Eta was a scrawny child. He was twelve years old, but due to malnutrition, he was overshadowed by his peers by a full head. He didn’t have many friends, mostly just a few kids that, just like him, begged for scraps at the edge of the slums all day, every day.

The slums, where he lived for his entire life, were cold and dirty, with diseases spreading to every corner. He had to fight for every morsel with stinky rats and malnourished dogs that roamed the streets.

He didn’t know his father. Whenever he asked his mother about it she would just get mad and lash out at him. And so he quickly learned to keep quiet.

Like today, he squatted on the ground with his tiny hands outstretched and a pitiful look as his expression and didn’t say a word. He was a distance away from the entrance to the slums despite it being more dangerous. City enforcers would beat any beggar they saw and toss him back into the slums from where they came. But he had no choice. All of the safest places were already occupied by bigger and stronger guys and they shunned anyone not of their gang.

He didn’t want to get beaten up for no reason, so he had no choice but to move further away from the entrance, the safety.

People walking on the main road where he sat avoided him like the plague. Men dressed in expensive clothes and clean shoes would stone him with hard and unfriendly looks, while the women would cover their noses with silk handkerchiefs to avoid the smell.

Eta didn’t smell a thing. When he was still just a baby he got sick, really sick, and nearly died. At least that’s what his mother told him. Since then his sense of smell was terrible. Even if he had a pile of dog excrement right below his nose, he could barely smell it. He knew that because he got bullied a few times when this exact thing happened. Hell, he even got his face mushed in by an especially cruel kid.

But Eta learned to keep his emotions hidden early in life, and so, after not receiving any reactions from him, the bullies got bored and went to search for more cooperative victims.

He waited this day, like countless times before, with rumbling tummy and dried lips, with hands as thins as sticks that he could barely keep open, just waiting for night to come so he could forget about the hunger and pain for just a little while. It happened many times that he had days when he would not eat.

Especially now that his mother became sick and he had to take care of her. She came up with a high fever and crippling cough that wouldn’t let her sleep. She was his only family left.

“Oho? What do we have here?”

Eta nearly jumped out of his skin. He unknowingly nearly dozed off and lost track of time. The sun was already low on the horizon and his heart was gripped with fear. The enforcers roamed the streets at this time and he was still here, out in the open!

He jumped up and tried to run away, but his legs wouldn’t move. A full day of squatting left him momentarily paralyzed and he collapsed on the floor, face-first into the dirt.

“Boy, you look terrible! When was the last time you ate something?” came the voice.

Eta was confused. He expected the enforcers to violently grab him and drag him away, but instead, he heard worry and concern from the person speaking.

With difficulty, he turned around and looked at the figure towering above him. It was a large bald man with big ears and a small nose. His cheeks were shining in the evening sun as a smile adorned his face, with tiny eyes hidden between the plump skin folds.

“Here, eat some of this,” the large man said. Out of his sleeve that went from his waist and nearly touched the ground, he took a delicious-looking round fruit. Eta had seen a lady eat a similar fruit once. It was red and orange, just like this man’s robe, and looked sweet and incredibly juicy.

Eta didn’t remember extending his hand, but the fruit was suddenly in his hands. As he looked back at the bald man, the latter just smiled at him and nodded. A necklace around his neck made of wooden beads jiggled and danced as he moved.

Taking a careful bite while vigilantly watching, Eta felt the orange sphere explode in his mouth. It was a tsunami of flavor and vitality, filling his body with energy and happiness. It was so sweet! Sweeter than anything he has ever tasted, which wasn’t saying much actually. Most of the food he ate was bland and usually hard, the complete opposite of what he was experiencing now!

He devoured the fruit before he even knew what was happening, it was so good his eyes closed by themselves and a smile appeared on his eternally expressionless face.

But when it was over, he quickly reverted back to his introverted self and quickly scrambled back to his feet. Whatever that thing he just ate was, it helped him recover from fatigue and hunger in an instant.

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“Good, that’s better,” the man smiled and extended his open palm towards him. “You don’t have to be afraid, child. I’m the Benevolent Monk, sent by my master to spread the good and harmony among people. Tell me, what is your name?”

“Eta,” Eta answered. He then quickly covered his mouth as the word escaped him before he could stop it.

“Eta? It’s a nice name. Then, tell me, Eta, how can I help you?”

“My mother is sick but I can’t help her. I’m scared!” Eta’s eyes enlarged. He once again spoke without meaning to. His mind might be young, but he knew something was wrong, terribly wrong! His eyes darted around in panic.

The Monk noticed it and tried to comfort him, “Don’t worry Eta, I’m not trying to hurt you. People are just compelled to speak in my presence, admitting to their deepest fears and worries.” He smiled as warmly as the sun, and Eta felt his intense emotions subside.

“I can’t help you directly as I am not well-versed in medicine, but I can help you in other ways.” The monk opened his hand and a tiny white crystal appeared on his palm.

“This is the stone of the spirit, it should be more than enough to exchange for a medicine for your mother and some food for your rumbling belly.” He then placed the stone in the boy’s hand and made him close his tiny fingers around it.

“Now go,” he urged. “Go help your mother. I wish you all the best!” The monk then, with one final smile, disappeared into the crowd.

“Old man, you look terrible,” Eta heard the Monk speak. “Here, let me help you…”

But he had no time to listen or watch. He ran as fast as he could, back to his mother.

In a dilapidated shack full of holes, deep in the slums, on a bed old old rotting straw, lay a skinny woman. Her clothes were thin and thorn, barely protecting her from the cold wind that came through the cracks of her dwelling. She was coughing increasingly.

“Mom!” Eta came running in with happiness. “Look, look! A Monk gave it to me,” he excitedly exclaimed and showed her the stone. “He said it’s the stone of spirit! I can buy you medicine with it!”

The sick woman slowly opened her eyes and with difficulty looked his way. It took her quite a while for her eyes to focus, but when they did, they enlarged and a fire began burning inside.

“Spirit… Stone…” she whispered and extended her bony hand. The boy could not recognize her expression, but if he could, he would see immense greed in her eyes. She tried to grab the stone, but her hands had no strength and could barely move.

“Don’t worry, mom! You’ll get better soon! I’ll go and buy medicine for you so you get better.”

“No… don’t…”

“It’s okay mom,” Eta comforted her, “He said stone of spirit can buy medicine, I’ll definitely get you better!”

“You… unfilial… stupid... child…” It took all her strength to squeeze her words out, and yet they went unheard.

“The stone of the spirit will get you better, I promise!” Eta shouted and ran to the door, “I’ll be back soon, wait for me!”

“No…” the sick woman cried as the precious treasure was leaving, “The doors… have ears. The walls… have eyes… Come… back… Come… back…”

“Oh, how right you are!” A voice came from the front door as a big figure blocked the entrance. Eta was then tossed inside like a bag of trash.

“There was talk of a Spirit Stone making its way into the slums…” the man smiled. Two more thugs came from behind the first one.

“Yes, that’s him!” one of them pointed at Eta. “He’s the one!”

“Ho-ho? Where is it, boy? Where is the stone?” the boss said, his voice still soft and friendly.

Eta immediately realized what was going on. It happened many times when he found something good. Others would come and try to take it from him. But not this time! He couldn’t let it go! The stone was for his sick mother, for her medicine!

“No! You are not getting it!” Eta shouted and clenched his fist holding the stone. “It’s for my mother! Go away!” His anger gave rise to something he never experienced before. His body was on fire, and his muscles filled with strength! He opened his eyes wide, gathered all he had, and with a war cry, he punched!

Pow!

The strike carried with it immense power, and the fist sunk into the stomach of the closest thug. It just so happened that he was also the leader among the three.

“Awoaaah!” the man cried and clutched his stomach. “You little shit! How dare you!” he roared and pulled out a knife. “I’ll gouge your eyes out!”

He fell like a wild beast on the boy, pinned him to the ground with one hand, and stabbed him in the neck. As he pulled out the knife, blood gushed out like a fountain, spraying his face. He then stabbed him again and again in the chest until it was full of holes like Swiss cheese.

He remained true to his name and even gouged the eyes out of the dead boy, before standing back up amid panting.

Between his bloody fingers was a tiny stone, once white, not red. A massive grin was born on the man’s face and he erupted in a burst of uncontrollable laughter.

“Hahaha! It was true!” he roared. “A Spirit Stone! What luck! I can’t believe it, hahaha!” He was in such a good mood this day. With this, he could finally leave this disgusting place and get a better life!

He looked at the dying woman quietly laying on the ground. She looked at him with such hate he could feel it. It made his skin shiver.

“Hmm! I’m feeling generous today,” he turned towards his two henchmen. “You can have her. Doesn’t look like she’s live much longer anyway, might as well have some fun with her before she kicks the bucket.”

“Oh! Thank you, boss!” the two happily accepted and jumped on the woman. One of them held her down while the other took off his trousers.

The boss in the meantime smiled as he licked the blood off his finger and examined the stone. “Hehe, truly a wonderful day!”

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“Another good deed is done, the heavens are smiling upon me today!” The Benevolent Monk smiled as he made his way down the street. Out of his sleeve, he took a long string with tiny wooden beads. Carefully taking one end, he added five more of those dark wooden spheres, each representing a good deed he had done. At a quick glance, there were already thousands of them. Truly a man of faith and a good heart.

Behind him, a trail of corpses, the last one of them that of an old man, having eaten a Body-Strengthening Pill, that the Monk gave him as a gift, while in mortal form, he burst into flames and was devoured by the violent energies made for reforging a god.

The powerful magic wiped out the city district that night, leaving nothing behind but charcoal and ash.

“Where shall I go next?” the Monk asked himself with the eternal benevolent smile still present on his lips. “There are still so many poor souls that need my help...”