“Tabet and… Lord Tafei? What’s going on?! I can’t see anything at all.” Akata could barely speak and he was stricken with complete fear. Even though he knew he had opened his eyes, he was still surrounded by darkness. It was something that caused a hidden fear that dwelled within him to seep out. Most people would never have this fear surface but to go from being able to see to complete blindness was a terrifying experience.

“Akata!” Tabet yelled out and was about to rush toward him when his father stopped him in his place. Tabet stopped and then looked at Akata sadly.

Lord Tafei took a step forward and then spoke. “Akata… I thank you for your services and I am very sorry for what has happened to you. We weren’t able to heal all of your wounds therefore…” Lord Tafei paused for a moment before speaking up again. “My father, Great Lord Taple, would like to speak to you now. It’s best to head there when you are capable as soon as possible.” With that, Lord Tafei turned around and headed for the doorway.

Tabet just stood there taciturn. He really didn’t know what to say as of this moment and therefore just left it up to silence to help communicate with Akata. Inwardly he sighed and gave a consoling look to Akata.

Akata was able to hear the words of Lord Tafei and could understand them clearly. At first he didn’t know what he meant but then he inspected his body to find out that… he was also missing his right arm. Fear swelled up within him again, he instinctively tried to move his right hand but didn’t feel a thing. Akata could feel his pupils constricting but still couldn’t see anything. His heart clenched with an intense feeling of fear. This was fear that he had never felt before.

“I… I’m blind. And… my arm… it’s gone now. How can I be a cultivator now? Heh. A cultivator? How can I even be a regular mortal now? I’m just useless. I can’t do a thing now.” Akata said these things aloud and tears started to stream down his face. He was only 13 years old, yet he was now incapable of even taking care of himself. It felt like he would never again be able to live his life.

“A… Akata.” Tabet took a step toward Akata but then didn’t go any further. In his mind he felt as if this was all his fault. ‘I should’ve stopped him from going when I had the chance. I should’ve just dragged him back and kept him from going to the battle. I knew that he would get hurt yet I let him go anyway. Stupid. STUPID! I’m so stupid.’ Tears started to roll down Tabet’s face as well as he stood there.

“Young Akata come here.” A voice resounded within the room and both Akata and Tabet heard it. Simultaneously, they both snapped out of there pained state of mind. One second they heard the voice and the next second Akata had disappeared.

“Grandfather.” Tabet spoke out softly as Akata vanished from his sight in an instant.

Akata appeared within the secluded room along with Great Lord Taple. He could sense the immense pressure radiating off of the person he was in the presence of and therefore concluded that it had to be Great Lord Taple. Akata wiped the tears from his face and then said in a low voice. “Thank you Great Lord Taple for saving me.”

“BAH! If it wasn’t for you putting yourself in danger none of this would’ve happened in the first place! Now look where it’s gotten you. You’re blind and you lost an arm. If I didn’t appear when I did I don’t know how much worse it could have gotten. Maybe you could have died, then what? How would I have repaid you then? Gah! Damn children these days, always doing things without thinking. It’s amazing that so many of you make it into adulthood. Humph.”

To Akata’s surprise, Great Lord Taple was actually scolding him. He had thought that Great Lord Taple would provide some comforting words or even some knowledge of hope but instead he had done the complete opposite.

Akata was left without a word in his thoughts of how to respond. All he did was look out blankly and wait for Great Lord Taple to continue. It was a good thing he had more to say, otherwise it would’ve become awkward for him.

“So you managed to survive but where did that get you? Can you even be a cultivator anymore? Scratch that. Can you even be a regular mortal now? You’ll probably need somebody to take care of you for the rest of your life all for what you decided to do. I heard the whole story from Tabet and what you did was just plain stupid! I can’t even begin to think of where you got the idea to go out into a battle that was nowhere near the level you’re even remotely at. And another thing…”

Akata listened on and on to Great Lord Taple scolding him and criticizing his actions for a long time. By the time he started to slow down two full hours had already passed. Yet, even though he slowed down that didn’t mean he stopped. It was as if he was finding things to complain about to Akata. The worst part about it was the fact that he didn’t keep his voice down at all. His thunderous voice could be heard from all parts of the island, making sure that each and every Scarlet Tiger was capable of hearing Great Lord Taple scold him.

At first everyone was confused and a slight fear rose up within them. But as the scolding went on and on, it was made clear to them that the one being scolded wasn’t one of their own, but Akata. This made the Scarlet Tiger’s ease up and even get a bit of laughter in as well. It had been a rough few days since the battle and tensions had been rough but now, they were slowly releasing those tensions and pent up emotions.

Great Lord Taple saw this a great opportunity to hit two birds with one stone. He could tell of Akata from the rash behavior he had and also ease the hearts of his tribe members. Of course, those that weren’t great at leading or weren’t experienced enough wouldn’t notice this, but those who did notice had a sense of awe placed in their hearts from the actions of Great Lord Taple.

“He truly is a great leader.”

“Only he could come up with something as great as this.”

“Father… you are the absolute greatest man that I have ever met or known. I am so proud to be your son.” Lord Tafei was amongst those who were able to pick up on the clues. Tabet was beside him and confusion washed his face when he heard his father speak. Lord Tafei looked over and rubbed the top of his son’s head. “You’re learn when you’re older and more experienced. Your grandfather is a great leader.”

It might not seem like a big deal to ease the hearts of his tribesmen but it was absolutely essential in having the power of his tribe rise. If they were still depressed after losing half of their tribe, then how would they find the right mind to cultivate and get stronger? Would they even want to get stronger? With this simple action of his, Great Lord Taple paved the way for his tribe to get back into the mood to get stronger and come closer as a whole.

After another hour or so Great Lord Taple finally stopped scolding Akata. Akata had his head lowered for a long while and when Great Lord Taple finally stopped talking, he slowly raised it up. He could sense the direction of a huge amount of energy and therefore guided his head in that direction. So, even though he couldn’t see, his head was still facing directly at Great Lord Taple.

“That’s all the scolding that I have for you.” Great Lord Taple’s voice became much calmer and lighter. This time it only resounded inside of the secluded room. He gave a long sigh and then spoke. “Before I would have complied with teaching you about runes but now… it seems that I’m no longer able to do that. Runes are about guiding the elements into a specific pattern in order to have them make an effect. But what would be the use of teaching you if you aren’t able to use them in battle or even everyday life?

Although your cultivation base was injured it can still heal completely given enough time. Your soul also didn’t take any damage so your life will be spared. The only problem is the fact that your Earth Veins have been damaged a little. But even that little is enough that making runes will be substantially difficult.” Great Lord Taple shook his head.

“My Earth Veins are damaged?” Akata asked in confusion. “What are Earth Veins, I’ve never heard of them before?”

“Earth Veins are what allows us cultivators to guide the energy of Heaven and Earth and make it possible to use. The cultivation base allows us to gather that energy while the Earth Veins guides that energy. The higher the cultivation, the more energy you could gather and therefore the more energy you could guide. But, with your Earth Veins being damaged, it will make it way harder to guide that energy and almost impossible to make runes. That’s because runes require the perfect amount of energy to be used, and if your veins are damaged it will be that much harder to get that perfect amount of energy.”

Akata listened intently to what Great Lord Taple was saying as this was critical information. As he finished listening to all of it he slowly took in a breath full of understanding. From the words of Great Lord Taple, it truly was pointless in teaching him about runes. There would be no use if he couldn’t even make them. Akata let out a long deep sigh and shook his head bitterly.

“But… you could possibly learn some magic. Magic uses any amount of energy which makes it popular among today’s cultivators. Although it’s different from runes, they do share some similarities. I’m sure that you can learn it.” Great Lord Taple said calmly. Deep in his heart however, he was hoping that Akata would give up on being a cultivator. He was truly appreciative of Akata for saving his tribe and he didn’t want him to put himself in more dangerous situations.

‘I’m terrible at magic though. Ugh. This is my fault. If only I didn’t go out into the battle, then I wouldn’t have gotten hurt. So… should I try to learn magic or should I… ’ Akata was silent for a long while contemplating on what he should do. He really did want to be a cultivator but he knew that it would be a much more perilous road now more than it had ever been.

After a moment Akata took in a deep breath and his dull eyes gleamed with decisiveness. “I want to become the strongest cultivator and reach the pinnacle of strength. I don’t care what obstacles come my way, whether if it’s losing and arm, losing my sight, or even losing my life. I will become the strongest, that way I can look down and make reality fair for all people. Reality will try to make it hard on me but even still, I WILL achieve my goal even if I have to give up on this reality!”