The first day that it started, I would have to say, is when I set out to Rinite Yenusho, but at the time it didn't have a name. The day before I left for my travels, I had a conversation with my lead. I didn't need people to look for me because I disappeared for some time. I remember that conversation between the Lead and I, hahaha.

"You can't be serious." He stared me down.

"Very much so. I will achieve what I've been saying for years."

"Ebnien Beixi..." Index and middle finger rubbing his forehead "I know you've been told this since we were in Intermediate Studies, but those Shapes aren't ours to control."

"So you should know this time I will be leaving." I turned away, no longer facing my superior, but I could still see him out of the corner of my eye.

Shocked. "Wait, what? You're just leaving your position and the Tower?"

"That's right."

Head in one of his hands, the other hand waving away in a dismissive manner. "Beixi... Beeeeeixiiii. You're kidding right. Someone of your talent should go into Invention Studies or even Advance Studies. Your Shaping is incredible and you're a Pure Ishu Shaper as well."

"And that's exactly why. I believe I have figured out a way to truly Shape Light and Dark."

"By leaving everything behind."

"Correct." I paused for a second before turning to face him with a small smile. "We could keep having the same conversation if you want. But we could also be productive at the same time if we're going to be talking in circles."

"Sorry," He waved his hand in disagreement "this a bit much that the closest person to me for the past 40 plus years and colleague for the past 10 years is suddenly going to leave and I'll most likely never see them again."

"Hmm... I see. Would it have been better then if I just left without telling my superior of my whereabouts?"

"Ehh... I- I suppose you are correct."

"EnniEbnien Yè, you should have known that this day was coming. We're in our 80's now. And what have we contributed to our beloved tower? I've improved myself and took two positions that assisted the people. Neither of which has improved our culture. And yourself?"

He pauses, suddenly having to recount his life. "... I guess I haven't really thought of it. I've been in this position for quite some time."

"Exactly. Our people's saying only seems to apply to those with the talent."

"'Improve yourself and improve the people with it.'..." He mutters to himself.

"And what knowledge have we passed down?"

"The knowledge to grow crops?"

"But that knowledge already existed before us."

"Hmm... Then what?"

"Oh come now. We're passing down knowledge that already existed without improvement."

He scratches his chin with a small sigh. "I get your point, we're living purposeless."

"Don't be so hard on yourself. You're the lead after all. Not even I, a Pure Ishu Shaper, was able to take your position in these 8 years."

"Yeah. Can't imagine the more talented one isn't in a leading position for some reason, like they've rejected every opportunity to take the position or intentionally self sabotaged themselves during exams."

"Hahaha, you paint me in such a light."

He pointed his soil blessed finger at me. "I've seen you at your best, and I know you're more talented than me, even excluding your Pure Ishu talent, your liquid and soil compositions are much better than mine."

I shrugged. "Well before I leave, allow me to buy you wani."

"Huh? How's this any different than any other day?"

"Well, it'll be our final wani together."

"Hey! Don't say that! I'll see you again!" I could see the flash from anger to anxiousness.

"Haha. I'm sure you will."‌

Wani is the Shaji word for a dinner date, a special occasion, a planned meal with another. It has been used for something as small as you and a friend getting dinner to something as important as a banquet for emissaries. Wa meaning food and Ni meaning important. Oh, It's not as important but Ebnien is a government Agriculture position, and Enni is a lead position. Plant, important, position. Eb, Ni, En. And Position, important. En, Ni. In case you were curious what it meant.

We continued our day though. Just like normal till we were off shift and made our way to his favorite eatery, can't say I recall the name. He was right, I'd always buy us wani even though we would be granted about the same amount of currency. I was doing it for 10 years. And that was our final one together. Hotpot. That was our final meal together. I could tell he was holding back his sadness as we conversed. It's not hard to tell when you're around a liquid Shaper all the time, especially during a meal. Emotion affects the Ishu around you, and when you're close to one. Well, your drinks don't taste how they normally do. It might be easy to unconsciously hold back tears because of your talent, the Shaping of liquid, but you might not notice that suddenly your drinks are more bitter than how they normally were. Every sip, it was almost like liquid sadness. Even a part of that, I know he was putting up a good front. We've been around each other for so long, and suddenly we weren't going to be seeing each other anymore. Now, I'm not a monster, I also felt some sadness that I was leaving him behind. But in case something terrible were to happen, I didn't want to drag him into it. It was almost like leaving a lover behind for your own selfish goals, you feel the sadness and regret, but this was something that I could only do. He was a good fellow, a bit too grounded. Having your head in the clouds isn't necessarily a bad thing. Big ideas have to come from somewhere, certainly not from thinking in the now.

Then I set out. I didn't make a straight line to Rinite. No, I traveled around the world for awhile. Looking for a suitable spot to start my experiments. At first it was going to be in Xocha because of how bright and dark it always felt. The bright hot days and cold nearly pitch black nights. It seemed the most suitable to obtain True Light & Dark. I needed critters though. As cruel as it may be, sometimes progression requires sacrifice. I know that doesn't look good on paper, but some evils are necessary. Xocha didn't have much for wildlife that wasn't immediate dangers of scorpions of various sizes, sand tunnelers ready to prey on the unexpected, birds with metal-like claws & beaks, and the rare large but slender felines. I wasn't very good at moving around on the sand nor good at handling it. Most of the time I spent cutting myself with my metal blessed arm to draw blood to be used as self defense. They weren't big or deep cuts, no, just enough to draw blood out. I'm not a fighter nor trained for combat of any kind, so I was mostly in the back assisting those with injuries and shooting down birds, well to be honest, I barely downed any. I needed creatures that weren't immediately hostile to my presence. After three months there I left. I'd rather not go into detail of my time on that place, as it would be a boring tale of weeks spent doing what felt like nothing. Riding in caravans across the sands here and there, only to have something attack them or keeping predators away. Annoying, harsh, and boring. Couldn't even get a good thought of how I was going to approach my research there. The blazing heat was certainly not a place for a Shaji straight of Fenzoshu either, our fashion did not mix with the hot weather and sand. Endless amounts of sand. But after that brief trip, this was the point I would head to Rinite with thanks to some merchants. Those caravans paid nicely, at least I think so as I was able to pay for a small ship to make a detour to the unknown continent. The merchants had described it as a place untapped for unknown reasons. Quite a silly thought. It has been there as long as humans had been around, at least supposively. Yet no one bothered to claim the lands for profit and expansion. You'd think with how greedy humans are they'd be out for free land. At least from my limited knowledge of Humans based on Shaji teachings. Fenzoshu money is mostly useless outside of Fenzoshu, though I did hear that some place further east would accept it, but would need a lot of it to be worth anything. Even then I would speculate that only a Shaji with access to Fenzoshu would be able to effectively use it.

Rinite was my first experience of seeing something that was so wild and untouched. And not wild like Xocha's beasts. This is what I needed. I would spend the next few months securing a sustainable food, water source, and living spot. I knew this wasn't going to be a few quick experiments and then back off to Fenzoshu to show off what I've been doing. No, this was going to take a good amount of time. Those months were rough. The soil was different than back in Fenzoshu's Agriculture Sector C-6. Before I was able to figure out the right composition of soil to liquid for excellent growth of crops, I was mostly eating what fruits and vegetation grew around. I could have hunted creatures for food. But I didn't want to scare away the creatures that I'd be using for my experiments. It's not uncommon for Shaji to eat meat, our diet is mostly based around fruit, vegetation, really any kind of crop that can be grown, and fish. We did not house any animals within the Tower or on the continent to my knowledge. One thing I did have to find was metal. I suppose I could've left Fenzoshu with an ingot of metal, the thought didn't cross my mind until spending time in Xocha. The merchants in Xocha either didn't have any metal or imported so it was a high price then what I had. If anything I was able to create something, I would like my aspect to be close by in case it were to turn on me or go out of control. Because again, Ishu can react differently in similar cases.