We went back to the cave very cautiously and just before dawn, we reached. There, I saw both Brick and Rey's Mom. When Shin saw Rey, she hugged him tightly.

"It's Okay. Mom's here." She tried to soothe her boy.

"I'm Okay Mom, and it was such a thrilling adventure. I like it."

I don't know what they talked more. I just felt very tired and when I lie down, I fell asleep immediately.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

It is evening again when I wakes up. Brick and Rey are asleep. Shin is looking out of the caves.

"Oh, you wake up. Thank you for saving me and my son" Shin said when she saw me get up and sit down.

"Yes, and you don't need to thank me as this is a token of my gratitude. After all, you saved me back then." I replied.

"I would like to ask you a favor" she said.

Looking at her, "What do you want to ask for? If it is something I can, I would do it." I told her.

"I want you to take my son on your journey and help him train to pass the government's test.

Your destination, goal and nature of embarking on this soul master journey might be different from him. He may be a burden to you. But I still want you to take Rey on your journey." She said.

I was startled. I'm a newbie after all. And she even have to save me not too long ago. And now she is asking me to take her son with me on my journey.

"That is a little bit difficult. You see I'm not a veteran. And I'm not strong enough even to help myself in times of difficulty." I said.

Before I even finish what I'm saying, she interfered "No, you are strong. It has not been a long time since I've saved you. But now, you are the one who saved me and my son. And I've heard about

the one called Anon from Brick. I've known the hardship you faced in this 4 days. Still, you overcome those hardship and even helped me. I believe a guy like you will become stronger with time. And most importantly, you won't betray your comrade. So, I wish you take my son on your journey."

She paused for a while and continued "I know it is a selfish request of a caring mom. The reason I was searching for a veteran the first day was because I can't let my son go on alone. If possible, I would go on his stead. But my husband is a disable person. His legs are broken. I need to take care of him. And the law of the earth's government has made it impossible to drag the time for my son's journey. So, please, would you help take care of my son?"

I'm still confused. I think myself, I am not a strong person. And back on earth, if not for the help of my adopted parents, I would be dead since a long time ago. The reason I chose to come to this very soul world is to pay back the favor to my adopted parents' family. My family doesn't have a qualified ticket anymore. We need the ticket so that my sister nor my mother doesn't have to go into the soul world. Although I'm not her biological brother, she is still my sister. She is only 12 years old.

The law of the earth's government has stated that a family without a qualification ticket must send someone to the soul world in a year. As soon as one is sent, they would get a 10 year qualification ticket immediately. If that person passes the earth's government's test and comes out alive, he will become a qualified soul master. When the lifespan of a 10 year qualification ticket is up, it's not difficult for the qualified soul master to pass the test again and get another 10 year qualification ticket.

But for a newbie, the average time they took to come out is at least 3 years and some never make it back to earth.

My mom's dad was a qualified soul master. He took care of the qualification test problem.

Last year, our qualification test expires. After extending the last qualification ticket, my grandpa and my dad went missing. It's been a decade since they went missing. In the past, they told me many times that they wanted me to become the soul master. May be they wanted me to go to soul world in my grandpa's stead. May be that's the reason they went missing. They might come back when I become a qualified soul master. Or at least take care of mom and sister when I enter the soul world. But, in deep down, I know I am hoping the almost impossible scenario.

Everybody on earth knows that life in soul world is difficult. We could die before becoming a qualified soul master. So, although the family sends their family members to the soul world, they are worried in deep down. I am so confused. So I just decided not to think about it now. I will do my best for my family. I don't want my sister comes to this soul world where there are many dangerous things and betrayal can happen at any time.

Looking at Shin, I know she is worrying about her son like my mom and sister were worrying about me before I entered the portal.

"Okay, if Rey think he should follow me, I will take him. And do my best to keep ourselves alive and becomes a qualified soul master." I told Shin.

"Thank you" she said, "little stick".

Not long after, Rey and Brick woke up. I asked Rey if he wants to follow me on my journey. He answered "Yes". And Brick also said he would continue our co-operation a bit longer since he can trust me and I can trust him as well.

After having our raw monkey-mok meal, we waited till night. We have to send Shin back to the safe zone so that she can return to the earth. The monkey-moks are too active tonight. So many of them are watching out. Only after midnight that their activities die down.

We carefully move in the dark and go to the direction of the safe zone. When dawn arrives, we have reached the safe zone. Each of us have brought back monkey-mok corpse hoping that we can sell them. Our four monkey-moks were sold for 4 silver coins. It's been a long time since I last washed myself. So, I went to an inn and check a room for three. The room of the inn cost 1 silver coin a day. I checked for one day so, we've still got 3 silver coins.

I took a long shower. My two brown clothes are torn by now. They have served their purpose very well. My green shirt and black short has long been thrown away by Shin. So, after my bath, I told Rey and Brick that I would go to buy some clothes. They also said theirs had been torn as well so they also wanted to buy some more. After they both have taken baths, we wore our torn clothes and went to the shop I bought my clothes.

These shops take both the earth's money and the soul world's currency. There is even a money changer in the safe zone. And we bought 9 brown clothes, 3 for each for 3 silver coins. After a day of rest, we feel refreshed. That night, we slept till the afternoon. Then, we left the inn and went back to the mango park. Beyond the mango park, I saw a plain and in the faraway place, I saw a village. May be a local village since the safe zones are not too closed to each other.

"Are you guys ready?" I asked.

"Yes" they both replied.

"Let's go".

And like that, we started our grand journey in the mok soul world.