Bab 15: The I.R.R.E.S.O.L.U.T.E

Reaching the end of the hall, a majestic door appears. As they go near the door, the students notice that the door isn't actually a door. Looking like someone drew on the wall, the portrait exudes an unexcelled dominance that traverses through the ages.

Coughing lightly, Mr. Iwaki brings the class's attention back toward him. "I would like to present to you all, The Incandescent Resplendent Rambunctious Excessive Sacrificial Oxygenated Lintel Ungenteel Tafferel Enzyme. Also known as the I.R.R.E.S.O.L.U.T.E or the Gate for a nicer, shorter-term abbreviation."

Looking at all of his students with their mouth agape, Mr. Iwaki flashes a proud smile while waiting for everyone to recover from his magnificent bout of knowledge.

After a few moments later of complete silence, Jacob and a few students snap out of their reverie and immediately start questioning their teacher.

"Why do you have such a long acronym for a painting?"

"What do some of those words even mean?"

"Why are you so smart?"

"Why can't you just call it a door?"

"Which grandmaster picked this name?"

"I want a refund; I quit."

As a student says that, the whole hall quiets down. Looking at the source, they find out that Jason was the one who said it. Not knowing why he had said that; another student couldn't help but blurt out, "What refund? Did someone sell you something and you didn't like it?"

Shaking his head, Jason steps forward and says, "I just wanted everyone to quiet down."

"..."

The whole hallway breaks into utter silence as a brisk breeze blows through.

Knowing that this wasn't the right atmosphere, Jason points at Mr. Iwaki and says, "I think we all should focus on Mr. Iwaki... He might have something useful to tell us, excluding the paintings name."

Clapping his hands, Mr. Iwaki glances at Jason and inwardly laughs as he gets everyone's attention. "Okay, I would like to clarify something that Jason pointed out before I explain about the abbreviation and why the name is so random."

Pointing at the door, Mr. Iwaki asks the crowd, "Looking so close at this huge golden door for so long, I'm sure that all of you have had your own opinion on this topic by now. I would like to make this clear; the door is not a door but not a painting. Technically, this is the fabric of space-time warping. This wall is connected to an area that has this exact same door about a couple of thousands of miles underground. I know it's hard to fathom, but once one has attained a high enough attainment in their cultivation and has reached a certain standard in their occupation, then this naturally becomes possible."

"Watch this." Holding his hand upward, Mr. Iwaki slowly brings it down in front of him and abruptly stops. Looking back at the class, Mr. Iwaki asks with a smile plastered on his face, "What did you all see."

Now knowing whether this was a trick question or not, Jacob steps forward and points toward his hand and does the same motion Mr. Iwaki did, "You did this."

"..."

"Baka." Hitting his head, Amelia appears from behind and says with a confident look on her face, "Mr. Iwaki just sliced space."

Just noticing the problem, Jason asks, "Mr. Iwaki, why is your hand still in that same position? Is it stuck?"

Shaking his head, Mr. Iwaki lowers his hand. Upon lowering his hand, everyone notices that the side of his hand has blood leaking out of some tiny slits on the back and front. Confused, the class starts to mimic Mr. Iwaki and repeatedly slice the air.

Taking out a handtowel from his pocket, Mr. Iwaki proceeds to stop the blood from dropping down to the floor, muttering under his breath, "I cannot let my blood soil the floor where the children play, old man Galen will torture me again." Upon remembering those memories, he starts to shudder for a brief moment.

Holding his hand on top of the towel with his other hand, Mr. Iwaki looks at the group of students and realizes that he had gotten sidetracked again. While waiting for them to get their curiosity out of the way, Mr. Iwaki uses his powers to heal his hand and stop the bleeding. "Okay, that's enough fun for today. I will quickly explain what I just did, and then I'll tell you about the Gate inside."

"This space in front of me is currently torn. Space naturally heals itself overtime unless you deliberately stop it like this door here. I am at the fourth major stage of cultivation, the Spiritual Refinement Stage. I have enough power to sever space, but I cannot hold it for too long or else I'll become crippled, and I don't want that happening anytime soon."

Curious, a student couldn't help but blurt out, "So are you saying that you would want that to happen later in the future?"

"No."

"Oh, okay."

Getting that out of the way, Mr. Iwaki continues, "Space is an incorporeal feeling that envelops all of us whether we would like it or not. It's not tangible unless you have a deep enough foundation and mastery of the laws. The equivalence to time and space would be water. It's very evasive and mysterious but also very deadly in certain circumstances.

All of you will be required to know a bit about space for some of the fruits that you have to deal with and other ingredients. High-level ingredients are all infused with some type of law or will in them that grant them unique properties. These properties make it extremely hard to use them unless you use specific methods. Don't get me wrong. You can still cook them in any normal way; like how you would cook any other type of food... It's just that you would be doing that for a couple of years if you go down that route."

Putting away his blood-stained handkerchief, Mr. Iwaki starts walking toward the Gate, "Follow me and don't get lost. I will not be held responsible if you fall down and get lost in the space-time continuum."

"What do you mean... Fall down, and what if we do fall?" Curious, Jessica couldn't help but comment to another student.

Looking back, Mr. Iwaki couldn't help but comment, "You guys are asking an awful lot of questions today."

Muttering under her breath, Jessica says, "Isn't that what students are supposed to do?"

Tapping several places on the wall: each tap emitting a ripple akin to the waves from a raindrop hitting a still lake, a fine black trail emerges from the origin of each tap and converges together at the center of the wall. Forming a dark emblem, the black trail assembles into the standard image of the Sage Sect.

Mr. Iwaki says without turning his head back, "I heard that. Okay, let's go now." Going to the middle of the door, Mr. Iwaki activates his powers as a golden haze form around his fists. Taking the shape of a pair of tigers, Mr. Iwaki thrusts both palms out, sending the tiger-shaped golden mist toward the emblem.

A couple of students yell from the group almost simultaneously, "Don't do it!"

Contrary to their thoughts, the expected explosion never got to happen. Getting sucked into the emblem, the previous black emblem turned bright gold and spread a mystifying radiance outward toward everyone in the front.

Stepping back, Mr. Iwaki waits for the Gate to finish its changes. "Everyone has to wait for the Gate to open. Once it opens, then we must all stick together or else I won't be able to protect you all. Once again, remember NOT to fall. Everything will make itself clear once the Gate opens and exposes the spatial bridge."

Watching the Gate open, Jason and the other students look onward with mouths agape. Not being able to hold it in anymore, one of the students couldn't help but mutter under her breath, "What novel have I stepped into this time?"

Hearing her question, the other students couldn't help but nod in agreement as they watch this spectacle right before their eyes.

"Okay, let's go." Walking in the lead, Mr. Iwaki puts one foot into the Gate while slowly submerging into the bubble that leads into the independent space leading to the bridge.

Entering the Gate; the group bypasses the "bubble" one by one.