CHAPTER 6: [The curse land] - [Smell lost] - [The buddhists monkeys]

Damian was very surprised when he tried using 'aura sense' and he failed to create an aura, it was as if his aura was blocked by an unknown force and was forced to stay inside his body in the form of mana.

He could only rest on his own senses to guide himself and to avoid the monsters that were lurking in the shadows of the tall trees.

He walked without knowing what was his final destination, as he couldn't know his environment using 'aura sense'.

He walked through a group of ferns and arrived in front of a temple with monkey statues guarding the door. Damian entered, and his eyes widened from surprise when he saw a dozen of monkeys meditating in ​​ the central courtyard.

They were all dressed with golden and orange robes and had their heads shaved. They didn't move as he walked past them. He watched them, they seemed imperturbable.

There was only one monkey that differed from the group. He was wearing a white and golden robe, and had an orange ribbon on his eyes. He seemed to be the head of the group from the aura he was giving and from the fact he was facing the group of monks. The monkey was floating 20 centimeters above the ground.

Damian got closer to the monk, the monkey opened his eyes and looked in Damian's direction. "A human, it has been centuries since any have entered the curse land. I am Andha, one of the tree gatekeepers of the cure land. How can I address you human?"

"I am called Damian, I seek shelter from the beast and the weather. Could this master give me accommodation so that I don't sleep on the jungle's ground?" Damian asked and slightly bowed.

"I see, so you are called Damian, it is within our precepts to always welcome people seeking shelter. We will be giving you an empty space in the temple. Enter the temple and ask the disciples to show you to a room. It was a pleasure meeting you, but I must resume my training, you can ask the way to my room at dusk." The elderly monkey answered Damian and closed his eyes.

Damian thanked the monk and continued his way to the main building entrance. The door was open, so he directly entered the building, falling face to face with another monkey that was mopping the entrance's floor. Damian asked once again if he could be given a place to stay, the monkey was surprised by the appearance of a human, but he didn't ask anything and showed him to the accommodation he had asked him.

Damian's room contained a straw mat of 2 cm and a buddhist monkey covering his eyes using his hands, it was a smaller scale of the statue that he had seen at the entrance of the temple. Apart from a pile of golden and orange robes and the items listed before, the room was empty, leaving space to practice martial arts.

He had been thinking about a lot of things and wished to ask a few questions to the head monk he had talked to earlier in the day. Damian got up and opened the closed window of his room and discovered it was already dusk. He slid his door open and walked in the corridors of the temple in search of the elderly monk's room.

Damian wanted to find a disciple and ask him about the location of the Andha room, but he didn't come across any, as they had a strict curfew. They woke up at dawn, training until noon. They took a vegetarian lunch and resumed training until the sun started to set, eating a quick meal and going to sleep at dusk.

The elder's room wasn't too hard to find as it was the central and biggest room of the temple, Damian knocked on the door and waited. "Enter human I was waiting for you, I know you have a few questions, I must warn you that I may not be able to answer all of them."

Damian organized his thoughts and asked his first questions. "Could I ask what exactly is your duty as gatekeeper and whether or not I can consider you as an ally for my challenge. I think you wouldn't be here without knowing of the challenge and you must have some kind of purpose in being here." Asked Damian while staying on alert as he didn't know whether Andha was a friend or foe.

Andha looked at him from the shoes to the head, all through he had the eye bandaged it seemed he was able to see him. After finishing his investigation, he shook his head with content and responded.

"You don't need to be wary of my presence, as I am neither a foe nor a friend, but only a humble gatekeeper. Due time you will learn what we are if you truly wish it. I can only tell you that we are humble servants of the protector of the forest"

'How can he see me when he is blinded?' Was wandering Damian, but he didn't ask the monk as he knew better than asking someone about a personal matter he didn't want to risk angering someone powerful with whom he would be sharing the jungle for 1 year.

"I am also intrigued that there seemed to be no mana in this jungle. Do you perhaps know the reason behind this phenomenon?" asked Damian, hoping to be given an explanation as it greatly impacted his chances of survival.

"Human I am sorry, but I can't tell you about that as it is something you must understand by yourself, I am only able to give you one piece of advice, only once you understand the true form of things will you be able to see what truly lies beyond your eyes." The monk told him in a voice full of mystery.

Damian didn't know what to think of the situation, so he decided to change subject and asked a completely unrelated question. "Could you tell me, are there other gatekeepers like you in this jungle?"

"They are indeed two over gatekeepers, my twin brother Myott and my older brother Bahara that reside respectively in the temple of Ubaoo located to the opposite side of the river and at the temple of Kaan located at the end of the river." Andha said in a voice that seemed to have gained more youth.

Damian thanked the temple master and left the room. He walked back to his room and looked at the moon, it had a bluish glow and seemed to be inviting him to join her outside. He suddenly had an urge to strain his swordsmanship, as if he had been hypnotized by the moon's glow.

Damian jumped outside the window and arrived outside the main building after a few minutes of walking while practicing his 'quick feet' footwork he had arrived at the central courtyard, it was deserted unlike at the time he had arrived, so it seemed a lot more spacious than before. He walked to the center of the training yard and executed 500 downward sword movements, after barely completing his exercise he slowly walked back to his room entering like a robber would, through the window.

After a goodnight of sleep he got up and headed to the training ground, this time he used the conventional way of doing and walked through the building. He arrived at the entrance and was greeted by two buddhists that were on their way to the training field.

He recognized the robes of the temple head and went to salute him. "It's a beautiful morning. I wanted to thank you for your hospitality and your piece of advice, as I have decided that I would be leaving the temple. I want to fully explore the jungle and I think meeting the other 2 temple heads will perhaps help me come closer to answering all my questions by doing so." saying, so he slightly bowed.

The monk nodded. "I wish you luck in your search for the truth and hope that you will be satisfied with your discoveries." He responded with a smile, and he returned to his disciples.

Damian left the temple and as he passed through the gates he saluted the two money statues that were covering their eyes. He entered the jungle, looking at the temple one last time. "I have the feeling my fate will be linked to the 3 temples during the year to come."

It was now night and Damian could see light A few meters away, coming from what seemed to be a clearing. He got closer to see what exactly was the source of light, as he pushed a leaf he fell face to face with an eagle-like humanoid creature.

He tried folding back but was instantly caught, and he was tied up in the clearing by another eagle. There was a regroupement of eagles around a big fire that had been built in the center. They seemed to be feasting on a…monkey, these eagles were in fact the natural predators of monkeys.

As Damian was brought, the eagles all stopped their activities and looked at him with curiosity. Finally, the eagle that had brought Damian spoke up, "Brother, I can see that you are asking yourself if he is some kind of monkey. I was told by my father that himself was told by his father that one day humans may appear in our forest and that it will be the signal for war. When a human arrives, it is an opportunity for us to challenge the monkey tribes to regain our tribe's and temple's past glory."

"Brother Ying-ba, are you saying this thing is a human, how can you be sure? It looks more like a shaved monkey to me, shouldn't we just eat him and go on with our lives." An eagle called Ying-er responded.

"Brother Ying-er is right, you are stuck in the past glory and can't seem to move one and enjoy life, you should be happy with what you have." Responded another eagle called Ying-san

Most of the eagles had a similar reaction and refused to listen to the eldest eagle. The eldest elder wasn't joking, he took a bone spear he had in his back and killed the closest opposing eagle to him.

"You foul, do you think you are in a position to oppose me? I am the strongest amongst the eagles of this jungle! I have been letting you some rope until today, but today it is another story, we are the proud eagles we will not stand under these monkeys anymore! We will assemble all the eagles of the jungle under one leadership and will retake what is rightfully ours!"

Damian was very disturbed, as he couldn't understand one word the eagle were saying, but he could clearly feel that his presence had put in motion something that would be remembered by all the inhabitants of the forest.

After the eldest eagle had finished talking while brandishing his spear, he gave orders to the other eagles that were now terrified by him and obeyed without complaining, and they took off in different directions.

The eldest eagle then came closer to Damian and this time using human language he said, "Human judging by the robe you are wearing you are most likely a disciple of the temple of Aankh as it is the closest from our location. Can you give me a good reason not to kill you for coming in foreign territory while sporting the colors of the enemy."

Damian could feel a similar pressure that he had felt when with the temple head, they seemed to be of similar strength, but he could feel that the eagle was stronger.

"I didn't know that this was your territory and In no way was intentionally provoking you by coming here, in fact I didn't know of the rivalry between the monkey and the eagles." Damian quickly responded as he could feel a growing killing intent leaking from the eagle, he could feel that if the killing intent was directed at him, he would die from it alone.

The eagle calmed down, and his killing intent returned to his body. "Human you should be more careful where you wonder too and with whom you form alliances, the monkeys are not to be trusted. You seem to be telling the truth, I didn't detect any micro facial movement showing that you were lying. I will be freed this time as a thank you for being the messenger of war." Saying so, he cut the rope in an invisible movement, freeing Damian, who instantly ran without waiting to see if the eagle would change his mind about freeing him.

TO BE CONTINUED…