Guardian's Trial (Complete)

Guardian's Trial

Medium Quest

Requirement: Must have completed Guardian of Earth.

Reward: 3,000 zeni

Kami has agreed to train you, but first you must complete a trial. He takes you deep within the bowels of the lookout into a dark dank chamber. Within the chamber there are four torches. He tells you to light. Upon lightning them you will be pulled into the Astral Realm to face the spirit in battle. Each spirit has a different strength and weakness. Defeat the four and prove yourself to Kami.

Sairai sat across the table from the Guardian of Earth, with an untouched cup of tea sitting in front of him. The man’s eyes held him captive. There was much wisdom behind those orbs, and Sairai merely wanted to learn a fraction of it, the fraction that would allow him to protect the Earth more easily. Kami didn’t seem to be moving, and for a moment Sairai was scared that the old man had keeled over right where he sat.

That was until he spoke, “So you wish to train with me, young one?”

Sairai smiled and nodded. “Yes, there is nothing I would like more. I hear you are the Guardian of Earth, and I would like to train with you so I can work with you to protect this wonderful planet.”

The old Namekian looked at him with a nonplussed expression for a moment. “Your intentions seem pure enough, but I’m afraid I’ve never met a member of your race before. You don’t exactly look like the friendliest type of person on the face of the planet. Can you please explain why you would like to protect the Earth, considering that it hardly appears to be your home world?”

Sairai considered for a moment before he answered. “The truth of the matter is, my race is a race of conquerors, and there is nothing about my race that I in particular like to admit. I’m not like most of them. My royal cousin, Frieza, is one of the greatest tyrants to ever walk the face of the planet. He is evil incarnate, and I will do anything to protect the place I have come to know as my home from him or any other being who would dare to come here with the intent of destroying this world or causing harm to the populace.”

“What caused you to despise your own race so much?”

“My race puts its focus on ruling by fear instead of respect. I was… foolish enough to question the status quo, and was discharged from my officer training back on my home world. My brother, Hale, and the rest of my family virtually disowned me at the time. I was able to barely escape the planet due to a rather greedy ticket master at the gate to the interstellar shuttle. I ended up coming here and fell in love with this lush blue and green planet. There’s just something about this place that I love, beyond anything I have ever felt toward any world I have ever visited in the past.”

Kami looked into his eyes, as if gauging the truth of his words. He smiled and leaned back, his eyes closing for a brief moment as he seemed to carefully weigh his next words. “You are being truthful with me, I can tell. You want nothing more than to protect this place, and it is a laudable goal. Very well, I shall train you. You deserve at least a trial to see if you are truly strong enough and pure enough of heart to be able to train with me.”

Sairai perked up at the mention of another trial. “What do you mean? I thought the fight with Mr. Popo was the trial?”

Kami chuckled lightly before saying, “Well, yes he was a trial. He is the trial all have to face before earning a face to face with me. However, there is another trial, to determine whether or not you’re worthy of being trained in the arts I have to teach. I’m old, but I’m still one of the best martial arts teachers on the face of the planet.”

The Changeling considered his options for a moment before responding, “Well, I understand that you are going to make me prove myself, but can I at least ask what sort of task I will be required to partake in, in order to prove myself?”

“Yes, you may. You will simply be lighting a few torches in a chamber not far from here. If you manage to light all four within a day, you will become my student.”

The young man was puzzled for a moment. He knew this wasn’t all there was to it. Kami was holding something back, something that might be lethal, or worse.

“Very well. I will take this challenge. I will do whatever it takes in order to be considered your student, no matter how mundane or extraordinary the results are.”

Kami smiled slightly as he stood from his chair and balanced himself easily on his staff. “I will show you to the Room of Creation. Please follow me.”

Sairai stood and walked a step and a half behind the old master, his eyes dead set on the back of his new teacher. He could feel his hands becoming clammy, as his nerves began to get the better of him. This was going to be one interesting day, though he had no idea exactly what kind of test he was in for. I hope this doesn’t end up getting me killed, he admitted to himself lightly.

WC: 847

The young Changeling warrior stood in the middle of a room, a strange circular glyph glowing beneath his feet, like some kind of mystical power source. The Changeling could feel the energy of the room. It was like something out of a children’s fantasy holotape. He could tell that this was no controlled energy. It was more of a primal energy, the kind of energy that would come from an ancient world of secrets and magic. It felt good to the young man. The energy resonated with him on a very deep level. He could feel it filling him up with the primal powers of the universe.

“Alright, I think you’ve got a feel for what this task is all about. You will be lighting the four torches on each side of the wall. Once you have done that, I will allow you to train under me.”

Sairai tilted his head. There was something seriously wrong with what he was saying. The energies of the room would likely snuff out the torches before they would be able to remain lit together.

As if sensing his trepidation, the older man chuckled slightly. “These torches are very special. They each relate to one of the primal forces of nature: Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. Earth is stable, stubborn, grounding, and solid. Water is nurturing, caring, emotion incarnate, and the source of life. It will also crush you with a tsunami if you’re not careful. Air is fickle, thoughtful, and detached from the world yet still a part of it. Fire is unstable, destructive, passionate, and the source of anger, frustration, and determination. These four elements, the base elements of life, will be your challenge. Do not disappoint them.”

Sairai nodded, his eyes set firmly on those of Kami’s. “I will not disappoint them, nor will I disappoint you. I will master this trial and I will become your student. You have my word.”

The older man smiled and nodded. He turned to walk away, and said on his way out, “If you need assistance, think only of the elements and what they stand for. You will find all you need to know there.”

With that cryptic remark, the door slid closed behind the old Namekian and Sairai merely sighed in frustration as he allowed his ki to rise just a little beyond its normal level. He walked over to the first torch and read the inscription under it. “Earth, huh… Well, here goes nothing.”

He charged up his ki into a little flame on the tip of his index finger and lit the torch. At it began to burn, the torch turned a radiant gold in color. Sairai beheld it with a sense of wonder similar to that of a child. Few flames he had ever seen had been able to hold to a single, uniform color. As he continued to probe the flame with his gaze, he felt himself being pulled out of his body and into the rumbling flames before him.

Suddenly, he was surrounded by rocks and rubble. Mountains grew out on either side of him, and not a single living plant was to be found. The earth beneath his feet rumbled as a strange person found its way to him. A woman stepped forward and beheld him with an expression reminiscent of tempered steel. Her hard gaze seemed to pierce through the young man with the intensity of a spear.

“So… You’re the one who lit my torch. I take it Kami has seen some spark of promise in you? Hmph. You hardly looked like you’re a challenge, let alone someone worthy of calling themselves a defender of Earth.”

Sairai tilted his head slightly at the woman’s words. “Um… So, I light the torch and I meet a human woman in some other plane of reality? This just keeps getting weirder and weirder.”

The woman seemed slightly shocked at his expression. “He didn’t tell you that lighting the torch would take you to one of the elemental planes of the astral realm, and that you would be required to fight the spirits of the element that guard these places?”

“Uh…” Sairai responded, scratching the back of his head absently.

“I’ll take that as a no. Oh well, perhaps he just wanted it to be a surprise. Alright, shall we begin?”

Sairai shrugged and got into his ready stance. Earth is hard, stable, and stubborn, he reminded himself. There was nothing he couldn’t overcome, nothing he wouldn’t overcome to train with the Guardian of Earth, and if this woman was set on getting in his way, he was going to teach her a thing or two about why Changeling had become one of the most feared races in the entire universe.

He looked her up and down and noticed he extremely solid and rigid stance. It was unlikely that she was all that fast. She probably relied on a high level of pain tolerance and a tough body to get her through most of her fights.

“Let’s begin,” they both said in unison.

WC: 844
TWC: 1,691

The Spirit of Earth charged Sairai head on, but he was more than prepared. He dodged her blows with ease, not even thinking about how he could counter attack. He could feel the force of the air whooshing past him with each blow she tried to land. She was unable to hit him, but if she did it was going to hurt like hell. The Changeling sighed and thought about things while he was dodging. There’s got to be some way around someone with such an impressive strength and endurance level. I just need to figure out what it is…

However, his thoughts caused him to slow down just enough for the woman to plan an open palm strike right across his face. He immediately went spinning in the air before hitting the ground a few feet in front of her.

“This is no time to get distracted!” she said, he eyes locked dead with those of the young warrior before her. She approached slowly, taking her time as she approached the young man. Sairai retaliated immediately with his tail, spinning from the ground and taking her legs out from under her before jumping to his own feet. Her rough, hard-hewn skin bit into his tail and he immediately regretted his actions, even if it did take her off balance. Clenching his teeth through the pain, he rushed at her with and attacked immediately, letting out open palm strike after open palm strike.

His attacks hit home, but didn’t seem to do much in the way of actually hurting her. He then decided that a different tactic might be in order. He allowed his ki to grow out, and unleashed his full power before disappearing and reappearing behind her with his eyes dead set on the back of he head. She seemed to be more than prepared for his superior speed though, as an eruption of broken rocks and rubble greeted him upon his reappearance, striking his body with shards of rocks that nearly cut him open.

He growled angrily at the woman, nearly allowing his blind rage to get the best of him. He immediately caught on to what she was doing, however. Physical attacks were going to have almost no effect on her, of that he was now certain. “Dammit!” he screamed as he allowed his ki to overtake him.

He was feigning blind rage, which was something he did not think she would expect. For him to actually be angry was probably her expectation, but if he pretended to be while still holding himself together internally, she’d probably make a few mistakes that would allow him to take advantage of a hole in her defense. He rushed at her full speed before disappearing and reappearing behind her. Sensing that she was going to use the same technique as before and blast him with a collection of Earth, he immediately dodged to the right and unleashed a ki wave into the woman’s back. She hit the ground like a sack of vegetables and stood up slowly.

“As I suspected, you have almost no defense against nonphysical attacks.”

“Don’t get so cocky. I won’t be letting you get to me with one of those attacks so easily next time!” she roared, before coating her entire body in the earth beneath her before hardening it into a suit of crystal armor.

Sairai smiled. “This means I’m getting to you. I’m afraid that armor will slow you down even more, and I do happen to have some attacks that are more than capable of piercing such a shield. I-“ his words were cut short as a giant ball of crystal flew at his face and hit him dead on. He flew back and hit the ground with a heavy thud.

He linked groggily as he dull pain filled his face and head. He stood up shakily and cracked his neck before looking at the woman before him with a look of shock and disdain. “You hit me in the face!”

“So?”

“You-hit-me-in-the-face!”

Without even thinking twice about it, Sairai unleashed his ki to its full potential and screamed at the top of his lungs. His ki gathered all around his body at first, but it became apparent as he continued to gather the energy that it was concentrating on one central location, his right arm.

“I’m going to make you regret doing that.”

The energy flowing through the Changeling’s body focused itself on the outside of his right index finger. He lifted his arm and pointed at the woman before him, his eyes set on her own. “Allow me to show you why my race is among the most feared in the known galaxy,” he whispered.

He unleashed his race’s signature Death Beam attack in a barrage, a dozen tiny rays of energy all pointed at the dead center of the woman’s armor. She couldn’t move out of the way fast enough and the beams bit into the crystalline armor she wore before enough of them hit to pierce through completely. They went through her side, avoiding the areas where most people’s major organs would be stashed, though the Changeling was sure his attack caused maximum pain.

The crystal armor shattered as the woman fell to one knee. “Fine, I give. You win. Congratulations, you’ve passed the Test of Earth.”

Without even being able to respond, Sairai was instantly back in his body, standing before the golden flame of the torch he had lit. “I’m guessing next will be Air,” he said, before walking across the room and lighting the opposite torch, which immediately began to burn with a strange, green color. “Well, then… Let’s see what Air can do.”

He was saving Water and Fire for last, because he still wasn’t sure how to handle them. Air, however, seemed easy enough.

After all, what could a spirit do with the air that most races needed to breathe, make a nice gentle breeze? Well, it turned out that Air was capable of much more than the Changeling martial artist was prepared for.

WC: 1,011
TWC: 2,702

As before, his eyes were drawn to the green flame and suddenly he was no longer where he was before. He was now falling through the air, plummeting straight down toward a nonexistent ground below. He used a ki burst to push himself upright before he used his flight to hold himself in place. He looked around, expecting the spirit to appear at any point.

A light tap on his shoulder told him all he’d need to know before he turned around and beheld the face of the Spirit of Air. “So, you lit my torch? How do you like my little home?”

Sairai shrugged slightly and said, “Well, there’s nothing to sleep on. I’d have to keep perfectly vigilant in order to not just plummet endlessly in this infinite sky.”

The being before him smiled lightly and nodded. “Though, you’d never be hurt. Like you said, the sky is infinite. You could literally sleep on a bed of air. Go on, give it a try.”

The man chuckled and rolled over on his back, still looking the younger being in the eyes. “After all, what’s the use of an infinite realm of air if you don’t at least enjoy it a little?”

Sairai raised a single brow as he looked at the man before him. He was decked out in all green and didn’t seem to have so much as a care in the world. It was almost as though he didn’t even think about the being who was to challenge him as an opponent, but more as a friend.

“What… are you?”

“Oh, me? I’m the Spirit of Air, the embodiment of freedom, a carefree spirit who lives only for the enjoyment to be gained out of each day. I know, I know, you’re here to challenge me, but that doesn’t really sound all that fun at all. Ooo! I have an idea! If you can catch me, you pass the Test of Air.”

“Catch you?” Sairai asked, before the being literally disappeared from sight. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!” the Changeling vented out against the air itself before he took off in pursuit of the spirit. The Earth Spirit had been too rigid, and this spirit seemed to be so much without rigidity that he had absolutely no restraints at all.

This isn’t going to be easy, especially considering how fast he is, the young warrior thought to himself. He thought he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He stopped and turned around, noticing only a floating cloud on an otherwise cloud free backdrop. He shrugged and turned around before he caught himself.

“A cloud, really? This is the best you can do?!” he yelled triumphantly as he unleashed a ki wave at the cloud, which dissipated right before the attack hit it. There was nothing there, and the wave just continued along its merry way.

“This is going to be a little trickier than I thought. How do you catch the air?” he asked himself. He considered the meaning of air for a moment before he came to a sudden realization. You couldn’t catch air very easily at all. It could slip through any grip, move around anything that tried to hit it. It was fluid, without substance, but there were other ways of keeping air contained.

Sairai smiled for a moment before he started to take big, deep breaths. He could feel the air entering his lungs and then exiting, a strange feeling considering he could easily breathe in a vacuum. Slowly, he could feel a strange sense of dread overcoming the entire area around him. The air became suddenly heavy, and Sairai smiled. He took one final breath and held it in, forcing the air to remain trapped in his lungs.

As if trying to cause him to take a breath, the gravity of the area changed, causing Sairai to start to fall before he charged his ki up and increased the strength of his levitation. The wind picked up and a monsoon began beating him from all sides, the wind biting into him from all directions, but still he did not allow a single breath to pass his lips.

As is crying out in rage, the surrounding area whipped up a huge tornado that swallowed Sairai and slung him this way and that with wild abandon, just to make him breathe out. The Changeling began to feel sick, but still held his breath. Finally, the air around him seemed to give up and the being responsible for guarding this plane of existence appeared, leg sticking into the young man’s mouth.

“You caught me by the leg. That was so unfair.”

Sairai finally breathed out, allowing the elemental spirit to return to having his full body.

“Well, you won. See ya later, you strange, creative little man. Come by and play again anytime you like!”

Again he wasn’t given time to respond as he was returned to the physical realm, all in one piece. As much as he considered it strange, he could feel that his energy was not being depleted by this area. It was being slowly recharged as he continued to fight these spirits. He still had two left to go, fire and water. He did not know which to pick first, so he decided to save his favorite for last, and went straight to the fire sconce in the wall. He lit the flame, and it turned a bright red, burning brightly.

Sairai held his breath as he knew what was coming by now. A feeling of vertigo overtook him as he was taken into the astral realm once more, this time to the elemental realm of fire.

WC: 952
TWC: 3,654

This time, Sairai was at least standing on solid ground. He could feel the heat around him, but it was a gentle, almost loving warmth that surrounded him. He watched as the spirit of fire stepped out before him. She had long, flowing red hair, formfitting clothes of a deep crimson, and a pair of emerald green eyes that made Sairai think he was lost within a forest. The woman looked him up and down and shrugged.

The fires dancing around the entire area enveloped her , though it did not appear to cause any damage to her clothes, much less her body. “I am the Spirit of Fire,” she said, he eyes locked onto those of the man standing before he. “I will test your passion and determination in gaining what you desire.”

She touched the ground softly with her feet and bounded toward him, arms covered in flames. She struck out at him and he dodged, but the flames still licked his face and caused him to grunt in pain. “The flames of passion appear to be too much for this one. Perhaps I should have started with the embers of passion instead?”

Sairai didn’t much appreciate the taunt, but he wasn’t about to let her get the better of his normally cool demeanor. He lunged out with his tail and wrapped it around the woman’s neck, but immediately let go as his skin welted up with first degree burns. “You can’t touch that which you do not feel. Your passion burns lowly, if it burns at all. Show me your willingness to sacrifice yourself, body and spirit to prove yourself worthy! Show me your passion, or die by my fire!”

Sairai jumped back as the fire extended from her arms like a pair of whips and nearly took his head off. He brushed the sweat off his face as he noticed that the surrounding temperature seemed to be growing hotter, as the woman radiated the heat of her passion out around her. He cursed under his breath as he stood up to continue the fight, and fired one of his Death Beams at her. She took it right in the chest and absorbed it. It didn’t even cause her to flinch in pain, much less cause any physical harm. As he watched, the fire surrounding her began to take on a blue-white color.

“That wasn’t a very impassioned attack, was it? Oh well, I suppose I should thank you for the extra energy, anyway. I know, how about I show you what really capable of?”

She rushed toward him, flailing her flame whips in all directions, he aura stifling the Changeling with its absolute heat. This is ridiculous. I hate fire! Why’d it have to be someone like this?!

The smashed into him and sent him flying backwards into a pile of smoldering embers, which burned into his back side. He jumped to his feet and patted himself down to fight off the flames that he was sure were going to break out upon his skin. He looked at the woman and noticed that a pair of blue wings had sprouted from her back, made of flames. It was beautiful, the combination of blue and red veering her body, and had he been in a less life endangering situation, he would have marveled at it just as sure as he would marvel at a particularly poetic piece of art.

She came at him again and continued to berate him with the whips, as he screamed in agony from each blow, but could not bring himself to match her passion, until the wrapped one of her flames around his tail, which cause him to jump up into the air and stay there for a few moments. “You… you… you burned my tail… I need that to walk, you know!”

He almost lost it, but then he realized that when he yelled out in anger, the woman’s fire appeared to die down a little. Is this really such a simple case as fighting fire with fire? he asked himself. He allowed himself to fill up with all of his frustration from this fight and charged forward at her with reckless abandon. He smashed his tail into her side, sending her flying, and this time the flames did nothing to his tail at all.

“Looks like you’re getting the hang of it, kid. Now the fight can really start.”

Sairai was immediately behind her and wrapped his tail around her throat again. “I don’t think so. You burned my tail, and now I’m going to make you give up. Just tap my tail with you hand when you give up.”

The woman stubbornly refused to give in, even though it was slowly getting harder and harder for her to breathe. The flames around her body dimmed as she looked up at him with pleading eyes, but still would not tap his tail. He doubted she’d be able to at this point. He sighed and let go of her neck, dropping her to the ground.

“You showed a fire of passion to pass, but you also showed the compassion that one does not often expect from a stranger. For that I thank you, and I am proud to say you have passed the test of fire. Congratulations.”

Sairai smiled and nodded as he was returned to the real world. He grimaced as he faced the last of the torches. This one was the Torch of Water, and Sairai was unsure of what to expect from an element so endlessly adaptable to both offense and defense. He sighed and walked over to it before lighting the flame and entering the astral realm for what promised to be his most difficult opponent yet.

WC: 960
TWC: 4,614

The spirit of water faced Sairai as a reflection of his own self. The two stood atop a pair of ice floes floating over a vast and expansive ocean, miles deep and stretching straight past the horizon. “I am the Spirit of Water, the guardian of the element you yourself hold as most dear to your heart. Therefore, I have chosen to take on your likeness as my physical appearance.”

The Changeling looked at his reflection with a bit of a nonplussed look. He could feel himself growing anxious at what faced him in this realm. “You are the element of adaptability, of empathy, and of cool-headedness. I will not fail, whatever the test may be.”

“Oh really?” the spirit said, cocking his head to one side in a perfect parody of the Changeling himself. “You apparently don’t know what you’re getting yourself into. You allow your emotions to cloud your judgment at times, and your arrogant pride is one of the biggest things getting between you and a balanced emotional center.”

The fake Changeling turned around and walked in another direction, his eyes set on what appeared to be the distant horizon over the waves. “You lack the restraint necessary to call yourself a devotee of what I stand for.”

Sairai didn’t take this very well, and was about to interrupt the spirit when a glob of water hit his mouth and froze over it. “Listen, don’t speak. Be as calm as the waves. Take everything that is thrown at you, and then return it twenty-fold, like a tidal wave.”

“It is those who speak the most who show how truly foolish they are. Do not make the mistake of being considered foolish. Just learn to listen. Listen to the people around you, listen to the world, listen to the waves of the ocean. You never learn anything by talking, do you? You learn by listening to others.”

The spirit released the hold the ice had on the young Changeling’s mouth and turned back to him. “Your challenge from me is to learn to listen to the world around you, stop talking, even thinking to yourself, and just listen. Allow the world around you to tell you what it is going to do next. Flow like water, take it all in, flow around each attack as it comes and then crash down like a wave and take your opponent out in one fell swoop.”

Sairai closed his eyes and nodded his head. The spirit dissolved his ice floe and fell into the water as Sairai closed his eyes and bowed his head as he assumed a meditative stance. He allowed the information of the world to flow through him through his senses, all of them but his eyes. He knew that appearances could be deceiving from his battle with the Air Spirit earlier.

He could feel the waves moving in a steady, predictable motion. He could feel the cool breeze of the ocean air against his skin. Then, as he expected, the water began to move slightly more violently. He could feel the crashing waves coming up against the ice flow as a pair of watery arms shot out at his head, attempting to take it clean off. He didn’t even open his eyes as he moved his head clear out of the way.

His eyes still closed, he jumped into the water and allowed the fluid to surround his body. The gentle currents surrounding him almost lulled him into a trance state, but he fought it off and kept his senses on high alter against the possibility of an attack from the watery being that had challenged him. In an instant, the water began to solidify around him, freezing him in place, but he was prepared for this and kept his cool, allowing the cold to seep into his skin. He concentrated his ki into his body and broke out with ease, and charged the remaining ki into a ball before him, which cackled to life. The energy was prepared well, and his most powerful ability was almost ready to be unleashed upon the spirit that he had been brought to fight. He unleashed the Death Ball with a mighty throw, his eyes locked onto the water below, and smiled widely as he released a Death Beam at it, detonating it within the water. The energy caused by the explosion came out in a massive wave, evaporating all the water nearby, forcing the Spirit of Water to reveal himself from within the waves he had disappeared into.

“Very good. You forced me to reveal myself and adapted your style to fit an enemy you cannot see.” The being pondered for a moment, his eyes narrowing slightly as he considered his options. “You showed an adaptable style that is reminiscent of water, taking everything in and striking when the opportunity presents itself. You pass, now get out of here.”

Sairai returned to the real world with a smile, and he turned toward the door to see Kami standing there. “Congratulations. We’ll start your training tomorrow. Be up at dawn. There’s no time for us to waste. I fear the Earth will be in serious peril sooner than you expect, and I’d like you to be ready in time to do something about it.” The old man looked down at the floor and sighed, his eyes suddenly filled with sadness. “It seems every time we think we’re relatively safe for a few moments, there’s always some new thread coming forward to ruin everything we have worked so hard to achieve here on Earth. As evil is omnipresent, so too must we be ever prepared to send it screaming back into the shadows from whence it came.”

Sairai smiled and nodded, his eyes locked onto those of his new master. The time had finally come, he would be a protector of Earth, trained by the Guardian of Earth. It was almost too good to be true, yet something nagged at the back of his mind, as though passing this test was only a prelude for a much harder challenge yet to come.

WC: 1,021
TWC: 5,635