The monks came back from their mountain walk to find two bodies lying down. Before doing anything, they check our pulses"

"This can't be..."

Another monk interjects.

"A group of raiders must of come and tried to find the scroll..."

"Without his eye, he was not strong enough to beat the raiders."

"But even without his eye, he was able to still beat us when we have it! These raiders must be tough."

"The scroll gives us nothing but grief! Why don't we throw it away?"

"And throw away our tradition?"

"Let us first see if the boy is still alive."

One of them lay their hand near my heart.

"His heart is still beating, faintly however."

"We must run him back to the city, we don't have the supplies here to save him."

An older student of my sensei lifts me by my lifeless legs and carry me on his back. He walks out of the temple and down the mountains. The monks can usually get down the mountain very quickly but he is very careful as to not drift on the mountain side to risk dropping me. When we reach the end of the mountain side, he begins running on a trail, with what seems to be at the end of it a building. I can't remember the rest of the trek...

It's been a month since I've been bedridden in this hospital. Everything has just been a blur, I don't know what went on during the month I was out but a monk told me I missed my own master's funeral. I hate this. I still feel the pain 30 days after that meditation. My own face is etched into my memory, I need to go back to the temple. I'm still so weak, I can barely move around without external assistance. As I try to get up from my bed, my body instantly remembers the pain from the fight. I fall on my face as I try to get up. There is a cane near the door, and I crawl towards it. The room starts shifting back and forth, I feel a shaking sensation in my stomach. No, it isn't the room, I'm just dizzy. As I struggle to get on the cane, two nurses come immediately to my help.

"Sir, you are in no condition to walk. You need to rest for awhile longer.."

"NO. No... you can't keep me trapped here. There is something I must do."

I shrug the lady aside with my should and begin walking towards the two steel doors. I assume that those doors are the exits. I thrust my body forward into the doors to open them, and a huge storm greets me. As I cover my eyes with my left arm, I start walking towards the trail. The journey to get back to the temple is a dangerous one. As I walk up the hill, I stumble back down multiple times. I discard my cane in favor of climbing the entire damn thing. My claws dig deep into the mountain side dirt, but the storm is trying to blow me back. I feel the wind hit me with it's full force, so sharp that it stretches me in multiple places on my body. The wind is like bullets scraping on to my weakened body. I barely hold on to the mountain, but I keep climbing. The dirt is getting harder to grab on, I'm slowly losing my grip as the water seeps into the dampened dirt. Miraculously, after that life-threatening climb I'm still alive. I slowly walk towards the temple and push open the doors.

"Oh my.. you look terrible!"

"Yasu, what are you doing here?"

"Finishing something that should have been done a month ago."

I slowly walked towards the reawakening chamber. As soon as I walk towards the pitch white room, the walls start crumbling. The lights begin to flicker. The room is close to completely breaking from my presence alone. When I begin walking towards the center of the room, the path behind me starts crumbling. It's now or never, I guess. I assume my meditation stance and start focusing on the moment that is now. The shadow giant reappears, I can sense it.

The giant shadowy figure starts running towards me, making my feet tingle from the impacts of its footsteps. I start to get up. The fight won't go like before. I need to believe in my own power. I start running towards the beast as well. It extends it's right hand to try and grab me, I swiftly duck the dark hand. I jump up and uppercut it's chin, staggering the monster. When I descend I immediately somersault backwards in preparation of another punch. When I've reached a far enough distance, I rush towards the monster's stomach. As it's still staggered from the previous hit, I hit it in the center with my fist as hard as I can. It's pushed back and is finally knocked down. I jump up high in the air and descend upon the defeated beast with an extended right leg.

"Believe in my own power"

As I hit it's chest, the shadow completely disperses. There is nothing left of it. I'm greeted with a shining light that hits me. The pain is unbelievable. I'm feeling all the emotions I once felt in this room at once. Pain, despair, anger. It's all coming back to me. And yet, I feel stronger when this light hits me. After the light disperses, I immediately wake up from my meditation. Around me, the room is not coloured in white, but clad in gold plating. It looks better than its original state. I don't notice my injuries anymore. My fists feel heavier, yet my feet feel a lot lighter. I try running around the room. I nearly hit the wall from my speed. I try a punch. The force alone blows a gust of wind. I feel amazing. When I walk out of the room, the monks immediately notice me.

"Yasu, your power...."

"He has unlocked the third eye!"

I haven't even realized, I quickly run towards the temple's bathroom. When I get there what awaits me is immense joy yet sadness.

"Master, I've finally done it. I finally got the one thing I wanted when I entered this place. I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I failed you. If I had only gotten it earlier.."

A monk reassures me, telling me that

"Li-Ying would be proud. We are all proud of you, Yasu. You overcame your inner demons."

"Your inauguration as a master monk will come next week. We hope you do attend to get your robe and mark."

I did it. I really did it. Now that I have this third eye I feel anything is possible. I need to find the people who killed my Sensei, Li-Ying.