“Uncle Barney! What do you mean they took her?”

Philip frowned and got up from the stone on which he sat to receive the incoming Barney.

Barney Button, as his name was, was a kind man who lived next door to Philip and his mother, often regarded as timid and afraid of danger. Nonetheless, he was very respected in the village both as a farmer and as a friend. He always held his promises and raised his two daughters the best he could even if his wife had died shortly after their birth. In one sense, he was similar to Philip's mother whose husband had died, raising his children alone just like Sarah.

“I–” stuttered Barney.

“Hey, what do you mean they took her! Answer me, Uncle Barney! What’s going on?!”

“Some men came to the village... a-and they began to cause a ruckus. Old Joey and his wife Aunt Clara tried to approach, telling them to calm down… but they were killed! The men killed Old Joey and Aunt Clara! They saw your mother told her that if she didn’t come with them… they would slaughter the whole village!” Barney explained, his whole body shaking. “We tried everything we could, even Sir Clave was fatally wounded… I’m so sorry, Philip! They took your mother and I couldn’t do a thing…”

“What?!”

Philip felt his head going blank. He shot away from under the peach tree and sprinted as fast as he could toward the village, leaving Barney there alone.

“Wait!” shouted Barney as he got himself under control. But it was already too late. The little boy was long gone.

Once Philip got to the village, he understood how bad the situation was.

Old Joey, a white-haired old man who usually never harmed a fly, lay unmoving on the ground. And Aunt Clara lay just beside him, likewise unmoving. Under both of their bodies, blood had congealed and formed a puddle.

“Philip!”

“Sir Clave!”

Philip found Instructor Clave lying on the ground, his head in the lap of Miss Brant, a large flesh wound evident on his torso. His face was pale and those blue eyes had clearly dimmed from their usual lustre. “What happened? Where’s my mother? Did something happen to her?!”

“She…” Instructor Clave choked, spewing up a mouthful of blood. Miss Brant wiped the man’s lips with a handkerchief, removing the blood that came out. She quickly said. “Don’t talk, Sir Clave! Your injuries are too heavy!”

“No, I must!” Instructor Clave said firmly and tried to get up from the ground.

“Then let me help you.” the woman said, understanding how firm the middle-aged man was in his decision. She supported him so that he could get up off the ground and limp toward Philip.

“Sir Clave! Please tell me what happened!” Philip shouted and then looked around to see if he could find any traces of his mother. He was getting really worried now as Old Joey and Aunt Clara were killed and Sir Clave had been wounded to such a degree he could barely stand up.

Most villagers tended to the wounded but had looked up when they heard his voice. Their eyes were moist and they looked at him with pity.

Philip glanced at the wounded. The majority only had small flesh wounds and were being taken care of with bandages, so except for Instructor Clave, no one else needed any serious treatment.

The houses close to the centre of the village were badly damaged. Two or three had caught fire and the flames were being extinguished by those who didn’t tend to the wounded.

“They were star practitioners!” Instructor Clave said feebly, in a lot of pain. Perhaps he had been severely wounded internally, and those wounds werenät easily recuperated from. “We couldn’t do anything to stop them from destroying everything. And then they saw your mother, wanting her to come with them. At first, she refused to go and even threatened to take her own life. However, they told her they would slaughter everyone in the village if she didn’t come along, and only then did she surrender.”

“Where did they go!” Philip asked. “I need to save her!”

“No!.” The village chief said from afar as he heard what Philip said. “It’s too dangerous! Not even Sir Clave could hold a candle against them, much less you!”

“But she’s my mother!” the little boy insisted. “She’s the only one I have!”

“I’m sorry, kid.” the elderly man sighed and put his hands on Philip's shoulders. “We can’t do anything to save her.”

“Don’t touch me!” Philip screamed and got away from the village chief. “You’re just a bunch of cowards! I’ll go save her myself!”

The village chief and the other villagers didn’t get angry because of what the little boy said. They were just sad, saddened by the course of events and the tragic fate of the son and mother duo who now had been torn apart.

Philip ran toward the entrance of the village but was quickly detained by the male villagers. He shouted madly. “Let me go! I need to save mother!”

The village elder walked over to Philip and sat down in front of him, cross-legged, his cane on the ground beside him. The old man’s face was filled with wrinkles, and scars from his youth that had yet to fade. As he looked at the boy who had just lost his mother, his old heart bleed.“I’m sorry, kid, this old man couldn’t do anything. No one of us could. Old Joey, Aunt Clara, my two dearest friends, died just like that. And your mother, taken away…”

“I’m so sorry…” Tears began to fall from the old man’s cheek. “I had one job. To protect the village. And I failed.”

“Grandpa…” Philip whispered, his heart in misery, his anger slowly turning into sorrow.

“Please forgive this old thing.” The village elder said while crying, his head hitting the ground.

“Chief…” the male villagers exclaimed one after one as they saw their chief hit his head into the ground so blood started to flow. The sound of his head pounding the ground made their hearts tremble from pain. They could not even comprehend how the chief must be feeling now.

It’s not your fault, I…” Philip said quietly. Tears also started to emerge from his blue eyes. “I…”

The chief struggled to get up from the ground with his aged body. As the villagers saw him get up, they also noticed the patch of blood on his trousers. All this time, in order for others to be treated first, he had walked around with such an injury.

“Kid, I will not lie to you,” he said. “You will most likely not see your mother again.”

“I…” the little boy closed his eyes as he heard the village chief. He cried hard now, wept like never before. The last thing he had done to her was to fight, to ask her not to bother with what he does and did anymore. All emotions flowed out like magma erupting from a volcano.

“Chief, what are you saying!?” one of the male villagers shouted. It was the village’s academic tutor, Daniel, who reacted. “He’s clearly not in th–”

The village chief put up his hand to signal for him to be quiet. He turned to Philip again. “However, there is a small chance.”

Philip gradually stopped crying. He stared at the village chief intensely and used his hands to remove the tears. “Please tell me, “ he said. “I’ll do anything.”

“If you can gain recognition from the stars, becoming a warrior who draws strength from the eternal watchers above,” the elderly man said in a creaky voice. “then II will allow you to leave the village and search for your mother. Star practitioners aren’t common, so if you succeed in becoming one, you should be able to find some clues as you travel around the world. What do you say?”

“I…” Philip said, determination becoming apparent in his eyes. “I will do it! If I can gain recognition, I can find my mother... of courseI will do it! Of course!”

“Then, are you willing to train harder than anyone has ever trained before?” Instructor Clave added from his seated position. “Are you willing to forgo youth and focus all of your being toward this goal?

Without hesitation, Philip answered. “I will do anything it takes to save her. So yes.”

“Good,” Instructor Clave nodded. “Then what you shall do is to train more than you’ve ever thought was possible. Your day will start with training and end with training. Now I ask you one more time. Will you do all that it takes for a mere slim chance of gaining recognition, even though you never in your whole life succeed?

“Yes, I will.” Philip declared.