Sharjasanian Chronicles: Premium

I: The Fight Against My Own Weakness

I am Lord Shacc, the supreme guardian and protector of Sharjasania. I am responsible for the safety and happiness of the planet. I hold a powerful force, as I am blessed by Shurokawa, the Divination of Void. However, I wasn't always this strong. Rather, back when I was little, when I still lived on planet Terra, I wasn't powerful at all.

I was around seven back then, the year was 2019. I lived in a tiny village in the Zhonguo clan, a place where wise elders rule and the younger people highly respect them. As a child, I was forced to practice martial arts, practice healing and learning the high morals of life, besides the normal education that was given. 
I enjoyed studying quite a lot actually, as I was creative and analytic. I often wrote poetries, which were praised by my family. However, when it came to martial arts, I fell behind very quickly in comparison to the other sons of the clan. 

I lacked the power, the stamina, the discipline, the focus. In its entirety, I wasn't able to even wield the weapon properly. 
Everyday, I've been scolded for being a weakling, undisciplined and childish person. The standards were very harsh for males, though I believe that it wasn't very fun for the females either. 
One time, I decided to train for three days straight, focusing on how to wield the stick that was given to practice. I failed, the stick falling out of my hand every time. Every slash made my body hurt. Nobody looked at me, a child swinging a bamboo stick in the middle of the night. It was cold. But I kept on trying, hoping to someday be able to get the elders' approval. After six days, I managed to get a grip and a decent swing with the stick. Filled with excitement, I went to an elder to show my skills. 

"High elder, I have come to show my martial power", I said, as the excitement slowly faded as I saw the bitter high elders. 
"Show me what you've got, young one", one high elder said. 
I inhaled and exhaled. I slowly raised the bamboo stick. 
"Speed up, when battling an enemy, it won't wait for you to hit it", a high elder commented. 
Pressured, I lost my grip completely. The bamboo stick slipped out of my hand, fell on the ground and rolled right in front of the high elders.
"Li Yilang. You lack the proper discipline and power for being worthy of our clan! You'll be punished for it with the sleeve of focus", the high elders said strictly. 
And that would be my problem. The sleeve of focus is a wooden torture device that would be put around one's arm. It possesses sharp spikes that will cut into the soft skin of the arm when the wearer moves due to their lack of discipline. 
I was sentenced to keep it on for three days. Even though I was wearing the sleeve of focus, I was still forced to study and live normally. Only with the proper focus, you can make the pain bearable. In the first two days, I kept crying and whining. Nobody batted an eye, not even my parents. I only ate, studied and slept, while the sharp spikes cut into my arms. 

"Li Yilang, I see that you're experiencing trouble with your discipline", my uncle once said. "Let me tell you a story real quick". 
Upon hearing him, I turned around and faced him. 
"Tell me", I said. 
"When I was your age, I had the exact same problem. My brother had the fierce power of a lion, but I never managed to have that same type of power. I was forced to wear the sleeve of focus as well", he said. "Take my advice, focus on your amazing intelligence. If you manage to get all of that together, you'll be able to eventually gain physical strength as well. Follow your talents, and you'll be strong". 
I nodded. After that, he walked away to have a tea with his wife. 

I felt inspired. For the next eight hours, I spent my time reading scrolls about martial art and condition. 
It was the last day for me to wear the sleeve of focus. You'd get used to it eventually, but it still hurted. After absorbing enough information, I decided to take a stroll in the woods behind the village. 
"Today, the sleeve will be taken back again. But for now, I'll use my strength, my knowledge, to succeed", I said confidently. 
I kept punching a tree, nearly for an hour long. I felt the iron spikes cut into my arms, my knuckles were bleeding and my fingers were bruised. But I didn't care. 
I strolled further into the mountains as I walked past a river. I noticed the harmony between the living creatures in the river. The fish, crawfish, spiders and snakes all lived in harmony, without eating eachother. The river was clean and flowed prosperously.
Then, something snapped in my head. 
"If everything will be unified, there'll be harmony. If I can unify the my strength and my knowledge, I'll find inner strength".
This sentence repeated itself inside of my head. 

Later on that day, the sleeve was removed. Countless scars were all over my arms. They didn't look great. 
I decided to label them; the imprint of regret and irresponsibility.

After three years of martial training, I managed to succeed easily and get the high elder's approval.
I went back to the river where the sudden thought popped up. But this time, a shiny stick was preventing the river from flowing. I picked it up, and it turned out to be a Guandao. 
"Sometimes, too much violence will block the way of the internal peace", I thought.
I always cared for the weapon that I found, and even now in Sharjasania, I still wield it when needed.

After six years, I easily graduated from the schools. After I turned thirteen, I wasn't isolated in the village anymore. I quickly discovered the world and its advanced technology. I found my way in making music, and quickly became popular. I started a band with the people who are now known as Intelligence Officer Tyrkys and Harmony Officer Talia. Even though we all went on seperate paths in Sharjasania, we were a close group together. 
Though, I always felt like my performance was lacking something. And I wasn't the only one either. Already within less than one month, people started commenting on how I wasn't perfect enough, how my voice just didn't feel right to them. One person commented on an online software:
"You sound like a robot or computer". 
This hit me. Due to the amount of hate comments, I took a hiatus from making music. I instead focused on travelling around the world in search for clues, made many friends but couldn't find an answer. This because the answer was beside me all the time. It was Harmony Officer Talia, or back then, just Talia who helped me. 
"Li? Have you been feeling well lately? You're really sad and seem really gloomy most of the time", she asked. 
"I just don't know why my voice isn't appealing to the people", I answered. 
"How do you feel about it?", she asked. "Singing is about expressing feelings". 
That was the answer I searched all the time. 
"That's it! Thank you so much! I need to express more feelings while I'm singing! You're the best, Talia!", I said, excitedly.
She smiled generously. 
And from that moment, when I was residing in the Singapura clan, I looked up to the sky. 
"Strength... knowledge... emotion", I whispered. "Only if it's unified, I can achieve inner strength". 
Talia has always been a special person for me. She was the first to recognise my musical talent and supported me by joining the journey, and even now, she still cares a lot about me.

I kept on singing and singing, and meeting more people everywhere I went. While I was having a huge glow up, the world wasn't. I had to sacrifice a lot when leaving the world behind when it fell apart, but now, I can't imagine another world than Sharjasania.