Emerging from the clandestine laboratory, Su Vaen staggered into the night air, his mind reeling with the horrible things that he had witnessed.
The bitterness of betrayal played on his lips, and with every step he took from that wretched place, he felt heavier than the last.
The heavy, oppressive silence of the lab had left him in a state of dismay doubting everything he'd ever been taught of his clan.
His heart pounded with equal measures of anger and despair, and his soul, long immersed in the icy calculation of the Tenebris Energy Path, convulsed under the weight of that which he'd uncovered.
He moderated his pace, seeking cover under the black canopy of a glade, where the gentle leafy whisperings provided a subtle counterpoint to his frantic thoughts.
Sitting on a fallen tree, he shut his eyes and opened his Dimensional Perception to scan the energies around him.
Victims' faces—innocent lives ripped apart by ruthless experimentation—flashed through his mind in a flash.
The nightmares of too precise scars caused by animals tormented him.
It was a profanation of his mother's memory and the code of honor to which he had previously confirmed.
And then, in that moment of solitude, the gentle voice of self-doubt whispered,
"What do I do now? Can I possibly be the one to stop this corruption? Should I? Or am I destined to be only a silent bearer, forever burdened by what I have seen?"
Finding no quick answers in the isolation of the forest, Su Vaen chose to consult with someone he had always admired—the elder of the Su Clan named Su Zhen.
Zhen had been a mentor in his youth, a man whose judgment was seasoned by years of experience and heartache.
If anyone could help him navigate this ethical maze, it would be Su Zhen.
---
Behind cover of darkness, Su Vaen rode down a twisting, circuitous road to a tiny camp on the rim of Misty Grove.
In a plain, weathered pavilion there, he found Su Zhen waiting.
The older man's features were etched with lines of experience and hardship, his eyes both kind and hard-won, steely and resolutely forged of adversity.
Master Su Vaen, Su Zhen, welcomed gently, his words filled with unwritten understanding.
"I sensed there was something amiss in your aura tonight. Come and sit down."
Su Vaen seated himself on an aged stone bench at the elder's side, his secret weight piling itself atop him. The cold night wind hardly appeased the blistering questions churning in his thoughts.
"I have seen things," Su Vaen began, his voice low and even as the tempest raged inside.
"Things in that laboratory… things that reveal the depth of our clan's corruption. Innocent lives sacrificed to power forbidden experiments—abominations that have soiled our heritage."
Su Zhen listened to him, his eyes narrowing in sorrow.
"I have always feared greed would lead some of us down this dark path. Our Su Clan, with all its glorious past and the noble Beast Taming Art, has been corrupted by its own ambition. What you witnessed is a stain on our honor, one that no tradition can cleanse."
Silence filled the air for a moment or two, only to be broken by the soft hum of the night breeze.
Su Vaen's gaze drifted far away, as though trying to look ahead to a future that now was uncertain.
"Tell me, Zhen," Su Vaen continued,
"What needs to be done? I am at a crossroads, torn between my duty as a guardian and the realization that our very foundations are tainted. How do I.... How do I erase this karma without condemning all that I once held dear?"
The elder sighed, his voice burdened by the weight of unfulfilled regrets.
At times the hardest decisions are those that must be made in silence. The corruption you speak of is not the work of the common man, nor of all members of our clan.
It is the work of those who, with ambition clouding their vision, have forgotten the very definition of honor.
But once the seed of corruption has taken root, it is as difficult to eradicate as a cancerous vine.
Su Zhen's eyes clashed with Su Vaen's, honest and unflinching.
"You, my beloved master, are not destined to be a passive observer. Your path—no matter how much sorrow—can be the salvation of our house. To cleanse the karma, you have to expose the corruption, even if it means burning the foundations built by the people you loved. It is a harsh reality, but only through burning the old can a new sunrise appear."
The weight of those words pressed on Su Vaen's chest. He had always assumed that this was a unique path—a solitary one thrown in the faint light of Tenebris Energy, a one that necessitated sacrifice.
But the betrayal of his own family was a wound that pierced deep.
Nevertheless, the evidence of the laboratory could not be ignored, and the silent anguish of those sacrificed echoed in his soul.
"Then I will do it," Su Vaen announced at last, his voice a mixture of resolve and resignation.
"I will purify our clan of this stain. I will take the steps necessary to eradicate this karma, even if it means destroying the legacy that has shaped my life."
Su Zhen's face inclined gravely, his expression serious but urging.
"I wish you could see it that way. Bear in mind, my child, that true strength lies not in withholding from the past but in constructing a future unsoiled by it. Go to your father. Tell him what you have seen. Only by facing this truth can we ever hope to mend the torn strands of our heritage."
The reference to his father—of a man whose sanction had been the polestar of Su Vaen's existence for years—roused a violent struggle within him.
His father, the candidate leader of the clan, was himself a man controlled by ambition and the very desire to exercise ever greater power.
Would he be able to accept the filth which had insinuated itself among them? Would the old man be able to bear such discoveries on his shoulders?
The uncertainties were mixed with the peaceful determination in Su Vaen's mind.
"I will, Zhen. I will speak to my father. By directly facing him, maybe only then will I be able to untangle this mass of corruption."
The old man placed a gnarled hand on Su Vaen's shoulder.
"Go then, and may the power of your own beliefs be with you. Remember, sometimes to rebuild, one must first tear down the old, no matter how painful that is."
With those words ringing in his mind, Su Vaen stood and nodded gravely.
The choice was made.
He would head for his father's chambers in Misty Grove, with the dark truth and the unspoken vow of vengeance.
The road ahead was dark and filled with danger, but Su Vaen's heart, hardened by both Tenebris Energy and the determination born of betrayal, pounded with a burning resolve.
As he walked away from the serene pavilion under the starry night sky, every step was a step towards fate—a fate that would either restore the Su Clan's honor or shatter it beyond repair.
Duty and love, past and future, merged into one, unrelenting purpose at that moment: to erase the corruption that had long plagued, no matter the cost.