This "mantra refining process" took longer than it seemed for the boy. Throughout, Myrkas had become vaguely aware of himself resonating and absorbing the Soothing Seaweed Qi with greater ease. The more he improved upon his star-shaped sea-life metaphor, the easier his assimilation of the surrounding bath energies became. The Qi was pouring in, purifying and healing. The pinprick sensation intensified likewise, increasing from uncomfortable to mildly painful.

  The sun was well on its way down to rest for the night when Myrkas completed his visualization. That was when it happened. Tension had built around the boy. It was subtle, hard to notice to the non-initiated. The air and water vibrated with a pulsatile tremor, synchronized with the youth's heartbeat. Myrkas' thoughts settled.

  Unending improvement. To turn adversity and misfortune into strength, into power. Such was a worthy goal, an ideal to strive for, To rise above and return ever stronger, never admitting defeat. To survive and thrive, again and again until he transcended existence itself. Like this, Myrkas reached an understanding between every single core component of his being and the universe in all its layers. His newfound Truth resonated at large, causing subtle ripples in the fabric of the world.

  At once, Qi rushed inside the boy. It appeared from everywhere and nowhere at the same time, It came from deeper than his current place in the physical world. The gathering energies converged towards his middle dantian, storming his Qi pool. No, not a pool, a sea: his nascent sea of Qi. Where better for the most brilliant starfish to live than in a scintillating sea?

  The rush lasted less than a minute. By the end, the large amount of rushing Qi had vanished inside Myrkas' yet developing middle core. His silvery-white whirlpool—or nascent sea as it shall now be known—had not grown by much, surprisingly. Instead, the solidified marble of Qi settled in its middle had changed in quality, gaining in substance. It shone like a gemstone, with newfound markings faintly etched in its center, directly inside the gem-like Qi. Five thin arms, connected in the middle, forming a star spanning his entire core. It looked a lot like those famed star sapphires.

  Myrkas instinctively knew his core would not be as easily dislodged anymore. It was firmly planted in his dantian now, anchored deeper than the boy could see. A fundamental change had occurred with his revelation. He had materialized his Path, in a way. Confirmed his budding Dao. This step had brought him farther than ever on the road to Self-Improvement, Survival, and Rebirth. His core concepts cemented into his very being.

  The boy was dazed, his mind momentarily empty. The pool's water felt weak now, depleted. The sun had set, its light replaced by fire from glass oil lamps perched on the central columns. Their glow melded with the rising steam, enveloping this rest area in warm shadows.

  Myrkas stood in the teal pool. His bath time was over. It was time to go home. His body did not hurt as much—thank Heavens! However, he was still as bone-deep tired as before, able to stand only thanks to the water's help and his own buoyancy. The boy half-walked and half-swam to the steep exit stairs. He grabbed Snow on the way, the rabbit happy to settle in his arms and lick some remnant droplets.

  As soon as he was out, Myrkas nearly fell. He had exhausted his stamina, went way beyond his meagre reserves. The walk, no, crawl home would be excruciating, no two-ways about it. He let out a loud sigh. He did not know if he should just give up and sleep somewhere on the training grounds. Some remaining guards might be nice enough to share a piece of bread, some jerky, and point him to a remote corner where he would not bother anyone. It might be better than to crawl home on his hands and knees. The boy was not convinced he could walk more than three steps without falling on his face.

  He was about to resign himself not to see his oh-so-comfortable bed, with its feather duvet and soft, fluffy pillows when an arm sneaked around his waist and helped him stand. Another came from his other side and took Snow from his arms, relieving him of her small but significant weight.

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  Yue and Rivak had come to his rescue, as promised.

  "Come on kid. Let's get you home," said Rivak, the shortest of the two, from Myrkas' side.

  "Let's get him dressed in some spare clothes first, bro. Everything he wore today is beyond filthy now, and I don't want the Lieutenant to blame us if it sours his relationship with the alchemist. I don't want to know what he'll do to us if we make him lose money."

  Yue shuddered as he said the last part. The taller teen quickly led them to the changing area, where the three young men dressed. Snow merely groomed herself while waiting, happy to ingest the remnants of her bath. Myrkas feared she may experience an "accident" on the way with the absorption of Piercing Jade Grass essence but refrained from making any comment. No use in spooking his would-be saviours for something that may not happen... Anyway, the bath water had contained so little, he was likely worried for nothing. Hopefully.

  "Hey kid," asked Rivak, "how exactly did you end up becoming the Lieutenant's personal disciple? I gotta be honest with you, I'm not sure how smart a move that was. Right, bro?"

  This was the third strike. Myrkas did not know why, but he found the use of "bro" jarring coming out of the teens' mouths. It sounded wrong, somehow, like something which should not happen in this universe. At odds with the overall aesthetics. He had heard it here and there earlier in the day between guards sharing a rank but had believed he heard wrong.

  Unable to let it be, Myrkas had to ask.

  "Why do you call each other 'bro?' You don't look like actual brothers."

  The two exchanged a glance before Rivak answered.

  "It's for brothers-at-arms, broaas for short. But we say bro 'cause it sounds better. And the 'd' is silent."

  "The 'd?' What 'd?" the boy asked right back.

  "Exactly."

  The teens shared a smirk, to Myrkas' complete confusion. The boy smelled a trap and was too tired anyway to waste brain power to ponder further. Avoiding the clear social pitfall, he opted to answer Rivak's earlier question.

  "It kinda just... happened? Master Ranil arguably saved me one night. And then he brought me to get beaten up. Stuff happened and he convinced my uncle to let him take me as his disciple. To be honest, though, I think Master mainly wanted an excuse to pet Snow. And to watch me get beat up some more. He enjoys that, I'm sure you can relate."

  The young guards exchanged doubful looks. Rivak went as far as to raise a single eyebrow in question. Silence fell in the room, the two looking expectantly at Myrkas. Unfortunately for them, the younger boy was at a loss for what type of extra information they could want following his statement. And so he gazed back at them, awaiting follow-up questions that never came.

  Rivak nearly said something when Yue slapped his shoulder. The sound resonated in the otherwise empty changing space. The taller teen gave his brethren a significant look, his lips tight and closed. There was something there Myrkas was missing, he knew it. It was obvious even for him. But, once again, he was too exhausted to go fishing for answers. Setting bait, throwing the line, reel it in: all too much effort for his current energy level.

  He assumed his new maybe friends—at least friendly acquaintances, they should have reached that level, or so the boy thought—were refraining themselves from making any potentially misunderstood comments on their superior officer.

  A smart choice, Myrkas concluded.

  Commiserating with the newbie was not worth the pain of being heard badmouthing the great Suna Ranil would incur. This was easily avoided suffering. Myrkas had to silently applaud his seniors' wisdom. A few years older than him only, and they demonstrated remarkable survival instincts.

  Great examples to follow, Myrkas decided.

  The four dressed and somewhat dried, they left to bring the youngest and his bunny home. The walk took a while, with Myrkas tripping over his own feet every few steps. At some point, Rivak simply lost patience and carried him on his back.

  All five moons shined in the clear night sky when they arrived. Myrkas was welcomed by Nirsa's immediate fussing and uncharacteristic cursing towards his Martial Master. She made sure the growing boy ate his fill despite his protest for bed. Nirrina hovered so much around Myrkas, outwardly worrying and swearing, that she succeeded in convincing Koriss to bestow an extra dose of Clear Refreshing Water to his poor tired nephew.

  Myrkas smiled the entire time. It felt great to be cared for. It gave him warm fuzzies all over. The pleasant sensations mixed with the healing energies from the unbelievably delicious elixir in an indescribable feeling of comfort, safety, and accomplishment. He had survived his first day. He felt so good as he was falling asleep in his bed, that he almost did not dread the next day. Almost.

  Nonetheless, Myrkas slept peacefully that night.