Shocked by the force of the blast, Ed hurriedly covered himself in a protective layer of purple mana. Fortunately, his body was extremely strong, allowing him to withstand the blow easily. But whenever something like this happened, he always thought back to his 2nd awakening where he had inadvertently killed over a dozen espers due to the mana his body released. 'I wonder if this is her first awakening or her second?' He thought to himself. As far as he was aware, there wasn't really a way to tell the difference if two awakenings happened back to back, though he had never actually heard of such a thing happening before.

As the mana faded away, Hina's body began changing. Her skin turned a light green color, and her hair turned dark green. She soon opened her eyes, revealing them to have also changed to an emerald green color.

"Interesting." Ed rubbed his chin as he examined her. 'Why's she green? There's not even a hint of wind in her mana-core?'

Hina trembled as she looked around the room, but she didn't panic. It seemed she was aware of the general situation due to having been conscious for the past month. "Who are you?" She gulped.

"Ed. Also known as Forge." He replied. He walked towards her and grabbed her wrist, aiming her hand towards a wall. His mana flowed into her body. "Feel that?" He asked. "Try to sense your mana and direct it that way."

"Okay..." She timidly agreed in a quiet voice. Suddenly, a green light shone from her hands and shot towards the room's wooden wall. And then the light vanished, causing no damage as if it had never existed.

'That's it?' He wondered as he walked to the walk to examine it. But upon closer examination, he saw moss rapidly growing from the wall. It was as if a tiny bud of the moss had been blessed with extreme levels of life and fertility, causing it to rapidly spread. 'That's unique. Is her power related to plants? Or maybe life in general? It warrants further testing.' Turning around, he smiled. "Congratulations, Vegetable. Your power seems to be related to plant life or something. It's a pretty unique power to say the least."

"Vegetable?" She murmured, hung up on that word as opposed to the rest of the sentence.

"Right." He nodded. "You look like a Vegetable, so it's a fitting nickname, right?"

"A vegetable..." She looked at her hands and froze in place. "AHHHHHH!!!" She shrieked in shock at seeing her green skin. Soon, she passed out from shock and fell to the floor unconscious.

Bang! The door to the room slammed open as Rubi rushed in. "What happened?!" She hurriedly questioned.

"Queen of the green beans passed out after seeing her new powers." Ed grinned while pointing at Hina. "Take her somewhere else so I can focus on Haru's surgery."

"You... you actually managed to save her?!" Rubi's voice cracked as she trembled.

"It was mostly luck. Now let me work." He waved his hand, shooing her away dismissively.

"Thanks." Rubi whispered as she left the room, gently closing the door behind her.

"Just you and me now, Haru. Lucky you. Your survival odds just shot through the roof." He set to work, already knowing what he needed to do after having memorized the looks of Hina's mana-core. Again, several hours passed and he finished his work.

Unlike with Hina, there was no strange blast of mana, and the boy still looked exactly the same. He opened his eyes and looked around the room. "Thanks." He nodded towards Ed.

An awkward silence fell upon the room as the two sat there quietly. After several moments, Haru spoke in surprisingly good English. "So, we're headed for China."

"Right." Ed nodded, wondering why the Japanese child knew English. "How'd you know?" He asked, pretending to have been unaware of them being awake while they were in their comas.

"I could hear everything ever since the bat attacked me." He admitted. "You're the one that beat it and saved me. You must be strong, right?"

"Strong?" Ed smiled. "I wonder..." There were times he confidently declared himself strong to others, like the recent time with Rubi. There were other times he thought of the President and OP Baldy, feeling himself weak in comparison. Not to mention the nightmares that he could barely hold a candle to. His answer at any given time mostly depended on his mood and the situation.

Suddenly, the boy stood up from the bed and knelt on the floor with both knees. He bowed his head towards Ed while placing his hands on the ground. "Please, train me to be strong!" He earnestly shouted.

"..." Ed stared silently at the boy for a moment, his eyes wide. "What?" He asked, not feeling entirely sure he had heard correctly.

"Train me!" Haru looked up pleadingly, desperation in his eyes. "I never want to be treated like that again! A mere tool for the elite! I want to get stronger!"

"No way." Ed shook his head. "I don't need a brat following be around all the continents I plan on traveling through. It'd be weird."

"I won't hold you back!" The boy promised. "I can be useful! I just awakened, but my powers are stronger than the others! I have potential!"

"Look, kid." He sighed. "I'm busy enough trying to get strong myself. I can't help you, and you'll probably just get killed following me."

"No, you're already strong!" Haru protested. "Let me follow you! I'm willing to take on the risks!"

Slowly, Ed's eyes grew dull as he grew annoyed with the boy. He spoke in a monotone voice. "Hey. I know this great guy. Strongest esper in the world. OP Baldy. Really nice. Close personal friend. How about I get him to train you?"

"You know OP Baldy?!" Haru's eyes widened in shock.

"Yup." He nodded, his voice still monotone. "We're practically family. What can I say. He's really the type of guy that grabs ahold of your heart and doesn't let go. The type that just loves to teach. Want me to introduce you?"

"Yes, please!" The boy hurriedly lowered his head to the floor. "I'll follow you until we meet OP Baldy! THANK YOU SO MUCH!" He yelled.

"Right..." Ed nodded as he stood and left the room. After closing the door behind him, he wiped the sweat from his forehead. 'Creepy bastard. Hopefully Mr. Sai is at Fang's sect so that I can dump him there. If not, they must have a bald monk or two, right? It can't be that hard tricking an eleven year old?'

Returning to his room, Ed decided to rest while meditating. He had worked himself to the bone for over a month, and as a result, he had finally completed his trades with Tai. Fortunately, they were still a couple days away from China due to their detours, and so he had some time to relax. As he sunk into meditation, he appeared within the black void of his own consciousness.

"A body, I want a body!" A voice screeched as a hand struck out from Ed's golden faith energy towards his soul, but it soon returned the way it came. It wasn't alone, as there were easily a dozen other hands of once powerful espers trying to escape.

"Tsk." Ed clicked his tongue. "These bastards are dreaming if they think I'll ever let them take over." Perhaps if he had a weaker will, his body would have already been taken over permanently. However, he was somebody that desired control above all else, both internally and externally. In a weird way, he was actually the perfect candidate to resist having his body taken over. Trying to do so was the same as touching a dragon's reverse scale, angering it greatly. As far as Ed was concerned, there was no greater sin than interfering with his body, touching upon his own reverse dragon scale.

'Come to think of it, I think this is the first time I've entered the void on my own.' He smiled, pleased with the progress he had made. 'Now I can prepare myself for the journey ahead.' He sat cross-legged, levitating within the void. However, he did not choose to meditate on the 49 paths. Instead, he focused on the golden faith energy, and the individual lives of those within it. Searching for a weaker willed soul amongst the bunch, he soon located what he was looking for.

'That'll do.' He nodded as he felt his connection with the soul grow deeper. The memories of the soul flashed past, but it was thousands of times slower than how it usually happened. Normally, hundreds or even thousands of souls had their entire lives flash before Ed's eyes in less than a second. But now, it was like watching a long movie of a single soul, except he was living the movie live. He gathered new experiences and learned new things, though he had no actual control over the way things played out. More importantly, he learned the languages the soul knew. This one in particular knew multiple dialects of Chinese, as the person had originally lived and travelled throughout China. The person had moved to Japan shortly before the mana apocalypse, and surprisingly enough, the soul had been acquired by Camazotz.

As Ed continued to meditate, he went through half a dozen souls, learning multiple languages as he went. Chinese, Japanese, Hindi, and more. Before he knew it, an entire day had passed. The only reason he awoke was the loud pounding he heard coming from his door.

"Yes?" He grumbled as he stood up and opened the door.

"He... Hello." Hina trembled.

"Ah, if it isn't Vegetable." He smiled. 'She's a lot different than how she acted around her grandfather. Is it the trauma? Well, I changed a lot after my awakening too, so maybe it's that.'

"Mr. Long wants you to meet him and some others for dinner, as we'll be arriving at the mainland tomorrow." She mumbled so quietly it was almost a whisper.

"Sure, thanks." He nodded as he left the room, quickly activating his powers to remove any dirt and grime that might have accumulated during his meditation. Hina followed several steps behind him as they walked, remaining silent the entire time.

Soon, Ed entered a dining room. As usual, Tai and Rubi were there. A few of the high-ranking Asians he had never bothered to remember also sat at the table. Other than that, Haru was there, looking extremely uncomfortable.

"Ed!" Tai excitedly waved. "You are truly the best friend I have ever had the honor of meeting." He grinned as purple flames lit up on his hand. "Come. Celebrate with me. A feast is on its way."

Ed nodded and sat down across from Tai. Hina looked at several different empty chairs nervously before deciding to sit next to Haru.

Haru glanced at Hina in disgust before deciding to ignore her. He focused on his food, trying to ignore the surrounding espers whom he didn't seem to like at all.

Ed glanced at the kids. 'I wonder if Haru knows Chinese as well? It seems pretty unlikely.' He was curious but didn't bother asking. Everyone at the table spoke English anyways, and Hina likely knew multiple languages due to her upbringing.

After a few minutes, some espers wearing chef hats carried multiple dishes in. There was high-quality mutant meat seasoned with expensive spices. There was also a host of delicious looking vegetables that were difficult to acquire while at sea. And of course, there was expensive wine.

Much to Ed's joy, there was also expensive rum this time. For whatever reason, he seemed to prefer it over everything else. 'Perhaps I was a pirate in my past life?' He jokingly thought to himself.

"Ahem." Tai coughed while tapping a spoon against his wine glass repeatedly. "As you all know, I set out from the Fire Dragon Sect several years ago to infiltrate the American prison known as the cage."

Everyone nodded in response.

Tai continued. "I had multiple goals when I made that difficult decision. One wrong step and it could have easily cost me my life. But as reward for my risks and investments, I've obtained my own strong force known as the Fire Dragon Clan. Not to mention the loyal friends and comrades I've gained, as well as new power and wealth." Tears almost seemed to form in his eyes. "And I finally managed to break through the bottleneck of purple origin fire thanks to my good brother, Ed."

Most of the espers around the table clapped, Ed included. He felt as if he was in an unusually good mood today, likely due to his recent rest as well as his frequent successes. The rum likely helped as well.

Tai smiled. "By now, I meet all the requirements to become the true heir to the Fire Dragon Sect, and I can continue further down the glorious path of cultivation. However, there was one more goal I had set for myself before heading out for my long journey. Something even more important to me than everything else. Something I've never discussed with anyone but my father, and now, I feel I am truly worthy of accomplishing this goal. Truly worthy of standing by her side."

Rubi's face grew dark as she listened, and she hunched backwards in her chair. Surprisingly, Hina's ears perked up, and she grew increasingly absorbed in the speech, wishing to know how it finished. The other espers, Ed included, listened attentively, half out of curiosity and half because they wanted Tai to hurry up and finish the speech so that they could continue feasting.

"When I was younger." Tai stared into space, a reminiscent look on his face. "I once visited another sect with my father. Originally, I didn't wish to go, as the Purple Origin Sect is the strongest in all of China. But now, I am so very grateful I went on that very day, for I fell in love at first sight. At the time, she was far too young for me. A short girl with straight black hair and no powers. She was such a kind girl. It wasn't until later that I learned her name was Yuki, and her grandfather was the sect leader." He rose his glass in the air, smiling wider than the others had ever seen him do so before. "But now she is of age, and I plan to marry her! As the rightful heir to the Fire Dragon Sect, I am finally worthy of her grace! My father, the sect master, already promised me her hand in marriage as long as I met his requirements, which I have now done. So, celebrate with me! For when we return home, I shall soon be getting married! CHEERS!" He shouted as he gulped down his wine in one go.

A chorus of claps and cheers echoed from most at the table. Even Haru and Hina politely joined in. There were only two exceptions amongst them. Rubi clenched her teeth but retained her silence while gulping down her wine. The other was Ed, who was speechless while not knowing why. He gripped his jar of rum so tightly that it shattered, causing the rum to spill over the table and his clothes. Unbeknownst to himself, a tiny new crack appeared in his soul.

As the other espers heard the shattering of the cup, they turned to look at Ed, and things grew eerily quiet. "Is something wrong, my good brother?" Tai questioned in confusion while still holding onto his empty wine glass.