Meanwhile on Flower and Fruit Mountain. Taiping and Acon 01 01 01
continued to train with Pigsy and Sandy, the famous fellow adventurers and dear
friends of the Monkey King. Over the last year Igor really gave Zaiyal quite the
beating but both Zaiyal and Sarai were thankful for it but Zaiyal would be
disappointed yet again. They were all informed by Ebisu that since Taiping and
Acon 01 01 01 had finished their training with the Prophet Lafrim and the
Prophet Seku they would now be training with Ebisu. Meanwhile; Ungar would
take Daniel to the Taoist Temple in the east that was the home of Kondar, the piece
alien of the Slug people who was Ungar's closest friend and was Ungar's blood
brother. Kondar which literally means 'Slug,' in Japanese is the name of a being of
the magical alien Slug race from the Planet Slug. Over 10,000 years ago the Slug
People who could wield powerful magic were constantly in a series of wars similar
to the Warring States Period in Ancient Chinese history. During this time of
conflict several spirits of Chinese Taoist Monks arrived on the Planet and taught the
Slug People the way of peace to only use combat for self defense and to respect all
life as a result the Slug People converted to Daoism and became Taoists. Several
thousand Slug Warriors held on to the old warrior culture of the Slug Race and
were banished after trying to overthrow the Slug Emperor; they were banished with
powerful magic to another realm, an alternate universe. Eventually some 500 years
ago the beings returned led by an evil warlord and member of the Slug Race known
as Lord Yami the Slug King. 'Yami,' means darkness in Japanese. He was
defeated by Phyrros the Fire Demon and several other warriors including Ungar the
Warlock and Kondar the humble Slug Warrior Monk. Kondar trained under
Buddhists despite being a Taoist being Sun-Wukong the Monkey King and his
friend the famous Buddhist Monk Tripitaka as well as the Buddha himself as the
famous Taoist Laozi. Kondar believes in the essence of the Tao and the Yin and
Yang balance in the universe. After defeating Lord Yami the Slug King, Kondar
returned to his home in the Spirit Realm where he lived at his own private Taoist
Temple. Kondar has the ability to access the void which is a realm beyond space
and time which is home to the Caterpillar as well as the Spirit Realm while he lives
in the land of the Gods. Kondar is Ungar the Warlock's best friend and their
friendship goes back at least 500 years.
Besides Ebisu, Kondar is most responsible for turning Ungar from an evil
tyrant to a calm peaceful warrior and though Ungar is not a Taoist it's clear some
Taoist teachings from his Slug buddy rubbed off on him. Kondar is a little over 500
years old. Usually the Slug people live for around 2,000 years. The other being
was of course the Caterpillar.
The Caterpillar often referred to as 毛蟲 which is Caterpillar in Chinese. He
is a being who resembles a Caterpillar the size of a small dog specially the
Monarch Butterfly Caterpillar. He is countless aeons old so old it's impossible to
count. He has spoken with a seemingly endless amounts of mortals through their
dreams and to their subconscious including famous figures throughout human
history; statesmen, philosophers, religious figures and prophets, scientists, artists,
historians, economists, philosophers, conquerors, etc. including the likes of;
Socrates, Aristotle, Plato, Confucius, Mencius, the Buddha, Jesus Christ, the
Prophet Muhammad, Vishnu, Krishna, Zoroaster, the Guru Nanak, Martin
Luther, John Calvin, Joseph Smith, Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan,
Napoleon, Timur, Wordsworth, DesCartes, Voltaire, Freud, William James," and
countless others throughout space and time. The being practices no religion but
believes in the duality of all religion as many people who were trying to pursue
spiritual fulfillment will sooner or later cross paths with the Caterpillar. His motives
are clearly good but he is a purely objective creature only telling someone what he
knows and never giving emotional responses. He can hold a conversation with
someone for thousands of years at a time.
Ungar explained all of this and he added that in order to speak with the
Caterpillar he would have to get permission with an enlightened spirit and it turned
out that the Buddha had agreed to do this after he received word from Sun Wukong
the Monkey King that Daniel had mastered his 'Buddhist Palm,' technique.
Everything was set in place. Now both Ungar and Daniel arrived at Kondar 's
Taoist Temple as they descended from flying to landing on the earth Daniel could
not help but notice how peaceful this Temple was. They entered and a man with the
face of a Slug of course being a member of the Slug People greeted them warmly.
"Ungar wasn't kidding you really look like a Slug!" said Daniel. "Yes, I am a
member of the Slug People from Planet Slug but I am also a member of the Slug
Diaspora you see only half of the Slug People in this Universe live on our home
planet the rest have settled throughout this vast universe forming a diaspora I am
among those who left Planet Slug. But like most of my people at home or abroad I
practice the way of the Tao and I can use that to get you to the Spirit Realm after
that it will be the Buddha's job to open a doorway to the void." Said Kondar . "It's
been quite some time, why are you so serious now can't you relax with an old
friend." Said Ungar. "We will have plenty of time to catch up, the boy will be in the
void for as long as several hours. What's important now is to make sure he gets
there. Let's get started." Said Kondar . After this Kondar began to cast a spell
which created one of the sacred symbols of the Taoist religion the Yin and the Yang
and out of this came a portal. Daniel was advised to enter on the other side by
Gautama Buddha. "So you're the Buddha, I got to say even though obviously
Buddhists believe you exist I was always skeptical that you existed. I'm sorry that
was quite rude." Said Daniel. "Rude. It was simply an observation. You must come
to the stairs that lead to the shadowy void." Said the Buddha. The Buddha and
Daniel began to climb the metaphysical steps to the light at the end which lead to
the void. They talked for hours about existence, about the teachings of Buddhism
and what he taught his followers, the example he lived, how to overcome all of
Daniel's struggles and much more. The Buddha eventually stated that Maochong is
much more suited to helping with these issues than I am and he should talk to you
for a long while, he said. "For year thousands of years will pass but in the physical
realm it will only several hours keep that in mind when it is time to leave
Maochong will tell you that you can leave. Now are you ready?" said the Buddha.
"As ready as I'm going to be." Said Daniel. "Then I wish you luck on your journey
through the void. Please be safe." Said the Buddha. After this Daniel entered the
Void and he was confronted by what seemed like a beautiful serene wall of stars
and galaxies but in the distance there was a large bookshelf and it seemed to be
someone's study. As Daniel got closer it was the Caterpillar who sat there quietly
seemingly in a trance he was Ungar said a Monarch Butterfly Caterpillar and he
was in fact the size of a small dog. The silence went on until Daniel was about to
speak. A voice that was not intimidating but not overly calm began to speak. The
voice was soothing and immediately began to put Daniel at ease almost as if he had
taken a large dose of Morphine. "So you are the new Gate Keeper. I must say you
might be one of the youngest Gate Keepers in the institution's very long and storied
history. You do have potential but the road to reach that potential will not be an
easy one and it certainly will not be handed to you." Said the Caterpillar. "I have to
say Maochong I feel that I'm not worthy of this praise. I'm afraid what if I fail this
great Calamity is going to strike in another three years and what should I do with
the creature who will cause this calamity? I do not know if I could bring myself to
kill another being without giving them a second chance." Said Daniel. "Is giving a
person a second chance noble in itself? Or is what you do if they fail their second
chance what truly defines your character." Said Maochong.
"What does that supposed to mean?" said Daniel. "Here's an anecdote from
history. In 1218 C.E., Genghis Khan's Mongolian Empire now shared a border
with the Khwarezmian Empire in Iran an Islamic Persian-Turkic empire of vast
wealth and riches instead of conquering the nation the Great Khan dealing with
campaigns in China thought it more fruitful to conduct trade with the nation and
sent gifts to the Shah with a caravan of fellow-Magians, Genghis was not a Magian
he was a traditional Mongolian ShaSekust but there were many Mongols and other
peoples in his clan that were Buddhists, Magians, Christians and other faiths. The
Khan decided by sending Magians to give gifts to the Shah he would feel more
warmly towards fellow-Magians entering his lands. But a greedy governor
Inalchuq kidnapped the traders and stole their wealth declaring them Mongol
spies. The Khan sent a second mission to the Shah with one Magian and two
non-Magian Mongols the Shah of the empire Shah Muhammad II to not seem weak
had the heads of the Mongols shaved and the Magian's head cut off and sent back
to the Great Khan. Genghis Khan was furious he had given the Shah a second
chance and the Shah spit in his face. And as a result between the years of 1219 and
1221 C.E. Genghis Khan's Mongol army ravaged the lands of Persia and Central
Asia destroying and sacking great cities like Bukhara and Samarkand. The Shah
fled for his life along with his son and Genghis Khan killed at least several million
people in that region alone. Now that the dust has settled, did Genghis Khan not
give Shah Muhammad II a second chance but what did he do when the Shah
failed? He brought ultimate destruction down upon him. That is not to say that is
the wrong choice but that is to say I believe you do not think such an action is
noble. If that is so then tell me why you hold merely giving someone a second
chance in such high regard and not how you conduct yourself it they fail your
expectations," said Maochong. Daniel was at a loss for words this Catepillar at first
seemed to be going on some strange historical rant about Genghis Khan and the
Mongols but he managed to bring it all home, but he had no answer for the being
he simply admitted that he never had considered that before. Daniel asked
Maochong in response; "I know that you've spoken to countless mortals
throughout time but my question is since you are the closest thing in my mind that
I've met to God. What's the justification for all the terrible things that happened in
my world; like all the wars, the Black Plague, the Islamic Conquests, the Crusades,
the Mongol Conquests, the age of Imperialism, WWI, WWII, the Korean, the
Vietnam War and many other events is there any rhyme or reason to this bloodshed
or is it for nothing." Said Daniel. "Let me ask you this Daniel. What happens when
too many trees grow in the forest? What happens after a thunderstorm that can
cause an entire forest to disappear?" said Maochong. "The forest catches on fire
and the trees burn to the ground." Said Daniel. "And what comes after the fire do
things stay as they were for all time?" Said Maochong. "No of course not new
trees grow in their place." Said Daniel. "Exactly, even though the forest burns
down new life springs from the ashes. There cannot be creation without destruction
they are both part of a delicate balance that needs to exist in order to make sure
new life has a chance. Sometimes it might seem cruel and even random but if you
use logic as great as logic and reason are and show little nuance to the
metaphysical nature of reality you being to miss the forest for the trees, per say.
You become lost in the jungle of your own mind where you have like anyone else
countless questions but you truly have no answer to any of those questions." said
Maochong. "I gotta tell you, you're trying to convince the wrong guy on that
point." Said Daniel. The Caterpillar paused for a moment and simply said; "I only
tell people what I know. I never simply tell them what they want to hear." Said
Maochong. This conversation would continue going on for hours in the realm of
the void. But other things were happening, not just Ungar and Kondar catching up
but the fact that four warriors were training with the Monkey King on Fruit and
Flower Mountain.
Those warriors were; Zaiyal, Sarai, Narcis III and Akira. Zaiyal was the
first to express his displeasure of recent events to Sun-Wukong, believing that it
was ridiculous that some rookie warrior came in and stole the spotlight from the
Great Zaiyal of his noble Solarian family. How could it be fair that Daniel got to
learn secrets from the Buddha and Maochong while he was a step behind him
learning from the Monkey King while Daniel had already completed
Sun-Wukong's training. "Listen here Monkey, I think it's ridiculous that the Elf
gets to train with the Buddha and Maochong what's next he is going to train with
the God of War?! This is ridiculous I demand to know why Daniel is given special
treatment." Said Zaiyal. "I hate to admit it Zaiyal, but the kid has talent it might be
fair that we're here and he's there." Said Sarai. "Are you really taking his side
Sarai, come on you must have some shame?" said Zaiyal. "ENOUGH! You will all
train together with me starting now and you don't have to worry about my son as
he is below you boys in strength he's back to training with Pigsy and Sandy. So its
time to begin your training and I promise it will not be easy." Said the Monkey
King. "Whatever lets get this over with." Said Zaiyal. "That's what I like to hear."
Said the Monkey King. After this their training began and all of them Zaiyal, Sarai,
Narcis III and Akira were put through rigorous training for over a month when they
finally returned to Yardrat University little did they know some of there old
home-room members would be leaving but they would receive three more final
allies in their martial-arts team. These would be Tito the Elf, Gordo the Panda
and Karzai-Massoud. But we'll learn about all of them soon enough.