After crossing the forest at a decent speed—fast enough that he didn’t notice the forest fire spreading behind him—Vicker headed toward a cave some distance away. When he reached the area, he went inside through a small entrance. Despite the narrow opening, the inside of the cave was huge. At the center stood a machine that looked like a massive metallic ring set on the ground, connected to a thick cable.

  There was also a strange-looking man inside, his back facing the entrance. After entering, Vicker saw the man and said, “Mr. Nefer, I got the boy you were asking for.”

  Kelly Nefer turned his head toward him and said, “Good. Place him inside the Extraction Ring.”

  “Okay,” replied Vicker. He walked toward the Extraction Ring and placed Sharank’s unconscious body inside it. Sharank’s hands and legs were locked to the inner side of the ring, stretched out so that his body formed an X shape.

  “I don’t have enough Ijohr crystals to power this machine for long. I sent two henchmen to go get me some more, but they haven’t come back yet. I guess those nincompoops failed their mission,” said Kelly, annoyance on his face.

  “Don’t worry,” said Vicker with a small smirk. “I have a Type-1 Ijohr crystal.”

  “Really? You never fail to surprise me,” said Kelly, his frustration turning into happiness. “Hand it over,” he added with a small smile.

  “Not yet,” replied Vicker, his face emotionless. “You have to give me extra.”

  “Fine,” said Kelly, his happiness shifting back into frustration. “It’s always about the money with you,” Kelly continued.

  “Well, that’s my job, Mr. Nefer,” replied Vicker.

  Vicker then took out the Type-1 Ijohr crystal from his cloak pocket and tossed it to Kelly, who caught it with one hand and started heading toward the Extraction Ring. Kelly opened a slit on the top of the ring, placed the crystal inside, and then closed the slit.

  “A Type-1 Ijohr crystal has the same power as one hundred Type-2 Ijohr crystals,” Kelly muttered.

  “Okay, if my work here is done, then I’ll just take my payment and leave,” said Vicker, still showing no emotion on his face.

  Kelly paid him his money, along with extra for the crystal he had brought. After receiving the payment, Vicker thanked him and prepared to leave. Before walking out, he said, “Well, Mr. Nelson, if you ever need my help again, you know where to find me, right?”

  “After this, I won’t need your help. I won’t need anybody’s help,” replied Kelly.

  “Well, you never know,” said Vicker, and then he walked out of the cave and left.

  After Vicker left and Kelly finished his preparations, he headed over to the Extraction Ring. The other end of the medium-thickness wire connected to the Extraction Ring was attached to a helmet-like device. Kelly picked up the helmet and placed it on his head; it strapped on tightly. The wire was extendable over long distances, so Kelly could comfortably walk around while wearing the helmet.

  As soon as he put it on, Sharank suddenly regained consciousness and said, his eyes wide open, “Wh-who are you? Where a-am I? What is happening?”

  “Be quiet, you fool. I wish you were still unconscious,” replied Kelly angrily. “I would’ve told Vicker to bring you dead if the power transfer didn’t require you to be alive. I hate dealing with noise.”

  “What power transfer?” asked Sharank, shocked.

  “I’m taking your powers,” replied Kelly.

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  “Why?” Sharank asked, a bit louder.

  “To save the world,” Kelly answered.

  “To save the world from who?” asked Sharank, confused.

  “To save the world from that dreadful Vince and his awful school, Lempika. I’ll kill him—and kill anyone I need to in order to stop him,” replied Kelly with fury.

  “What are you tal—” Sharank began, before Kelly cut him off by shouting, “Shut up with your questions.” He continued, in a slightly softer tone, “I don’t have the patience to answer you. You’re going to get your power drained whether your questions are answered or not, so stop wasting your energy and just keep quiet.”

  He then pressed a button on his helmet. The Extraction Ring began to glow faintly, and Sharank could feel his power being drained.

  Sharank powered up into his nuclear form to try and break through the Extraction Ring, but he immediately felt his power being drained even faster, so he quickly transformed back into his normal form.

  “The more you use your power, the faster the transfer is,” said Kelly. “There’s no point trying anything. At the end of the day, your power will be transferred.”

  Then a fireball hit him from behind. He turned to see what it was and got hit with another fireball, which knocked him to the ground. From the ground, he saw a boy standing there with his hands covered in flames.

  “Joshua, is that you?” asked Sharank.

  “Yes, it’s me, Joshua. I’ve come to save you,” replied Joshua.

  “Oh great, another annoyance. Just what I needed,” said Kelly. He got up and launched a jet of air at Joshua, sending him flying backward. But Joshua used his fire thrust to stabilize himself in midair and land safely.

  Joshua then used his fire thrust to quickly rush toward him. Seeing Joshua charge again, Kelly launched another jet of air—his air blast—at him. This time, Joshua turned his palms to his left and used his fire thrust to blast himself to the right, dodging the attack, then immediately changed his thrust direction to close the distance to Kelly.

  Kelly fired another air blast at Joshua, and Joshua dodged it again, this time blasting himself to the left with his fire thrust. Joshua got very close to Kelly, and Kelly launched another air blast straight at him to finish him off—but at the last moment, Joshua suddenly changed direction and started heading toward Sharank instead.

  Realizing Joshua’s true intention, Kelly instantly launched a powerful air blast at him. The blast struck Joshua and slammed him into the cave wall behind Sharank. Joshua then fell to the ground and lost consciousness.

  Joshua experienced a flashback of his training: standing outside, launching fireballs at distant targets. "I’ve trained so much that it has become a habit, but I guess it was pointless since I failed the Lempika entrance exam. Normally, Mom and Dad would have scolded me, but they didn't say a word on the way back. I guess I’m not destined to be a superhero, and they realized that too," Joshua thought, his expression dull. After a brief pause, he thought again, I think I’ll just talk to them when I get home. Keeping this sadness bottled up inside isn't good.

  After finishing his session, Joshua returned home. He stepped inside and considered calling out to his parents to find them, but his nerves made him hesitate. He searched for them in the hall where they usually spent their afternoons, but it was empty. He checked the kitchen to see if his mother was there, but she wasn't. Finally, he went to the master bedroom. Upon opening the door, he saw two lifeless bodies and a note lying beside them.

  Shock surged through him. His knees gave out, and he collapsed to the floor. He froze for a moment and then tears began to stream down his face. Eventually, he forced himself to regain some composure so he could reach for the letter and begin to read.

  As Joshua began to read the letter, he recognized that it was written in his mother’s handwriting. The letter read: "We are committing suicide because we failed to produce strong offspring. There is no point in saving the world if we cannot produce a legacy. We always thought our family lineage would be that legacy, but our son, Joshua, proved us wrong. He will always be our greatest failure."

  After reading those words, Joshua burst into tears. He began to punch himself out of anger and sadness, wailing in despair. The autopsy later confirmed that they had indeed died by suicide. The superhero world was in shock that its greatest heroes were gone. Out of sorrow and respect for Joshua’s parents, and remembering that they had told him their only remaining wish was for Joshua to join the academy, Principal Vince granted him a seat at Lempika.

  Some time after the burial, Joshua thought to himself, I have lost my parents; there is no point in working hard. I have failed at everything I have tried, no matter how much effort I put in. I failed to impress my parents, and I caused their end. After a brief pause, he thought again, If we only work hard to achieve a specific result, then I guess there’s no point in trying once you realize you aren't achieving anything despite your best efforts. I think I should just give up and end it all... No, that is against the Bible. Working solely for the sake of success is wrong; it is leading me down a dark path. I will work hard simply because it is the right thing to do. From that day forward, Joshua decided he would do the right thing even if he failed. He had come to the conclusion that doing what is right is the only thing that matters—not achieving success.

  Reminded of his past and his ultimate decision, Joshua regained consciousness and opened his eyes. He was still lying on the floor. I have to get up and stop this man. I have to save Sharank, Joshua thought. He tried to rise, but he couldn't move his body due to the excruciating pain. "I guess I can't do it. I’m not strong enough," he whispered.

  But as he spoke, flashes of his past began to race through his mind. He remembered Dennis saying, "Look Joshua, I know how weak you are, so don’t be a liability to us; just stay on the sidelines." He remembered Sarah’s voice: "...He is the only senior year student who is not interning with an advanced year student." He recalled the Principal’s stern words: "...Almost all the faculty at this school dislike you because of how weak you are. Sometimes, even I feel you don’t deserve to be here." He heard the student body laughing at him during the assembly and Mr. Turner’s mechanical voice barking, "Stop your useless training, Joshua, and get to the assembly!" He heard Sharank’s mocking sneer: "Ha, comforting yourself again, loser?"

  Finally, the most painful memories surfaced: his mother saying, "What should we do with Joshua? He is such a disgrace to us," and his father’s heavy sigh, "Even I am disappointed in Joshua... He is very useless, and it seems there is no hope for him as a superhero. We can only pray that he will improve."

  Recalling these moments, Joshua became enraged at his own perceived weakness. Suddenly, a surge of strength returned to him. His fire power grew exponentially stronger, and he could feel raw energy rushing through his veins. He stood up, resolve burning in his eyes. I will not end up as a disappointment. I will use every last bit of my energy to stop this villain and save Sharank, he vowed. He ignited his hands, and this time, the flames were more powerful and fierce than ever before.