Will woke up in his bed. He blinks a couple times and then suddenly bolts upright. A gasp tearing from his lungs as he frantically looks around.

  “Alea!” He yells as he sits fully upright.

  Everything comes rushing back. The fight, the lightning, the pain. He grabs at his midsection, wondering at the lack of pain.

  Where was she? Was she alright? Did she survive? Please God may she be alive.

  The door bursts open and there, outlined in sunlight, was Alea.

  He breathes out a major breath. “Thank God.” He says. “You’re ok.” He breathes in relief. “You must of killed the spider after I passed out. You really are the strongest do you know that?” He starts to smile, and her eyes start to tear up.

  “Alea? What’s wro-“ He didn’t get to finish the question as the next second she was in his arms, her face pressed into his chest.

  He sits there awkwardly for a second before he shrugs internally.

  He wraps his arms around her and holds her as she silently pours tears into his shirt.

  About thirty seconds go by before someone angrily clears their throat from the doorway.

  There master Amos stood, his arms crossed and a frown on his face. The culprit of the cough no doubt. Next to him was Taleya.

  “Really Alea, do control yourself.” Taleya says with a big teasing smile on her face; her eyes dancing in amusement.

  Alea throws herself away from him and in a flash is standing across the room next to Taleya, her face a bright red.

  “Will.” Amos says. It was said stiffly, sternly, and firmly. Even so, so much was said in that single word. More than Will knew Amos would ever say out loud. But all the same more than enough for Will.

  “Master I’m sorry. It was my fault. I bullied Alea into going hunting with me. I was itching to test myself against something and I figured there had to be monsters in the forest that I could fight. Alea didn’t want to go but when I simply started walking away in search of a fight and she had no other choice but to follow me in case I needed help. I was the one who jumped into that fight with the spider before taking the time to figure anything out. And if it wasn’t for Alea I’d be dead.”

  Amos just stood there staring at Will. Letting the suffocating silence be the answer to Will’s story.

  Taleya had a simple little smile on her face, and Alea’s eyes her wide and her mouth slightly open.

  “Will no. Don’t you dare try-“

  “Enough.” Amos said it with authority and it ended the rest of whatever Alea was going to say and stopped Will’s response before it ever left his mouth. “I know most of that is not true. But I also know that some of it must be. I know you were a willing participant. And I know how much you like to test yourself. But you must know we got the truth out of Alea by now.”

  “Not true. I’m sure she tried to make it sound like she bullied me into that forest and fight but that’s not true.”

  “Will!” Alea said. “I absolutely-“

  “I said enough.” Amos stared them both down to make sure that neither one tried to keep the conversation going. Amos sighed and rubbed his eyes in exasperation. “The two of you I swear. Nice try though Will, but we know what happened. You’ll get your punishment for the part you played soon enough, but first…”

  Amos looked over at Taleya. “It’s been a week.”

  “A week?!” Will cried.

  Everyone ignored him. “Is it safe for him to try and form a spark?” Amos asked.

  “A spark and nothing more. And only because of the flower you gave him.”

  “Flower?” Will asked.

  Everyone ignored him again as Amos spoke. “Form a spark Will.” Amos didn’t say it, he ordered it, quick and deliberate.

  At this point Will was so used to obeying immediately to Amos’s orders that without thinking he raised his pointer finger and formed a small spark atop it. Half the size of his fingernail.

  A tension Will didn’t notice was there before went out of the room. Everyone except him let out a breath of relief and relaxed slightly.

  It was only then that Will realized what was happening.

  “My soul…it was destroyed. I remember that now. I shouldn’t have been able to do that should I? I shouldn’t even be alive! How am I alive by the way?”

  “Slow down Will.” Taleya said. “Your soul was almost destroyed. Amos and I got to you just in time. Amos used a healing treasure on you and I used my time magic in conjunction with it. Together, we were able to save you and your soul.” She looked apprehensive for a second. “However, you don’t really know until you know when it comes to things like this.”

  Stolen story; please report.

  Realization dawned on Will. “You knew you had saved my life but you didn’t know if my soul was saved to the point that I wouldn’t have any lasting damage. If I was saved to the point where I’d still have my cultivation and access to my lightning.”

  Will took a second to quickly see if he could still cultivate. The ambient Qi in the air absorbed seamlessly into his body like it always did.

  “Well that answers that question.” Will lowered his head and leaned his torso down in a bow to his two masters. “Thank you. Both of you. For saving Alea, and for saving me.”

  “How do you know they saved me. Weren’t you just saying how I was the strongest?”

  After a couple seconds bowed to show his gratitude, Will raised his head and grinned at Alea.

  “I can tell by the way they’re acting. And also by the fact that they must of showed up right after I fell unconscious to of saved me in time. Which means that they took care of the spider as well.”

  “I still could have finished it off.” Alea pouted.

  “You may have been able to finish it off.” Taleya said.

  “Speaking of that. Master, Alea got a pretty good read on that thing. We were practically on top of it, so it would have been hard not to. How did it fool her?”

  “Did you really think humans were the only ones who could suppress their aura? How do you think monsters hunt? How certain monsters are able to lure their prey to them? A tactic that seemed to work quite well with you two.” Amos answered.

  “Fair point.” Another question popped into Will’s head. “How did you save me? I way overused my lightning. I felt my soul splitting and crumbling. How do you even fix something like that?”

  “You don’t.” Amos said.

  Taleya spoke up at that point, taking pity on the boy’s unending curiosity. “Normally you don’t. However, Amos used a healing treasure. Not just any either. A Grand Treasure. They’re rare, priceless, and should only be used in the most dire of circumstances. Most everyone saves them to save themselves in life or death situations. What was used on you had the equivalent value of multiple kingdoms. Not one or two Will. Multiple.” She punctuated the last word to drive home the levity of what she was saying. “I can tell how grateful you are. But you should understand just what your master sacrificed for you.”

  Will’s eyes opened wide in disbelief. And, against his best efforts, they started to burn and fill up against his will. He dashed them quickly away with a quick swipe of the back of each hand.

  He knew Amos wasn’t one to hug, or endure unending praise or thanks. So he kept it simple. He put as much meaning into as few words as possible.

  “Thank you master.”

  Amos nodded once. And the two understood one another. Will felt he was able to convey his feelings better this way as well.

  Taleya shook her head. “The two of you. I swear, the similarities kee-“

  “Get dressed Will.” Amos cut Taleya off. She smiled in response. “We’ll see you outside in front of the cabin.”

  “Right.”

  Everyone filed out and left Will alone to change.

  A couple minutes later he was outside and sitting on some wooden chairs.

  Where did these come from?

  “Ok Will. You’re an idiot for doing what you did. But at the very least we can use it as a teaching experience. What did you do wrong?” Amos asked.

  “You mean besides going looking for a monster to hunt in the first place?” Will asked. Amos just stared pointedly at Will in response. “Well for one, we didn’t try to do any reconnaissance beforehand. We didn’t try to sneak up on the monster, learn anything about it, or try to gain any advantage on it at all besides the element of surprise.”

  “Good. What else?”

  “I guess our teamwork could have been better. At first I thought we were doing good. We instinctually started to circle the monster together to try and force an opening. But the second it started moving and creating a suitable counter offense we fell apart. Alea was able to hold it back for a short time, and I scrambled to help, but it didn’t do much. We survived as long as we did by the skin of our teeth and by sheer luck.”

  “What an odd expression.” Taleya states. “But I garner your meaning I think, and it’s true. It might not have amounted to a victory in the end, but you could have putt up much more of a stronger fight if you had worked together better.”

  “I take responsibility for that. If my skill with my element was better I would have been able to keep up with Alea and we could have fought together better.”

  “While true, the fault is not entirely yours.” Amos said. “Alea, you didn’t try to make your way over to Will as you were holding off the spider so you could form a united front did you?”

  Alea looked down slightly in shame. “No.” She said. “I didn’t. I…panicked, and didn’t think of it.”

  “Which makes sense.” Taleya said. “Becoming a better fighter, a better warrior, isn’t just about training. It’s about experience. You should both spend time meditating on that fight and try to learn what you can from it. Use it so you don’t make the same mistakes in the future.”

  “Yes master.” Will and Alea both answered.

  “Now finally. Will, besides the small various things you did, what was the last, most serious thing you did wrong?”

  Will immediately knew what Amos was talking about. “I failed to kill the spider. I sacrificed myself and my power and it won me nothing. There’s still a chance Alea could have died.”

  “Good. Now do you know how you messed up?”

  “Honestly…I have no idea sir. I’ve actually been wondering that this entire time.”

  Alea nodded silently along with him. She had been curious about that too.

  “Will what happens if you shoot an arrow through a taught piece of paper?” Will thought about it for a moment. “Don’t over think it boy. I know it’s a loose metaphor but the principle is the same.”

  “In that case, I’d say that you just get a hole.”

  “Exactly. And what happens to flesh at high temperatures?”

  It snapped into place for Will the second Amos asked that question.

  “My lightning was too powerful for it. Or, maybe it’s better to say the blast was too concentrated and my accuracy to uncontrolled for such a large creature. And then the temperature of such powerful lightning cauterized the flesh inside the wound. The combination, all while missing all extreme vital spots like the head or the heart, enabled the spider to survive and then advance on us.”

  “Exactly.”

  Will looked down at the floor, deep in thought. After a few minutes go by he mutters “I have a lot of work to do.”

  “I’m glad you realize that.” Amos says.

  “Let’s get to it.” Will goes to stand up.

  “Take it down a notch boy.” Will slowly sits back down. “While I respect the initiative, you’re not to train anything more than meditation for the next…” Amos looks over at Taleya.

  “Two weeks.” She says.

  “Two weeks?!” Will cries. “But haven’t I already been asleep for a week?”

  “Do you have any idea how lucky you are to even be alive, let alone still have your cultivation and access to your element? Two weeks is a small price to pay child.” Taleya says.

  Will rubs the back of his head and looks down; embarrassed by his outburst. “You’re right. I apologize master Taleya.”

  “Count yourself fortunate. If it was anything other than a Grand Treasure, and anyone other than me, you could be spending the next few years on bed rest as you recovered. If you recovered at all. Or you could be dead, or spent life as a cripple.” Taleya said.

  The blood drained from Will’s face at the revelation.

  “And that was my last one boy. So before you think to do something stupid like that again, remember that there will be no coming back from it.” Amos said. Will nodded soberly. “Now head to the stump. Alea, break time is over. Back to work.”