Sage took one last trip back through the mines, heading to the office and gathering up his belongings. There really wasn’t much, but he wasn’t sure how far away from home he was and needed food and water. The other, and main, reason he returned was to collect his insects. The Fire Weaver Mantis was not an insect that worked in hives or colonies so he could only keep his linked mantis within his body. The rest were kept in small cages he’d made using the storage lockers along with the Spirit Jade Beetles, Fire Lizards, and centipedes he’d collected over the nearly seven months he was trapped.

The Insect Cages could actually shrink the creatures held within by ten times. Their weakness was that they only worked on creatures with meager souls and were merely cages. The insects still needed feeding, supervision, and followed usual insect raising rules. He couldn’t just throw all the bugs into the cage and ignore it. The insects inside would quickly eat each other. With only two cages, Sage put the Fire Weaver Mantis into one and the Fire Lizards into another. He used a pair of hollowed out Spider Abdomen as a container for Centipedes and Crickets respectively. They had covers and carrying straps made of spider silk, the centipedes to study the poison, and the crickets were his traveling rations. The Fire Weaver Mantis were cannibals, so he was going to lose at least a few, but at least one would survive, perhaps more.

After exiting the mines, Sage quickly searched the immediate area for danger before finally stopping to enjoy the fresh air.

I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Thinking of the millions of tons of rock over my head gave me nightmares.

The desire to just sit and enjoy being out of the cave was eventually overridden by the need to get home! He had been here nearly seven years already so he’d grown quite attached to this new life. Going from a mild-mannered office worker to a child training to be a magically powered martial artist was not an easy transition but what sort of proper nerd wouldn’t drool over the chance to earn some super powers! Gathering up his courage, and his belongings, Sage stood up and, with the Mantis scouting the way, started on his path back to Uncle Zhang’s house. He couldn’t have gone too far underground, so it shouldn’t take more than a couple hours to return home.

He found himself on the edge of the Lang Clan swamps, something he learned after sending the Mantis up to get a view from above. Luckily he was just at the edge, since many of the insects in the swamp had powerful venom. He hadn’t brought any of the specialized antidotes, only a weak generalized one, nor did he have any insect repellent. Sending the Mantis higher he recognized the giant fallen rock that was the front side of the ‘Back Mine’ and finally got his bearings. Calling back the Mantis to stay protected, Sage started off across the moist ground and towards the lightly wooded area at the base of the mountain. He merely had to circle around this mountain and pass between a couple other mountainous hills before reaching the Clan’s back gate.

A few hours later, Sage stopped in his tracks. He’d just ascended to the top of one of those large hills and was ready to see the view of the Lang Clan and Lionheart Town stretching out in the distance. His breath caught as he tried to take in the sight before him. Blinking and rubbing his eyes, he felt a bit of moisture on his hand.

Gone, all gone… am I crying?

The once flourishing edge of Lionheart Town, packed with the Lang Clan members scurrying about with business and hundreds of homes… was a charred wreck. The main outer wall was smashed in many places and the inner walls around the individual houses and their courtyards were nearly all burned and collapsed entirely. At least four out of every five houses was completely burned down, and the ones remaining were half-collapsed, showing massive burn damage and looking like ruined shanties. Wasn’t this one of the most powerful clans in Lionheart Town, the branch family of one of the most powerful clans in the Province?

Who would dare to destroy the entire Lang Clan? Did they not fear the Chong Clan? The Chong Clan was a major power in the 10,000 Wave Province. Each Province had around a dozen counties, and those counties each had at least a dozen cities. Those cities in turn governed the neighboring towns, and the towns governed villages. The Chong Clan was so far above the other groups in Lionheart Town. The Lang Clan was nearly untouchable simply because of its status as a branch of the Chong Clan. How could such a thing happen?

This is crazy. Why am I so sad, I’ve only been here a few years and the only one who cared about me even a little was Uncle Zhang. Uncle Zhang! Where is he!?

Despite trying to keep calm, Sage was clearly apprehensive. That fourteen year old face twisted with anxiety as he walked down the rocky hill. Each step seeming faster than the last, the boy stumbling down a dozen feet to the base of the hill and luckily only getting a few bruises. His body much stronger than a regular kid his age, he picked himself up and started running. It was all he could to do control his steps so he wouldn’t fall again. Quickly reaching the back gate, which was, ironically, still in perfect condition and locked from the inside. After pushing at it and banging a few times he ran to the right and didn’t even have to hop in order to walk through the massive hole in the outer wall.

Stepping into the ashes and wreckage of the formerly thriving clan, Sage noticed weeds and small vegetation growing in the ruins of the homes already. The burned down areas no longer smelling of ash or flame. This had happened quite some time ago. With so many of the houses and walls destroyed he had a hard time navigating his way towards Uncle Zhang’s house. There was no signs of any bodies or blood around, another indication it had been quite some time since this disaster.

Uncle Zhang’s house was one of the few that hadn’t been thoroughly destroyed and Sage felt something warm trickle down his cheek. Bright tears falling from his eyes as he realized how much he cared for this foster Uncle of his. This loss causing him to realize his true feelings. Why hadn’t he cherished their time together? Why didn’t he take Uncle Zhang with him on his explorations? These and many other questions flashed through his mind, the regret welling up within him.

Wait… I haven’t seen any bodies, maybe everyone evacuated before this happened.

Searching through the wreckage of the home, Sage couldn’t find a single thing that wasn’t burned up or wrecked. They weren’t exactly well off to begin with and the only sentimental objects Uncle Zhang had were flammable. He’d once shown Sage an inner robe that Lang Sheng’s father had given to him when they were children. It was meant to give him luck for one of the many competitions for ranking within the clan and that was the day Uncle Zhang broke through to Rank 3, the Sea Forming stage and became a real contributing member of the clan. All gone, Uncle Zhang’s whole room was completely burned to ash, only the common room was in one piece and the adjoining altar to Lang Sheng’s deceased parents and other ancestors was completely gone, those offering and ancestral tablets burned to ashes. Even the iron incense holder was warped from the high heat of flames.

Taking a deep breath Sage left the place he’d lived for six years, and the true home of his bodies former owner. Wiping the tears from his face, dark smudges were left on his face. Shifting through the wreckage of Uncle Zhang’s house had covered his hands, along with his sleeves and pants, with ash and soot. His outer appearance looking quite pitiful now, exactly matching his inner state. He walked past the ruined homes, searching for any signs of life or clues as to what could have happened here. It wasn’t until his meandering brought him around to the Clan Hall, a huge building that used to show off their power and magnificence.

He remember seeing it for the first time and marveling. It looked like a small palace. Easily four stories tall and so large that each of the two double doors was easily ten feet wide and fifteen feet tall. There was a pair of huge Mantis statues flanking either side of the forty steps that led up to the Clan Hall’s entrance. Now, the statues were shattered to pieces, the steps were half smashed to bits and the doors were burned to ash. The hall itself seemed to have collapsed in many places but was mostly intact structurally. The Clan Hall was built mostly of stone with a clay tile roof which meant most of the fire damage was to everything within it. The smashed up statues, stairs and roof were probably done by force. That meant this wasn’t just an accidental fire, it was intentional. Taking all these sights at the front of the Clan Hall in, it wasn’t until his eyes fell upon the high wall to the side of the main entrance that he finally understood.

There were characters written upon the polished stone, carved and colored nearly black within like someone had inked them. It wasn’t until he reached the end of the characters that he saw where the ‘ink’ had dribbled out of the carving and realized that it wasn’t ink, but dried blood.

I, Jiang Hua, have destroyed the arrogant Lang Clan for the crime of killing my only Brother! Let this burned ruin stand as a example for those who commit injustice and oppress the weak! No matter your petty status, Justice will find you!