Standing at the entrance to the Sanctuary, Ryosho felt something different for the first time in six years.
Before awakening his Cosmo, the Sanctuary had seemed no different to him from the nearby city of Athens.
At most, it was a secluded region filled with ancient ruins that could only be entered through special means.
But now that he stood here again, he could sense the vast, sacred, and warm Cosmo enveloping the entire area.
This had to be Athena’s Cosmo.
Since the Age of Myth, the Sanctuary had been protected by Athena’s sacred Cosmo.
It was one of the main reasons it had endured countless Holy Wars without falling.
The Sanctuary was also surrounded by several powerful barriers.
These barriers separated it from the secular world and protected it from outside interference.
“What’s wrong, Ryosho?” Cynthia asked curiously.
She was holding his hand, and when she saw him suddenly stop and stare upward as though lost in thought, she tugged at him.
“Nothing.
Let’s go!”
Ryosho lowered his head with a smile.
Awakening his Cosmo had not only given him the ability to sense other Cosmos, but had also awakened several superpowers within him, such as Psychokinesis, though it was still very weak.
Before they even reached the Sanctuary Colosseum, they could already hear the thunderous cheers coming from inside.
Unable to contain her excitement, Cynthia pulled Ryosho toward the colosseum, her little face flushed bright red.
Ryosho was still wondering why the qualifying tournament was being held today.
It was only the end of August.
As far as he knew, Seiya defeated Cassios and obtained the Pegasus Cloth in September.
By then, the Galaxian Wars had already begun, with its official opening scheduled for September 10.
This was nearly half a month earlier than expected.
Could there be so many participants in the Cloth Selection Tournament that it would take half a month to finish all the matches?
Or was his understanding of the timeline inaccurate?
Perhaps some minor changes had occurred?
“Cassios!
Cassios!”
The arena erupted in cheers once again.
Ryosho reached the edge of the arena and looked down at the battle below.
Cassios, towering like a giant, was raising one massive arm in triumph.
Beneath him lay a blood-soaked, headless corpse.
“Ah!”
Cynthia cried out in shock, her rosy face instantly turning deathly pale.
Ryosho quickly covered her eyes and murmured a few comforting words before scanning the arena.
He soon spotted Seiya.
Seiya was also inside the arena, having already defeated his opponent with ease, and was now looking toward Cassios.
Ryosho also saw the masked Marin and Shaina in the stands.
Although he had lived in the Sanctuary for years, Seiya and Marin were the only Saints he knew.
Even then, they were merely acquaintances who had met a few times and exchanged only a handful of words.
Under normal circumstances, it was difficult for him to see either of them.
Outsiders were forbidden from approaching the places where Saints trained.
The world of Saints was far removed from that of ordinary people.
Even though they all lived within the Sanctuary, they inhabited two entirely different worlds.
Their paths rarely crossed.
The first day of the qualifying tournament continued until evening.
Out of 1,024 contestants, only slightly more than half had completed their matches.
At this rate, it would take at least another eight or nine days to reach the finals.
That did not match his memories at all.
There was a discrepancy of at least two or three days.
Come to think of it, Seiya’s age did not match either.
Seiya should have been thirteen and should have trained in the Sanctuary for six years.
In reality, however, Seiya was already sixteen and had been training there for nine years.
Sitting cross-legged on his bed, Ryosho wondered why so many things differed from what he remembered.
For a time, his thoughts were tangled and confused.
In the end, he shook his head.
Whatever the reason, the beginning of the Cloth Selection Tournament marked the official start of the main storyline.
His most urgent task was to strengthen his Cosmo and awaken the Seventh Sense as soon as possible.
Only by awakening the Seventh Sense would he have a chance of surviving the approaching Holy War.
As for the Sacred Cloth…
He could set that aside for now.
Just as Mū had said, a Saint’s strength was determined not by their Sacred Cloth, but by their Cosmo.
The Gold Saints were so overwhelmingly powerful because they had grasped the true essence of Cosmo, the Seventh Sense.
Of course, trying to comprehend the Seventh Sense now would be far too ambitious.
After all, he had only just awakened his Cosmo.
Furthermore, the Seventh Sense was not something that could be awakened at will, nor could it simply be taught by someone else.
It had to be awakened and understood through personal experience in battle.
Until then, he should focus on strengthening his Sixth Sense.
Ryosho sat cross-legged on the bed and closed his eyes.
Following the methods described in the Cloth Forging Guide, he began meditating to strengthen his Psychokinesis and Cosmo.
Dawn approached.
A shooting star streaked across the night sky.
“Ryosho…
Ryosho…”
A faint, barely perceptible voice echoed through the silent night.
Ryosho awoke from his meditation.
Who was calling him?
He opened his eyes, and the voice immediately vanished without a trace.
It was gone?
Had he imagined it?
Suspicious, Ryosho closed his eyes again.
“Ryosho…
Ryosho…”
Ryosho’s eyes snapped open.
He hurried outside and sensed a faint stream of Cosmo flowing continuously from the eastern horizon, directly calling out to his own Cosmo.
It seemed to be coming from somewhere incredibly far away.
Who was it?
Where was it?
Why was it calling him?
The east…
What lay to the east?
Japan, China, or Jamir?
Ryosho closed his eyes and entered meditation again, following the Cosmo calling to him back toward its source.
“What is this?”
“The China-India border.
Jamir!”
“Is it Mū?”
“No, it doesn’t seem to be.
The Cosmo appears to be coming from the far end of the Jamir Plateau.”
“This is…”
“Mount Jandara!”
“Isn’t this where Seiya obtained the Water of Life for the blind Shiryu?”
Just then, the Cosmo calling to him vanished at the summit of Mount Jandara.
Ryosho opened his eyes and emerged from meditation.
The Jamir Plateau.
Mount Jandara?
Something there seemed to be calling him.
What could possibly be there?
Even Ryosho could not think of anything.
As far as he remembered, aside from the Water of Life, which could cure all illnesses and bring about miracles, there should have been nothing else there.
Yet he had clearly sensed a Cosmo calling to him.
It seemed he would have to make the journey there, no matter what.
If it could directly call out to his Cosmo, then perhaps it was somehow connected to him.
The first rays of dawn appeared on the eastern horizon, awakening the slumbering city.
“I heard from Cynthia that you’re going out?” Manos asked over breakfast.
The gray-haired old man raised his deeply wrinkled face.
He wore tattered clothes beneath a leather breastplate and shoulder guards.
Although he was advanced in age, his many years as a blacksmith had left him with a powerful, muscular build.
Ryosho, tall and well-proportioned with handsome features, took a bite of sourdough bread before replying indistinctly, “Yes.
There’s something I need to take care of.”
“When will you be back?”
“If everything goes smoothly, a day or two.”
Manos stared at him for a moment.
Then he set down his soft bread, pulled a crumpled banknote from his pocket, and handed it over.
“Take this.
You’ll need money out there.”
Ryosho hesitated before accepting it.
He knew Manos well.
If he refused, the old man would never be able to stop worrying.
…
Clatter!
Loose stones tumbled down the face of a steep mountain, vanishing into the bottomless abyss below.
A teenage boy in torn clothes, his entire body covered in wounds, clung desperately to a protruding rock on the cliff face.
His body hung in midair, supported only by the grip of his right hand.
It was none other than Ryosho, who had traveled all the way from Greece to Jamir.
Ryosho closed his eyes and gasped for breath, the wounds across his body throbbing with pain.
He had still underestimated Jamir’s treacherous terrain and brutal environment.
The air was thin, the landscape perilous, and the entire region was filled with an overwhelming presence that inspired instinctive fear.
No wonder a place known as the Graveyard of Sacred Cloths existed here.
Had he not awakened his Cosmo, learned something about the region, and made thorough preparations, he would probably have fallen from the towering cliffs long ago, ending up as one of the skeletons scattered at the bottom.
Ryosho dragged himself over the edge of the cliff and looked into the distance.
Two mountain peaks, one tall and one short, pierced the clouds like a pair of sharp swords.
Those had to be Mount Jandara.
Mount Jandara radiated an astonishing spiritual energy, carrying an imposing presence that seemed to look down upon everything beneath the heavens.
After resting for a while, Ryosho continued climbing toward Mount Jandara.
Just as he was about to reach the summit, a piercing bird cry rang out.
The same vultures that had once attacked Seiya came diving down from the sky.
Fortunately, Ryosho had been expecting them.
With a powerful leap, he pulled himself onto the summit.
The mist-covered mountaintop was filled with jagged rocks.
Enormous vultures stared menacingly at Ryosho before taking flight one after another and swooping toward him.
He dodged left and right, but one careless moment was enough for a vulture to strike him.
Several claw marks appeared across his arm, and blood immediately began streaming from the wounds.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.
I can’t die in a place like this.”
Ryosho calmed himself and ignited the Cosmo within his body.
Then he threw a punch.
The terrifying force of the blow created a violent storm.
It not only scattered the hazy mist covering the summit, but also hurled the attacking vultures away.
Ryosho had no intention of killing them, so the force of his punch merely knocked them off balance.
The vultures were spirit beasts that guarded the Spring of the Water of Life.
Their attack was only a test, and there was no reason to take their lives.
The vultures landed on the rocks again and cleared a path for him.
At the same time, the gloomy sky began to brighten.
At the end of the path, a rainbow-like spring appeared, forming a clear pool atop the mountain.
Ryosho drew a deep breath and limped toward the Spring of the Water of Life.
Standing beside it, he looked down into the pool.
The Cosmo calling to him was coming from beneath the water.
“Is it inside the pool?”
“What could it be?
Is it dangerous?”
Ryosho hesitated for a moment before removing his backpack.
He had already survived countless dangers to reach this place.
Even if something dangerous lay below, he had to take the risk and discover what had been calling him.
He took a deep breath, plunged into the pool, and swam toward the bottom.
Once again, he felt the Cosmo calling to him.
It was no longer as faint as it had been in Athens.
Here, it was incredibly powerful.
Was it over there?
A flickering light appeared at the bottom of the pool.
Ryosho immediately increased his speed and swam toward the source of the Cosmo.
When he reached the bottom and finally saw the glowing object clearly, his eyes widened in shock.
“Th-this is…”
“A Cloth Box?”
“The Crateris Cloth Box!”