundings, almost as if they were experiencing different times.

A chance occurred. Along with that even greater uncertainty, the clouds above him seemed to turn blurrier too.

"Eh?" He thought to himself, with great difficulty.

The clouds seemed to be blurry, even if the sky was clear. Amon tried to focus his gaze, and realized the clouds seemed to be vibrating. It was a very subtle movement, very hard to see. Amon wasn't even sure if he was truly seeing it or he was hallucinating.

Maybe it was true. Maybe the only way for him to get out of this predicament was for him to understand what was different between him and his surroundings.

---

Sarah and the other Elders were looking with attention to the pool made of the Ashen Heart Tree's sap. All of the cultivators showed on it were struggling against conditions tailored by themselves.

They did not know it, but the place they were sent to was nothing but a basis to their predicament. What they realized in it and what they gained in it was all shaped by their subconscious.

A will was a resolution. A drive that moved them forward. Only a strong will would propel them in their path to cultivation. The Trial of the Will was nothing but a way to show them what they already knew, but never understood.

What they had to do now was to understand what their drive was. What they wanted. They had to find a path they wanted to tread. Those who failed to find their wills, or those that did not have willpower strong enough would never overcome this Trial. Even if they did well in the other, this meant that, at least right now, they were not truly fit for cultivation.

As Sarah was thinking of this, a faint rumbling sound started echoing through the dark room, and the ground quaked lightly.

She looked in surprise at the pool, as five of the sections started rippling wildly, distorting the images of the cultivators in it.