This was the part that nearly shattered Tsukuyomi. He’d completely stagnated. If he could overcome this trial, he would be much closer to transcending. But it was tough. Really tough. No matter what he did, he couldn’t break through. And every time, he would end up an aching mess. Rinze began to worry he wouldn’t be able to do it. The echo chamber of voices, memories, dreams, visions, that’s what the Ryuo of the Moon must come to comprehend. They must direct the river of the collective mind to maintain the overflow of mental desires. Their prophetic abilities must also be used to witness the future and warn the people of calamities. Tsukuyomi needed to become that god.
Rinze sighed as she looked down at her pitiful student. “Take a break for now. Let’s try again later.” She flew away from the island, leaving Tsukuyomi standing there alone. He could tell she was most likely trying to search through the lotuses for any piece of information that could help him. After all, she was not supposed to be the one to train him. She was the Ryuo of Wisdom, not the Moon. Her tactics for teaching a dragon pursuing wisdom would be different. As the Ryuo of Wisdom, she didn’t actually have all the knowledge inside of her head. Most was stored in the endless garden of lotuses drifting along in this place. Containing all of that knowledge into a single body would be too much for even someone like her to handle.
Tsukuyomi leaned against a nearby rock and sat down. While he was struggling with the mind trial, he was still working on his fundamentals, which were practiced down to a tee. He hadn’t told his master yet, but he suspects he knows the reason why hasn’t been able to overcome it. In those countless images scattering through his brain, Tsukuyomi constantly saw the one thing he yearned for: his brother, Kagutsuchi.
Tsukuyomi was about seven years into his training at this point. How much more would it be until he reunited with him? Each time, Tsukuyomi was unable to focus on succeeding the trial because those memories of his brother always lingered. He wondered how he was doing. Tsukuyomi hadn’t left Rinze’s dimension for the past seven years. He had no clue of anything happening outside except for the occasional remarks by his master. Obviously, it was because Rinze didn’t want to introduce any distractions that could hinder his training.
Tsukuyomi sighed and looked at his hand. His power had grown immensely. He was most likely much stronger than his peers of a similar age. What if Kagutsuchi had joined him here? Was there a possibility he would’ve been happier? Maybe they could’ve gotten stronger together. I will catch up to you one day. “…” Tsukuyomi got up and walked over to the giant tree.
Pink cherry blossoms gently floated down from the tree branches and covered the floor in leaf litter. There was a subtle creaking sound followed by a whoosh of the swaying leaves. At the very top, peaches were growing among the branches. How long did it take for the tree to grow this tall? Tsukuyomi quietly stared up at the tree while mulling over his thoughts.
“It is quite beautiful.” Tsukuyomi flinched. When he looked back, Rinze was standing behind him. Dammit, when did she get back? Rinze smiled at him. “You think I don’t know why you’ve been struggling? Do you realize who I am?” Of course he couldn’t hide it from her. She gestured with her hand. “Follow me. A little change in scenery might be in order.”
Rinze led Tsukuyomi through the lotus garden to a different area. Past the shallow waters and pagodas, they came upon the entrance of a cave. “Master, since when was this here?”
“Hmm, I had to spend some time setting it up. I haven’t used it in a while.” Rinze stepped forward and entered the cave. Tsukuyomi followed her. A sudden chill emanated from deeper in the cave. Tsukuyomi had a bad feeling about this. It couldn’t be worse than what he was already doing, right? As they continued walking down the path, there was an increasing amount of glowing crystals that illuminated the darkness.
Eventually, the narrow passageway opened up to a large circular cavern. At the other end of the cavern were two stone dragon statues, towering over him. They weren’t alive, but the jewels in their eyes glimmered like they were watching his every move. A ring of crystals bordered the edges of the cave.
Tsukuyomi and Rinze stopped in the center of the cavern. “This is a trial chamber. It’s different from what you’ve been doing until now. I can’t tell what the trial entails.” Rinze moved towards the wall between the stone statues. A faint engraving of a claw print was on the wall. Rinze looked at Tsukuyomi. “If you place your hand here, the trial will begin.” She sighed. “I’m only doing this because I hope it will help you. It might be easier or harder than what you’ve been doing. All I can say is prepare yourself for a fight. Let me know when you’re ready.” Rinze stepped to the side and waited.
Tsukuyomi didn’t move immediately. He scanned the cave, looking for any hints to what this trial could be. But there was nothing else here except for the statues, silently watching him. He took a deep breath. There was nothing to lose at this point. Tsukuyomi stepped forward and stopped right before the engraving. He slowly put his shaking hand on the clawprint.
There was a loud rumbling noise and the ground shook. Tsukuyomi glanced around and he saw that the mouths of the stone dragons were opening. He ran backwards to the center of the cave again. After a moment, black mist spilled out of the mouths and rapidly enveloped the area. Rinze’s figure and the cavern walls disappeared amongst the black mist. It was dark. Tsukuyomi couldn’t see anything. He couldn’t hear anything. The ground beneath his feet was gone. That chill was no longer there. It was as if he were standing in an empty void. His breathing was suffocated. He tried to make sense of it. What was this? Calm down. Just breathe. He grounded himself in this dark space. After a while, he started to walk and explore, if you could even call it “walking.” There was nothing in the most literal sense. Tsukuyomi wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do.
“Tsuki.” Surprisingly, a voice echoed from somewhere. Tsukuyomi froze. There was only one dragon who called him that. He frantically looked around. And there it was. A small flame flickered in the distance. Tsukuyomi’s breath quickened as he sprinted towards it. Was it him? When he got closer, the flame started to morph into a shape. The flames swirled and shifted and eventually, it resembled a very familiar form.
Tsukuyomi panted and muttered out faintly, “Kagutsuchi…” The orange flames stared at him. “It is you, right?” Tsukuyomi approached him. It wasn’t his brother’s physical form, but the flames resembled him so closely.
“You’ve grown taller, Tsuki.” Tsukuyomi almost cried from joy. “Ah, elder brother, I have so much to tell you! Master has been training me- Well, you don’t know who she is yet, right? I’ll have to explain that first…” The flames quietly listened. Tsukuyomi started to ramble on about his new life excitedly. He couldn’t remember when he last smiled this much. “It’s kind of nice living here, actually. This place would be a nice spot for a home.” The last word seemed to trigger a reaction from the flames. The fire intensified slightly and its eyes squinted. “Home?”