The girl, surprised and angry, reprimanded the warrior, saying, "How dare you! You're undoing all my efforts! Who do you think you are?! How would you like it if I just got rid of everything you have?!" The man simply looked at her and calmly replied, "Absolutely nothing." The girl became even more upset and, unable to contain herself, yelled, "OF COURSE, YOU MUST HAVE EVERYTHING, RIGHT?! That's why you don't value other people's efforts!" The warrior jumped onto a tree branch, answering the young woman, "Having, not having—it's the same garbage, different smell. Having to start from scratch doesn't mean it will be harder for you; it only means what you did today won't wait for you tomorrow. You should focus on your biggest problem." The girl just gave him a puzzled look, so he threw a leaf that merely touched her, causing her to fall to the ground with a pained expression. The moment she was down, the man erased the mark again.
The young woman, in great pain and now calmer, sought wisdom from the elder: "Master, what should I do to calm this immense pain I feel?" He listened to every word, analyzing each one in depth, and answered, "Tell me." He approached her and tapped her on the head as he replied, "None of that 'master' business. I'll be your master if you pass your test. But... pain is an interesting word and a curious feeling..." Rubbing the spot where he had tapped her, the girl replied, "You don't say?" The man simply looked at the sky, telling the young woman, "...A warrior does not ignore pain; they learn to accept it and turn it into just another part of their energy, which will fuel the great fire of their soul. It is impossible to deny, ignore, or overcome pain without first embracing it, because in the end, it's all we have left—the most common yet complex characteristic that everyone wants to stop, failing fatally."
-Flashback-
Year 2005, Saicon City. A young man with jet-black hair raced through the streets at great speed, his eyes red and filled with tears. He arrived at a house surrounded by nearby neighbors as firefighters and paramedics pulled a man from the rubble. The adults saw the young man and immediately understood he had a connection to the adult. A firefighter grabbed him by the shoulders, saying, "Hello, son, everything will be alright." But he broke free from the grip and headed towards the injured man lying on a stretcher. The paramedics chose not to say anything to the boy, who took the lifeless hand of his guardian, placed it on his own head, and immediately realized the injured man was no longer alive. All the adults watched the scene; none had the courage to console the child. Overwhelmed by immense rage, some of his hair began to turn white, and he screamed at the night sky, "MAASTEEER!"
-End of Flashback-
Back in the present, after explaining the nature of pain to the girl, the warrior took a leaf and, examining it carefully, told the young woman to leave before she missed her bus. The girl jumped up and ran with all her might to return home. The man simply looked at the sky again, let out a deep sigh, a tear fell down his cheek, and he said, "My... greatest... mistake."
Emily, now cleaner after a long day of training, finished her school assignments and set about cooking dinner but realized she was missing some ingredients. She quickly sent a voice message to her father, telling him where she would be, and hurried to the supermarket located about four blocks away. With everything she needed to cook, she was in line to pay when, without knowing why, she found she could hear much more than before and noticed the cashiers discussing something.
Cashier 1: "Hey, so in the end, who was the dead guy?"
Cashier 2: "Some guy named Marcelo Álvarez."
Cashier 1: "The family must be devastated."
Cashier 2: "Yeah, he was such an ideal neighbor, a real Flanders. But the police say his death is linked to a lover."
Cashier 1: "Hey, wasn't he the suspected rapist from that neighborhood?"
Cashier 2: "I don't think so; he was a good guy."
The girl just listened attentively, avoiding any reaction. She paid for her things and left the store, bumping shoulders with two very similar-looking young men who were carrying flyers that read, "If you saw this man on the day of... contact the police or the family." In that brief second, she recognized the man in the picture. Unaware, one of the young men looked at her for a moment before continuing on his way.