Mao Lu's Path and the Rules

The door was 50 ft tall. It was made of a dark metal. Next to it Mao Lu felt goosebumps spread across his skin, the hairs on his arms stood up, and a cold air blew against him. The air smelt very stale here, and the suffocating pressure had now doubled.

On the door there were strange carvings, and yet again he couldn't read them.

"To protect a realm a Gatekeeper has to defend or attack and must be highly capable at one or the other. There are many types of ways to use essence, but for a Gatekeeper there are only three main paths. Creation, Destruction, and Time. Once a path is chosen it cannot be changed. Earlier you chose the less conventional path, Time."

"This doorway will lead you to where you can learn about Time and Awaken. Out of the 400 Gatekeepers only 10 are on the path of Time, which you should be glad. Out of the three it is the most powerful."

"So, I got lucky and chose a good path!" Lu felt somewhat relieved.

"It wasn't luck." Gates voice was stern, "It was your nature. When I asked you earlier which path you wanted to take at that crossroads, you didn't hesitate to keep going forward. Just like Time, it is something that does not hesitate and will move forward regardless of what obstacle that tries to oppose it. Also, the path itself also chose you, meaning you have talent for it. You are destined to become a Gatekeeper that goes down the path of Time."

"...but…"

Mao Lu knew he had hesitated, at least in his heart he had momentarily. In his entire life he only continued forward because sitting down and doing nothing wouldn't change anything. It had become his nature to always take a forward stance, but that didn't mean he didn't hesitate. There were many things in his life that he had hesitated about.

Was he really destined to go on the path of Time?

Whilst Mao Lu thought this, he was also inwardly amazed at how well he was taking this and absorbing all this information. "How am I so calm about all this?" he wondered.

"Now enter the door and begin your path," Gates commanded.

"Wait." Mao Lu spoke up, "Before I enter, do I get to know what I'm protecting this Realm from, or what the rules I must abide by are?"

Although Mao Lu was rather patient, he felt that before he began training in anything, he needed to understand the cost of it.

For a moment Gates was silent as if it were pondering whether now was the right time to divulge such information.

"Since it is too late for you to turn back, it doesn't matter if you know now-"

"You mean I had a choice to turn back."

"Everyone always has a choice Mao Lu, even destiny isn't undeniable. But now you have made your choice, you want to be a Gatekeeper, right?"

Lu felt a slight twinge in his chest, it was a feeling that he had buried in his heart long ago when he decided not to further his education, and when his family situation turned to crap. It was ambition. He didn't want to be the underdog, he wanted power, he wanted to change his fate. He wanted excitement, and even though rationality told him not to accept the Gatekeeper inheritance and not to open that book. He still had.

"I do. I want to be a Gatekeeper."

"Then I shall tell you who you are protecting this realm from.”

“Firstly, you are protecting this Realm from other Realms. Gatekeepers are chosen by the purity of their hearts and the strength of their virtue; this doesn't necessarily mean they are peacekeeping. Many Gatekeepers have purely demonic hearts and are bloodthirsty and ambitious. There are 200 Gatekeepers of Mortal realms like yours, but out of that 200, 130 Gatekeepers are subjugated by Gatekeepers from the 100 immortal realms or 98 Celestial realms.”

“The 2 Deity Gatekeepers don't bother with such a thing, but if they did your resources and the people of your realm would become their slaves, easily.”

“There are also many conflicts between realms due the inhabitants. A Gatekeeper's duty is to give permission to those that request it, allowing travel across realms.”

“You are border control if you will. One Gatekeeper may give a group the permission to go to your realm, but as Gatekeeper of that realm, if you do not want them you need the strength to deny them entry or to keep them under control once they've entered. There have been many cases where a Gatekeeper hasn't been strong enough and allowed invasions and wars by other realms.”

“You must protect your own territory, it is the source of your power and if it is taken by those belonging to another realm, it will no longer be yours. And your power will be short lived, and your life will also be short.”

“Secondly, you are protecting your Realm from those beyond the 400 realms. Once every 10,000 years they come and try to devour the realms and take the Essence that lies in them. Many Gatekeepers have perished in such conflicts with these unknown beings. If you are not strong enough your realm could very well be devoured, although that hasn't happened yet I'm sure you don't want to be the first. And I'm sure you would like to avoid countless tragedies.”

“Before the Creator left, they instructed that no matter what, Gatekeepers must not let the 400 realms become devoured.”

Mao Lu felt his heart clench. This was really dangerous. He would have to defend against other realms and at the same time defend against whatever unknown things were outside the realms.

"Your predecessors were all pathetic in that they could never protect this realm properly. Other realms have taken your resources, leeched off your essence and forced your predecessors to bow to them. Wang Cao was no exception. That's why realm 145 is a laughingstock amongst the 400 realms."

"Why that's just freaking brilliant," thought Mao Lu, the situation had already sounded bad, but now it sounded even worse.

"Now for the rules. There are only ten rules you must follow. Firstly, never divulge the secrets of The Gatekeepers to those that aren't Gatekeepers.”

“Secondly, you must not practice any other path, meaning never cultivate and never train in magic. Your predecessor Wang Cao made that mistake. When he was chosen as a Gatekeeper, he was already a Cultivator at the foundation stage. As a Gatekeeper he was supposed to cease cultivation and focus fully on Gatekeeper teachings, however he found the Gatekeepers path difficult.”

“He went against this rule and tried to cultivate again. This led to a massive backlash where the essence in his body began burning the blood in his veins slowly every day as punishment. Eventually he couldn't bear it much longer and died miserably, well that's what happens when one doesn't follow the rules.”

Mao Lu thought of that friendly old man, and he felt overwhelming pity, he could only imagine the amount of pain he must have been in. His blood burned every day. No wonder he seemed so old and worn out when they had met so long ago. If he was a Gatekeeper shouldn't he be youthful and strong, no wonder.

He remembered Mr. Baker’s comment. He had said that Wang Cao could have lived longer if he had had more talent with cultivation. It was obvious that Baker didn’t know about these rules otherwise he wouldn’t have blamed his death on only talent.

“The third rule is that a Gatekeeper is not allowed to reproduce. When you become a Gatekeeper, your body will change to adapt to your path and to process large amounts of essence. If you had a child, they would inherit these abilities, however these abilities should only be exclusive to Gatekeepers. Such an existence with your powers and yet not constrained by the rules is a taboo. If you have a child, you will be forced to kill it or bear the consequences.” Gates voice was very solemn and threatening as it said this, but Mao Lu almost felt like laughing out loud.

Although he was young, and Gates probably thought he was at the peak of his life where he wanted children in the future. Mao Lu wasn’t personally fond of children and as a homosexual the very thought of sleeping with a woman put him off. He wasn't going to be reproducing anytime soon, and if he wanted to have a child in the future he could always adopt, and if he ever got a partner in the future... well there just wouldn't be any traditional reproduction.

He smirked a little bit, but that incurred Gates anger as it told him with a furious tone, “These are serious rules, I hope you don't take them as a joke or else you will suffer in the future.”

"No-no-no-no-no that wasn't why I was laughing."

"Regardless, take this seriously!" Gates didn't give Mao Lu the chance to explain before it began discussing the fourth rule, "Fourthly, you must train every day and develop your path.”

“Five, you must not bend in your principles or go against your heart's wishes. Essence is a very pure energy, but it is more than just that. It is alive. It has its own consciousness, and if it perceives you as weak or about to do something that goes against your principles it will defy you and may never allow you to use it again. A Gatekeeper that is unable to use essence is the same as a walking target. Respect yourself and respect the essence.”

“Six, you are not allowed to kill another Gatekeeper. Even if they anger you, you can't kill them and vice versa.”

“Seven, you must not teach another Gatekeeper about your path. Since you are on the path of time you cannot discuss what you know or have learnt with Gatekeepers of creation or destruction, although you may discuss it with other Gatekeepers of Time.”

“Eight, you must participate in the Gatekeeper ranking contest that occurs every century.”

“Nine, you are never allowed to reveal or open the book of Gates, myself, around others that aren't Gatekeepers.”

“And last but not least, you are not to kill wantonly and without reserve, if your actions are deemed too extreme, I have the ability to execute you.”

Mao Lu felt extremely sombre. These were serious rules and responsibilities with serious consequences that he shouldn't take lightly.

"Now that you have been enlightened on these matters, are you ready to step on to the path of Time?"

"I am," Lu said as he stared at the large door.

Before him it opened, and an invisible force dragged him inside. Mao Lu's eyes opened wide.

“This...this. This is time.”