As Gor attacked Yin in the stone arena with a large summoned weapon in the shape of a pickaxe to the roar of the crowd, Micro looked into the white eyes of the old lady before him, unaware of anyone else around him. Kel asked her what she had meant, but she and Micro seemed oblivious to his questions.

“What do you know about me?” Micro asked her, his suspicion still growing.

“I see the nature of your soul, and its pain…” Vera replied, her voice trembling.

“I’ve never seen so pure a soul in such agony… So lost in the world… What evil force of destiny would do this…?”

“Nora sent me here.” Micro instinctively replied, but he quickly regretted it when Kel grabbed his arm and reminded him where he was.

“It’s alright, heir to the Fire Mountain Turtle Sect.” Vera said with a comforting tone.

“I know good from evil when it stands before me. I see… So you were taken from your home and forced into this unfit vessel. This vessel…”

She stepped back and looked at Micro with her Spirit Vision skill and sighed.

“To call it unworthy is an understatement.” She continued.

“Your soul shines too brightly to discern its shape, but I can only imagine how grand a physical form you once had.”

“I’m getting used to it now…” Micro replied, but he was unable to draw out the innocent smile he had come to habitually form.

“My old body was…”

“It’s okay, child.” Vera said as she embraced him once again like a mother comforting her child.

“I understand…”

“It’s not…” Micro tried to reply, but his own tears suddenly fell.

“I just… want to go home…”

Like a dam bursting open, Micro felt every emotion he’d learned to feel in the past week spill over. The confusion of every new feeling that he had just barely been able to push through gave way to nothing but the desire to bury his face in Vera’s shoulder.

“Let it out…” Vera said with a soothing voice as Kel watched with concern. She glanced at Kel with an apologetic smile.

“Forgive me, young master. Your friend has suffered more than you know. Any mortal I’ve known would have broken in two by now…”

Micro finally managed to pull himself together and leave the soothing embrace of the kind old lady. After wiping his face on his clothes and taking a few deep breaths, he gave Kel a reassuring glance and looked at Vera as she continued to speak.

“Listen to me, lost soul…” She began to speak with a more solemn tone.

“The soul is not a flexible entity. The mind you now use to perceive this world, the senses you use to understand it, and the energy you use to survive in it cry out in protest as your soul fills them with life. It is only through the incredible power of your soul that you are able to exist in this form at all, but you must not deny your nature any longer.”

“You’re saying, I should try to be human?” Micro asked with a sense of urgency, desperate to know what answers she held.

“You can’t help what you are, I’m afraid.” She answered, shaking her head.

“But you can live the way you were meant to live.”

“How I was meant to live?” Micro repeated.

“Remember this.” She leaned in to explain.

“No one in this world can teach you how to be you. You may learn from your friends and enemies, but you cannot become them. Be yourself.”

“I have to be myself…” Micro repeated. He nodded his head in understanding, though it was only somewhere deep in his heart that he fully understood it.

Vera was about to continue, but a powerful wave of energy suddenly swept over them which shook the ground they stood on. Everyone turned to its source, and there was Yin, standing alone in a crater at the centre of the stone platform, looking as calm as he was before the fight began. Some movement in the crowd, several layers of seats up, caught their attention next. There, lying motionless on top of several unconscious spectators, was Gor.

“I’m afraid I must see to the young master of the Earth River Sect now.” Vera sighed, giving Micro one last look before she ran to tend to the young man’s injuries.

“If you ever seek answers to questions of the soul, you will always be welcome at the Soul Sect to the East!”

Micro waved to her with gratitude in his heart as the noise of the crowd continued. Kel approached him after collecting his thoughts for a moment.

“Master, forgive me for not seeing the true extent of your suffering…” He said, weighed down by a sense of shame.

“Vera is a well known healer in the region. She comes from a sect that practices the Soul Art, a mysterious art about which little is known. But that is a matter for another time, for there is much to discuss now that you are here. Please, follow me.”

~

After Yin defeated Gor, the man with the loud voice quickly announced that there would be a short intermission while the arena was repaired. Gor was taken away to be treated by Vera and the other healer, and dozens of mundane residents of the city began working to repair the damaged platform. Some of them dragged large stone slabs across the ground in large groups while others focused on chiseling them into shape.

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As the tension in the arena lifted, the remaining cultivators who had gathered to participate in the tournament were led outside by an old mundane man with one eye hidden behind an eye patch. There, Micro finally got a good look at the other contestants, and they were all staring back at him.

“So this is the turtle boy who ran late, huh?” A woman with short hair in dark red robes said while rolling her eyes.

“As if Kel wasn’t embarrassing enough to fight.”

“I think you’ll find him interesting, Teran.” Thea said, winking at Micro.

“Oh, really?” Teran replied sarcastically.

“Is he a particularly fast turtle?”

“Far more interesting, in fact.” Thea continued.

“Micro is a-”

“He’s a hero.” Yin suddenly interjected, his eyes glowing with a yellow light beneath the shade of his hood.

Kel jumped in front of Micro as several of the cultivators suddenly summoned weapons of energy in their hands and backed away cautiously.

“That’s not entirely accurate!” Kel asserted to them.

“His body was created with magic, but his soul is free of magical influence. Our sect stands by this cultivator, and I will die before I see him harmed outside of the arena.”

“The rumour was true?!” Teran screamed, catching notice of several mundane workers nearby.

“I assumed it was more of Vale’s gossip…” Yin whispered as his own aura began to weigh upon the others.

“He’s not a hero!” Kel shouted frantically.

“He is as worthy an heir to the Fire Mountain Turtle Sect as I am, and you would bring my entire sect down upon you if you-”

“Enough, young ones.” Lena’s voice suddenly cut through the chaotic air of the contestants as she appeared in a flash behind Yin.

“Draw no more attention to this matter. Everything is under control.”

Micro smiled and waved to Lena, but Kel and the other five remaining contestants were frozen in fear. Even Thea’s neck seemed stiff as she slowly turned to view the source of the Sapphire level aura that had suddenly displaced their own.

“Imperial Guard…” Yin managed to mumble as he caught his breath.

“I pay my respects… Your service is…”

“I pay my respects…” Thea added as Yin’s voice trailed off.

“The tournament will continue as planned.” Lena stated quietly so that only the contestants could hear.

“As far as you’re concerned, Micro is the brother of that boy in green.”

Lena pointed at Kel dismissively then looked around at the strained faces of the others. Content with their reaction, she gave a parting warning glance to Micro.

“Don’t make me regret this.” She said solemnly.

She saw no reason to confirm whether they understood her expectations, given their stunned silence, and she once again disappeared into the busy crowd of spectators within the stadium. After she left, none of the remaining contestants were sure which direction the conversation should go, but Kel was quick to fill the silence.

“You will know the greatness of this being called Micro by his actions.” He asserted, pointing to Micro with an expression full of pride.

“And you will know that he is worthy of every courtesy you would extend to a cultivator of any sect!”

“Courtesy…?” The young girl in grey attire asked, her face finally able to form a sarcastic expression again.

“You have not introduced yourselves to a representative of my sect, and I would expect you to do so immediately.” Kel explained, countering the girl’s sarcastic expression with one of anger.

As the awkward tension grew, Thea was about to add something, but it was Yin who spoke next.

“I greet the honourable representative of the Fire Mountain Turtle Sect.” He whispered and nodded his head slightly.

“I am Yin, heir to the Dark Thunder Sect.”

Some of the others were taken aback by his sudden show of respect, and they were more shocked when Micro simply waved back with a casual smile, but Thea continued the greetings.

“It is good to see you again, Micro.” She said, her tone as coy as ever.

“I greet the honourable representative of the Fire Mountain Turtle Sect. I am Thea, heir to the Sparrow Sect. I am joined by Lana, a worthy disciple of our sect who wishes to usurp my position in time.”

“You expect me to honour that thing with a proper greeting?” Lana gasped as Thea turned to look at her.

“He’s the reason Mary couldn’t be here this year!”

Before Thea could rebuke her, she had already stormed away, heading back into the arena where repairs were still underway. Regardless of their feelings toward Micro, Lana’s rude departure seemed to offend most of the remaining members, and a short haired girl in dark red robes was the next to step forward and nod to Micro courteously.

“I greet the honourable representative of the Fire Mountain Turtle Sect. My name is Teran, of the Earth River Sect.” Teran’s voice was soft and sweet, and her eyes were kind, but her aura felt rigid and unyielding.

“I mean to challenge the heir to our sect, Gor. He is a worthy leader and friend, but I believe I will prove the stronger disciple in time.”

“I greet the honourable representative of the Fire Mountain Turtle Sect.” A girl in similar attire to Teran stepped forward with a more serious expression.

“I am Feris. I am confident that I will be chosen as the next heir to the Earth River Sect.”

“Nice to meet you both.” Micro replied, deciding against offering a handshake and opting instead to simply wave.

“All three of you want to be the next sect leader?”

“There are four of us.” Teran replied.

“Gor is the young man who departed from the stage in style just a moment ago. He meant to avenge Rale, his younger sister, who was defeated by Yin in the first round.”

“Hmph.” The final contestant sighed in distaste. She was the youngest by far, Micro struggled to imagine her taking part in a violent competition.

“Introduce yourself, Ki.” Thea ordered her as though she were talking to her own child.

“That stopped being cute when you became the heir to a sect.”

“Fine.” Ki snapped back.

“I’m Ki, heir to the Air Moon Sect. I greet the turtle boy. There, happy?”

“Heir to the Air Moon Sect…” Kel fumed.

“You dishonour us all with that foul mouth. Your mother taught you better than that, if I'm not mistaken.”

“I’m more honourable than Tsurum!” Ki shouted back.

“For an older brother, he’s such a weakling!”

“Tsurum lost to Yin in the second round, master.” Kel turned to explain to Micro.

“He’s with Tae and the others right now.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you all.” Micro said as he looked around at the other contestants.

“It’s so weird that it can talk, right?” Ki blurted out with a crude laugh, but she frowned when she noticed Micro laughing along with her.

“What’s so funny, hero?”

“I’m sorry…” He chuckled.

“It really is weird that I can talk!”

He stopped laughing as the familiar sensation of Lena’s frustrated aura once again passed through him like an icy wind.