Amazement was an understatement to describe the young apprentice swordsman's state of mind as he faced Keith, who was holding an apple.
"How is such a feat possible? My God, the tree is 140 meters tall!" exclaimed Kyriel.
"The Art has been within each of us since birth, but it's what we do with that energy that sets us apart," explained Keith, walking over to a rock and sitting down.
"Well, it's your turn now," he continued.
"My... my turn?" asked Kyriel, looking stunned.
"Yes, your turn," replied Keith, gesturing with his hand, beckoning the young apprentice to the tree.
"But first, let's make a pact..." he continued.
"A pact?" asked Kyriel, surprised.
"Yes, a pact... If you manage to climb this tree to the end, then I will help you become a Master Swordsman... But if the test proves too difficult for you, then I will intervene... And in that case, you will have to abandon forever the idea of one day becoming a Master Swordsman, and I will even take it upon myself to prevent you from ever becoming one," Keith declared gravely.
These words made young Kyriel shudder, but looking at his teacher, he knew that the latter was very serious. So there were only two choices left: climb this tree or give up on his dream.
"Then I accept!" Kyriel shouted.
"In that case, pact sealed..." Keith said icily.
"There's something strange about that boy... If he manages to achieve enlightenment in the Art, I wonder what level of aura his body will be able to emit and what special technique he will have developed," Keith thought as he watched his young apprentice walk towards the tree.
As he took steps forward, Kyriel knew full well that at his current level, it was impossible for him to execute a 140-meter leap like his tutor had just done. As he walked towards the tree, his mind was confused as to the method he would have used to climb the majestic tree whose branches weren't even visible from the ground, as well as the method he would have used to descend the tree after reaching the goal.
"This is where my ascension as a Master Swordsman begins... If I lose hope in front of this tree, I will never be able to achieve my dream," Kyriel thought as he arrived in front of the tree.
He had neither equipment nor a method for climbing the tree, but at the mere thought of his goal, the face covered in uncertainty he had been expressing a few minutes earlier transformed into one filled with confidence.
"If I can't do it with my feet, then I'll do it with my hands," Kyriel shouted with fierce determination. A determination that was also noticed by his tutor, sitting a few meters away on a rock.
"Oh! Show me your determination, little bird," Keith thought, a smile on his lips.
But Keith surely did not expect the scene that was about to follow. Unable to jump and reach 140 meters in a single bound, Kyriel had decided to climb the tree with his fingers and complied. He dug his right hand into the tree as if to hold on and repeated the gesture with his left hand a little higher. Kyriel's regular training had granted him physical strength superior to that of a top athlete. So, when he pushed his fingers into the tree, the affected part of the trunk cracked and the hold was made. Kyriel then began to climb the tree thanks to the incredible strength of his hands, but this was not without consequences, because despite the impressive strength of the young apprentice, the trunk of the eternal apple tree was stronger than that of the lignum vitae, and therefore, each time Kyriel pushed his hands into the trunk, the flesh of his fingers tore, causing a flow of blood. But despite the apparent pain of such a maneuver, he did not give up for a second and continued to climb the tree with an even more serious air than when he had decided to climb the apple tree using his hands. Keith, sitting on his rock, could only imagine the difficulty and the ordeal of such a maneuver.
"That boy... His determination is astounding... Being able to pierce the trunk of the apple tree with his fingers to hold on is already astounding... But to continue climbing despite the pain of the wounds on his fingers is beyond supernatural," he thought with an admiring look.
Far away, on the trunk of the apple tree, Kyriel had already reached 40 meters, but unconcerned about the distance he had already traveled, his gaze was fixed on his goal: the apple.
"If I give up here, then goodbye to my dreams, goodbye to my hopes, goodbye to my happiness, goodbye to my title," Kyriel thought all the way. At 60 meters, his eyes were as if bloodshot and his face was pale as a shagreen. He even thought about giving up because of the unimaginable fatigue he felt.
"If I fall from here, I surely won't die..." he thought, on the verge of giving up.
"No, I must continue... It is on this tree that my ultimate goal lies," he declared, invigorated by the imagination of his dream soon to be achieved. A few minutes later, Kyriel had reached 90 meters. Just then, thunder echoed in the heavens, a sign of an impending storm.
"This isn't good... A storm is coming... Should I stop it now?" thought Keith, about to go rescue his apprentice and keep him away from the danger of the storm. Another thunderclap sounded as Kyriel reached 100 meters.
"I'm almost there... Come on, fight, Kyriel... You're almost there..." said Kyriel, a look of victory in his eyes. But just as he finished speaking these words of self-encouragement, the rain began to fall.
"Not good... Not good at all," said Kyriel, his complexion even paler than before and his face full of alarm. The tree, which was already difficult to climb due to the solidity of its trunk, became even more difficult to grip as the rain made it slippery.
"Argh!!!" he cried as one of his hands gave way.
"This has become much too much, I'm going to have to intervene..." said Keith, alarmed by the onset of rain and the sight of Kyriel on the tree, supported by one of his hands, because the other had given way.
He could only imagine what would happen if the young apprentice let go of the other hand and fell before he had time to intervene: certain death.
"Why did I make such a stupid pact?"
Keith's status and the words he spoke in an oath required him to always respect his pacts and follow them to the letter: his pacts were laws. Two choices were therefore imposed on him: intervene and shatter the young apprentice's dream forever, or stand there and watch him crash to the ground and die.
"Too bad, at least he showed me his courage," said Keith, about to intervene.
But before he could even make a move, a miraculous thing was about to happen. Something prodigious was about to happen before Keith's amazed eyes. His apprentice was about to achieve an enlightenment of Art. But not just any enlightenment...
"Not now... not now... not here... I'm not going to die here... I can't give up here... It's here and now that I must surpass my limits... They're all counting on me... My family, that's my Art..." Kyriel shouted, as an unfamiliar glow appeared on his face.
Far away, about 10 kilometers from the clearing, was the boy's mother, dishes in hand, her frightened face turned towards the kitchen window.
"It's already late and you're not home yet... And this storm doesn't bode well for me... I hope you're well, my boy," thought Marie St. Patrick, fear on her face in the face of the dreadful downpour.