Akiza continued to cry for a little longer, but eventually stopped. "I need to continue don't I Master?"

"Yes, but it is important to sort your own feelings out. If you are confused when you are trying to do something, it will only make things worse for you," Akira replied.

After some time, Akiza finally calmed herself down and began to focus. "I feel something faint coming from the river's bottom."

"Can you tell where it is coming from?" Akira asked.

"Yes, Master, a grass from the bottom of the river," stated Akiza. "Is it the blue and green grass?"

"Yes it is. The River Spirit Grass is indeed the blue and green grass. You must gather as much of the grass as you can because you will make use of it later," Akira ordered.

Akiza dived under the water to look and saw some grasses that had blue and green colors. She focused herself and felt an energy coming from the grasses. She made numerous dives under the water in order to collect the grasses and stored them in her Onyx Ring so that she would not confuse them with vegetables. Afterwards, she made her way back to her Home, a cave located underneath a huge tree. As Akiza arrived, she took out her knife and cut off some of the bark from the tree. It was one of the items that she was asked to collect by Akira and since it was the easiest one to get, she should get it now and store it in her ring until she needs to use it. She also collected some more water to replace what she had used since she started living in the forest.

It was a long day for Akiza. She had learned a powerful meditation technique, learned to sense the energy in the world around her, and collected materials for her Master. However, she was unable to find the Purple Amaryllis. She took out some of the vegetables and started eating.

"Will you tell me how to find the Purple Amaryllis?" asked Akiza.

"Don't worry about it, it is the hardest to find in areas that are not rich in Mana Energy, but there are definitely some in most areas. You just have to take some time to look around, "Akira explained. "Get some sleep, you're going to need it for tomorrow."

As Akiza slept, she entered her Dantian once more and looked for the Nine Yin and Nine Yang Manual. She saw that Akira was asleep inside her Dantian as well. "I guess even Heroes need to sleep," Akiza thought to herself. She continued looking through the library and saw that the books were organized by category. She searched around and found the meditation techniques. Next to the first volume that she had looked at earlier, she found the second volume and pulled it out. She looked at the cover.

"Stop right there!" Akira shouted. "You are not ready for this."

"But you told me to take a look when I had a chance," said Akiza.

"The day is for training! The night is for sleeping!" Akira shouted at her. "Mental rest and physical rest are just as important. Not sleeping in your current state will only hurt you in the long run. Hurry and go back to bed. You need to wake up early tomorrow."

Akiza nodded her head and left to go back to sleep.

The next day, Akiza was woken up by Akira once more. Akira's loud booming voice had become her wake up call. "Wake up sleepy head!" shouted Akira.

Akiza got up again and started wiping her eyes with her hands. She looked outside and it was sunrise. She remembered that she still had to look for the Purple Amaryllis. She took out some carrots, peeled off the skin, and ate them quickly. She then ran outside to continue her search. This time, she headed deeper into the forest, in the opposite direction of the river.

"Can you give me a hint Master?" Akiza asked.

"Don't worry about it and keep calm," said Akira. "I told you what you needed to know. You are in too much of a hurry. This is something that takes time. In the future, you will have to identify your own problems and your own solutions to them."

As Akiza continued deeper into the forest, she continued to think about the words. Every once in a while she would focus her energy in order to see if she could sense the plant that she was looking for. She found other flowers, but none of them were purple. There were black and green, but none of it was purple. Another day was passing by, and she did not make any progress. As night drew closer, Akiza turned back towards her Home.

"Another day passed, but I did not find anything," Akiza said to herself. "What am I missing Master?"

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Like I said, Aki, you already have all the information you need," Akira replied.

Akiza continued to play these words in her head. She took out her mirror and began taking a look at herself.

"As beautiful as you are, you are not looking at the right things," Akira said.

Akiza thought about those words and looked at herself. She saw the black and brown marks on her face along with all the stains on her clothes. The River Spirit Grasses were blue and green. The Bark of a Thousand Year Old Tree was a dark brown. Blue and green were two colors, but brown as just one.

At that moment, Akiza realized it. Brown too is two colors, but it is a mix of two other colors. That means purple too is a mix of two colors. "But what do the colors mean?" Akiza thought to herself. She had found the blue and green grass in the river, but the brown bark was from a tree. "Blue water? Green grass? Brown tree? Purple flower?"

Akira realized that Akiza was going in the right direction, but Akiza still was unable to comprehend it. However, Akira knew that Akiza must figure this out before she can advance to the next stage of training.

Akiza stepped outside for a moment to think, looking at the tree. She was hoping to be able to draw some clues from the tree in order to help her solve the puzzle. She took out some water and continued to drink it. As she tilted her head back, she looked at the water and said, "Blue water." That was when Akiza understood. Blue water. Brown tree. Green leaves. Red fire. Brown dirt. Purple was a combination of red and blue. She had to find something that was affected by both fire and water. However, there was no fire.

Akiza could not sleep that night. As she layed tossing and turning, she thought about the color combinations and what could possibly be a source of fire. As dawn approached, her wake up call arrived.

Akira began his daily ritual of waking up Akiza, "It's time to----"

"Stop," shouted Akiza. "I'm already awake."

Akira was surprised. Akiza had always slept in and liked to do so. The fact that Akiza was up before him was different and very unusual. "Did you sleep at all last night?"

"No, Master," said Akiza. "I was up thinking all night, but I could not think figure out where fire and water meet."

"So you figured it out?" asked Akira.

"Yes, but I don't understand where fire and water can meet to make the Purple Amaryllis," said Akiza.

"Since you're up early, why don't you take a look at the sunrise. It's almost as beautiful as you are," said Akira.

Akiza's face turned red again and tried to cover her cheeks with her hands. It was then that she felt warmth on her face. As she approached outside, she saw the red and orange sky of the sunrise. She thought to herself, "Red." It was then that Akiza realized the color red. Her face was red from the warmth of her blood rushing to her face in embarassment, but that too is fire. The sun too is a source of fire. The only place where fire and water met was by the river.

"I want to go to the river again today," said Akiza. "I think I might have missed something."

"Whatever you decide," said Akira.

Akiza made her way down to the river again. This time, she walked further down the river. It was there that she found what she was looking for. In an open area further down from where Akiza woke up, she saw an open area where sunlight could have shone on it all day. Despite this, the spot was also close enough to the water to have seeped into the flower from the ground. It was here that Akiza found a purple flower, the Purple Amaryllis.

"Yes!" Akiza shouted. "I finally found you and you are a beautiful flower." Akiza began to take several flowers."

"Hey slow down there," said Akira. "You should leave a few that so they can regrow. If you take all of them, there will be no more."

Akiza stopped and picked only about half of the flowers to store into her ring. She understood that there must be some flowers to make more. If she took all of them, who knows how long it would take before there is another Purple Amaryllis. However, flowers can make more of them around themselves, so as long as she left a few, there would be more in the future. Akiza took the ingredients back with her to her home, where she could finally advance to the next stage of her training.