The young man stared out the window of the transport watching the snow, ice and wind beat against it in silence.
He turned and looked around on the transport and shuddered. "We've lost quite a few… At least when we attacked, we only got a few scratches and no loses."
He felt the transport stop and the door open. "Squad off the transport. I've made it back. Let's celebrate after I make my report. Fire eater… You're going to no longer exist. It was your fault that they died… You spy."
"Stop it! Squad leader come with us we'll be reporting the entire event together."
He watched the senior Firewarriors and the squad leader walk off the transport. He stood up and walked off the transport and stretched. He took a step then stopped. "Salina, I feel like taking a bath, and relaxing in the heat for a while. What about you?"
"That might be a good idea. From here it looks like your body's energy is about to go through a breakthrough. It's best to do that when there is a lot of energy around you."
He looked at Salina confused. "What do you mean by breakthrough?"
"Hey… We didn't get to say thank you for what you did to save us…"
He turned and looked at the other recruits that had caught up to him.
"Thank you for saving us… Don't listen to the squad leader. We know what the truth is, and no matter what happens next we'll stand by you."
The young man shook his head. "I did nothing. Just following orders."
"That is not true at all. We all saw what you can do. We saw all the enemy falling under your hands and sword. How did you become so strong?"
He shook his head. "As I said all I did was follow orders and train hard. You can be stronger than me in different areas. That's what makes a strong unit. Everyone is good at different tasks."
"Hahaha… You say you're not a leader, but you just gave us excellent advice just like a leader would."
He turned and looked at Salina and felt his face heat up.
"Ahh Fire eater. What are you looking at? There is nothing there…"
"He's thinking about the battle… That's what he's doing."
He heard another recruit speak up and sighed. "I'm going to go bathe. Since you're free until the report has been made you can do anything you want."
"We're coming to bathe as well. We need one too especially after the fight in the camps."
"Hahaha. You know have followers. It's your strength on the battlefield. There are no words or things you can say to push them away now… Hahahaha. Brings back good memories."
He eyed Salina with an annoyed look.
"Ahh. We're not going to the baths because of you. We're going because we all smell of bandits."
The young man gave up and walked towards the baths. He ignored the recruits following him and sighed to himself.
"The stronger you get… The more people will want to follow you. It's what happens… The strong will always be followed, and today's show of strength has proved who you are."
He sighed again and walked into the baths removing his clothing. He stepped into the steam room ignoring the seductive eyes of the others and sat in a corner in a meditative state.
He tried to ignore the recruits as they sat around him and sighed in silence.
"Tap… tap… tap…"
He opened his eyes as the tapping approached and felt his heart rate increase. "It's the old monster… He's around here somewhere…"
"Relax… You're here to bathe, I'm sure the old monster will leave you alone until after your bath… I think he's just here because he can also feel that you're about to breakthrough…"
He shook his head. "You and your riddles Salina…" He cursed under his breath. He stood up and walked into the next room laying on the stone table and letting the attendants scrub his body.
"You're all done fire eater. You can head down the stone slabs. Remember you can't stay down there for as long as you did last time."
He looked at the attendants and nodded while he walked towards the stone slabs. He cursed under his breath as he looked at the recruits standing waiting for him to arrive.
"You should say something to them before you go in… Encourage them a little at least…"
He sighed at Salina and looked at her large eyes. "Do I have to? What should I say to them?"
"Tell them to honor the fallen and that they did good."
He cursed under his breath and looked at the recruits standing and returning his gaze. "This is a little awkward. We're standing here in the steam naked and looking at each other…"
He looked at their smiles and smiled as some laughed.
"We've lost many of our brothers and sisters over the past few days, but we also got revenge for killing many of them. We need to remember their names in our heart and use that to become stronger."
He wiped his face with his arm and looked at them. "This mission has made us stronger. We must become stronger if we're to survive. Train hard and be strong. Stand up for those who've paid the price so we can live… Don't let them down and honor the cost they've paid..."
"Yes, fire eater… We'll become the strongest unit around."
He smiled at their responses. "Good… Now I'm going in… See you…"
He walked through the recruit unit in silence and walked along the path until he felt the wall of heat stopping him from walking further. He laid on the hot stones closing his eyes. "It's time to feed…" He opened the mouth on his heart taking in the energy around him.
"Crack… Crack… Crack."
He opened his eyes and looked throughout his body.
"My body is changing… This energy is changing my body…"
He sat up and stretched his arms as they cracked loudly. He then stood up and stretched his back and legs with a smile on his face. "It doesn't feel hot here anymore. I can walk further down the path…"
"Wait a moment… Come to your ocean where I am… Have a look at what has happened to your body."
He nodded and sat down, closing his eyes and viewed his energy ocean.
"It looks full… Like it's about to burst."
"Yes, that's right. It's full. You need to revolve your energy throughout your body like I showed you before."
He nodded and sat down concentrating on his energy as he forced it through his body. He felt sweat drip from all over his body. He clenched his teeth and held back the pain.
"Don't stop… Keep going… This pain is pushing out the impurities in your body."
He heard Salina's faint voice in his ears and continued revolving the energy throughout his body.
He smiled. "One revolution down. It should become easier now…"
His body started shaking as he started coughing up black blood. He wiped the blood off his face and kept pushing the energy around his body. "Twice…"
He opened his eyes and let out a deep breath. He looked at the dark cloud escaping his mouth. "Salina… Why did I cough up black blood and now the air I exhaled is also black?"
"That's all the impurities in your body… The energy in your body pushed them out… How do you feel?"
He stood up and stretched his body. "I feel stronger… Also, the ocean in my body looks empty… He looked up and stared at the second crystal shining above his ocean. "What's that?"
"That's your condensed energy, the more crystals you have the stronger you become. This is what I mean by a breakthrough… Each time you're able to form another crystal it is a small breakthrough. Later I'll tell you of big breakthroughs."
He turned and looked at Salina… "What's happened to you… You seem different."
"Do I? Maybe when you become stronger, I also regain some of my power?"
He shook his head. "No not that… You've become more physical, and not so ghost like…"
He smiled at her smile and looked down the tunnel. "You should head back… They'll be waiting for you."
He walked out and stood in front of the waiting recruits.
"Fire eater… What's happened to you? You look different… Even your hair has grown longer."
He touched his head and felt his hair. "Nothing… just meditated down there, and it seems my body likes it."
He saw a few of the female recruits look at his waist and smile. He felt his face turn red and walked through them. "Let's go… I guess we should eat and rest."
"It seems they noticed that it wasn't only your hair that grew…"
He looked at Salina silently and walked out of the baths faster. He got dressed silently and stepped outside the baths taking in a deep breath. "Finally… can rest now."
"Tap, tap… Fire eater a word."
He turned and saw the old man standing there looking at him. He nodded and walked towards him standing at attention.
"I heard the report of what happened there, plus some junior trying to say you're a spy." He lowered his head.
"Don't worry about that… It was quickly refuted and forgotten. That junior is going to be receiving punishment, for their decisions they made on the battlefield… Now, it seems you've completed your breakthrough quite well, and this mission has made you grow from being a child to becoming a soldier. Keep growing as a soldier… Squad leader dismissed."
He saluted the old man and walked towards the recruit unit that had formed up. He stood in front of them with a smile on his face. "I've been set as squad leader for this unit. I'll be working with you and helping this unit become stronger. After we eat tell me where your abilities are, and we'll start planning training. Let's eat and rest. Dismissed.���
He walked around the unit heading towards the mess hall and shook his head. He looked behind him and watched the recruits follow him closely. He sighed and shook his head. "You're dismissed you can walk at your pace. You don't need me to eat, do you?"
"No squad leader. We just want to stay together as a unit…"
He sighed and cursed under his breath."Fine…"
He looked at Salina. "What should I do? Hey… You're walking and not floating anymore."
"It's taken you this long to realize… To many women to look at it seems?"
He shook his head. "About this issue please help me, what should I do?"
"Let the kids do what they want, just be a good example." He sighed and lowered his shoulders.
He walked into the mess hall grabbing a plate and started eating. He looked at the recruits that sat with him and looked at them. "What are you interested in learning, and being part of the unit?"
"Medic"
"Sniper"
"Close quarters… I'm terrible with the energy weapons, but with a sword I'm good."
"Defense… Bigger the energy weapon, the better…"
He listened as the recruits around him while chewing on the meal. He turned to Salina and nodded. "It seems we've got a chance to become an elite unit."
After listening to the unit, he stood up looking at the recruits. "Tonight, we rest… Tomorrow morning training begins… Maybe after tomorrow you'll want to give up, but if you make it through. Then you'll be elite and true soldiers of the FireStrike unit."