Chapter 253 A wall to scale.
It was the second last day of winter, and there was barely a mutated beast in sight. The mecha warriors were all but relaxed and hanging out with the common people outside. The snow was already melting and traces of cracks in the frozen lake were so visible.?Children were outside playing with the last remaining bits of snow. Everywhere one looked, life appeared to be normal and work had resumed even for those industries which had been closed down.?On the blue star, there was no one indoors, hiding and waiting for an official announcement from the emperor to tell them to resume normal life and come outdoors.
Scarlet was on her way to the temple which had recently acquired an abnormal feature that everyone called a miracle or an abnormality but if you asked, not even the monks could explain what happened.?One day, in the middle of night, when all was quiet and calm, the ground started shaking and out of it rose a black wall crafted from a material unknown to them.
It covered the entirety of the temple and spanned a measured length so far of twenty thousand miles but there was more to go.?A part of this wall went through the lake and some parts of a river thousands of miles away, separating the areas it passed through into two for it had no entrances or exits.
So far, on the blue star, this wall was also the highest formation, it was taller than the twin mountain peaks and the two buildings of six hundred floors.
The monks swore up and down that they felt a mystical energy coming from the wall and they called it a blessing. They had developed a habit of doing their weird fighting exercise as the children described it to the adults in front of the wall and meditating while facing it. But for many, especially the few city hall officials, the wall seemed to be a nuisance and the question they had was that if the wall had no entry or exit points, how would people on opposing sides travel since the governor banned flying vehicles. They were also irritated because plans for the new district and city needed to be changed to accommodate the wall.
As if the appearance of a sudden weird wall was not disturbing enough, the governor's mission to climb it daily until she reached it's top was another abnormality. While it appeared to be easy, she seemed to be having such a tough time going up so why keep climbing? Also, why was she climbing using her bare hands when some parts of the wall were clearly rough enough to cause pain and bleeding.
It was not uncommon however for many to copy what the governor was doing so a few tried to climb the wall but they quickly gave up because the wall seemed to have a power that weakened them physically and mentally.
Lately, mecha warriors were attempting to join in the wall climbing activity and city hall officials were quick to catch on. To access the wall now, unless you were the governor or a monk, you had to pay star coins or energy stones.
Some of them had developed a habit of paying money just so they could watch others climb, fail and fall down. They would record this and put it on star net.
Scarlet and her group arrived at six sharp in the morning, just as she had been doing daily. The monks were already up, and cleaning the temple. Other's were practicing their kung Fu which she never thought she would ever see in a world with mental strength and mechas.
When she gave Fion all those books, she never once thought that he would put those moves into action. He was really determined to be the best priest and monk he could be.
He was always there when she arrived, smiling at her in white robes from a small distance away.
What she found funny was the way Tion always scowled at Fion's shiny bald head. Once Fion even let the kids paint a blue arrow on his head to mimic the monks in avatar.
"Peace be with you, governor." he said.
"And you, monk Fion." she answered.
"Will you be climbing the great wall of devotion again today?" he asked.
"You have given it a name!" she was surprised.
"Yes," he turned around and led her in the direction of the area where she always climbed from. As he walked, he explained, "It takes great devotion to scale this wall, we monks are trying as well and we have discovered that one must be of one mind and wholly devoted. You must block out everything and see only that which is ahead of you. But most men, cannot stand a silent mind, it screams of their insecurities, fears, worries and evil. Meditation we have found, helps. But sadly, it is still seen as something of ridicule among our people."
Even the way he spoke had changed, she thought. He came off sounding like one of those wise old men that had seen so much of the world. Then again, she thought, he had traveled to every star planet and those that were outside the empire as well.
She saw some priests tying nets as close to bottom of the wall as possible and quizzed him.
"What are they doing with nets?"
"There was an accident last night, a boy whose parents had come to pray snuck away and climbed the wall. He fell down and with no form of protection, he broke an arm and lost two teeth. It is our mission now to have those nets tied around the entirety of the wall to protect curious little ones."
She thought about the length of the wall and their progress. It would take them months to accomplish their goal.
"You can ask the city hall for help, we still have some unemployed citizens and those who wish to make more money."
"Should one wish to assist us in our mission then they should do so out of the goodness of their heart."
"We should still call for help." she suggested.
"Then I welcome your help." he said.
Fion bowed and left her at her climbing spot, where she changed into shoes and gloves also provided by Severus for this purpose.
The hound always came with her on this mission, although it would sleep close to the largest Buddha statue that was surrounded by a pond of diluted purified water.
Inside the pond were large floating lilies, and bright red flowers. The hound was not the only one that loved to sleep around here, others human or animal loved it too because of the clear air and soothing aura emitted from the purifying water.
Today, before Scarlet could leap up and begin climbing, Tion said to her, "You know that this might be easier if you use climbing equipment or have a space ship or mecha fly you as high as you want."
"I know," she said, "But where is the challenge? The goal is to scale the wall and get to the top with my will."
Severus had told her that this year's challenge was a test of endurance and will. She had to hold on, no matter what she saw or heard, she had to hold on.