Ever since I found that man, I have been visiting him regularly. It's been about two weeks since he recovered. He has been staying around Miedzy Cave and has never visited the village. In my bag, I had a loaf of bread, some vegetables, fish, and nuts.

He was a peculiar man, with unusual mannerisms. There might have been a cultural barrier between our two continents. For instance, I offered him a fork and knife, but he discarded them in favor of a pair of sticks. I wasn't offended or surprised by his choice, but rather amazed at how skillfully he could eat with those pair of sticks.

I couldn't understand his language, but luckily, he understood a little bit of what I was saying, but only the necessities. Maybe he visited the kingdom of Erlösung before? Who knows?

Upon arriving in the mountains, I witnessed the mysterious man doing push-ups with a large boulder on his back. This extreme workout might surprise or impress others, but not me. As I mentioned before, the Júzi rén (Tangerine People) are known for their godly bodies. They possess inhuman strength and are blessed with exceptional hand-to-hand combat abilities.

Seeing me, the old man stopped what he was doing, before giving me a jolly smile. Yes, this old man was weird indeed. Sitting down on a large rock, I just watched the man eat his food gracefully with the utensils, known as chopsticks.

As I watched the man eat, he offered me some of the food I had brought him. I waved my hand to decline his kind offer, but he insisted. Eventually, I picked up a piece of bread and shared a meal with the foreign man. At first, my mother and Hwa were suspicious of me, so I made up an excuse that I was working extra hours for Mr. Earnbile. Well, I guess it wasn't an excuse, considering I always found something interesting about this cave.

I came across some strange symbols inside the cave entrance. Even though I knew I shouldn't go in, the fact that the mysterious man wasn't harmed made me curious. Carved into the stone wall were depictions of a large beast that looked like a dragon in the center of the picture. One side was light and the other side was dark.

How strange.

The next day, I couldn't see the man because I was training with Hwa and her grandfather, the village chief. I am now changing into the training Gi that the chief provided me. Everyone in this village must know how to fight, and hunt, and even a stray like me was no exception.

Today, I'm going to attempt to learn how to perform Sen-Shēntǐ. Initially, I was confused because I thought only Júzi rén (Tangerine People) with their unique bodies could do it. It turns out I was partly right and partly wrong. Due to their unique bodies, different from normal humans, they can use their abilities effectively without any problems. However, when a normal human tries to do Sen-Shēntǐ, it puts a lot of stress on the body and can even be deadly. The human body was not meant to handle so much energy.

"OK Alonne, today you're learning how to channel Sen-Shēntǐ. It might be true that you aren't from our clan, but I believe you should be able to accumulate small bursts of Sen-Shēntǐ( nature energy)," explained the chief.

"But Elder, I'm not a part of your clan, so I don't think I can use it. And to be honest, I'm afraid even to try," I said anxiously. The Elder put one of his hands on the right side of my shoulder.

"Yes, Alonne, I understand your doubts. You need not worry; we are only using small bursts of it. It will do no harm to your body or even affect you. But before we start, let me explain about Nodes," said the Elder.

Confused about that, I was about to ask the Elder what Nodes were, but Hwa beat me to it. "Gramps! What are Nodes?!" asked the rambunctious girl. Slamming his cane right on her head, the elder scolds Hwa.

"Weren't you listening, Hwa? How many times must I explain this to you? Nodes are essential for a martial artist, especially for our clan. Nodes are pathways in the human body that essentially dictate how powerful a martial artist can be. A regular, average person is born with 50-100 Nodes in their body. This is another reason why normal humans cannot manifest or control Sen-Shēntǐ, due to the high amount of Nodes required to channel Sen-Shēntǐ (natural energy). In some rare circumstances, a miracle occurs when a normal person is able to draw out the natural energy. However, due to how taxing Sen-Shēntǐ is on a normal individual's body, it could cause massive strain on the body, or worse, fatally end the user's life," explained the Elder.

Curious, I ask the Elder how many nodes his clan has. "Elder-San, how many nodes do you and your clansmen have?" I asked.

"Typically around 500, but in every generation there are always a handful of prodigies, someone who exceeds those expectations. For example, Asuhra has about 700-750 nodes. He is the first person in our clan to have that many nodes," stated the Elder with a little pride in his voice.

Hwa had sparkled in her eyes. She always admired Ashura, heck, he was the main reason why she wanted to become a fighter in the first place.

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"Incredible," I muttered. The story about Ashura was true. At that time, I still believed his feats were over-exaggerated... No, this man was truly a monster. Someone that you should fear, especially if you were his enemy.

His monstrous strength will cause an entire battlefield to tremble. The seas will bend to his will. Ashura, the conqueror, the captain of wrath; even the gods cower in fear at the sound of his name.

The gods bestowed upon him a body of steel, hands as fast as lightning, and feet as quick as an elk.

Ashura the wrathful

Next day

"I'm trying my best to concentrate, but I realize this isn't going to be easy. I've been sitting in this same meditative position for two hours straight. The Elder wanted Hwa and me to feel the energy around us. It's been tough for me, but I can see my progress improving at a decent rate."

Hwa, however, jumped in the air with pink energy surrounding her body. It was none other than Hwa, and she seemed like a natural at it, as if she had been doing this forever. On her back was a pink tattoo with a crest of a bird, surrounded by flames.

Hwa jumped on my back, which irritated me because she interrupted my concentration. The orange-haired girl smiled at me before teasing me, "What's wrong, alone? Can't do it? I thought you were going to get this technique down before me," giggled Hwa.

The constant teasing really annoyed me. And like the kid I was, I got so frustrated that I exploded. "Shut up! I honestly don't care about this stupid training anyway. It's pointless. If people before me tried and failed miserably, what are the chances that I will succeed?" I shouted out in frustration.

Hwa was taken aback by my outburst, and she began to bark back at me. "Maybe if you stop complaining like a baby and work harder, then you will be able to master this, you loser," snapped Hwa back.

Standing up, I was about to continue my argument with Hwa when suddenly I felt something hard hit my head. I grabbed my head in pain and began to comically cry before looking at a displeased elder.

Hwa smirked. "That's right, gramps. He deserves." But before Hwa could continue to praise her grandfather, she too was struck on the head, but way harder.

As Hwa fell to her knees, she began to shout in pain. The elder intervened, instructing both Hwa and me to be quiet. The elder emphasized the importance of focusing on the exercise and discouraged complaining, as it wouldn't make the process go faster. The elder also reprimanded Hwa for belittling me, pointing out that everyone learns at their own pace and that having an advantage over someone doesn't make them useless.

I remember that at the time, I knew the elder was right. Due to my stubborn nature, I decided to leave and end the training for the day. I couldn't believe that I could do the exercise, let alone wield the ability of Sen-Shēntǐ.

I decided to clear my mind, so I headed to the forest.

Upon arriving at the forest, I begin exploring once more. The cool breeze brushes against my face, drying up the sweat and leaving me feeling refreshed. As I clear my mind, I stumble upon the mysterious old man standing by the waterfall. In his hands, he holds a strange, foreign sword that resembles a large knife. Curious, I start to observe the man from a distance.

The man stood patiently with his eyes closed for a couple of minutes. Tired of seeing him do nothing, I was about to ask what he was doing, but then I saw something extraordinary. With one quick swoosh of his sword, he was able to cleave the waterfall in two. That was the day I fell in love with the sword and understood something important: patience, a clear mind, steadfastness, and discipline go a long way.

I encountered a mysterious man while he was training, and he smiled at me. He struggled to speak our language and said, "Boy, it's nice to meet you again." I was still in shock after witnessing something extraordinary - a regular person had effortlessly cleaved the waterfall. I ran up to him, filled with excitement and interest, and asked, "How did you do that? What powers or techniques did you use?" I felt hopeful that a person like myself could achieve something extraordinary too.

Scratching his head, due to him not understanding what I was saying. Realizing this, I picked up every stick and tried to mimic what he did before pointing at myself, letting him know that I also wished to learn how to use that technique. Understanding my gesture, the man laughed before saying, "You have a long way to go, not in this lifetime," he said, still chuckling at me. Outraged, I was about to march off when I heard these words: "Fine, I'll teach you the basics. I need to repay you for the food," said the man barely able to speak my country's language.

I smiled as if I had won a prize. The man gestured for me to follow him as he began to walk back to Miedzy cave (Between caves).

In front of me was a rock. My goal was to cut this rock in half with this dull stick. Looking back at the man with a loving expression on my face, he crossed his arms and gave me a serious look. No words needed to be exchanged, and even if he did speak, I probably wouldn't understand what he was saying.

Feeling frustrated, I decided to attempt splitting the rock in half. Initially, I believed I needed to apply more force, but this resulted in my tool breaking and sending splinters into my hands, causing a great deal of pain. The second attempt was to try to mimic the man's breathing and posture, but I didn't take in the man's patience, and the amount of focus he put in his swing.

The outcome was the same, but this time, I didn't get a splinter lodged in my wounded hand. The man just continued to stare at me, watching me like a hawk. I continued to do the exercises over and over again, but not once did I figure out how to break the rock. It was getting late, and I was very tired, but I still hadn't given up. My stomach began to growl, demanding nourishment.

Handing me a stick of fish, the mysterious man had a jolly smile on his face. "Eat something. You worked hard today," he said, attempting to speak in my country's language.

Sitting by the campfire, the man started to cook and I began to munch on the grilled fish. It was delicious. Dinner was quiet, but it was understandable; we could barely understand each other.

"Sorry for not introducing myself earlier, but my name is Alonne. It's nice to meet you... Sir?" I said with a smile on my face.

The man also smiled before pointing at himself. " My name is Haukan! Nice to meet you, lad!"