As he returned to the inn, Ju didn’t see the old woman at the counter for the third time in a row; although it seemed strange, the young boy decided not to think too much about it.

In the room, Moon-Flower was on the meditation mat.

Ju's expression was odd as he silently observed Moon-Flower. Her eyes were closed, and her eyebrows trembled constantly.

As she sat cross-legged, it was evident that the little girl was struggling hard to accomplish something.

“I just can not sense anything; it seems so close, yet at the same time, it is very far away.” The girl lamented.

Ju removed his eye patch and cloak, crouched before her and smiled.

“That worry, you would get it eventually, that I am sure of; I was still a bit older than you when I discovered I could use Essence. Eventually, it would soon answer your beck and call.” He encouraged.

“But I want it now, to be able to help you for once.”

“And you would, very soon. All I need you to do for now is stay safe inside and wait for me. I have a critical outing tomorrow...”

Ju did not discuss the details of the issue with Master Pike or its potential danger. The young boy felt it was unnecessary and would cause her to panic.

What if I lose my life?

Ju thought to himself grimly, although it was an uncomfortable thing to think off, he had to prepare for the worst for his child’s sake.

“Moon-Flower, listen carefully. I will place this on the desk with the rest of our money. If I don’t return in 2 days, the mission will take longer than expected. So you take this letter and give it to the old woman downstairs, and she will know what to do. Don’t open this letter; its contents are not for you.”

Ju brought out a waxed piece of paper; Moonflower had an uneasy look in her eyes. It seemed she wanted to say something, but in the end, she didn’t.

Ju sighed when he saw her reaction; she sensed something was off.

“Don’t bother about anything; it is just a safety precaution. ”

“But you will come back tomorrow, right?” Moon-Flower said in a soft voice while looking down

“Yes, yes, I would. “ Ju smiled slightly and placed the letter on the table.

Ju didn’t worry about whether Moon-Flower would look at the letter's contents when he was not there; somehow, he knew she would do exactly what he asked.

Moon-Flower was put to bed soon after. Ju sat down cross-legged and began meditating. The tides again formed, but then Ju knitted his eyebrows, and he wanted to create a fourth tide. Just like the last time, it didn’t occur. Eventually, the pain was too much to bear, so Ju stopped.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

The young boy stood up and stretched while deep in thought.

“There is no way I can form four tides; with this sort of Essence Concentration, it is too sparse, but if I use three tides to open the spiritual node, the process would be too slow; I don’t have that sort of time. The only method I can think of now is that the guard at the entrance talked about the Meditation Room, but he spoke of how difficult it was to have a slot; it is unlikely I can have

a chance to use that place unless…”

Ju’s eyes lit up as he remembered his conversation with Master Pike.

“If I can…” Ju’s expression grew uncertain.

The next day, the young boy placed a couple of bottles of drinks, meat pieces, and pastries, taking a long look at the still-sleeping Moonflower. Ju was out on his cloak and set out.

“Aron had suggested that everyone set out as soon as possible to avoid keeping Master Pike waiting.”

Ju arrived at the outskirts of the forest about 15 minutes later, just as he suspected there were not many people present this early. Ju found a small rock and sat as he waited; it seemed he was the first to come; the young boy slowly played with his dagger as he concentrated on the Essence around the area,

“As I suspected, although the essence in this natural area was a little bit denser, it contained more impurities than Ender Town. With the tempering formula, I only need a small amount of pure Essence to form the tides; if it were too impure, the duration would be longer and much more painful.”

Although he was more or less stuck in a quagmire, Ju could see the benefits of the Tempering formula in just a week of usage. Hopefully, he would get a chance to improve and raise more tides.

“I wondered just how pure my Essence might be if I could raise 10 tides or more, “

But then Ju smiled bitterly to himself.

I am daydreaming.

The pain and strain from just three tides was already bad enough; if he raised ten tides, maybe his entire body might even collapse and never recover.

“Someone is here.”

Ju raised his face as he felt a familiar presence. It was Aron and Zabel, and the two seemed quite equipped. Zabel wore a black blouse with blue trousers that offered freedom of movement. Her storage pouch was strapped at the front, and her longbow was behind her. Her hair, which used to be free, was now tied with a ribbon.

Aron's plain green robe covered most of his outer body; however, Ju could see the gleam of those two knives underneath a small opening at his sides.

“Brother Ju, I see you came here first,” Aron said softly as he approached.

Ju nodded.

“It's best we complete the task as soon as possible.”

“Exactly.y I already have word from Master Pike about where we should head into the forest. All that is keeping us now is Tylen and Oberon.” Aron said with a hint of annoyance.

“Don’t worry, we are here already.” Oberon's lazy voice sounded behind them.

Seeing Tylen and Oberon move together, Ju's right eye flashed before becoming normal.

These two had formed a sort of alliance. He thought to himself, and then there was also Zabel and Aron, which means he was more or less the odd one in gthe roup, a lone wolf, just like how he alway.s

“Oberon would not be a difficult opponent, and neither would Zabel if I managed to get close to her on time. Although Tylen and Aron are strong, I should still be fine even against them; the major thing is to stop any two of them from working together against me.”

Ju’s expression was unreadable as he thought of several possibilities.

“Okay, then let's go.” Aron didn’t ask anything further and began walking deep into the forest with four other figures behind him.