"It has been a long time since someone entered through this gate."
The man's eyes twinkled with a mischievous light. He looked at Ayaan not with the coldness of the Sage, but with the amusement of a child watching a bug. "The city started to sing again. I wonder why that happened... hmm?"
"What is this place?" Ayaan managed to rasp, his voice shaking. "And what do you mean, the city is singing?"
The man simply shrugged. "I don't know why it started. It has been silent for so long."
As Ayaan looked past him, he could see the layout of the city more clearly. It was structured like a massive, perfect sphere—just like the cosmic wheel he had seen earlier—with glowing pathways cutting through the center like spokes. To Ayaan, it felt impossible, a dream made of light and sandalwood.
The melody of the city was faint at first, but suddenly, the volume began to rise. The sound that had soothed his heart moments ago turned into a piercing, vibrating roar. His chest tightened with a sharp, stabbing pain.
Then, the vision flashed back.
He saw the white desert again. The mountain of bodies was there, and the blood was everywhere. But this time, the black sword wasn't in Ayaan's hand. He looked up to see the cheerful man, but he was no longer clean. He was bathed in blood, his eyes glowing a terrifying, bright red. He held the black sword, and even as he stood in the middle of a massacre, he wore that same, playful smile.
Ayaan's consciousness snapped back to reality. He stumbled two steps away, his eyes wide with horror.
"Hmm? What happened? Why do you look like you saw a ghost?" the man asked, tilting his head innocently.
The sound of the city rose even higher, a frequency that Ayaan's body couldn't handle. He clutched his chest, coughing out a mouthful of thick, dark blood. The man watched him, his expression completely unconcerned.
"Oh, it seems you have overstayed your welcome," the man said softly. He stepped forward and touched his thumb to Ayaan's forehead. "But that's fine."
"Come again," the man whispered as Ayaan's vision began to fade into black. "When you can not just open the gate, but free the city."
The Sun-Peak
When Ayaan's eyes finally opened, he didn't see the cosmic city. He felt an intense, burning heat, as if the sun itself was sitting on his head.
Sitting nearby was the Sage. He had the same nonchalant expression as always, but for the first time, Ayaan saw him smile.
"At last, you are back," the Sage said, standing up. "So, tell me. What did you see? What did you feel?"
Ayaan told him everything—the cosmos, the Monkey-Guardian, the ocean of silence, and the bloody vision of the singing city.
"Interesting," the Sage murmured. "It seems you really are the one. Let me see what you have learned in these three years."
Ayaan froze. "Th... three years? What do you mean?"
"Yes," the Sage replied. "You have been sitting there for three years. I was merely the bridge for your training."
"But Master... I know nothing!" Ayaan cried out, looking at his hands. "I don't feel like I practiced anything!"
The Sage smiled. "That is because your training was not normal. These three years have poured the knowledge of the world into you, but your mind cannot hold it all at once. It will come to you slowly, when you need it most."
The Sage extended his hand, and a faint yellow light entered Ayaan's chest. As the light entered Ayaan the air there started to change a faint sound could be heard as if a strom was coming.
Ayaan's hand started to feel heavy as if someone just kept a boulder in his hands, his forehead started to burn not a faint burn but burnt like someone just placed fire in his forehead.
"Ahh w...what is this heat" Ayaan mumbled as he tried to touch his forehead but his hand felt too heavy to even move.
The Sage who would always help Ayaan in such conditions stayed unmoved just looking at Ayaan.
The burn in his forehead slowly started to fade and his hands started to feel normal the sky turned golden for a split second the air again started to ripple violenty the ground started to shake after some time a book appeared in hands of Ayaan.