CHAPTER TWELVE: THE QUEST FOR CLUES VIII: RAINBOWS, RODS AND VENTS
Ryu and Reis stood with Zan in the Hall Of Dream Knights.
"I've finally decided. I'm coming with you both. The connections amongst the things you've discovered are far too severe to be passed off as some kind of joke. What interests me the most is that these elements originate from completely different worlds yet they are very synonymous to one another. I think you might need my expertise in interpreting some of these elements and you can't keep walking back and forth between here and your destinations" Zan said.
"That's great Zan!" Ryu exclaimed excitedly.
"Besides, Ayu's also a student of the Academy and any threat to the Academy is a threat to her. It's not something I'm going to take lying down" Zan said.
"So Ryu, where's our next destination?" Reis asked.
"It's back to the myth maniac. I think he should know what we're up to" Ryu said.
"So we've got to take a leap down that mysterious pit again don't we?" Reis said as though he were not looking forward to the moment.
"And we've got to avoid the traps that trigger the release of the Galagan in the Passage Of The Galagan" Ryu said with a laugh.
"What traps?" Zan asked.
Suddenly, he felt his crystal key grow warm. He took it out.
"Looks like I've just received a lesson" he said.
"It couldn't possibly be from Master Raygaard right Ryu?" Reis asked.
Zan had a frown on his face.
"It's actually from him. Something about a test of resourcefulness" Zan said.
"Master Raygaard…you're inhuman" Ryu said with a weird expression on his face.
The two eventually stood in Kolmnid Farms. Zan noticed the pit.
"Very interesting indeed" he said.
"What is?" Reis asked.
"That pit appears to be hidden in plain sight. I'm certain most people that see it would still not notice it. Strangers would probably consider it trivial and walk past it ignoring it completely and those familiar with it just get too used to it to think it has any significance. It's like that saying 'what better way to conceal a secret from an adversary than to hide it in his home?'" Zan noted.
"I have been to Kolmnid Farms more than once but even I never noticed the pit till Ryu pointed it out to me" Reis admitted.
"It simply screams out 'things are not always as they appear!'" Zan said.
"Yeah, you can't survive in Kolmnid if you don't know that simple truth" Ryu admitted.
"Okay, time to take a leap!" Zan said and leapt into the pit.
"Are you insane?! You don't even know what's down there!" Reis yelled.
"Very fascinating indeed!" they heard Zan call out.
Reis and Ryu leapt into the pit. Their crystal keys suddenly became warm.
"I'm certain the counter for missteps displays the number three" Reis said with a smirk.
Zan suddenly began to walk ahead of them.
"Zan! You can't walk haphazardly! There are countless invisible traps in here!" Reis roared, then he noticed that Zan was in fact not walking haphazardly.
"Wait a minute Zan, do you have special sight? You're walking like you know exactly where the traps are!" Reis exclaimed in shock.
"Nope, but I know for a fact that a forest growing and thriving underground is certainly not a natural occurrence. You guys may be relying on a special kind of sight to make it through. I'm relying on the power of interpretation" Zan said.
"What?! You're interpreting this entire cavern and using that as some kind of compass?! What are you, a wayfinder?!" Ryu exclaimed in awe.
"I'll leave that to your imagination. Why don't you guys come along?" Zan asked.
They made it through and entered the Passage Of The Galagan. Eventually, they were in the Cavern Of The Jo-lan Masters.
They found Buern, Josec, Harry, Estelle and Jason laughing happily.
"I still can't believe this doodle! Estelle, you kept it on you for this long?" Buern laughed hilariously.
"It may look ridiculous but it was drawn by my fiancé and if you remember it was instrumental in Souryu's eventual downfall" Estelle said.
"It was instrumental cough cough! You may not have meant to but that was one hell of a joke" Jason laughed while coughing elaborately.
"Hey, I had to really mull that over you know?" Harry said as though he were close to taking offence.
"Hey Ryu, Reis! You're back and you even brought Zan with you" Josec greeted.
"Yeah, there is so much we've got to tell you" Ryu greeted.
"But first take a look at this doodle and tell me what you see and be honest about it" Buern laughed.
Zan took a look at it and passed it to the others.
"Before I met Reis and Ryu, I might have said it looked like a Rainbow with rods and vents jutting out of it" Zan said seriously.
Ryu also looked very serious.
"It wasn't drawn skillfully but when I look at it, I see Ryuujinn" Ryu said seriously.
Then Ryu and Reis explained everything they had discovered especially what they had learnt in the Ryu Dojo. Josec and co had to sit down from awe and shock.
"Oh boy" Josec was still trying to wrap his mind around it.
"It's that serious?" Buern thought.
"Harry, explain this" Ryu asked.
Harry explained the image to them. To put it simply, it was an image of a mutating several layered defense expressed in Seven Layers Of Ionized Air with vents to let air into the dome's core and conducting rods to conduct a foe's attacks into each layer of ionized air for an adjustment of the air's wavelength according to the wavelength of a foe's attack for neutralization of the attack depending on the rods that are struck.
"Hey Ryu, doesn't it almost sound like a musical organ?" Reis asked seriously.
"It also sounds like an orchestration to me" Zan admitted.
"To me this kinda resembles the way the elements of the Dragon Statues in the Temple Of Light flowed into the Dragon Statue that resembled Ryuujinn" Ryu confessed.
The others were suddenly serious.
"Could we borrow this doodle for a while Harry?" Ryu asked.
"Sure thing, I could always draw another one whenever I want. I have the concept in my head" Harry said with a laugh.
"Thanks" Ryu said.
"You look like you have an idea Ryu" Reis said.
"Yeah, I think it's about time we saw Tanya again" Ryu said.