By the time Aurora woke up, it was already nighttime. The stars were bright on the dark sky above her. The birds traveled from tree to tree. The water in the creek was now a docile, soothing melody that rocked the living beings in those late evening hours. She got up and saw her mentor sucking a portion of noodles in between two chopsticks. His eyes, however, were set on the moon, a resident in a corner of the horizon, about a quarter of its original size.

"I lost control, didn't I?" Aurora asked, walking toward him.

"Yes, we'll try again tomorrow. Eat this," Liu-Ken said and glanced at the other side of the table. A pile of pasta on top of a white marble plate, still steaming, awaited the girl.

Aurora sat down at the table. She leaned her head close to the plate and inhaled. She did not say so, but the dish reminded her of her adoptive mother’s, Lein-Lu’s, cooking.

Under the moonlight, she remembered when she and Bardolph would return from fishing or from the fields, depending on the season or time of a day, and she already had dinner on the table waiting for them. She used to wave, even when they were still far away, smiling even though she no longer had half her teeth. It was she who had sewn her the protective gear Aurora used for working in the fields in order to protect her body from scratches due to the prickly wild plants. It was she who snuggled her when Aurora was first rejected by a boy and it was she who took her in when nobody else wanted her. It was for her and Bardolph, who even in death tried to save her, that she had to do it. Aurora could live a lifetime of internal conflict as long as she took revenge. She knew that none of them would support her, that if they were still alive they would tell her that it was not the right path and that she should move on, but she was tired of waiting for karma to settle in. She was going to accomplish her goals with her own hands. She finished eating and got up.

"I'll do it," she said before heading for the creek.

Liu-Ken didn't stop her. Actually, he didn't seem surprised at all. He kept his lips shut, his eyebrows straight, and followed the young girl with his greenish-blue eyes.

Aurora closed her eyes once more. As soon as the darkness struck her, flooding her mind, gaining control over her, the girl focused on her adoptive mother's memories; her smile, her hardworking wrinkled fingers that effortlessly made homemade noodles from scratch, even the daily kiss on her forehead before falling asleep, and, although she sometimes felt she was a bit old for that, she had never complained.

My hands... she thought, now sensing the chi flowing throughout the meridians with no concrete direction, Into my hands...

A black glow covered both hands, expanding from the wrist to each finger. She moved forward, still with her eyes closed, jumping the two remaining pebbles and pressing her left hand against the rock. The skin bonded to it despite the water running down the edges. The other hand followed. Her body was her own climbing tools. She raised one hand and placed it higher. Her fingers cracked the rock and concentrating much of her chi on those fingers, pressing the holes she had made, she bent her legs and used the balance to jump up on the rock.

Her body rocked to both sides, the water seeping down her shoulders and under her boots. And yet, she remained impassive and serene, keeping her eyes shut and without losing control of her black chi. Within her, a steady struggle took place. Lein-Lu's smiling memories were being pushed out by the bloody memories of her being slaughtered, the laughter of the soldiers, and by the outcome of the battle, the dead ripping limbs from their bodies with their teeth.

Liu-Ken stood up. "The girl did it," he whispered to the moon. The purple ring shone. "You're right, Kagu, this is just the beginning. I can't get excited,".

Aurora stepped forward and put herself under the jug of water. Nine threads rolled around her body, dripping on the rock, some remaining in the circular zone in front of the house, and others being carried away by the river's flow. The girl opened her eyes. Just as the moon shrouded itself in the night so did the white irises in both Aurora's eyes as they tried to survive the dark rivalry within her.

"I did it!" she said, her arms trembling, loaded with energy that she needed to spread throughout her body.

"Well done, kid. Now calm down. Take a deep breath in. Sit down and cross your legs. Feel the healthy mana around you. Absorb it and expel the darkness that is eating your insides," Liu-Ken told her. His heart was also beating loudly, louder than the crickets that dwelt on the garden grass.

"You're never satisfied, are you?” Aurora asked him, lowering herself. She bent her legs carefully, crossing them, using her hands to support herself while doing it.

A universe of lights hovered above her even after she closed her eyes. She breathed deeply. Liu-Ken was right; the black chi, already putrid, disrupted the normal course of her meridians.

If she couldn't use her energy more than once a day, she would be useless. More than she had ever been. But she was not going to let the tethers that had tied her feet to the ground on that fateful day regain power over her. Not again. She focused on her dantian, the energy revolving around the little place within her, two fingers below the navel, and the way it reached out to every corner of her body. Aurora read her body. She noticed that the pus blocks had tightened in two pressure points on the right side of his arm and three on the left. She inhaled deeply, and exhaled, the dinner’s scent being carried by the wind gusts.

Focus on something, Liu-Ken's words echoed in her mind.

She let her shoulders relax and pay attention to the water that was dripping on her head. Dozens of drops splashing in her hair, following in opposite directions, each with a different future. Nothing else ran through her mind but each grain of water, so unique and simple, freeing themselves from the current and following their own path. Her fingers began to swing over the rock as if she were playing an instrument, still a tad nervous, sometimes hesitating. The index finger touched the stone and the ring finger followed, according to the rhythm of the drops, each movement perfectly synchronized.

Aurora inhaled once more. This time, the mana glued itself to his body. A blue pellicle, attracting every single drop to that collage, the particles coming together until the difference between each one was unnoticeable. They found their way into her body and wiped everything off along the way, swallowing the blackness and forcing it against the surface, leaving it in its natural state; a burnt goo that had a sulfur-like smell. The girl felt a wave of relief spreading through her spinal cord. She had freed herself from the voices that whispered in her ears and from the black and red memories. Her eyes were still closed when her focus was broken by a clap.

Liu-Ken slammed three times the palm of one hand against the other. "You achieved in one day what many take months. I told you. Both nature and Dao want you in the mortal world. A necromancer is one of the few beings who wander in the limbo between the world of the dead and ours. Both will try to claim you. It is only up to you."

"Is it normal for me to feel tired and at the same time full of energy?" Aurora asked, ignoring the rest.

"Yes, your body is renewed, fresh as new, but your mind must have struggled for it. You cannot have one without the other. That’s the burden you carry," he said.

"Well, this means I'm already a level four, almost three, right?" Aurora asked him, leaping from the rock to one of the smaller ones. “And what’s the big difference between Nature and Dao? You keep saying both.”

"Almost. The important thing is not to do it once, but to do it consecutively," Liu-Ken told her, "Nature has its hands on every living thing, from animals to plants, while the Dao, despite being in them too, has more to do with everything you can’t see or touch. It’s the origin and source of all things. It is only by being in harmony with it that we can desire and practice to get stronger. Now, let's go to sleep. It's already late and tomorrow we’ll wake up at 7 A.M.," Liu-Ken said.

"Thank you. But seven?" Aurora asked, raising her voice as she stretched out.

"Yes, we must make the most of it. You did well today, but tomorrow the training will be harder. There's no other way to get you ready.”

"Was this training a joke to you?"

"I wouldn't say a joke, but it wasn't serious. Don't argue. Go to sleep. Your mind needs rest," Liu-Ken told her and signaled with his arm for Aurora to walk into the living room.

Aurora walked past the mentor without saying a word to him. She was already at the top of the stairs leading to the shoji when she wished him good night. She did not bother to look at him, but Liu did not expect it either. He had sat down, however, with one leg on top of the other and sipped a sweet tea containing a slice of lemon in the cup’s corner.

Aurora entered the room and lay down. She cracked her bones before covering herself with the fresh blue sheet. She was filled with energy. She wanted to jump, run, practice again with the sword, but nevertheless had memory lapses. Her mind was spinning, temporary excerpts from situations in her life moving around her mind. The girl eventually closed his eyes and fell asleep shortly after, oblivious to what was happening inside her. A black trace that had survived the cleansing now sailed through her meridians. Staining body parts, one by one, disabling certain techniques and movements while she slept peacefully.

The moon shone even brighter over the dense forest, thin white rays cascading over the rough trunks.

Far from there, thousands of kilometers away, conversations were held under total scrutiny and secrecy, taking place in empty pavilions, the translucent papers torn. If some wielded their weapons in favor of the death of those who dared to disrespect the Dao, the perfect balance between all things, as they believed it to be, others, like the white-robed men who were there, plotted a way to stir up chaos. The blood moon night was approaching, and preparations were being made by both parties. That was the war that took place under the trenches, beyond what mere peasants of even shallow soldiers could even dream of.