“Master Dragon, this guy wanted to see you. I tried to stop him but he fights dirty!”

“Well, why does he want to see me?” The Hikari Dragon said in a low rough tone.

“He claims that he’s a Hikari shōkan from the Umi Tribe!”

The Hikari Dragon turned to me. I couldn’t move or speak. His lifeless eyes glared at me, and it felt like he was staring through my very soul. I was hoping that he would just continue talking to Porsha as if I wasn’t there, but he didn’t.

“What is your name?”

“My, my name is Kazai.” I gulped. 

He paused for a second.

“Why are you here, Kazai?”

“Well, I just found out about my sun shōkan abilities, and I never met anyone from the Hikari tribe. So, I –“

“You need a trainer?” The dragon interrupted.

“Yes, sir.”

“Porsha, do we have any assignments scheduled?”

Porsha looked offended, “Master Dragon! You’re not thinking of wasting your time with this dork are you?”

“I’ll take that as a no.” The dragon said as he turned around and walked toward the mansion.

He raised his arm to signal me and said, “Follow me.”

We went to the courtyard of his mansion.

“What are you having problems with?” The dragon asked me in a low intimidating voice.

“Well, I have no idea what I’m doing. One day, I was fighting hybrids, and my sword started glowing. But, after that, whenever I tried to activate my shōkan it never worked. Well, except for a few minutes ago against Porsha, but I don’t even know how that happened.”

Then, I looked at Porsha who was standing in the shade under a tree nursing her wounds. I walked over, “I really didn’t mean to burn you. I’m sorry about that.”

She just glared at me.

The dragon spoke up, “Get over here!” I walked over to him and he said, “Stay still.” Then he glared at me with those lifeless eyes of his, “In order for you to understand how to use your power you have to know where it comes from.”

“I know where it comes from. The sun, right?”

“Wrong! Our power comes from the spirit of the Sun, not the sun itself.”

“Wow.”

“There are four main elements of the sun: heat, light, radiation and fire. Most Hikari Tribe shōkans specialize in one or more of these elements. You definitely have the elements of heat and light. When-“

“Wait! How do you know that those are my elements? My element could just as well be fire.”

The dragon sat down on the ground and pointed at his eyes, “I have heat vision. I can see more than you could ever imagine with these eyes.”

“I take it that you only see in heat vision.” I said.

He looked away for a second and said, “Now that I’m blind, I have better insight, which to me is more valuable than outsight.”

“That’s pretty deep, I guess.” I said while tilting my head in confusion.

“Enough about me, don’t you want to learn?” the Dragon shouted.

“Yes, yes, I’m sorry! Please continue.”

“In order for you to use your abilities you must first understand how to use your spirit energy in sync with the spirit of the sun.”

“When I was a weapons specialist, I pretty much mastered focusing my spirit energy, but how do I get in sync with the sun spirit?”

“You have a connection. That much is clear. It may be that you need to simply acknowledge your connection while focusing your spirit energy. Let me show you.”

The Hikari Dragon stood up, “Porsha, give me your sword.” Porsha threw her sword to him, and he caught it by the handle. That was pretty impressive, considering that he’s blind.

“What helps some people is saying the word shōkan. Saying shōkan is like declaring the spirit’s power as your own. In other words, it’s like declaring that you are connected to the spirit’s power. Now, step back.”  

As I stepped backward, the dragon pointed the sword upward and said, “First, imagine what you want to happen. Then, expect it to happen while focusing your spirit energy. When you feel the sensation of the sun spirit’s power, acknowledge it by saying SHŌKAN!”

At that moment his sword not only began to glow, it immediately caught fire. I could feel the heat from the sword even from a distance. Then, the dragon stabbed the sword into the ground, and everything around it was instantly disintegrated.

“A sword like this isn’t really built for Hikari style techniques, but it’ll do. Now, you try.”

I grabbed the still-hot sword and took a deep breath while holding the sword up. I focused my spirit energy and imagined what I wanted to happen. I waited for the sensation of the sun spirit but I didn’t really know what I should be feeling so I just said, “Shōkan!” The sword began to glow, but it almost immediately dissipated.

I couldn’t believe it, “Well, that was progress. I was never able to do that before now.”

“You should have been able to manage it much longer than that! Come here.”

Then the dragon grabbed my forehead and glared at me up and down. “You are carrying a heavy burden. It seems like resentment or maybe un-forgiveness. Whatever it is, it’s blocking you.”

“What do you mean blocking me.”

“Your issues are keeping you from reaching your full potential as a shōkan. In order for you to move forward, you’ll have to let go of the resentment that you’re holding on to. It’s literally blocking you from your connection with the sun spirit, limiting your true source of power. So, what it is kid? What’s holding you back?”

I thought about how the princess had placed me in jail and tried to manipulate me by making me famous and how she used Master Kim Lee to spy on me and keep me from leaving town. I looked at the situation and thought to myself, ‘Well, she was just doing what she thought was best as a ruler. Besides, I knew before I tried to leave that there would be some extreme consequences, so I forgive her.’

Then, I picked up the sword and tried it again, “Shōkan!” The same thing happened. There was a burst of light, but it didn’t last.

The dragon began to walk off, “Let me know when you work out your issues.”

“WAIT! I’m not sure I have any unforgiveness or resentment. I’ve already forgiven the only person who’s wronged me. What should I do if I don’t have unforgiveness in me and it still doesn’t work?”

“That’s not a possibility! You definitely have something. Think about it, most resentment that causes blockage has become so common in your life, you don’t even recognize it for what it is.”

Becoming frustrated, I asked, “How do you know all of this?”

The dragon looked at me and said, “Because I was once blocked. And it was because of my own unforgiveness, resentment and malice towards one person… that same person is the one that took my sight and exiled me from the Hikari Tribe. Later on, I managed to forgive him, and, not long after that, I developed heat vision. I probably could have developed that power years sooner if I hadn’t been so stubborn. So think back: who do you feel has wronged you the most?”

I immediately began thinking of my mother: ‘Could it be her? It couldn’t be her. She’s my mother. Well, she kept me from knowing who my father is. And I have noticed that I don’t bother asking her anything anymore because I don’t believe that she’ll be honest with me. Could it be that I respect her, but I don’t have much respect for her? I honor her but I don’t see her as honorable. Yes, it’s definitely her. I haven’t forgiven my mother for all that she’s done…and what she didn’t do.’

I continued to think to myself: ‘I can’t, I can’t! How could I forgive her? The only reason I’m in this situation is because of her. If she had been honest with me from the beginning, I would already know how to control my powers. But, because of her dishonesty, I am now seventeen years behind; on top of that, I never met my father because of her!’

The Hikari Dragon stepped closer to me and shouted, “Listen! You don’t forgive someone because they deserve it. You forgive them because you don’t deserve the weight that comes with unforgiveness!”

Then, I thought to myself: ‘Come on, you can do this. She is my mother; you only get one mother in a lifetime! Yes, she’s made some mistakes but who hasn’t? I love her and she loves me. I have to remember that she loves me. Regardless of what she’s done or didn’t do, she’s STILL my mother, and I love her.”’

Then, the dragon said, “Look, I don’t care enough to know who you have resentment toward, but I’m sure it’s someone close to you. So, how would you feel if they died right now without your forgiveness?”

I imagined my mother lying in a casket. My heart sank, and a tear fell from my eyes.

 I thought to myself: ‘The next time I see you mother, I will tell you that I forgive you. Because regardless of what you’ve done, you’re still the only mother I will ever have.’

“That’s it! I can see it lifting.” The dragon shouted.

At this point, tears began rushing from my eyes. It felt as if weight or pressure was lifting off of me, and I felt lighter.

“Try it now!” The dragon shouted.

I held up the sword, and I shouted, “SHŌKAN!” The sword slowly began to glow and radiate heat. It wasn’t as destructive and powerful as when the Hikari Dragon did it, nor did it catch fire, but it was still powerful nonetheless. I couldn’t help but smile as tears fell from my eyes. I couldn’t believe that I actually did it.

Porsha walked over to the Dragon, “Master, I don’t get what just happened. I thought he was supposed to forgive someone. He didn’t call anyone or anything, but he was still able to do it.” 

The dragon turned to her, “You don’t have to physically talk to the person in order for you to forgive them in your heart.”

“So you’re saying that he just knew to forgive them in his heart? I would have just called them and said that I was sorry. I guess that guy is not as dumb as he looks.”

“He is of the Hikari Tribe.” The dragon said.

I jumped up and down: “YES! I did it! I did it!” I shouted.

The dragon walked closer to me. Even though he was wearing a mask, I could tell that he was smiling.

“Kid, now that you know how to do that, I’ll show you how to release it the same way you did to Porsha. But this time it’ll be more powerful. How ‘bout that?”

“OH, HECKS YEAH! Let’s do this!” I shouted,

Next Chapter: ENTER KAZAN