A Thoughtful Man

The Gatekeeper was thought to be a simple man.

A man who simply cultivated his Body without a care for the world.

A man who had once been the hero of Kandria but had faded into irrelevance upon the advent of the Reign of the Master Realm.

A man who sacrificed thought at the altar of physicality.

A man who forsook mind at the altar of Body.

A man who could never break through to the Master Realm.

They were wrong.

They were all wrong.

While it was true that the Gatekeeper did not think in battle, relying on his muscle memory and instinct instead, it was not true that he did not engage in the pursuit of thought.

The reason he had gained the reputation of being thoughtless even amongst those who knew him the best was because when he did think deeply, it was when he was in complete solitude.