All this time, even though I didn't carry the blood of my lineage, I carried the name of my lineage with pride. I wanted to show people that I was a good person and make my master proud. When I met him again that day and saw the happiness on his face, I knew I had succeeded.
He knew that what I had done was dangerous, but he was still proud of me for fighting against all odds. That's why I sincerely believed that I was a descendant of Cronus and that I would succeed.
As my master's apprentice, I was determined to succeed. After a long trial, I reached out toward the flower once more. Closing my eyes, I tried to feel it with all my heart. All around me were darkness and the sound of the wind in my ears.
Taking a deep breath, something shone out of the darkness right in front of me. Even though my eyes were closed, I could feel it and see it. It was the ki of the flower.
I sent the ki energy in my body to the flower by exhaling forcefully. It was difficult and tedious at first but as I followed my leader's instructions and loosened up as much as possible, it became easier.
The wilted flower in front of me was no longer wilted. After many attempts and with great difficulty, I had managed to open it. Standing up with joy, I turned to my leader and exclaimed, "I've done it! Finally, the flower!"
"I saw it," he replied calmly. "But don't be too happy. This is just the beginning."
"Now I can control my sword," I said eagerly.
"No, not yet," he replied and gestured towards a few more wilted flowers. "Gaining power takes patience. You must continue to share your energy until you stabilize your power."
I looked at the flowers in amazement and asked, "What if I faint from the energy I give off?"
"They're just tiny little flowers and you're a big panda," he replied reassuringly. "I'm sure the energy you give them won't hurt you. Besides, you need very stable control of your sword. The more repetitions, the better."
I had nothing to say because even though I had only unlocked a little bit of ki control, I was very happy about it. I was ready to unlock them all and completely control my power even if he showed me not one but a thousand flowers.
Without hesitation, I headed towards the flowers that my leader had pointed out and poured my ki on all of them until nightfall.
By nightfall, I had managed to get almost all the flowers in the garden to bloom. My focus had increased even more than it had been in the morning and by the end of the day, I had gradually taken over. The leader was right - the more training, the better.
But giving energy to the flowers all day had left me tired and hungry. The leader had come by a while ago and when I finished my workout, he came by again.
"I see you've been working hard today," he said.
"Yes, a little bit," I replied.
The leader headed back inside and said, "Come on, I've made dinner to replenish your energy."
This was music to my ears. Without a second thought, I followed my leader on an empty stomach. When we reached the kitchen, the table was full of delicious food. Our clan leader may have looked tough but I thought he was very chivalrous and courteous.
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After thanking the leader for making the food, I sat down to eat. The food was delicious and when the leader saw that I had finished eating, he stood up and said, "If you have finished eating, let's take a walk."
It seemed that the leader of our bloodline had something to talk to me about so I followed him. We walked slowly through the long corridors of the palace with the reflected light of the moon shining on the corridor and illuminating our path.
The leader turned his head to me once more and said, "As you know, you can control ki now but soon you will learn to use your sword. The sword requires much more energy than the ki you give to plants so you cannot fight a battle with the sword alone."
"So what can I do?" I asked.
"Keep watching me and I'll give you something," he replied.
I followed the leader along the corridor in silence. We were heading towards a part of the palace I had never been to before. It was dark and dusty, like a secret area. As we approached the end of the corridor, a staircase leading downward appeared in front of us. We descended the staircase.
At the bottom was a large door with a few faint lights on the walls around us. Without lighting the lights, we opened the door directly. Somehow, when the door opened, the lights in the room behind it started to light up on their own, and in an instant, the large room we entered was illuminated.
On the walls were paintings of people with weapons in glass cases underneath them. Each painting had different weapons beneath it. It was not difficult to understand that these people were once leaders of our lineage and that these weapons were their own.
In the center of the room was a large painting with a beautiful green stick underneath it. The stick had beautiful engravings on it and looked quite perfect. The leader moved towards it and said, "All these people here were once our leaders, and underneath you can see their weapons. But this stick is different from the others. It is made from the strongest tree in the world - the buyojn tree - by a master craftsman who invented sovereign weapons for our leader. They say that this bat combines with your energy - the more energy you give it, the harder it hits. So it's more than just an ordinary bat - this is the bat of legendary Nozara Babu."
The information here was quite special to me but I still didn't understand why we were here so I asked, "Thank you for showing me these but I still don't understand why we're here."
The leader approached a painting to his left, covered by a white curtain. Unlike the others, this painting was not open, so the person in it could not be seen.
"Before I became the leader of our lineage, I had a master like you," he said. "Master Dollares was the master of the Cronus lineage before me and he was able to control the third power of our lineage. He was a very strong and optimistic leader, but he soon attracted the attention of the Epics who did not want him to grow stronger. They kept attacking him and when he was no match for a few elite soldiers and my first Epic master, Yores' son ordered the third Epic to attack him. Not only did they attack him, but they also destroyed our villages. My master was badly injured and lost many relatives to a disease that infected our bloodline. He stepped down as leader to avoid further attacks."
"I am sorry to hear that," I said.
"Although he was very close to me, I had not heard from him for a long time until you came here," he continued.
"Does he know me?" I asked.
"Yes," he replied. "I'm sure you know him, too."
The leader of our clan lifted the white curtain from the painting to reveal the same man I had seen in the village. I couldn't believe my eyes - the man I had spoken to was Master Dollares. I didn't know what to say.
"Two days after you arrived, my master sent me a letter with the falcons," he said. "He told me about your determination and ambition. He doesn't usually do this kind of thing but when he realized that your brother was your master, he asked me to train you as a last request."
"One minute," I said. "Master Yix, Master Dollares, my brother?"
"Yes," he replied. "Master Yix was going to take over after Master Dollares but he gave his power to an outside general who wanted to save the one he loved. We were going to gain a great alliance in return but when things went wrong and the plan didn't work, he didn't want to take over because of his failure. After the attacks of the Epics, he took some of our bloodlines and settled elsewhere. But that's not why we're here - I want to tell you about it."
"Then why are we here?" I asked.
"This stick has been here for a long time," he said. "Although it means a lot to us, it is not just a collection piece - it is an instrument of war. When I asked my old master who would use it, he told me that until someone comes along who will fight for our cause again someday, we will protect the stick. And now I see that a panda wants to protect our cause even if it doesn't carry the blood of our ancestors. And I think it couldn't be more worthy."