John knew he was breathing rare air. The feeling immediately sank in that a new threshold had passed, and he could never return. He didn't want to.

He had already changed since that night of the attack. The quiet, meek young man had bravely ventured and charged the attackers, so his mind and self-esteem grew. Now, with the love and care of Mother Sharon, he became more confident and more at ease with himself. He had started training physically to make up for his inadequacies the day of the attack. He took up sword practice even without a real teacher and pushed himself to become stronger. Many noticed, none more...