“Why?” The young apprentice fell to his knees. Though his body raised in miniature stutters, the weight of defeat would always bring him back down. “You could have been the best. Why give it up?”

The master knelt down to his level.

“I am equally curious. What is it that you seek? Is it really to see yourself rise, or is it to see others fall?”

The student punched the ground with a desperate force, and the ground retaliated with its own. He winced in pain. “What’s the difference? The result is the same in the end.”

“Can you not see? Even the poorest of paradise live better than the kings of ruin. Fire burns no less when surrounded by a flame much bigger. Fear it, and it will burn you. Embrace it, and one day you will shine just as bright”