Gate 7

Cool, calm waters. Cool, calm winds. A cool, calm mind, absorbing mother nature. That was the state of Kazi Hossain.

"...what is he doing?" asked William.

David answered in a heartbeat, "Meditating."

"Meditating? When did he learn to do that?"

"In the last gate. An old man taught him."

"So he meditates? That's cool…?"

A new voice came in and asked, "Can I draw on him?"

A gradual turn of looks and a wide-eyed statement from William. "Aisha, I did NOT expect that coming from you. And where did you buy those markers?"

"Is that a no?"

"....nah, let's do it."

Gate 7 was upon them. What was Kazi doing in preparation? Meditation at Gate 5, on a canoe in the middle of the lake.

As he meditated, Aisha and William doodled on him. He let them have their fun. His focus was on something much grander.

[ Third Eye Meditation

Subtype: Support

Cost: —

Rank: A

Focus, gather Qi, and gain a 1,000% increase in MP/minute. ]

[ Flow of Mana Lv. 3 upgraded into Flow of Mana Lv. 4 ]

Drona claimed he was a natural at manipulating magic, that he had an uncanny ability to manipulate the shape and nature of his inner self like no mortal could or should.

"The first step of meditation is never easy, yet you take it in stride. You enjoy emptying your mind, almost."

That wasn't true. Not one bit. He didn't enjoy emptying his mind, he merely preferred the domain of silence over everything else. That was all.

[ Training successful! Magical Might increased by 2! ]

[ Training successful! Magical Mending increased by 2! ]

He could feel it, he grew stronger. So this was what Marta saw. She claimed to have seen screens that announced a particular stat had increased. William had also seen them. So this was it.

He opened an eye, read the pop-up screen, and saw the backs of William and Aisha.

William cursed. "I messed up the swirl."

"It's fine," Aisha said. "I can fix it."

"What are you, an artist?"

They turned back and Kazi promptly closed his eyes again. Seconds passed of the broad tip of the marker moving across his face. When the time was right, he opened his eyes and yelled, "Boo!"

Aisha jerked back and William nearly fell off the canoe. Silence was great. Laughter wasn't so bad either.

***

The Server Room, a chance to turn back before entering a gate. For players of Kazi and Sun-young's strength, there was no need to look back. For Marta and William, it was understandable to be nervous.

"No preemptive warning," William muttered. "Does that mean it's going to be a group activity? A boss, maybe?"

They left David, Elena, and Aisha at the Abyss. Kazi was blunt about their weakness and how they would slow them down. Marta had earned her place in the group, while they hadn't. A sad but honest truth.

Marta's nerves were shown in her fingers. She was gripping her staff tightly, as if letting go would result in death. To some extent, it would. She was a mage and without her staff her magical abilities would dampen significantly.

Slipping through the gate, the four of them found themselves at the centre of city ruins. Grey and decayed, upon a single glance, Kazi estimated the architect was Mesoamerican. His suspicions did not need to be investigated as they were confirmed from the informative screen.

[ Gate 7 : Ruins of Chichen Itza

Main Objective: Defeat 5 enemies of the Witch Class

Prize Pool: 15,000 XP, 15,000 PP

SPECIAL OBJECTIVE: Defeat all hostiles in the area

SPECIAL POOL: 150,000 XP, 150,000 PP ]

"You seem to know where we are, Kazi," said Sun-young. "Care to tell us?"

"Yep! Man, I can't believe I'm really here." He grinned, head turning, taking his surroundings in. "Look! Ahead!" Arm forward, his finger pointed eagerly. "El Osario! It's just like the textbooks!"

A step-pyramid a step above everything else on the landscape, that was the El Osario. A temple room stood at the peak, a cube that could be reached by the four staircases on the four faces, all leading to the divine inevitability.

"Chichen Itza is an old Mayan city, to put it simply. It was abandoned and in recent times, both a tourist and archeology area." Without looking, he jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. "Way behind us, there should be Chichén Viejo which is—or I guess was an archaeologist only place."

"So we're in Mexico?" William whistled. "I always wanted to vacation there."

"The objective mentions witches," Sun-young pointed out. "Should we be worried?"

"The name of the city and its meaning has always been contentious. Some say Chichen Itza means 'At the mouth of the well of the Itza' while others claim a different translation: 'enchanter of the water'. So in all likelihood, the witches will use water magic."

Sun-young frowned and silently equipped the Majin-ken.

"We should probably split up and look for clues. These are the ruins of a city and there is a lot of ground to cover. Me and William will be one team, and Sun-young and Marta will be the other. Cool?"

"Um—"

He did not let either of the girls speak as he grabbed William and went off. "Cool! Let's go, William!"

Leaving with William in tow who was unable to protest his orders, he overheard Sun-young and Marta's bumbling conversation.

"...do you like Final Fantasy?"

"Huh? N-not really, I like Dragon Quest better."

"Oh."

Just barely within earshot, Kazi bit his bottom lip and nearly burst into laughter.

***

The city was connected by paved causeways called sacbeob. Literally meaning white roads, the sacbeob mapped out temples, plazas, homes, and, of course, the big temple in the north—El Castill. The walk wasn't terribly long, given the city covered a little less than two square miles. Stone buildings were multi-coloured, a sharp contrast to the modern day version of the location.

'So we're not at a point where the colour has been worn off. Hm. Interesting.'

There was symbolism behind the colours, though he could not figure out what. The limestone construction did indicate Puuc and Chenes styles of architecture. Well cut and well worked, and nearly impossible to find authentically in the real world.

'If only I could go inside and take a look at everything.' A small sigh left his lips. 'But I have to focus. The mission comes first.'

The terrain was uneven. Coming up to the Great Northern Platform, one of three main sections to the city, was akin to climbing a hill. The angle wasn't terrible but a certain degree of strength was required for their legs. The low walls dividing the Great Northern Platform and the Great Osorio Group were meager. A quick smash of his axe and William got them through.

"Nice arm," Kazi praised.

William smirked and swung his axe over his shoulder. "I've been working out a lot."

Eventually, they reached their destination. The most iconic and central structure at Chichen Itza—El Castillo, also known as the Pyramid of Kukulcan. Although identical in shape to the El Osario, the El Castillo was the father of the two. Twice as tall and wide, the step-pyramid rose majestically above the landscape. Its four sides featured a total of 365 steps, a purposeful inclusion representing the days of the solar year. Indeed, the pyramid's precision was no accident, as during the spring and autumn equinoxes, the play of sunlight and shadow created the illusion of a serpent descending the pyramid's staircase, a symbol of the feathered serpent god Kukulcan.

He really wanted to see it. Alas, the sun above was too bright for such a magically scientific marvel.

Being close up to the pyramid-like temple, a childlike thrill washed over him. Thirty metres high, taller than its Osario counterpart, it wasn't a monster construct yet the sun gave it a yellow-ish glow that could not deny its greatness.

William remained behind, rather puzzled. "Why was the city abandoned anyway?"

"Nobody knows. It's a mystery, which is crazy because if you look at the architecture, you can see there was an unprecedented amount of diversity. Lots of people came here yet by the time it was discovered it was abandoned." Kazi gestured to William to come close. "Come, come. Listen to this."

He clapped his hands and, somehow, to William's astonishment, a chirping noise echoed.

"What was that?"

"They say the Mayans built this feature on purpose to mimic the quetzal bird. The temple itself is allegedly dedicated to Kukulcán, a serpent deity closely related to Qʼuqʼumatz of the Kʼicheʼ people and to Quetzalcoatl of Aztec mythology."

"Meaning…?"

"We're not really sure! But we know it's dedicated to a god, that's for sure!"

"Amazing. Remind me to never dabble in archeology."

William's joke was promptly followed by a cry.

A cry of a magical spell, that is.

"Hydro Blast—"

"Gale Burst."

Unable to summon his staff time, he extended his hand and fueled mana through his arm. Kazi met the blast of water with a blast of wind, and was dutifully overpowered. It wasn't close. Luckily, he bought the necessary time to allow himself and William proper evasive manoeuvres.

There were two witches that were unmistakably native Mesoamerican. Xochitl, her ebony hair cascading like a waterfall, adorned a cerulean gown decorated with wave patterns. The second witch, Itzel, had raven hair fixed with lapis lazuli beads, matched with a flowing aqua-hued robe reminiscent of river currents. Her light-brown skin bore body paint resembling glistening scales.

Xochitl casted the initial spell, level 20 and quite powerful. But the witches were slow and before they could cast another spell Kazi and William had already closed the distance between them and struck.

'No barrier! Interesting!'

Axe and sword met wood. With unexpected arm strength, the witches blocked their metal weapons with their wooden staffs and began fighting back. So rather than rely on barriers like mages did, they fully participated in close quarters combat.

William, caught off guard, got whacked in the face.

Meanwhile, Kazi casually caught the staff with his bare hand. The expression of the witch shifted to shock.

'....and fear.'

Something was wrong, he could feel it in his heart.

He summoned his wooden sceptre in his left hand and swung it at his opponent. At the moment of contact, he whispered, "Fire Dart."

The clash followed a fiery point-blank blast to the face.

[ Critical hit landed! ]

His attack didn't kill Itzel but it dropped her health to the red. Her compatriot yelled her name and William seized the opportunity to get the drop on her.

"You! Intruder! Get out of my way!"

"Like hell I am!" William was pressing down on her, his axe and body strength slowly overwhelming her.

[ Receive:

10,700 XP ]

He didn't kill her yet he gained XP. His assumption had been correct. 'So there is a difference between defeating and killing.'

But that didn't matter right now. What mattered were Xochitl's words and the terrified expression on Itzel. She wasn't horrifically burned, thank god. The damage was largely of the first degree.

"William, Xochitl, hold on!"

Distracted, the beautifully haired witch kicked William in the shin and backed away. "How do you know my name!?"

"Dude, I almost had her." William sucked in a pained breath. "What the hell do you mean by 'hold on'?"

"Remember what the mission said: defeat, not kill," Kazi said. William didn't understand, so he elaborated, "Look at their lip flaps. They're speaking an ancient dialect. They're natives of this land. We're the intruders here."

"So!? She blasted us without even saying that! A warning wouldn't have been difficult!"

"I know, William. But they're witches, not bitches." Pause. "Okay, that sounded better in my head. Look, the point is, they must have had a reason to do that. Maybe there was someone besides us here. They don't have to be our enemies."

"But the objective—"

"There's hidden objectives too and their rewards are astronomically better. So please, let's lower our weapons and chill." He gestured towards Xochitl, who grimaced and threw concerned looks over at the hurt Itzel. Kazi winced. "Sorry about that. It was an accident."

"Accident!?" Xochutl fumed, readying her staff again. "You could have killed her!"

"But I didn't. I don't want to. Please, believe me."

Her hold loosened and Xochutl glanced at her friend several more times.

"At the very least, let's talk," Kazi said. "Who are you? Why are you here? Why did you attack us?"

"You should be answering my questions. How did you know my name? Answer that!"

Wince. 'This is going to be a hard sell…'