Pushing the key into the keyhole, I twisted the key to unlock the doors, and it crumbled away as the doors opened with a grating noise, allowing me to step inside. As soon as my back foot was over the threshold, I heard the doors close behind me, leaving me alone in the darkness. Suddenly, the lanterns were lit all at the same time, dazzling my eyes, and as I regained my focus, I found myself in a hexagonal room filled with boulders and stalagmites emerging from the cobblestone floor.

In the center of the room stood a Bull that looked like he was made of earth baked a dark brown rather than flesh and blood, but his golden eyes were definitely alive. He looked like a samoorai right down to the lacquered stone armor, except for the spike-covered mace, also known as a morning star, that he held his right hand.

I drew my swords and crouched slightly, ready for his attack, and then the Earth Guardian spoke in a gravelly voice, like he had been gargling pebbles. "You wish to unlock the Temple of Metal, young one?"

I nodded slowly, and the Earth Guardian asked, "Can you fight the mountains? Will you conquer stone?"

"Maybe. Let's find out." I said as I readied myself, and I made the first move as I ran towards him. The Earth Guardian braced himself as I lunged, embedding my blade in his armor, but apparently, it didn't penetrate all the way, as he easily grabbed me with his left and threw me into a nearby stalagmite. I wasn't prepared for the sudden painful shock my spine felt as my back crashed into the hard stone, and I didn't think I could get up.

The Earth Guardian plucked out my sword embedded his armor, and had tossed it to the side as he lifted his morning star high up into the air before me. "Valor's... Fortress..."

I winced as a wall of blue translucent hexagons was thrown up between us, and the Earth Guardian's morning star was thrown back as the wall shattered in pieces. "Reinforce..."

I looked down at my hand to see that a blue glow that covered it, as well as the rest of my body, and feeling reenergized, I shakily stood up, sword in hand. "Time... for the... big guns..."

I drew my pistol, and as I aimed it at the Earth Guardian and pulled the trigger, a cannonball of blue energy spiraling at high speeds rocketed out of the mouth of the barrel.

The Earth Guardian grunted as he was struck by my attack, and he drew his morning star back for another strike. Pushing off the ground, I managed to avoid a stalagmite-shattering blow just in time, and I scrambled towards my other sword, lying on the ground.

Picking it up, I stood to face the Earth Guardian, who charged like a bull as he raised his morning star. Gritting my teeth, I cross my swords above my head, and steel clanged against stone as the morning star hovered dangerously above my head. "Reinforce!"

In a sudden burst of strength, I pushed the morning star away, sending the Earth Guardian stumbling backwards as the blue glow around me faded. Already, I was rushing towards him to get a few hits in, and as the Earth Guardian swung his morning star, I threw up a Valor's Shield to block it.

The Earth Guardian recovered quickly, and he stomped on the ground like a sumo wrestler I had once seen in Hamamitsu during my days aboard my uncle's merchant vessel. Gathering up his energy, he slammed his foot onto the cobblestone, causing a wall of earth to erupt towards me.

Turning to run away, I vaulted onto a nearby boulder in hope that it would protect me, but it was instead hurled into the air, taking me with it. As I began to fall rapidly towards the ground, I could see the Earth Guardian preparing to strike with his morning star on the ground. Gritting my teeth, I threw up another Valor's Shield, and I could hear the air rushing past the half-dome made of blue translucent hexagons.

The Valor's Shield crashed into the Earth Guardian, and in the cloud of dust that formed, I stabbed the left side of his breastplate, weakened by the Big Guns and now crumbling away like dirt as I withdrew my blade. I backed away slowly as the Earth Guardian rose, he spoke in his gravelly voice. "Never before have I met a warrior so steadfast, so unyielding. The Metal Temple is open to you."

The Earth Guardian then switched hands between the morning star, and in his now empty right hand was a key made of steel. I nodded as I took the key and bowed. "Thank you."

My next challenge, the Metal Guardian awaited me atop the next hill, and his home, the Metal Temple, looked like any other temple I had seen in MooShu, except that it was made of steel, and an engraving of a metal bar was on the set of double doors leading inside.

I brought out the key the Earth Guardian had gave me, and with a twisting motion, the doors were open and I stepped inside, letting the doors close and the darkness envelop me.