A Pool of Tears

The dawn of a new day arrived, and, much to Raze's astonishment, despite having slept on the unforgiving wooden floorboards, it was probably the most restful slumber he had experienced in a long while. There was an absence of inner turmoil.

No anxiety that he would be pursued or assaulted at any given moment, and his dreams were filled with hopeful visions of what the future might hold. After rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he was pleasantly surprised to find Safa already awake, seated on the bed in a meditative pose.

"A diligent one, I see," Raze remarked. "You should maintain that, you never know when the world can flip upside down, and who knows, those people might return to kill us."

His sudden comment shattered Safa's focus, and her eyes began to well up slightly. Tears were already forming as she recalled her parents' demise.

"Oh… Come on!" Raze protested. "The death happened like, a few days ago, aren't you over it already?"

Somewhat irritated, Raze exited the room. He shut the door behind him, and as he did, he felt a heaviness envelop his chest once more. Death, losing loved ones, had become a part of his reality.

The only thing one could do was concentrate on how to move forward from that.

'When you lose someone, you need to channel all your energy into the next thing... and for me, that's getting rid of them.'

The day commenced similarly to the previous one, with each of the children assigned chores around the place. However, this time, Raze wasn't absent for the morning, so he had to assist in preparing breakfast.

He and Simyon were reunited once again, and they were boiling some bones to make hot, fresh bone soup.

"Hey, your sister did pretty amazing with those moves yesterday, she's really talented," Simyon said. "You know, you're going to have to work a bit harder to catch up to her. I'm sure when she's older, there will be a countless number of guys coming after her; you might need to fend them off."

"Why would I need to do that?" Raze queried. "She's better than me, so surely she could just beat them up herself."

"You know, it's just what family does!" Simyon declared. "It's not about who's stronger; you're her big brother after all."

"Well, we're not that close," Raze responded, as he continued stirring the soup. "So she will have to deal with that stuff on her own two feet."

Hearing those words, for some reason, Simyon fell silent until a few words were eventually spoken out.

"You should be careful, Raze. You never know what you've lost until it's gone; you should cherish your time with your family."

It was the first time Raze had seen Simyon so solemn; he was always upbeat with his words, which was why he chose to say nothing, but the truth was, Raze wanted to reply.

'Trust me, I know that better than anyone.'

As they were ready to move onto the next step, suddenly Mr. Kron entered the room.

"Ah, I see you two are basically done. Raze, is it okay if I speak with you for a while? Simyon, why don't you go help clean the hall with the others for the time being? When Raze and I are back, we'll serve up breakfast for you all."

"Of course!" Simyon agreed as he left, looking back briefly before exiting the room.

'That's a little strange; I wonder why Mr. Kron wants to speak to Raze. Did he do something wrong?'

Regardless, Simyon continued and entered the main hall. It was large, filled with armaments on stands that needed dusting. There was also a giant statue at the back of one of the legendary figures that had formed the Dark Faction.

Just from the face, one couldn't tell who it was because the statue depicted a hooded figure, but in all images and statues, the leader was portrayed in this manner. Then there was the large wooden floor.

Each of the children had a separate area they were responsible for cleaning, and he could see Safa scrubbing the floors diligently.

'Hmm, Raze is sometimes hard to talk to; it would be good if I could get close to Safa and find out what's up… but she can't speak. For some reason, even though that's the case, I feel like she's more approachable.'

Heading over to Safa, Simyon was about to give it a try when he saw a bucket of water spill all over the area Safa had just cleaned. The water was dark, filled with dirt.

"Ah crap!" Gren exclaimed. "I dropped the bucket all over the place. I'm sorry, after you had just finished cleaning it all. Well, what can you do? You don't mind cleaning it all again, do you?

"I don't mind cleaning it for you, but if you want to, then you just have to ask me. You have to say the words, 'can you clean it'."

Finishing his sentence, the two twins, Biyo and Giyo, couldn't help giggling. They knew she was unable to speak; everyone knew by now.

'Ah crap… Why did Gren have to target her?' Simyon thought, rubbing his eyelids.

Safa didn't say anything, of course, and decided to just continue cleaning up the mess that had just been made. It was easy work for her, and she knew what was happening.

The two twins then looked at each other, as they suddenly had an idea. Picking up their buckets of dirty water from cleaning, the two of them started running straight at Safa.

"Hey, Giyo, stop pushing me!"

"No, you stop pushing me, Biyo!"

Colliding into each other, the buckets flew into the air, landing on Safa and dousing her entirely. The other children turned their attention to Safa as she was drenched in the filthy water. They recognized what was transpiring; they had witnessed it before. The three had designated Safa as their target.

——

Escorting Mr. Kron, the pair eventually made their way into his study. It was Raze's second visit to the room, but rather than occupying the sofa, he stood before the desk while Mr. Kron settled into his chair.

"I've been pondering the situation from yesterday and my inability to assist you. After some reflection, I arrived at a decision," Mr. Kron announced as he retrieved a small box from behind him and positioned it on the table. "You possess talent, Raze, and it would be inhumane to thrust you into the world without the means to defend yourself."

Mr. Kron lifted the lid of the box, unveiling a red, petite sphere.

"What you see here is an Essence Foundation pill. Once ingested, it will provide you with the equivalent amount of Qi as a decade of cultivation. Given your constitution, it may not yield the same results, but it could be the catalyst needed for your body to establish its foundation."

Raze found himself unable to look away from the pill, but it wasn't Mr. Kron's words that captivated him. It was the energy radiating from the pill itself. Having the ability to manipulate mana in the air, Raze was particularly sensitive to energy.

'This pill… it shares the same energy as an energy crystal from a beast of another world! Could I potentially utilize this… to return to Alterian? To revisit my world?'