Level Up Legacy

Ali was a strange man, although Arthur tried not to judge him. For instance, he prayed to some unknown god from his world. Arthur thought he was praying to a god from Devaheim, but that didn't seem to be the case. Ali was praying to a god that no eyes could see and no ears could hear.

"Does your god bestow you with powers?" Arthur asked on an uneventful afternoon while the three of them were resting underneath an artificial roof they found along the way.

"Everything is bestowed by him, but not directly," Ali answered as he raised his hands, which turned into an image of a plant growing from within its soil. "Life needs a creator."

"A creator, huh?" Arthur muttered to himself as he turned toward Tiara, who was still practicing her spiritual energy control.

Creation was no foreign concept to Arthur, but Ali seemed to have an entirely different perspective on the subject. After a lengthy silence between them, Arthur asked him a question that made Ali ponder.

"What if the creator was someone among us, breathing and walking like we do?"

The question created a gap between them. Ali didn't attempt to answer the question according to his religion but the concept that Arthur proposed. After a few minutes, he gave an answer.

"That would be a terrible fate indeed," Ali answered. "No man can handle such a responsibility."

"And if there is a man like that?"

"Then he would lose himself in that responsibility," Ali answered. "He will be consumed by the pressure that life demands, and the infinite lives he could save or steal. I believe such a man would be… lost."

Arthur didn't push further for an explanation, but he believed that Ali was right. The more power he obtained, the less certain he became of who he was or what he wanted to do. The fine line between his desires and duties became so thin that he could no longer decide.

The training resumed while the trio moved to Nexus. The giant dragon in the distance seemed the same size as before, proving its majestic size and distance from the Waking Glades.

Tiara was making more progress than Arthur, as she was already being taught by Ali, who had a similar attribute. Each soul had a different attribute, which would be determined by the personality and aspirations of the person themselves.

Arthur was left stumped at figuring out what his attribute was. His spiritual energy was vast, but it seemed unruly. The more he tried to cling to it, the less control he had. He even tried not controlling it, but it still didn't work. The experience left him feeling like he was taming a monster, where neither control nor its absence was the solution.

"You are not making any progress," Ali said from behind him, finding Arthur in a secluded area on a mountaintop. Arthur opened his eyes and turned back toward him. The scholarly man looked like a green shadow with an overflowing cape that drifted in the wind.

"Thank you for pointing out the obvious," Arthur replied as he turned back, attempting to resume his serene state of mind. "If not for Tiara actually learning to use her powers, I would think you were fooling me."

"And what do I have to gain from that?"

"If I keep thinking of everyone's motive, my mind would never stop."

"That's wise," Ali nodded as he sat down next to Arthur. "It seems that you are stuck, so let me help."

"I can figure it out on my own."

"But that's the issue… why would anyone need to figure out themselves?" Ali asked. "It should come to you naturally, like a newborn learning to eat and breathe."

"Are you suggesting that a newborn would be better at this than me?"

"I'm not suggesting," Ali said with a chuckle. "Newborns are indeed better at handling spiritual energy than adults. Those who begin their training early show accelerated growth."

"What makes us lose that?" Arthur asked as his interest was piqued.

"Little influences from the world. We are tainted by our experiences. The more the world affects us, the more we forget who we are."

"You mean I forgot who I am," Arthur summarized with a curious tone. "But are we not the experiences that shaped us? Are we not hammered by the challenges we have overcome?"

"We learn from the lessons, but it is true strength to remain unchanged when challenged. In a world where strength shapes the world, it is rather easy to lose oneself to adapt."

"Then," Arthur began as he turned his gaze away toward the distant city, "how do I find myself again?"

"That is the journey of spirit," Ali said with a chuckle. "None of us are truly aware of our deepest fears or desires, but we learn as we go. We forget, in our desperate attempts to survive, who we are, ending up as makeshift vessels of our experiences."

"You told me the problem, but not the solution," Arthur said with a chuckle. "I can't tell if you are a good teacher or a bad one."

"I am indeed both," said Ali with his thick accent and what Arthur assumed to be amusement. "We will arrive at Nexus in two days. You must complete your training before that."

"That sounds like a stretch."

"No, it does not," Ali reassured. "Your training is not to master spiritual energy but to first learn about who you are. I will give you a simple question, but the answer is all it takes."

"Yeah?"

"What do you want?"

"I want to learn how to use spiritual energy."

"That's just the means, but not the end of your desires," Ali said as he floated away from Arthur. "You must first ponder the secrets hidden deep within your soul before you can uncover the secrets of the universe."

Arthur looked at the floating spirit drifting away from him as it imparted that piece of obscure wisdom. His gaze lingered on the man before it drifted back toward the city of Nexus and the giant gateway it encircled. Above the city of Nexus was the celestial dragon guarding the entrance to the Earthen Layer.