It was three in the morning, and Marin could be found in his chambers. To the left of his front meeting room was his personal library. That contained a fancy fire place, his pipe organ, and a center desk loaded with his personal records, journals, and other information not openly available to others.

  A glowing fire gave the room a cozy feeling, but Marin of course was unable to bask in the warmth. Luckily he didn’t have to dwell on the fact, he currently was entertained by studying the Arkana files Monzane brought him a few days ago.

  Upon further inspection and intense study, Marin was finding out quite a bit about himself he almost didn’t believe. According to these documents, there was a time Sullivan Marin had been considered for a Grand Wizard position for the ice element. He had reached ‘Great Wizard’ status, which made one a candidate for becoming a Grand. Judging by the year in the entry, he probably got denied, or personally declined, in order to start building Nocturne Castle.

  Sygol was right. He must have been much stronger with his element during his living days. A Marin at the Grand level would be able to defeat the tall knight in combat easily. Marin then thought even if he got his memory restored, he doubted his power would just magically return to him. Perhaps he would have to hone himself once again.

  He flipped through more papers. One of the many requirements for the wizard title was to invent a new skill pertaining to one’s element. According to these documents, Marin had created the skill known as Icecrawler.

  He didn’t remember that. Where was the skill book on that? Was it made accessible to Arkanians, or kept secret within the vaults? Perhaps he had a copy of it at one point.

  Marin squinted his eyes shut, trying to remember something, as if he would actually succeed this time and not fail like the hundred times before. Several minutes went by, but as was typical, nothing came to him.

  Marin checked the time on his grandfather clock once again. It was getting close to four. Overlooking the documents had to be put on hold, it was about time for him to meet Gus for his final ice bath.

  The day had finally come.

  The King opened one of the drawers to the desk, and rested the pile of documents safely inside. He slowly and gently pushed the drawer shut, as if it cradled a newborn baby.

  He iced the dancing flames in his fireplace with a wave of his hand, putting it out. He left his quarters, preparing to enter the woods on the far side of the castle. The time was arriving soon that he would attempt to have Gus gain the ice element.

  With a towel over his shoulder, Marin grabbed a lantern from a nightwatch guard near the stables, and continued on outward into the cold morning air. The yellow light from the lantern illuminated the indefinitely dormant trees in the woods. After walking for a bit longer, he made it to the bathtub he had been visiting every morning.

  From the power plane, Marin pulled an ice lance into existence, which crashed into the shell of ice that had formed in the tub. It broke the ice open, revealing the water. It was ready for Gus’s final dip.

  He should be out in several minutes, Marin thought.

  He leaned against a tree, lantern clutched in his lowered hand, waiting.

  Sure enough, Marin eventually made out the silhouette of body walking towards him. As it grew closer, he confirmed it was indeed Gus.

  Usually Marin had to give Gus a cheerful greeting to perk him up, as he was always outwardly displeased with the early morning event, but on this very day, it was Gus who had great revelry.

  “Last day!” Gus shouted out as he approached his King. He didn’t even appear to be cold as he usually was.

  “Indeed!” Marin responded, holding the lantern up as Gus met with him.

  “Will I get the element today?” Gus immediately followed up with.

  “If fate has it.”

  Gus began unclothing for the final time to endure the two minute ice bath. “I hope so,” he stated nervously.

  Gus took no moment to hop over the side of the tub, splashing into the water. This was the quickest he had ever started. He was either excited that today he’d bridge his connection to the power plane, or that it was the last ice bath he had to do, and wanted to get it over with. Perhaps both.

  Marin patiently counted the seconds, waiting for two minutes to pass. As the time crawled along, Marin gazed down at Gus’s lengthy brown hair. Together, both of them had been through a lot in the past month. He almost considered the young lad a son at this point. He became glad that it was him who would oversee Gus’s path to power, as others could use his desire for the elements to easily manipulate him for their own gain.

  “Alright, that’s two!” Marin declared, stepping away for Gus to leap out.

  Gus gasped, clutching the edge of the tub. He hoisted himself out of the water, and swung over the side.

  Marin handed him the towel.

  “I know these 4 a.m. ice plunges have not been pleasant in any sense, Gus. I know you’ve endured a lot to earn your element,” Marin stated as he watched him dry his hair.

  “Yeah, it’s been rough, but I’m glad it’s over now,” Gus said with satisfaction in his tone.

  “Well, its not over yet. There’s one final hurdle I have in place for you, but it will help ensure you bridge the connection,” Marin explained.

  Gus paused the movement of drying his hair.

  “...What?” He asked with dread.

  “Finish drying. Get dressed. But afterwards, I need you stay out here,” Marin ordered.

  “IT’S FREEZING OUT HERE!” Gus cried out.

  “I know! That’s the point!” Marin said back.

  “How long do you want me waiting out here?!” Gus demanded as he continued drying.

  “I’d recommend mediation to pass the time. Truly embrace the cold during the hours I have you sitting in the snow. If you still don’t acquire the ice element after all this, I can confidentially diagnose you as inept.”

  Gus was now getting dressed, wishing he had brought extra layers. That would have defeated the purpose of staying out here, though.

  “...How long,” Gus asked again.

  “Stay in the woods. I’ll be back to begin the process with you around noon.”

  “W-what about work?” Gus asked, beginning to shiver as he realized he would be stranded out here in the stinging cold for nearly eight hours.

  “I’ve already talked with Max. You’re out of guard duty until the end of the week,” Marin explained.

  Well, that eased the burden somewhat.

  Marin gave Gus more assurance that he could power through this, then said his farewell. Marin knew this would be the hardest point of the priming process, and it was something he chose not to reveal to Gus until the very moment. Having him fear or worry about what was coming to him wouldn’t help the situation.

  As Marin began to exit the woods, he glanced behind him to see Gus still standing there in the distance, arms wrapped around his body. He just stared back at Marin.

  Marin felt quite bad for Gus, he felt as if he was leaving his loyal follower to freeze outside. He thought maybe he should stay with him out there, but quickly reminded himself there were things in the castle he needed to get for the attempt later.

  Marin gave him a final wave, then continued on. He couldn’t feel too bad for him. This was the most practical way to prime without the official regimens that Arkana and Neo did. They were more brutal in comparison.

  Back inside the castle, Marin returned to his quarters for a few hours. He wanted to continue to study the Arkana documents, but couldn’t get his mind off Gus, so he mostly played his pipe organ. As the morning progressed, he left to sit at breakfast, and talk with his friends.

  He shared with them that Gus was currently sitting outside in the snow, finalizing his priming process to acquire the ice element.

  “I remember my priming process,” Loid recalled as he spread jam on a piece of toast.

  “Yeah? What was that like?” Marin asked.

  “They locked me in a dark room for hours on end. I spiraled and nearly lost my mind. But the chaos of it all eventually bridged my connection via the shadow element. I get Gus has to go through some physical torture, but torture of the mind can be just as bad.”

  It was a reminder to Marin that those who pursued the shadow element had to embrace insanity just long enough to make a connection to shadow.

  Loid laughed as he continued to recall. “In fact, that was the only element you had to take a mental wellness test on. If you did not have a strong mental state, they wouldn’t allow you to attempt the priming process for shadow.

  I’ve heard tales of people who couldn’t handle it, and they went crazy, killed a person, horrible things.”

  Loid casually bit into his toast. Everyone just stared at him.

  After breakfast, Marin talked with Helva and Harrel about castle affairs and finances. He asked them if the RAM letter arrived yet, as he had for the past few mornings.

  “I told you, Marin. I’ll let you know the moment I get it,” Helva continuously reminded him. She understood how anxious the King was about whether the world government would recognize Nocturne as a formal kingdom or not.

  Marin then made some decisions on a few requests from his citizens in the form of paperwork. He reviewed the finances with Harrel, who proudly stated they were on their way to finally breaking even.

  Once his work was done in the main office, he left to visit Doctor Eisen next. Marin walked down the halls, waving to each person he met, a task he found tedious but necessary as King. Finally, he made it to the end of the hallway with a staircase going down to the doctor’s office.

  In the small front room, Marin pressed the buzzer on the desk. A moment later, the doctor produced himself, still chewing on the last of his breakfast. When he saw it was the King, he casually waved him in, walking back down the hallway.

  “Morning, Sullivan,” the doctor greeted as they both entered his lair.

  “Good morning. I’m here to pick up the Grunleaf,” Marin stated.

  “Ah, is it that day already?” Eisen asked as he walked over to a shelf full of plants and herbs.

  “Yes, he’s been outside since the ice bath earlier.”

  The doctor chuckled. “You’ve had him out there in the freezing air this whole time?” He grabbed a bundle of dried crushed leaves off the shelf.

  “I want to make sure his attempt is as strong as possible,” Marin said back.

  “Well it will be, that’s for sure. He’s also bound to be sick. Submerging in water and then still having to be out there is a recipe for a cold,” Eisen explained.

  “I had him dry off…”

  Eisen waved his hand in dismissal. “Have him see me when he’s all done. I’ll treat him.”

  “You know I feel bad for him, but this is all necessary. This stuff isn’t cheap!” Marin said in reference to the bundle of dried herbs in his hand.

  “I know, I just hope it works. If he fails enough for you to use all that up, will you order more and give him another try?” Eisen asked.

  “No. We’ll just say its not working out for him. Besides, its not good to use this stuff all the time. It’s hard on the body.”

  Eisen nodded. “Tell the boy I believe in him, and I wish him good luck.”

  “I will.”

  Marin left the doctor’s office, and headed upstairs. In his hands was Grunleaf, a rare and valuable plant that when smoke and inhaled, allowed one to travel to the power plane without the typical meditation to get there naturally.

  Neo used the stuff, but Arkana forced their people to travel there through sheer meditation alone. That was the way it was done for hundreds of years before Grunleaf was discovered. Arkana believed that arriving to the power plane through one’s will alone gave the person more appreciation and strength for their chosen discipline.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  When Grunleaf’s capabilities were found out, elementals could be massed produced, and Neo was formed shortly after. They utilized the plant to crank out soldiers faster than Arkana created students.

  It was also popular for rich hedge elementals who wanted to gain an element quickly. This was the path Marin took for Gus. Shortly after arriving at the castle, Marin had Eisen order a bundle of the expensive stuff for the day he would attempt to gain the ice element.

  With the bundle safely in his grasp, Marin checked the time. It was almost eleven.

  Marin had told Gus noon, but decided to head out now and see him one hour earlier.

  The difference between one hour won’t matter, Marin rationalized. He’s been out there for seven hours, what’s eight?

  Marin exited the castle on the left side, and walked out towards the woods once again. He hoped Gus was still out there, and was alright.

  It was overcast outside with a small snowfall. The snow wasn’t as bright as normal from the sun. As he walked, he looked down to see his familiar snow prints going to and from. He followed them.

  Eventually, he made it to the wooded section. He was anxious to see how Gus was doing. When he rounded the corner, he saw him.

  Gus was sitting down in the snow, with his back turned away from the castle. He was only a few feet away from the tub.

  Marin didn’t shout out or disturb him. He continued to slowly and silently walk up to him. He grasped the Grunleaf tighter, as if he expected it to easily fly away.

  Finally, when he was a few feet away from him, Marin called out.

  “Gus…?” He said.

  Gus didn’t answer right away. He was shivering on the ground, both arms grasping his shaking body.

  “...Marin?” Gus finally responded. “Is it really you?”

  “Yes, my boy.”

  “...I thought you’d never return.”

  “Why would you think that?” Marin asked.

  “It’s been an eternity…” Gus said with terrible despair in his voice, fighting off the shivering.

  Marin chuckled. “It’s only eleven, Gus…”

  Marin thought Gus was joking or being silly, but when he walked around to face him, he saw the young lad was not in a great shape.

  His skin was pale, while his eyes and nose were red. Some discharge from his nose had frozen, hanging off his nostril like an icicle.

  Marin then realized it most likely did feel like an eternity to him.

  “Listen Gus, you’ve done it. It’s really time,” Marin said as he crouched down, trying to get him to focus.

  “Truly? It really is? No more hurdles?” He barely spoke out.

  “Well, getting the element is the final hurdle, technically speaking. But this is it.” Marin showed him the bundle of Grunleaf.

  “What’s that?” Gus feebly asked as his arms unwrapped from his body.

  “This is going to be your tour guide to the power plane, Gus. It will get you to travel there.”

  “Do I have to eat it?”

  “No, you’re going to smoke it,” Marin said while producing a box of matches from his inner robe pocket. “And I need you to listen. We only have a solid three attempts for you to bridge. If you can’t do it within three journeys, it’s not working out for you.”

  Gus became very alert. “What?!”

  “When you start to hallucinate, if everything around you is a purple misty field, you’ve made it. In front of you, at the center, is a great white light. You need to approach it.

  You won’t be able to walk to it. The only way you can get closer to it is by feeling cold. Do you understand?”

  Marin was already undoing the bundle, and spreading the leaf out into three distinct piles. He was getting the matches ready. This was going too fast for Gus.

  “Wait, wait, I can only get close to it by feeling cold?! What if I don’t feel cold? And what do I do when I get to the light?!”

  “Make yourself feel cold! Remember the feeling of every ice bath, every time you walked out here in the frigid air each morning. The entire seven hours you’ve been sitting out here! I’ve equipped you the best I could. You must now use all these feelings to bridge your connection,” Marin quickly explained.

  “And the light?” Gus pleaded.

  “Don’t worry about that. Just get to it.”

  Marin began striking the match. “We don’t have much time, it just occurred to me that the Grunleaf does not like low temperatures. Ironically enough.”

  “What?!”

  As the grunleaf began burning, white smoke started rising from it.

  “Breathe it in, Gus,” Marin coached. “You must breathe it in.”

  Gus was frantic and in a daze, from the freezing cold and from the rapid events occurring. He didn’t have time to think for himself, he simply listened to his King. Gus inhaled the smoke rising as hard as he could.

  He immediately started coughing from it. “Not good…” Gus pleaded.

  “Keep it up! This stuff cost me over fifty gold,” Marin explained.

  Gus was so out of it, he didn’t have time to process the statement and realize how expensive this plant was. He just continued to inhale, fighting off the coughing.

  After a moment of continuous inhales, Gus started feeling quite dizzy.

  “Is it working?” Marin asked.

  “I… I don’t know,” Gus said as his vision became blurry as well.

  “Just keep breathing it in. I need you to-”

  Gus couldn’t even make out what Marin was saying anymore. His vision had gone entirely unrecognizable. His head spun a thousand miles an hour. He felt weightless, as if he was falling and rising at the same time.

  Gus had no idea what the heck was happening. After nearly losing consciousness, he started to regain himself.

  He blinked hard as all the vertigo left him. As his brain started working again, he studied his surroundings. He no longer felt cold. He no longer felt anything. Looking all around, he noticed he was in a great endless field of purple smoke.

  “Woah…” Gus said to himself.

  The purple smoke floated around the field everywhere, up to his waist. The sky was pitch black. In the distance though, he saw a contrasting white light.

  “This is it, the power plane.” Gus was bewildered. Marin was nowhere in sight. It was just him, standing alone in the field.

  He tried walking, but his legs were unable to move. He then remembered what Marin said. He had to feel to move.

  He began to imagine himself as being cold. Nothing happened. As he stared at the light in the distance it had already begun to dim. Gus panicked. He had to reach the light. He squinted his eyes shut, trying his hardest to feel cold. He tried pretending to shiver. When he looked back up, the light was growing dimmer.

  “No.”

  He reached out and tried to walk, but his body started moving backwards quickly, flying away in the opposite direction of the light.

  “No!!!”

  The speed increased, and with a zoom, he shot backwards into the dark distance, the light shrinking to nothing.

  He felt dizzy again, and his head started spinning. He lost his vision. After a series of events similar to earlier, and nearly losing consciousness, Gus blinked hard.

  He was back to sitting in the snow in front of Marin. He was staring down at the completely burnt up pile of Grunleaf.

  “Whuh…” Gus looked up to Marin.

  “Well?!” Marin asked.

  “I was there!” Gus exclaimed.

  “I know! Did you get to the light?” Marin demanded.

  “...No. I tried going forward, but I started flying backwards, away from it.”

  “You need to feel cold, Gus.”

  “I KNOW!!!” Gus started breathing hard, panicking.

  “Calm down, calm down!” Marin tried. “You need to be calm. It’s okay. We have two more attempts. When you get back to the power plane, it won’t be so much a shock to you since you’ve been there already. I need you to be relaxed, and focused. Really try tricking your body into being cold.”

  “I don’t know if I can do this, Marin!”

  “You can! I believe in you. The doctor believes in you too! He wishes you good luck,” Marin coached him.

  Gus did a deep breath. “...Okay. Let’s go again. I can do this.”

  Marin moved the second pile in front of Gus. He lit a new match.

  The smoke began rising as the flames consumed the Grunleaf.

  Gus breathed it in, preparing for another dizzy spell.

  It was silent between the two of them as he waited for the effects to hit him again.

  Eventually, after several inhales, it happened.

  He lost his vision, his body felt like it was moving rapidly despite sitting on the ground. He fought the feeling of nausea and vertigo. After straining to hold onto consciousness, he blinked hard.

  He was standing up in a familiar purple smoky field. The light was as bright as when he had first arrived again.

  “Okay, I can do this.” Gus ignored the surroundings this time. He had wasted valuable time gazing at the empty field the first time, and realizing where he was.

  He was now locked in, and immediately started focusing. He pictured himself plunging into the icy water. He tried feeling the stinging pain of the cold water.

  He felt himself move forward.

  Gus opened his eyes. He was genuinely feeling cold, and was slowing inching towards the light.

  “Yes! Yes!”

  At the excitement of moving forward, he lost his focus, and didn’t feel cold anymore. He started moving backwards as a result.

  “NO!”

  He squinted his eyes shut as he tried focusing again. This was indeed the hardest thing he had ever done in his life. He meditated, and imagined as hard as he could the terrible feelings he endured for two weeks.

  He could do it. Gus couldn’t tell if he was moving forward or backwards, but he wasn’t about to open his eyes to find out and lose his focus. He concentrated as hard as he could.

  “...Gus.” He heard. Gus could hear someone calling out to him. “...Gus!”

  “GUS!”

  Gus immediately opened his eyes. He was staring at the second burnt pile of grunleaf.

  “NO! NOOOO!!!” Gus cried out as he flailed his arms.

  Marin knew by the reaction, he had failed again. He sighed as he started realizing Gus might be inept.

  It was odd, Gus didn’t feel the dizzy feelings of transferring back to the normal world. He must have gotten used to it already.

  “I was moving forward, Marin! I really was! It was working!!!” Gus cried out to him.

  “Really?!”

  “Yes! I just lost my concentration when I noticed I was moving forward!”

  “Then there is a chance!” Marin moved the third pile in front of him. “Listen Gus, I really need you to focus! This is your last attempt. I can’t keep spending money on this stuff if you can’t do it.

  Take my advice, don’t lose focus this time. Whatever you were doing to get yourself to move forward, keep doing it and don’t stop. Get to the light.”

  Gus ran his fingers though his frozen hair, trying to keep himself composed. This was more stressful than the raid in Heroca. Surely he would cry out, wailing in sorrow if he failed for the third and final time.

  “Light it up,” Gus demanded.

  Marin struck another match, and tucked the burning stick under the pile of dried leaves. Gus dipped his face down, and breathed in every bit of smoke he could.

  Glancing up to Marin for just a moment, even his King had both his hands interlaced, close to his face.

  He wanted this just as bad for Gus. King Marin was nearly as anxious as he was.

  He would do it. He had to.

  He breathed in more smoke.

  He became weightless, and his vision went blurry once again. He didn’t feel the other extreme symptoms as he had the first and second time, such as a terrible nauseating spinning feeling. This was due to the fact that his body was getting used to the transfer.

  After a moment, he was able to blink hard.

  The endless purple smoke was all around him. He was back. The light was there, but slightly dimmer than the first two attempts.

  His body was getting too adjusted to the grunleaf. He was back further than before. He had more distance to cover.

  Gus imagined his body plunging into the water. His skin got goosebumps. He concentrated on the cold feeling.

  After a few seconds, he felt genuinely cold, and began moving forward.

  Gus ignored it. He pretended like he was still in the water, counting the seconds. He was moving towards the light at a steady progress. Gus was sure to not react to the fact. He could easily become happy he was getting closer and lose concentration. Instead, he acted like it didn’t matter.

  The light was indeed growing closer and brighter. He thought about all the hours he had been sitting outside, freezing so much his fingers had gone numb.

  He was nearly at the light now. It was so bright, he could barely look at it. When he got close enough, he began to panic, not knowing what to do.

  He lost his concentration, and no longer felt cold.

  NO!

  Gus couldn’t lose it again while being so close. He slammed his eyes shut, and reached out to the light, trying his hardest to feel cold and touch it.

  Gus did everything he could to picture the terrible feeling of the ice bath.

  “...Gus.” It was Marin’s voice again.

  NO!!! Gus thought to himself. He kept straining.

  “...Gus!”

  “NO!” Gus yelled out, reaching both arms out, trying with all his might to hug the glowing sphere. He couldn’t even tell if he was moving forward or backwards anymore.

  He couldn’t fail. He came too far. He had done too much, and he’d be damned if it was all for nothing. All his dreams would be shattered if he couldn’t reach the light.

  “GUS!” Marin cried out.

  Gus couldn’t take it anymore. He had failed. Hearing Marin’s voice so clearly, he knew he was back in the mortal realm.

  He gave up, and opened his eyes. He was staring at the third burnt pile of leaves. For some reason though, both his arms were extended and reaching out.

  He looked up at them, and at the end of his arms, were frozen fingers, coated in ice.

  His fingers were coated in ice.

  “Gus… You did it.”