Hadden watched the burning pyre of a hundred corpses, his family’s corpse in the center of it all. A deep silence fell in the location, only broken by the crackling fire.

Occasionally, one could hear a sniffling or two, both by Hadden and Emma. Emma had thought she could contain her emotions, but this was too much for her. The death, the tragedy; it was overwhelming her.

Hadden still teared up, sniffling a little from time to time, but he couldn’t flat-out cry anymore. There just wasn’t enough tear in his eyes. His eyes were now as dry as they were hollow.

He stood there, regardless of the heat of the fire, watching the last embers fly away as he imagined his family’s souls had. He got down to his knees and prayed as the last wisps of flame went out and nothing but smoke and ash remained in front of him.

The funeral was over.

Ning walked up to the young man and handed him something. Hadden took it without thought and noticed that he had been given a small metal pot with a lid on top.

“What is this?” he asked.

“Place your family’s ash in here,” he said. “So they can be with you no matter where you are.”

The young boy looked puzzled. Ning knew there was no such tradition on this side of the world, but he had him do so anyway. Whatever it was that he would need to deal with the grief, he would provide it for him.

The boy walked up to the hot ashes and started swooping up the ash with his own two hands. His left hand burned as he did so, but his right hand didn’t feel much pain from the heat. Not that he was paying it any attention right now.

After gathering the ashes, he walked out in a daze. He looked back at the ashes, then around the village at the many houses. They were ashes as well. Not even the cattle had remained. action

Only death permeated the village.

“So, what do you plan on doing next?” Ning asked the young boy, cutting through his daze. “What?” he asked, before comprehending the question. “Next? I… haven’t had the time to think.”

“You can take your time,” Ning said. “Do you want to—”

“You killed the bandits right?” Hadden asked all of a sudden.

Ning paused. He had been ready to invite the young man to come with them so he could get him to a city where he could start a new life. He hadn’t expected to be asked that.

“I did,” Ning answered straightforwardly. “How did you do that?” the boy asked.

Ning frowned a little. “What do you mean how?” he asked. “I just went after them and killed them.”

“But how are you so strong to do that?” he asked. “How are all of you so strong?”

“Ah,” Ning understood. “Do you know what Essence is?”

The boy nodded hesitantly. “I’ve heard of it,” he said. “I’ve never truly seen it being used.”

“Well, I used Essence,” Ning said.

The boy’s eyes widened. “So you can use Essence? And you’re strong with it?” he asked.

“Pretty strong,” Ning said.

“Can you teach me?” the boy asked.

Ning smiled. He had a feeling the talk was going in this direction. “I can,” he said. “But why should I?”

The boy’s momentary happiness fleeted away when he heard those words. “Because… I want to learn,” he said.

“That’s not enough for me to teach you,” he said. Emma turned to look at him with questioning eyes. She knew her father would give a butterfly a technique to turn back to a caterpillar if it just asked him for it. So, seeing him make it difficult for the young man didn’t feel like himself.

“I…” Hadden paused for a moment. What could he say here that would help him learn what he wanted? What could he say that would make Ning happy with his answers? He thought of many things, but truth seemed the best approach in his mind.

“I want to be strong.” He found his words. “I want to be strong enough to protect myself and anyone I care about in the future. I do not wish for me or anyone else to have to go through the same tragedy I went through.”

“I want the power so I can give myself and others a good life.”

Ning showed no emotions on his face for a moment, making the young boy think he had done something wrong. However, a grin leaked through his stoic expression and he couldn’t help but fully smile.

“That is what I wanted to hear,” he said. “I like those words. From today onwards you will be my disciple. Are you okay with that?”

The boy’s eyes widened. “Yes!” he shouted, happiness and sadness mixing together in his face. He fought hard to keep back his tears this time.

Ning rubbed the young boy’s hair. “You won’t have to worry about anything else now,” he said. “I will make you the strongest person in the world. Then you will no longer have to worry about losing anyone else.”

The boy nodded.

“Say your last goodbyes to this place,” Ning said. “We will be leaving now.”

“Yes,” the boy said before hurriedly continuing. “Teacher!” Ning smiled again and left him there for a moment. Emma quickly followed behind him, asking why he didn’t accept him immediately.

“I needed him to figure out what it was he wanted from the power he would get,” Ning said. “If he has a goal, he will have an easier time going through hard times.”

“Will he even have a hard time when he’s training with you?” Emma asked.

“Oh, don’t think that I can’t be a harsh teacher,” he said. “I only don’t put you through any of it because you’re my daughter. For the rest of them, I don’t mind letting them feel a bit of pain before they get strong.”