June 16, 2025 • 26 mins
Beneath the dust of ancient temples and behind the thrill of artifact hunting lies a far more personal quest. Our new narrative series "The Relic Hunter: The Ten Relics" begins with a hunter recovering a mysterious object that responds uniquely to his touch. But this is no ordinary adventure tale—it's a mirror reflecting the parts of ourselves we've buried deep.
The compass he unearths doesn't point north; it points inward. The relic doesn't just shine; it reveals. As our protagonist confronts the uncomfortable truth that his lifelong quest wasn't about preserving history but proving his own worth, we discover a powerful metaphor for our own journeys. How many of us construct elaborate narratives about our motivations while hiding from simple truths?
The relationship between the hunter and his tech-savvy companion Kale demonstrates how others often see through our denial before we do. She recognizes his pattern of running from himself, staying present not to comfort or confront him but to witness his journey toward honesty. Together they discover the mythical "Vault of Ascension"—a destination that "doesn't rise until you do," representing the parts of ourselves locked behind excuses, shame, and doubt.
This episode invites you to examine what compass in your life keeps spinning wildly. What truth have you been avoiding for years? What part of your identity might need to die for you to move forward? Through ten powerful reflection questions, you're challenged to begin your own excavation of buried truths.
Share this episode with someone who needs to hear it, leave a review, or reach out directly through the link in the description, email anthony@gentsjourney.com, or message @mygentsjourney on Instagram. Remember: denial may feel protective, but the truth isn't interested in your comfort—it's interested in your liberation.
"True mastery is found in the details. The way you handle the little things defines the way you handle everything."
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello and welcome to the Gentleman's Journey podcast.
My name is Anthony, your host,and today we are starting a new
series.
Guys, I'm so excited about thisbecause we're going to really
ramp up the action in this one.
This series is called the RelicHunter the Ten Relics, so we're
(00:23):
just going to go ahead andwe're just going to jump right
into it.
A red flare flickers in the dust, Wind howls through shattered
pillars, gunfire cuts throughthe dark.
The hunter sprints acrosscrumbling stone, blood on his
face, relic in hand, wrapped inblack silk and speckled with
bone dust.
(00:43):
Kale comes over the intercoms.
She's frantic.
You've got 60 seconds beforethe satellite goes live.
If they see you with a relic,you're a dead man.
The hunter slides behind abroken column, checks the
silk-wrapped object.
Sacred symbols glint faintly inthe moonlight.
He breathes calm in the chaos,pulls out a dark cigar, lights
(01:09):
it with a brass zippo.
The flame flares as bullets hitthe stones nearby.
Kale, if you die out there, I'mdeleting your entire catalog
out of spite.
The hunter grins All right,that's fair.
He throws a small clay spherebehind him, flashbang, boom,
(01:29):
smoke swirls.
He runs through it, leapinginto the sandstorm outside.
The temple collapses behind him, silhouetted by dust and fire.
The hunter limps forward, smokecurling from the cigar clenched
in his teeth.
He holds up the relic.
The wind goes silent.
He stares into the fabric andfor a moment, just a breath, he
(01:56):
sees something move beneath it.
This is the Relic Hunter.
The Ten Relics, episode 1, theWhisper Beneath the Dust.
The door slams Open.
The hunter stumbles in,bleeding breath ragged, a
(02:16):
silk-wrapped object clutched inone hand.
Kale, you're late, you'rebleeding and something in that
bundle is humming.
He drops it on the table.
Doesn't sit the hunter?
Not humming, it's breathing.
Kale enters from the shadows,barefoot, headset around her
(02:37):
neck, black cropped hair tied up, mug of tea in her hand.
She eyes him unimpressed.
Don't be poetic.
You've got a gash near yourribcage and a half-lit cigar
that smells like hubris.
He finally sits.
The cigar glows briefly in thehalf-light.
(02:59):
He unwraps the relic carefully.
The moment the silk falls away,a low pulse hums throughout the
room.
The lights flicker.
Kel Tex glitches.
Her screens go black.
Her mug trembles.
She freezes.
What was that?
(03:27):
The relic, cracked, etched withstrange glyphics, rests heavily
in the center of the table.
The hunter, I don't know.
He runs his hand over it.
A single glyph glows beneathhis touch.
The air tightens.
The ash on his cigar falls andit doesn't scatter.
Kale falls and it doesn'tscatter Kale, did you the hunter
(03:54):
?
It moved.
This time she doesn't argue,only silence remains.
The room has gone.
Still.
The relic sits between them onthe table, cracked, ancient, yet
impossibly resonant.
The glyph that lit under histouch has dimmed again, but
something lingers in the airlike static in a cathedral.
(04:15):
The hunter doesn't speak rightaway, he leans back slowly,
cigar still glowing faintly inhis hand.
The ash hasn't dropped.
It's like gravity is hesitating.
Kale paces slowly around thetable.
Now Her eyes are sharp, notjust curious, but alert.
(04:36):
She taps the side of her neck,activating the neural scanner
wired behind her ear.
Her retinal lenses shift hue.
Whatever this is, it's not justemitting energy, it's reacting
to yours, the hunter.
How do you know?
(04:57):
It's not reacting to yours?
Because I touched it.
She holds up her hand.
No glow, no glyph.
The holds up her hand.
No glow, no glyph.
The hunter frowns, reaches outagain, touches the center of the
relic.
This time three glyphs light up.
The hunter returns, but it'ssofter, more rhythmic, like
(05:23):
breath or memory.
Kale half whispering.
That's not a language.
I recognize the hunter becauseit's not a language, it's a name
.
Kale's eyes snap to him, hedoesn't break his stare.
The hunter, every relic startswith a name, not what it was
(05:50):
called, but what it calleditself.
She nods, slowly, opens herportable scanner.
Deceive, sets it beside therelic Kale, let's see if it
wants to speak.
The device unfolds.
Thin plasma sheets flicker openlike pedestals.
(06:10):
A 3D map of the relic'senergetic field begins to render
, layer by layer On screen.
Waves of resonant patternsbegin to form glyphs in motion,
but then it stalls.
The feed glitches thenreconfigures A single, simple
(06:30):
form, not digital, but burnedinto the lenses of the scanner
itself.
The Hunter, softly that's a seal, kale.
A seal of what?
That's a seal, kale?
A seal of what?
The hunter Initiation Kale intowhat.
(06:53):
He doesn't answer Because nowhe remembers something.
Just a flicker, a smell of ashand rain, a voice in an ancient
chamber, a mere breaking.
Kel looks at him and for thefirst time he looks afraid.
The sieve powers down.
The relic glows faintly.
(07:15):
Whatever has started cannot beundone.
Kale sits cross-legged now, thesieve's pedestal slowly closing
as the system's powered down.
The relic pulses faintly,casting dim rhythmic shadows
across the walls, like anancient heart struggling to
(07:37):
remember how to beat.
The hunter stares at itunmoving.
The glow of the glyph stilldances across his fingertips.
Kale, it marked the scanner.
That wasn't a signal.
That was a seal Burned in, notdigitally embedded.
She taps a button.
(07:57):
The scan reappears on hertablet.
A single symbol remainsHovering, rotating Three
interlocked crescentssurrounding a vertical spine.
The hunter says quietly that'sthe first seal, kale.
How do you know that?
He doesn't answer at first?
(08:19):
Instead, he opens his leathersatchel, removes a thin notebook
bound in goat leather.
He opens his leather satchel,removes a thin notebook bound in
goat leather, cracked with age.
He flips through it, page afterpage of archaic sketches, field
notes half-translated phrases.
He finds it a sketch made yearsago.
(08:43):
The same symbol, because I sawit in the Temple of Whispers.
The hunter said before theycollapsed, it back when I still
believe relics were only history.
He places the notebook besidethe relic.
The symbol on the page beginsto glow faintly, as if the relic
is responding.
Kale, is this the part where youtell me what's happening?
(09:03):
The hunter, not what'shappening, what's about to begin
.
He finally looks at her, reallylooks, and says Every seal
opens something, a memory, aplace, sometimes a wound, kale.
(09:24):
So what does this one open?
The relic begins to vibrate,not violently, like it's tuning
itself a frequency low, it's alow hum and it fills the space.
Lights flicker again, theshadows on the wall shift
unnaturally.
(09:44):
Then a beam of light shoots outfrom the center of the relic,
projecting onto the wall a map,old, torn, dotted with seven
burning marks.
But there's something else Apiece of audio embedded,
whispered, almost imperceptible.
Kaleale leaning in is that isthat coordinates the hunter nods
(10:12):
and a warning.
The whisper grows louder.
Now Kale hears it too, thewhisper saying the first seal
breaks the silence of the selfwhat you seek will not answer to
fear.
Suddenly, the map burns out,the light vanishes, the relic
goes cold.
Kale, well, that was subtle.
(10:35):
The hunter, it gave us morethan I expected.
He picks it up.
This time it doesn't react, butit feels heavier, like
something he doesn't yetunderstand.
Kale, so where to now?
He looks at the notebook, thenthe burn symbol on the scanner,
(10:59):
then slowly he smiles To wherethe silence used to begin.
Cal raises an eyebrow.
He grabs his coat, cigarburning low.
We're going to the monastery.
The chamber held its breath.
Time seemed to slow, as if dustswirled through, rays of gold
(11:22):
sweeping in from above,illuminating the pedestal.
Ahead Atop it lay the scroll,bound in cracked leather, sealed
in wax and marked with a symbolthat Hunter hadn't seen since
his childhood dreams a spiralwrapped in sunfire.
He hesitated before steppingforward.
Kale followed closely behind,silent.
(11:45):
For once, her finger movedgently across the seal.
This symbol, it's not justdecorative, she said softly.
It matches the glyphs from Site17, from the oracles.
The hunter glances at her.
She wasn't just studying it,she recognized it.
(12:06):
She wasn't just studying it,she recognized it.
What does it mean?
Means this place is real?
She murmured and broke the sealwith a steady hand, the scroll
unfurled, like it waitedcenturies to breathe again.
Kale, scan the ancient writing,old, high glyph.
She said give me a second.
(12:26):
She traced the linestranslating slowly to claim the
fire, return the ten.
Each relic seals a truth longburied.
Only when they align will thepath unlock.
The vault shall not rise untilall truth is sealed.
Her voice wavered at the lastline, her eyes widened.
(12:48):
This, this is the Vault ofAscension.
The hunter blinked.
The name echoed somewhere deepin his murmuring, like thunder
behind a locked door.
You've heard of it, kael nod.
Only whispers from monks andcliffs from scrolls that no
longer exist.
It's not just a legend, it's afinal destination, they say.
(13:13):
It holds the original seal, thekey to everything.
He looked down at the crackedcompass in his palm.
It spun slowly but deliberately.
So the scrolls, the relicsthey're not the goal, they're
keys.
Kael looked up at him and theVault of Ascension is a lock.
They stood in silence.
(13:35):
For the first time the missionfelt real and terrifyingly
personal.
The safehouse later that day,the relic, sits untouched.
Kale has disappeared into theblack tracing satellite routes
and underground contacts.
But the hunter hasn't moved.
(13:58):
The compass is still silent,waiting.
He stares at it like it'ssomething alive, like something
that knows too much.
He lights another cigar.
The smoke coils differentlythis time, as if pulled towards
the relic.
He speaks to it, or maybe tohimself.
(14:20):
The hunter I told them it wasabout preservation, legacy,
knowledge.
No response.
But I was really just trying tostay ahead of the collapse.
Pretend that if I moved fastenough, my own wouldn't catch me
.
The compass begins to spin, therelic glows faintly.
(14:43):
He rises angrily, pushes back.
The chair, starts pacing.
Something inside him wasbreaking Cut to the university
office years ago.
He's a young hunter,mid-argument.
His mentor, stern butsoft-spoken, leans across the
desk.
The mentor there's no truth inmovement unless you know what
(15:04):
you're running from.
Back into the safe house, hekicks a crate.
Papers fly, old notes scatter.
One lands face up A drawing ofa mirror, a compass besides it.
He picks it up, holds it.
Sketches dated eight years ago,same shape, same seal, same
(15:27):
seal.
The hunter how long have Iknown?
He says quietly, how long haveI been pretending not to?
The relic pulses.
The room darkens slightly.
Kale returns, sees him holdingup the sketch.
The glow, kale, so you've seenit before.
(15:49):
He nods Kale, and you didn'tsay anything.
The hunter it wasn't time, kale, or because the truth makes you
weak.
The compass spins violentlyagain.
Kale looks at it, then at him.
She's not angry, she's tired.
(16:11):
Kale, you can't lead us to thevault if you keep lying to the
one person who's trying to wakeup.
The hunter I'm not ready.
The kale no one ever is.
She walks away.
The relic hums again, this timelower, almost sorrowful.
The room feels heavier.
(16:34):
He sits back down.
Finally the lie crumbles.
The hunter it was never aboutsaving anything, it was about
proving that I still mattered.
The relic pulses brighter.
It's hours later.
Kayla is asleep again, thistime at the desk, arm folded
(16:56):
head, resting beside her tablet.
The relic goes faintly in thedark, casting slow, turning
shadows on the ceiling.
The hunter watches it like it'sa confessional.
He lifts it with both hands,whispers to it Show me what I
forgot.
The seal ignites, the compasslifts, the air folds inward.
(17:24):
A flashback sequence initiatesIn the desert dusk years ago.
The hunter kneels beside a darkdig site.
Hands are bloody, not fromviolence but from desperation.
A broken mirror lies halfburied in the sand.
A voice echoes Young Kale.
You said this was about legacy,but you never asked whose.
You said this was about legacy,but you never asked whose.
(17:45):
He turns alone.
No chaos, just memory.
A young version of the hunterstares at a sealed box marked
with a glyph, now burned intothe relic.
He lifts the lid and sees hisown refreshing serum back at him
, but younger, sharper, hopeful.
(18:09):
The image speaks.
You're not just in a museumstorage.
You had told them it was forthe world, but it was only for
you.
You were afraid they'd forgetyou ever mattered.
Now back into the safe househouse.
The hunter drops the relic,breathing hard cold sweat down
(18:32):
his back.
Kale wakes instantly, looks athim.
The glow on the floor.
Kale.
What did it show you.
He doesn't answer right away,he just points.
The compass has stoppedspinning, but the needle isn't
pointing north, it's pointing athim, the hunter.
It didn't show me anything.
(18:54):
It reminded me, kale, remindedyou of what he looks down.
Finally, honest that I wasn'tchasing relics, I was chasing
proof that my that I didn'twaste my life.
The relic pulses once, then itdims silent, as if it's
(19:20):
satisfied.
Kale doesn't say anything, butfor the first time she moves
closer, not to comfort him, notto confront him, just to be near
him, because now they'refinally on the same map.
(19:41):
Let me tell you somethingbecause I don't want you to miss
it.
Okay, this simply wasn't just atemple buried beneath sand.
This wasn't about an ancientscroll or relic that looked cool
on a shelf.
This was a mirror, and youprobably didn't see it at first
(20:04):
because, honestly, that's howdenial works it hides in plain
sight.
You saw him pull the compassfrom the sand and maybe you
thought that's a cool artifact.
You saw him pull the compassfrom the sand and maybe you
thought that's a cool artifact,but what you didn't see is what
it did to him when he touched itit spun, not because it was
(20:24):
broken, but because he was.
That compass didn't point north, it points inward.
It relaxed lies, not from theoutside world, but from the lies
you whispered to yourself solong you forgot they weren't
true.
And Kayle, she wasn't just asidekick, she knew She'd seen
(20:50):
that look in him before the lookof someone running from
themselves, in him before thelook of someone running from
themselves.
And even though he masks itwith sarcasm, cigars and old
stories, she sees him.
That's why she stayed at thetable, that's why she didn't
leave.
So let's go even deeper.
That scroll, that vault ofascension.
(21:11):
You might think it's some finaldestination, some mythical
place, place.
But that vault doesn't riseuntil you do.
It's a metaphor for every partof you that's been locked up,
sealed behind excuses, shame,fear or doubt.
And this, this, is just thebeginning, because there are
more relics out there, each oneof them waiting to confront him
(21:34):
and you with the truth.
You've buried too long.
So when that compass spun, itwas the start of everything.
And here's what most people miss.
He didn't want to keep thecompass, he wanted to throw it
back into the sand.
That's what we all do when thetruth threatens the version of
ourselves we've gotten used to.
But the truth doesn't careabout your comfort.
(21:56):
It cares about your liberation.
This episode was about denial,and the problem with denial is
that it's seductive.
It lets you build a world whereyou're not the problem, where
the compass is broken, where thevault is a myth, where the life
you're living is good enough,but you didn't.
(22:16):
Life you're living is goodenough, but you didn't start
this journey to stay good enough.
You came here because somethinginside you was starving,
because you buried it under thesand.
So here's what I want you to donow Pause, reread your compass.
Ask yourself what's spinninginside of me when I pretend
(22:38):
everything is fine?
Where in my life do I feeldisoriented?
Not because I'm lost, butbecause I'm lying.
This is more than entertainment.
This is a series.
These are relics.
They're here to pull you apartso you can walk through the
vault at the end and don't thinkfor a second that this is just
(23:00):
a story.
It's a mirror.
So if your compass is spinningright now, good, it means you're
close to something real.
So now let's get into yourreflection work.
Okay, there's going to be 10 ofthem, number one.
Okay, there's going to be 10 ofthem, number one identify one
truth you've been avoiding foryears.
Write it in one sentence.
(23:27):
Make it ugly and honest.
Number two what would it meanto live like the truth was real?
What changes immediately?
Okay?
Number three what compass inyour life keeps spinning?
Is it a relationship, is it agoal, is it a job?
And why do you think it does?
Number four how have you useddenial as a shield?
(23:48):
What did it protect you from?
What did it cost you?
Five think of someone who knowsthe truth about you.
What would they say if theywere brutally honest?
Number six what part of youridentity needs to die for you to
move forward?
That's a big one.
(24:09):
Number seven if you're brutallyhonest with yourself today,
what's the first action youwould take?
Number eight what does thevault of ascension look like?
What would be inside?
Number nine why haven't youfaced it yet?
(24:31):
And number 10, if you're readyto start now, if yes, say it out
loud.
I'm done lying to myself.
So, guys, we are.
(24:53):
I'm telling you this is goingto be such a wild ride and I'm
so excited that you guys arecoming along with me.
So I want to thank you so verymuch for all your support for
listening and and your, your Iwas gonna say viewership, but
listenership, I guess, and thecommunity that we're building
(25:13):
it's.
It's just so amazing, yourfeedback and your support.
Thank you so much.
If you want to support thischannel, the best way to do it
is share it with a family,friend or family friends,
co-workers, whoever who needs tohear this.
Please share with them.
Also, too, you can leave ifyou're listening to this on the
podcast.
You can leave a like.
(25:33):
You, you're listening to thison.
You know the podcast.
You can leave a like, you canleave a review.
Those things are so, so helpfulto get us out there.
Okay, and if you want to get ahold of me, if you want to
contact me about this episode,or you have questions about
Jen's journey, about your ownjourney, I'm here to help you.
That's what I do.
Okay, there's three ways.
First way is going to be on thedescription of this podcast.
(25:54):
It'll be like there'll be a saylet's chat.
You click on that and you and Ican have a conversation, okay.
Second way is going to bethrough my email.
My email isanthonyatgentsjourneycom.
Feel free to reach out to methere.
And, last but not least, youcan reach out to me on my
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My Instagram is my gentsjourney.
So please, please, please, feelfree to reach out to me there
(26:16):
too, okay, so again, thank you,so, so, so, so, so very much for
listening today.
And remember this you createyour reality.
Take care.
Hello and welcome to the Gentleman's Journey podcast.
My name is Anthony, your host,and today we are starting a new
series.
Guys, I'm so excited about thisbecause we're going to really
ramp up the action in this one.
This series is called the RelicHunter the Ten Relics, so we're
(00:23):
just going to go ahead andwe're just going to jump right
into it.
A red flare flickers in the dust, Wind howls through shattered
pillars, gunfire cuts throughthe dark.
The hunter sprints acrosscrumbling stone, blood on his
face, relic in hand, wrapped inblack silk and speckled with
bone dust.
(00:43):
Kale comes over the intercoms.
She's frantic.
You've got 60 seconds beforethe satellite goes live.
If they see you with a relic,you're a dead man.
The hunter slides behind abroken column, checks the
silk-wrapped object.
Sacred symbols glint faintly inthe moonlight.
He breathes calm in the chaos,pulls out a dark cigar, lights
(01:09):
it with a brass zippo.
The flame flares as bullets hitthe stones nearby.
Kale, if you die out there, I'mdeleting your entire catalog
out of spite.
The hunter grins All right,that's fair.
He throws a small clay spherebehind him, flashbang, boom,
(01:29):
smoke swirls.
He runs through it, leapinginto the sandstorm outside.
The temple collapses behind him, silhouetted by dust and fire.
The hunter limps forward, smokecurling from the cigar clenched
in his teeth.
He holds up the relic.
The wind goes silent.
He stares into the fabric andfor a moment, just a breath, he
(01:56):
sees something move beneath it.
This is the Relic Hunter.
The Ten Relics, episode 1, theWhisper Beneath the Dust.
The door slams Open.
The hunter stumbles in,bleeding breath ragged, a
(02:16):
silk-wrapped object clutched inone hand.
Kale, you're late, you'rebleeding and something in that
bundle is humming.
He drops it on the table.
Doesn't sit the hunter?
Not humming, it's breathing.
Kale enters from the shadows,barefoot, headset around her
(02:37):
neck, black cropped hair tied up, mug of tea in her hand.
She eyes him unimpressed.
Don't be poetic.
You've got a gash near yourribcage and a half-lit cigar
that smells like hubris.
He finally sits.
The cigar glows briefly in thehalf-light.
(02:59):
He unwraps the relic carefully.
The moment the silk falls away,a low pulse hums throughout the
room.
The lights flicker.
Kel Tex glitches.
Her screens go black.
Her mug trembles.
She freezes.
What was that?
(03:27):
The relic, cracked, etched withstrange glyphics, rests heavily
in the center of the table.
The hunter, I don't know.
He runs his hand over it.
A single glyph glows beneathhis touch.
The air tightens.
The ash on his cigar falls andit doesn't scatter.
Kale falls and it doesn'tscatter Kale, did you the hunter
(03:54):
?
It moved.
This time she doesn't argue,only silence remains.
The room has gone.
Still.
The relic sits between them onthe table, cracked, ancient, yet
impossibly resonant.
The glyph that lit under histouch has dimmed again, but
something lingers in the airlike static in a cathedral.
(04:15):
The hunter doesn't speak rightaway, he leans back slowly,
cigar still glowing faintly inhis hand.
The ash hasn't dropped.
It's like gravity is hesitating.
Kale paces slowly around thetable.
Now Her eyes are sharp, notjust curious, but alert.
(04:36):
She taps the side of her neck,activating the neural scanner
wired behind her ear.
Her retinal lenses shift hue.
Whatever this is, it's not justemitting energy, it's reacting
to yours, the hunter.
How do you know?
(04:57):
It's not reacting to yours?
Because I touched it.
She holds up her hand.
No glow, no glyph.
The holds up her hand.
No glow, no glyph.
The hunter frowns, reaches outagain, touches the center of the
relic.
This time three glyphs light up.
The hunter returns, but it'ssofter, more rhythmic, like
(05:23):
breath or memory.
Kale half whispering.
That's not a language.
I recognize the hunter becauseit's not a language, it's a name
.
Kale's eyes snap to him, hedoesn't break his stare.
The hunter, every relic startswith a name, not what it was
(05:50):
called, but what it calleditself.
She nods, slowly, opens herportable scanner.
Deceive, sets it beside therelic Kale, let's see if it
wants to speak.
The device unfolds.
Thin plasma sheets flicker openlike pedestals.
(06:10):
A 3D map of the relic'senergetic field begins to render
, layer by layer On screen.
Waves of resonant patternsbegin to form glyphs in motion,
but then it stalls.
The feed glitches thenreconfigures A single, simple
(06:30):
form, not digital, but burnedinto the lenses of the scanner
itself.
The Hunter, softly that's a seal, kale.
A seal of what?
That's a seal, kale?
A seal of what?
The hunter Initiation Kale intowhat.
(06:53):
He doesn't answer Because nowhe remembers something.
Just a flicker, a smell of ashand rain, a voice in an ancient
chamber, a mere breaking.
Kel looks at him and for thefirst time he looks afraid.
The sieve powers down.
The relic glows faintly.
(07:15):
Whatever has started cannot beundone.
Kale sits cross-legged now, thesieve's pedestal slowly closing
as the system's powered down.
The relic pulses faintly,casting dim rhythmic shadows
across the walls, like anancient heart struggling to
(07:37):
remember how to beat.
The hunter stares at itunmoving.
The glow of the glyph stilldances across his fingertips.
Kale, it marked the scanner.
That wasn't a signal.
That was a seal Burned in, notdigitally embedded.
She taps a button.
(07:57):
The scan reappears on hertablet.
A single symbol remainsHovering, rotating Three
interlocked crescentssurrounding a vertical spine.
The hunter says quietly that'sthe first seal, kale.
How do you know that?
He doesn't answer at first?
(08:19):
Instead, he opens his leathersatchel, removes a thin notebook
bound in goat leather.
He opens his leather satchel,removes a thin notebook bound in
goat leather, cracked with age.
He flips through it, page afterpage of archaic sketches, field
notes half-translated phrases.
He finds it a sketch made yearsago.
(08:43):
The same symbol, because I sawit in the Temple of Whispers.
The hunter said before theycollapsed, it back when I still
believe relics were only history.
He places the notebook besidethe relic.
The symbol on the page beginsto glow faintly, as if the relic
is responding.
Kale, is this the part where youtell me what's happening?
(09:03):
The hunter, not what'shappening, what's about to begin
.
He finally looks at her, reallylooks, and says Every seal
opens something, a memory, aplace, sometimes a wound, kale.
(09:24):
So what does this one open?
The relic begins to vibrate,not violently, like it's tuning
itself a frequency low, it's alow hum and it fills the space.
Lights flicker again, theshadows on the wall shift
unnaturally.
(09:44):
Then a beam of light shoots outfrom the center of the relic,
projecting onto the wall a map,old, torn, dotted with seven
burning marks.
But there's something else Apiece of audio embedded,
whispered, almost imperceptible.
Kaleale leaning in is that isthat coordinates the hunter nods
(10:12):
and a warning.
The whisper grows louder.
Now Kale hears it too, thewhisper saying the first seal
breaks the silence of the selfwhat you seek will not answer to
fear.
Suddenly, the map burns out,the light vanishes, the relic
goes cold.
Kale, well, that was subtle.
(10:35):
The hunter, it gave us morethan I expected.
He picks it up.
This time it doesn't react, butit feels heavier, like
something he doesn't yetunderstand.
Kale, so where to now?
He looks at the notebook, thenthe burn symbol on the scanner,
(10:59):
then slowly he smiles To wherethe silence used to begin.
Cal raises an eyebrow.
He grabs his coat, cigarburning low.
We're going to the monastery.
The chamber held its breath.
Time seemed to slow, as if dustswirled through, rays of gold
(11:22):
sweeping in from above,illuminating the pedestal.
Ahead Atop it lay the scroll,bound in cracked leather, sealed
in wax and marked with a symbolthat Hunter hadn't seen since
his childhood dreams a spiralwrapped in sunfire.
He hesitated before steppingforward.
Kale followed closely behind,silent.
(11:45):
For once, her finger movedgently across the seal.
This symbol, it's not justdecorative, she said softly.
It matches the glyphs from Site17, from the oracles.
The hunter glances at her.
She wasn't just studying it,she recognized it.
(12:06):
She wasn't just studying it,she recognized it.
What does it mean?
Means this place is real?
She murmured and broke the sealwith a steady hand, the scroll
unfurled, like it waitedcenturies to breathe again.
Kale, scan the ancient writing,old, high glyph.
She said give me a second.
(12:26):
She traced the linestranslating slowly to claim the
fire, return the ten.
Each relic seals a truth longburied.
Only when they align will thepath unlock.
The vault shall not rise untilall truth is sealed.
Her voice wavered at the lastline, her eyes widened.
(12:48):
This, this is the Vault ofAscension.
The hunter blinked.
The name echoed somewhere deepin his murmuring, like thunder
behind a locked door.
You've heard of it, kael nod.
Only whispers from monks andcliffs from scrolls that no
longer exist.
It's not just a legend, it's afinal destination, they say.
(13:13):
It holds the original seal, thekey to everything.
He looked down at the crackedcompass in his palm.
It spun slowly but deliberately.
So the scrolls, the relicsthey're not the goal, they're
keys.
Kael looked up at him and theVault of Ascension is a lock.
They stood in silence.
(13:35):
For the first time the missionfelt real and terrifyingly
personal.
The safehouse later that day,the relic, sits untouched.
Kale has disappeared into theblack tracing satellite routes
and underground contacts.
But the hunter hasn't moved.
(13:58):
The compass is still silent,waiting.
He stares at it like it'ssomething alive, like something
that knows too much.
He lights another cigar.
The smoke coils differentlythis time, as if pulled towards
the relic.
He speaks to it, or maybe tohimself.
(14:20):
The hunter I told them it wasabout preservation, legacy,
knowledge.
No response.
But I was really just trying tostay ahead of the collapse.
Pretend that if I moved fastenough, my own wouldn't catch me
.
The compass begins to spin, therelic glows faintly.
(14:43):
He rises angrily, pushes back.
The chair, starts pacing.
Something inside him wasbreaking Cut to the university
office years ago.
He's a young hunter,mid-argument.
His mentor, stern butsoft-spoken, leans across the
desk.
The mentor there's no truth inmovement unless you know what
(15:04):
you're running from.
Back into the safe house, hekicks a crate.
Papers fly, old notes scatter.
One lands face up A drawing ofa mirror, a compass besides it.
He picks it up, holds it.
Sketches dated eight years ago,same shape, same seal, same
(15:27):
seal.
The hunter how long have Iknown?
He says quietly, how long haveI been pretending not to?
The relic pulses.
The room darkens slightly.
Kale returns, sees him holdingup the sketch.
The glow, kale, so you've seenit before.
(15:49):
He nods Kale, and you didn'tsay anything.
The hunter it wasn't time, kale, or because the truth makes you
weak.
The compass spins violentlyagain.
Kale looks at it, then at him.
She's not angry, she's tired.
(16:11):
Kale, you can't lead us to thevault if you keep lying to the
one person who's trying to wakeup.
The hunter I'm not ready.
The kale no one ever is.
She walks away.
The relic hums again, this timelower, almost sorrowful.
The room feels heavier.
(16:34):
He sits back down.
Finally the lie crumbles.
The hunter it was never aboutsaving anything, it was about
proving that I still mattered.
The relic pulses brighter.
It's hours later.
Kayla is asleep again, thistime at the desk, arm folded
(16:56):
head, resting beside her tablet.
The relic goes faintly in thedark, casting slow, turning
shadows on the ceiling.
The hunter watches it like it'sa confessional.
He lifts it with both hands,whispers to it Show me what I
forgot.
The seal ignites, the compasslifts, the air folds inward.
(17:24):
A flashback sequence initiatesIn the desert dusk years ago.
The hunter kneels beside a darkdig site.
Hands are bloody, not fromviolence but from desperation.
A broken mirror lies halfburied in the sand.
A voice echoes Young Kale.
You said this was about legacy,but you never asked whose.
You said this was about legacy,but you never asked whose.
(17:45):
He turns alone.
No chaos, just memory.
A young version of the hunterstares at a sealed box marked
with a glyph, now burned intothe relic.
He lifts the lid and sees hisown refreshing serum back at him
, but younger, sharper, hopeful.
(18:09):
The image speaks.
You're not just in a museumstorage.
You had told them it was forthe world, but it was only for
you.
You were afraid they'd forgetyou ever mattered.
Now back into the safe househouse.
The hunter drops the relic,breathing hard cold sweat down
(18:32):
his back.
Kale wakes instantly, looks athim.
The glow on the floor.
Kale.
What did it show you.
He doesn't answer right away,he just points.
The compass has stoppedspinning, but the needle isn't
pointing north, it's pointing athim, the hunter.
It didn't show me anything.
(18:54):
It reminded me, kale, remindedyou of what he looks down.
Finally, honest that I wasn'tchasing relics, I was chasing
proof that my that I didn'twaste my life.
The relic pulses once, then itdims silent, as if it's
(19:20):
satisfied.
Kale doesn't say anything, butfor the first time she moves
closer, not to comfort him, notto confront him, just to be near
him, because now they'refinally on the same map.
(19:41):
Let me tell you somethingbecause I don't want you to miss
it.
Okay, this simply wasn't just atemple buried beneath sand.
This wasn't about an ancientscroll or relic that looked cool
on a shelf.
This was a mirror, and youprobably didn't see it at first
(20:04):
because, honestly, that's howdenial works it hides in plain
sight.
You saw him pull the compassfrom the sand and maybe you
thought that's a cool artifact.
You saw him pull the compassfrom the sand and maybe you
thought that's a cool artifact,but what you didn't see is what
it did to him when he touched itit spun, not because it was
(20:24):
broken, but because he was.
That compass didn't point north, it points inward.
It relaxed lies, not from theoutside world, but from the lies
you whispered to yourself solong you forgot they weren't
true.
And Kayle, she wasn't just asidekick, she knew She'd seen
(20:50):
that look in him before the lookof someone running from
themselves, in him before thelook of someone running from
themselves.
And even though he masks itwith sarcasm, cigars and old
stories, she sees him.
That's why she stayed at thetable, that's why she didn't
leave.
So let's go even deeper.
That scroll, that vault ofascension.
(21:11):
You might think it's some finaldestination, some mythical
place, place.
But that vault doesn't riseuntil you do.
It's a metaphor for every partof you that's been locked up,
sealed behind excuses, shame,fear or doubt.
And this, this, is just thebeginning, because there are
more relics out there, each oneof them waiting to confront him
(21:34):
and you with the truth.
You've buried too long.
So when that compass spun, itwas the start of everything.
And here's what most people miss.
He didn't want to keep thecompass, he wanted to throw it
back into the sand.
That's what we all do when thetruth threatens the version of
ourselves we've gotten used to.
But the truth doesn't careabout your comfort.
(21:56):
It cares about your liberation.
This episode was about denial,and the problem with denial is
that it's seductive.
It lets you build a world whereyou're not the problem, where
the compass is broken, where thevault is a myth, where the life
you're living is good enough,but you didn't.
(22:16):
Life you're living is goodenough, but you didn't start
this journey to stay good enough.
You came here because somethinginside you was starving,
because you buried it under thesand.
So here's what I want you to donow Pause, reread your compass.
Ask yourself what's spinninginside of me when I pretend
(22:38):
everything is fine?
Where in my life do I feeldisoriented?
Not because I'm lost, butbecause I'm lying.
This is more than entertainment.
This is a series.
These are relics.
They're here to pull you apartso you can walk through the
vault at the end and don't thinkfor a second that this is just
(23:00):
a story.
It's a mirror.
So if your compass is spinningright now, good, it means you're
close to something real.
So now let's get into yourreflection work.
Okay, there's going to be 10 ofthem, number one.
Okay, there's going to be 10 ofthem, number one identify one
truth you've been avoiding foryears.
Write it in one sentence.
(23:27):
Make it ugly and honest.
Number two what would it meanto live like the truth was real?
What changes immediately?
Okay?
Number three what compass inyour life keeps spinning?
Is it a relationship, is it agoal, is it a job?
And why do you think it does?
Number four how have you useddenial as a shield?
(23:48):
What did it protect you from?
What did it cost you?
Five think of someone who knowsthe truth about you.
What would they say if theywere brutally honest?
Number six what part of youridentity needs to die for you to
move forward?
That's a big one.
(24:09):
Number seven if you're brutallyhonest with yourself today,
what's the first action youwould take?
Number eight what does thevault of ascension look like?
What would be inside?
Number nine why haven't youfaced it yet?
(24:31):
And number 10, if you're readyto start now, if yes, say it out
loud.
I'm done lying to myself.
So, guys, we are.
(24:53):
I'm telling you this is goingto be such a wild ride and I'm
so excited that you guys arecoming along with me.
So I want to thank you so verymuch for all your support for
listening and and your, your Iwas gonna say viewership, but
listenership, I guess, and thecommunity that we're building
(25:13):
it's.
It's just so amazing, yourfeedback and your support.
Thank you so much.
If you want to support thischannel, the best way to do it
is share it with a family,friend or family friends,
co-workers, whoever who needs tohear this.
Please share with them.
Also, too, you can leave ifyou're listening to this on the
podcast.
You can leave a like.
(25:33):
You, you're listening to thison.
You know the podcast.
You can leave a like, you canleave a review.
Those things are so, so helpfulto get us out there.
Okay, and if you want to get ahold of me, if you want to
contact me about this episode,or you have questions about
Jen's journey, about your ownjourney, I'm here to help you.
That's what I do.
Okay, there's three ways.
First way is going to be on thedescription of this podcast.
(25:54):
It'll be like there'll be a saylet's chat.
You click on that and you and Ican have a conversation, okay.
Second way is going to bethrough my email.
My email isanthonyatgentsjourneycom.
Feel free to reach out to methere.
And, last but not least, youcan reach out to me on my
Instagram.
My Instagram is my gentsjourney.
So please, please, please, feelfree to reach out to me there
(26:16):
too, okay, so again, thank you,so, so, so, so, so very much for
listening today.
And remember this you createyour reality.
Take care.
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