Escaping the island

"For thousands of years, before the birth of this temple, a war came out of each corner of the world. The ring was forged by gods and was materialized with a god. It became a god soon after, only to be held by a divine being."

"Uhh, okay? How does that help answer my question?"

"I'm just here to brighten you, the reason why you are here was because of the ring."

"So... I'm just stranded cause of the curse from the ring?"

"Exactly."

Akira finally understood, but he only believed he was stranded because the water pulled him to the land. He did hear a ring whispering in a raging manner, and so, he asked how to leave.

"To leave is no easy option. Those who touched the ring and left its place would only curse the whole ocean. Sea monsters, raging storms, and unresting waters are triggered by the immense power of the ring. To calm them is by surviving the curse or putting it where it belongs. If there were no life left, the ring would go by itself to the place where it belongs." The old man explained that what caused Akira's departure was having difficulties dealing with the raging ocean.

"The ring was built to petrify the monsters and to calm the waters by freezing them with its godly magic. If ever the temple was destroyed, it could be rebuilt as a new one but not the island. " The old man stated after he had learned the purpose of the ring.

Akira began asking how he ended up here and told his story. The old man responded that he was a bandit. He knew how the ring would trigger its magic and turn people to stone, so he easily seized the ring and suffered the same fate as Akira.

Unfortunately, he didn't know that the ring would be a hindrance to going home. Once, he was on a ship, sailing across the sea. He had to paddle his way out because the gods had raged against him. His friends were crushed and were eaten, leaving only him to survive. However, the sea dragged him down and left him stranded forever on an unknown island. For thousands of years, and could never go back.

Even if he built a raft for his way out, the sea would still punish him and drag him back while also destroying the raft and sinking it. He could not die even if he tried to plunge a knife into his throat. Death was merciful, but staying alive was a pain both mentally and physically. He would often gaze alone and hope that one day someone would save him and free him from the curse. That was the time he knew that time didn't work on this island. 

It was 30 years ago before it happened, but it felt like thousands of years had passed.

"Follow me into the forest."

"Okay?"

Akira went out of the temple with the old man who told Akira to follow him. As they were out, the old man told his stories and how to escape the island.

The island concealed its presence without any map or anyone who had ever traveled to this island. Since this island was made from a ring, it had an inescapable route. Toward the sea, you would be bothered by the forceful waves that launch you back from where you started. Toward the sky, you would be bothered by the wind, blowing you over till you start from square one. Even with a smoke signal, none could see it. 

Akira was overly baffled at how it turned an island into an accursed place just by the ring's magic. Later, Akira was given the task of doing 3 separate areas that controlled the entire island. They had 3 columns in each area, or to call it a monument, and three of them possessed a crystal, which they held to keep the balance of the island's magic. Akira didn't know where to start, so he asked the old man how to do it by destroying the crystals.

Then again, Akira lost his scythe and was far away from him without knowing how he would get it back. The old man responded by raising Akira's hand in the air. Akira was baffled and started following his commands. 

The old man stated that a signature weapon, or to say, a personal weapon, was attached to the user. Even if it was far within miles, it would still come back with the user's command. Simply, by saying its name or focusing on its presence. The way to do this was by controlling oneself into ordering something for it to come back, meaning that Akira had to feel about himself since signature weapons were one with the user or familiarities. 

Akira took a slow squint while eventually closing his eyes, maintaining focus to bring back his scythe. 

Akira could feel the scythe had answered his call, feeling it fly toward him. From a distance, something was moving in the air at the speed of a cannonball. As it got closer, the scythe was visibly clear. Akira prepared his feet and tried to catch it, and finally, he got his scythe back. The scythe let out the smell of the sea since the scythe was parted away and sunk into the ocean.

Akira cleaned off the scythe just by swinging it up and down. After that, he dashed. Akira dashed toward the monuments, intending to attack the nearest one. As he traveled into the jungle, by coincidence, he found a pathway just to go to the monuments. 

Without wasting any more time, he jumped toward the giant mountain that the pathway led him to. 

"There it is!" The moment he jumped high up in the air, he saw a crystal that emitted light and glowed colorless. The monument looked tall and was about 29 meters in height. 

As he landed, right after he was about to shatter it to pieces, his senses alerted him to stay back. A massive pillar that almost hit him startled him and caused him to take a step back.

The pillar smashed the whole wall and completely destroyed a pillar stone near Akira. 5 golems appeared and surrounded Akira from left to right. 

The golem had a lofty stature and a tough body. Its rocks were unusual and out of the ordinary just by glancing at them. Their bodies were likewise fairly large, with moss covering them, and they carried a massive pillar on their shoulders.

"A guardian? I see, a golem type." As Akira was going to slam their heads together like an egg, he noticed a connector from the back of the golems to the crystal. Akira immediately recognized that it was most likely regenerable and couldn't be destroyed until the crystal fractured.

Straight to the point, Akira released a blood slash, destroying the crystal with less effort. Unfortunately, it wasn't as easy as he thought. The crystal was shielded by tough stones, acting as a fortress for the crystal. Just when the strike failed, Akira got tackled by the golem and fell from the monument.

Akira was injured slightly and had eluded its capture before it crushed him with its hug. Akira took a stance, facing down the entire army of golems while focusing on destroying the crystal.