Garjan had expectations for Adav. Once he saw him be able to use his energy after a mere 3 days, he has returned occasionally to watch his progress. After the first month, even without his sword, he has already reached a point that no beast on the mountain could compete with him. Of course compared to an actual battlefield, he was far from ready.

  By the second month, the amount he has grown has exceeded Garjans expectations. It seems he was also able to sense him, meaning his mastery over his energy has reached the point where no common soldier could achieve in their lives. His swings has also began resembling Ashans before he was marked, there were a lot that can still be improved, but to reach this point, his gut feeling of Adav to have the same potential as his father is definitely correct.

  Finally by the 3rd month, he has decided that by now he should be itching to go to war. There are limits to how much one can do by themselves, so before he'll get the urge to go to war by himself, Garjan decided to meet him and see for himself how much has he achieved.

  On the way to the mountain, he once again visits {Ashan's wife} who asks him to at least see her son before he leaves. Before she has asked him to bring him back, that the path he was going was not something a child must endure by themselves. He himself also believes this, but the thought that if Adav reunites with his mother may squander the drive for him to be stronger, he has found excuses, telling him he is still well and alive but has been able to avoid him.

  But now that he was with other soldiers, it seems {Ashan's wife} has seen through his intent. Seeing this, he promises that this time, he will see her.

  Now back to a few minutes before the clash starts. As Garjan approached the mountain, he brought with him two of his companions. One was a healer, the other was a fellow officer from the army. They were there mainly to interfere in case some emergency happened, as well as to serve another purpose Garrjan had.

  Once he found a suitable clearing, he and his companions waited there. Instead of searching for him as he did before, he trusted that he'll sense him and make his way here.

  "Are you sure he'll find us himself?" The healer asks. He was a veteran that worked with the army for decades, ensuring his skill with healing magic.

  "I'd bet we'll be sitting here for a good while. Garjan is delusional when it comes to Ashan" The other soldier scoffs. This one was older than Garjan and has known him for a long time. Which also meant he knew of his obsession with the once master of Lightning and Thunder style, Ashan.

  "He'll be here" Garjan assures the two while focusing his energy to project his presence. There was a chance that Adav wasnt nearby and in another part of the mountain, but he finds that unlikely if he wants to meet him. As this was roughly the same area he was when Adav sensed him a month ago.

  "I'm not sure about this. Even if he does, how old did you say he was?" The healer asks

  "The runt's barely older than my grand kids, even if he comes, I doubt he'd be much help as a soldier" The soldier huffs

  But before the conversation could continue, all three of them felt the air shift. From the clearing, a lone boy walked out. He wore tattered clothes and wielded a wooden stick. Despite the youthful appearance, from his tattered clothes, his body is riddled with scars, most of which seems to be from wil beasts, and some others the source something else they cant discern.

  Most striking of all was his expression. It wasnt a look a young man would have, but a face of someone who has gone through war and learned to curse the world.

  "Garjan, tell me where my fathers killer is" The child says to Garjan. They have been informed on the story behind the boy, but seeing him and hearing his words were much different to hearing it from reports.

  "You're mistaken. Im only here to take you back to your mother, by force if needed" Garjan replies readying his sword. He has told the two that he intends to fight the child to ascertain his power. He did plan on holding back, but only to the level that he wont accidentally kill the child, thus the healeer was brought in case things go wrong.

  "So I need to defeat you if I want to take revenge then" the child, Adav, says readying his wooden sword. The very act from an outsiders view may have been laughable, seeing a child face off against a soldier with a wooden sword. But for those that were there, no laughter could have been made, as the feeling they got from the child was very similar to the soldier who has taken the exact same position.

  "At such young age" the healer muttered. he has known a few soldiers in his time that could make use of their energy at a young age, but such things were few and far between, plus those that developed such feelings were those that lived in constant battle.

  For Garjan, even though he held an expressionless face, internally he has been rejoicing. Adav has even exceeded his estimates, and now feeling himself elated, he decided to find exactly how much he has grown.

  The moment Adav made his move, Garjan did likewise. The face that Adav was confidently swinging his wooden sword against a real one meant -

  *Clang

  The distance between the two quickly disappeared. Garjan who has decided to receive the attack can't help but admire, the two swords despite clashing, none has been chipped. Adav has also managed to coat his sword with his energy, making it no different from a normal sword, or even better than it.

  Even with Adav's sword being completely stopped, he then leapt upwards, attempting to get a

  better angle to strike from. But this also meant he was unable dodge-

  Grajan quickly swings his sword on the airborne Adav, and he expecting it, blocked it with his shin, the sensation was like hitting steel despite his foot being unarmored. At the same time Adav swung his sword towards Garjan's head, which too was blocked by his helmet coated with energy.

  Though the enhancement was minimal, he felt his helmet shudder a bit, at the same time Adav is thrown back with Garjans strike.

  But the moment Adav's foot touched the ground, he quickly dashed back in, this time the strike was directed on the gaps of his armor-

  *bam

  Regardless, with Garjans larger body, he had better reach and having equal or even faster speed than Adav, he managed to strike the child on the head with the backside of the sword, knocking him to the ground. Right now, he was simply attacking relying on his speed, which is evidently not enough. He quickly raised his sword for another strike but the slash was deflected by his wooden sword. At least he can take hits-

  *bam

  With his sword used to deflect, Adav received a kick, knocking him away. Following this, Garjan disappears from his sight, appearing behind him, sword raised

  *clang

  Even at his blindspot, Adav managed to deflect his strike, was it luck or was he able to sense it? Knowing he can detect things around him before, this could be a natural conclusion, but the difference of maintaining that focus while fighting is another outstanding feat

  "Even so-"

  Another kick sends Adav tumbling back.

  "What's with that sloppy defense? And your attacks are way too basic. Werent you taught by the best" Garjan reprimanded Adav as he rose back up without issue.

  Adav without replying, quickly dashed back in, performing another lightning style technique, yet-

  *clang

  "Are you really going easy on me?" Garjan asks annoyed. All throughout the match, Adav has been using either basic techniques or improvised ones, giving the idea that he isnt taking this bout seriously.

  "Shut it, father didnt bother teaching me anything beyond the basics" Adav spat, annoyed. But despite saying that, he took on a stance that wasnt a basic technique, making Garjan put up his guard.

  Was what he said a lie to put his guard down? No, the stance clearly shows he knows the move, then what was the point of telling him that-

  Adav seized that slight moment of pondering, focusing all his energy into a burst of power into his legs, he once again dashed, feinting the advance move, his stance quickly switched to the basic diagolal cut, to which Garjan managed to see through but-

  Making the cut early, the sword missed its target entirely and for Garjan, Adav disappeared from his view after that slash. Having misread his intent twice and now disappearing from his line of sight, Garjan's mind began considering where he went, to his side? or underneath?

  regardless, Garjan leapt forward, twisting in midair to face his back only to see the wooden sword fly to his face

  "-hk!" Garjan takes his first solid hit from a unexpected move, but he didnt let his mind linger on that, likely after throwing ones weapon, thy'll want to get it back.

  Even without knowing where Adav could be, he swings his sword to his front

  *Bam, a hit

  Adav crashes but not before getting his hand on his sword. It seems he really only knows the basics, the rest are improvised. The sword throw, though existing in some styles, doesnt exist in lightning style, much less in the way it was thrown like a spear.

  In his mind, Garjan raised the difficulty even further, wanting to see how much more can Adav can handle, begins his attack.

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  In the fight so for, Garjan has been taking a passive stance, defending and countering when attacked. Given he is the best in the lightning style, such leeways is expected when dealing with a novice. Yet at some point, a switch seems to have flipped.

  Taking action, Garjan begins to send flurries of attacks onto Adav, the attacks themselves were the basic forms that Adav should know, yet the way each one is utilized is made so to make the opponent move in certain ways, removing any opportunities for attack. At this point, even with these simple moves, Adav is pushed onto the defensive, taking blow after blow, cuts now appearing throughout his body as his focus on defending himself with his energy is becoming more and more difficult as he cant predict where the next strike will happen.

  "Shouldnt you be stopping them?" The healer, asks worried.

  "You think I can?" The soldier grumbles. Maybe if he was at his prime, he could intervene, but not now.

  Soldier: "Besides-" The soldier spoke softly, focusing on the fight

  Despite the fight being one sidedly pushing on, Adav has yet to give in. Continuing to dodge and deflect his opponents blade, slowly improving the way he does so. At first he may directly block an attack, but after some exchange, he now deflects them and is using less and less moves to do so.

  Even if one is faced with the threat of an incoming sword, most inexperienced people would try to flee in panic, more trained soldiers will use what they learned to handle an attack, and even the more experienced fighters will rely on a mix of experience and technique to handle it.

  Soldier: "To think the kid can perform this much at such a young age, I understand Garjans decision to see how far can he go"

  Healer: "You two- don't you think what would happen if you push the kid too far?" He replies shouting a bit.

  The soldier grumbles, he too knows the risk. Being as old as he is, he has seen many promising kids only to be unceremoniously killed in the line of combat. In war, individual skill can only take you so far, when faced with numbers and tactics, most cant survive.

  Moreso, people like Adav are not likely to work with others and be working by themselves. But this and that are different matters, since all this so far are his interpretation from what he's seen so far with the kid.

  As the soldier was busy thinking, he is suddenly shoved by the healer.

  Healer: "Stop him now!"

  The soldier looks to see that Adav has been brought down, there didn’t seem to be any fatal injuries and he seems to be still breathing, but he wasn't getting up. Luckily the healers worries were unfounded as Garjan also stopped attacking.

  Garjan: "It's over, you lost" He announces as he looks to the healer to have him patch Adav up

  Healer: "For a moment, I thought you wouldn’t stop on time" He grumbles as he jogs to the fallen Adav, passing by Garjan who was walking back to the soldier.

  Garjan: "How was he?"

  Soldier: "At first I doubted your claims when you said he was as talented as his father, but after seeing what he can do, I'm baffled. Honestly, if talents like these crop up here and there now, there wont be any use for old dogs like me"

  Garjan: "A shame his knowledge in Thunder and Lightning style is severely lacking, for now lets head back"

  But the soldier didn’t get up. Looking past Garjan, he points to Adav. "It seems it's not yet over"

  A few moments ago, just as the healer reached Adav, he quickly senses something wrong with the surroundings. There wasn’t any wind blowing, but he felt some flow going to the kid. What's more-

  Healer: "Whats happening with those wounds-" He says dumbfounded as the strange scars Adav had on his arms and legs begin to redden as if opening up once again. But with this, Adav slowly stood back up, his eyes showing a fierce determination of still continuing.

  Healer: "Please just stay down, you've probably spent all your energy right now, you're in no condition-"

  Adav: "I'm still alive Garjan!" he shouts, once again taking up a stance

  Garjan looks back at him surprised but also saddened.

  Garjan: "Im not after your life. Are you really that against meeting back with your family?" He asks, holding his sword

  Adav: "I'll beat you then kill that bastard" He says, it seems Garjans words didn’t even register

  Then after saying that, Adav disappeared from the healers line of sight, straight to Garjans sword, unlike the clashes before, this one, even for the healer that couldn’t have seen the exchange felt the shockwave behind him.

  For Garjan who had expected nothing more from this attempt still defended like before, but the moment their sword struck each other, a thunderous shockwave blew him back, onto the ground.

  This moment of surprise and disorientation only lasted a fraction of a second, as at the moment Garjan landed, he has twisted his body in midair to prepare to evade the incoming attack as his sword too was blown from his grip.

  But the attack he anticipated never came, to his surprise, Adav who should have had the opportunity was now back on the ground, his wooden sword in splinters.

  Garjan, whose senses were raised to their peak just moments before, felt a exhausted from the brief twist of events. But even then, a small smile formed on his lips.

  Garjan: "If you thought up that move just now, perhaps you wont need a teacher to train you in your fathers style"

  He who was both excited at the prospect and talent of Adav, then despaired with his lack of training, has once more found joy in the fact that he has made use of such an advanced move in the style, although not an exact replica, it's essence was eerily similar.

  Soldier: "H-he's not gonan get back up again is he?" he asks concerned. He was surprised the kid was able to stand back up after all that, even more when he unleased such an attack, an attack which should have not been possible given the state he was in.

  Healer: "It's possible, but not probable" he states walking to check on the once more fallen Adav, making sure he's still alive.

  Garjan: "What do you mean by that?" he asks the healer. Even he knew, by the state of Adav, he should have no more energy left to move his body. But if the healer says it's possible, then-

  Healer: "At first, I was wondering what could have made the wounds on his arms and legs, as it didn’t seem like anything one could encounter in a mountain. But throughout the battle, especially when he fell, even without you hitting it, the scars seemed to pulse and nearly open up"

  The healer pauses as he starts the treatment. Unlike Garjan who needed to recite from a notebook to activate their healing magic, the healer only needed to hold over their hands and immediately, a soft green light begins to spread over Adav.

  Healer: "To be brief, as I need to focus on treatment, he can replenish his energy by taking from the environment" he mutters, focusing on the kid he's treating.

  Soldier: "From the environment you say? Then he could potentially keep fighting forever!?"

  The Soldier asks after piecing what this revelation implied. Such an ability would be more widespread given its implications, not only to soldiers but to anyone that makes use of their energy. Mages, who calls the energy mana could make use of this too, but the fact that this is being heard just here means-

  Garjan: "What's the drawback? Does taking in the energy needs him to create such wounds or the act of taking in energy inflicts such wounds?"

  Garjan guesses. If his wounds worsens when being used, that already shows how helpful the skill is. Being to perform a single attack after a significant amount of absorption, makes such a skill difficult to use in the midst of combat.

  Healer: "I can't really say. I havent heard of a case like this, so all of what I said are merely conjectures on my part. We'll have to wait for him to tell us that" He says as he stood up. Adav was still surrounded by a faint green glow

  Soldier: "So, will we be taking him to his mother then?" He asks Garjan as he prepares to go back down the mountain.

  Garjan: "… yeah. At the very least, he'll need to confront her, especially with where we'll be taking him after"

  Soldier: "That's why you brought me here after all" he sighs. The audacity of this person to drag an old soldier like him up and down a mountain just to see a kid.

  With that, the fight has ended, and the three descended the mountain carrying the unconscious Adav back to his mother. Likely he wont even wake up after a day, given how hard he fought, plus the exhaustion brought by using healing magic.

  After around an hour of walking, the three returned to the village at the base of the mountain, where they were greeted by {Ashan's wife} at the entrance who, in tears rushed to see Adav.

  {Ashan's wife}: "You poor thing, why'd you have to be like your father. And you Garjan, why couldn't you have brought him back earlier!? There's no way this child could get away from you" She says as they carry him over to their temporary residence. Now once he was laid on a bed, Garjan bows to {Ashan's wife}

  Garjan: "… I have no excuses. I wanted him to follow his father's path and I feared forcibly returning him may sway that path" He says as he bows low. He knew what he was doing was selfish, thus he was ready to take any punishment for it.

  {Ashan's wife}: "And yet, you lot plan on having him join the army" She interjects, knowing well their intentions by having the old soldier behind him.

  Soldier: "By all means ma'am. At first I too was hesitant, but seeing his promise, I truly believe we can end the war with someone like him. In 5, no, even 2 years, this whole thing can end"

  {Ashan's wife}: "And you're going to make this child carry such responsibility?"

  Soldier: "Of course not, but with his potential, he could grow to surpass Garjan here to be like his father to similarly end this war. To that end, I'm planning on providing him all he needs to reach that point"

  {Ashan's wife}: "you all…"

  Soldier: "Of course considering he is still a child, its not mandatory and needs your permission, but yet I'll request it from you madame"

  Garjan: "The same of me. When I fought with Adav today, I believe he has the potential just like his father back in the day"

  The room was silent for a while, perhaps the unexpected desperation from the soldier or the fact that even Garjan has joined in asking for Adav to be allowed, yet even with all this, the obvious fact still remained

  {AW}: "Regardless of my permission, Adav himself will decide. So for now, can you leave him to rest?"

  With this, three left, leaving the mother in the room to care for her son.

  When Adav first disappeared, leaving a note that he'll find his father, {AW} was scared thinking things might just get worse, with the enemy army occupying the town, even though not as much in numbers now. She thought about going after him herself, but she couldn’t bring herself to, knowing she'd have to leave Raka to fend for himself especially after having his father and brother disappear on him. So all she could do was pray for their safety.

  Luckily within the day, forces from the capital arrived, led by Garjan, they managed to take control back. Given there wasn’t much enemy left at that point, the reclamation was very swift. Upon telling him about Ashan and Adav, Garjan quickly led a small group with him up the mountains.

  An hour passed, her patience grew. She considered multiple times going herself once again, now that the town has stabilized, Raka should be safe to be left alone right? But considering Garjan and his troops were much stronger than her, if they faced some kind of trouble, she herself wont be able to help. So dejectedly, she resigned herself to wait once more.

  Eventually, Garjan did return safely, but without either Adav or Garjan. He did quickly say for Adav that he ran away, claiming he cant go back after what he's done. {AW} thought this was him trying to alleviate the shock by telling her Adav is still alive and well, which helped. But evenso, after confirming Ashans death, or at least absence, she felt her hear crack. Not letting it break completely as Raka still needed her.

  Weeks passed, for now she has told Raka that Adav and his father went somewhere far. She has asked Garjan again to get back Adav, only to say he couldn’t catch him, but him being alive is a guarantee due to finding a makeshift camp by him.

  She had doubted Garjan would lie about Adav's death like this, but the idea of him being alive somewhere out there kept her hopes up.

  Now to present day, she has learned to live with the absence of Ashan, and finally seeing her sons return from the mountain she was overjoyed at first. But seeing him in the state he was in, made her anxious and sorrowful thinking of all the things he's suffered through.

  Now beside him as he slept, {AW} looked at his sleeping face, then to the numerous scars that littered his body.

  {AW}: "You must have gone through a lot, you know it's not your fault to what happened to your father"

  She tells him, hoping to make him feel better in his sleep. She could identify what animals could have made the various wounds as she herself lived in the forest, so she knew what you could encounter there. But even so, the scars on his arm and legs were something unnatural.

  Like blood vessels wrapping into one another, the scars on his arms and legs resembled muscles seeping deep into the body, they are very prominent from the wrist and ankles, twisting and turning until disappearing by the elbow and knees

  {AW}: "What things have you been up to" She mutters as she combs his har slowly with her hands. His once lustrous blue hair has gone dark, covered and damaged by all sorts of things. Dirt, blood, fire, there was too much to wonder. It has also reached lengths to his shoulder, proof of how long he's been away.

  ??: "Mom?" a voice leaks from the door as her younger sons head look inside.

  {AW}: "Yes dear, I'm here, and look, Adav came back"

  She says, patting the side of the bed, inviting him to sit beside her.

  Raka: "Adav??"

  Raka rushes in, carrying a basket of bread she had tasked him to buy earlier this morning. In the past 3 months, they have been living with cousins of theirs in the town. At first they offered her a place to stay and recuperate, but she couldn’t keep living off them, so she began helping as a cook in a restaurant, thanks to her prior experience in the dojo. Raka, who wasn't used to this kind of life found it difficult. At the start he often just accompanied his mother and cried a lot due to the circumstances, but eventually he has stopped crying and complaining and has grown to be able to be tasked to do simple errand work and cooking.

  Time here was not easy, but they managed to find a stable place for themselves although they are still living with their cousins, paying for housing with what they are able to save.

  Now, back to the present, Raka looked at Adav and wondered at the scars he had.

  Raka: "Mom, what happened with Adav?"

  {AW}: "He was up on the mountains training"

  Raka: "Training??"

  Raka who initially felt joy on seeing his brother, now also felt anger. Even if he has gotten used to life right now, the journey here wasn’t an easy one. So while their mom was suffering and forcing herself to work-

  Raka: "All that time he was just training up there?!"

  Raka wanted to shout. The nerve of his brother to disappear and do as he please. Not caring about the ones he left. Even if his mother told him before he left with his dad, he pieced things together eventually on what happened, but seeing his brother here now, brings evidence that-

  Raka: "Didn’t he leave to save dad?! Why did he come back alone, and after so long?"

  He felt frustrated. He didn’t know where to take it out on so he ended up asking his mom as if she could know the answer.

  {AW}: "I'm sorry dear… your father-"

  Raka: "Ah-"

  He messed up, Raka thought. His dad was a topic he has avoided. He knew about his death from seeing how his mom acted behind him when she thought she was alone. She would cry silently, plead and mutter things he couldn’t hear. She's kept a fa?ade for him, so he too wanted to at least make her feel at ease.

  *Slap*

  Raka slaps himself, surprising his mother.

  Raka: "I forgot to buy some other ingredients, I'll be right back and start preparing breakfast. I bet Adav would be hungry when he wakes up"

  He said cheerfully, then escaping quickly, not letting his mother see the face he was making. Even if he knew of his father's death, confirming it didn’t make it any less painful. And to keep his mother from worrying, he decided to keep up his act.

  Yet, even if he thought this

  {AW}: "I'm sorry Raka. You and Adav both had to grow up far too fast"

  She says lamenting her powerlessness of the situation as she continues to comb Adav's hair. She and Ashan knew the pains of war as they both were hurt by it, so she had hoped that their children would have been able to grow up in peaceful times. Yet war was something that they couldn't run from, and now she regrets not anticipating any of this.

  She had heard of the war cropping up a year ago, but at the time, they were already living in the mountains. She thought they would be safe, since their home was far from any place they knew. Even if their presence was known, it shouldn’t have been anything the enemy would seek. A simple dojo without wealth or even military prowess. The school itself taught a niche martial arts to a small number of students.

  A lot of what ifs appear in her mind. What if they fled again? What if she didn’t stop Ashan from joining the war, what if she herself was strong enough. But in the end, she silenced all those thoughts.

  {AW}: "What happened can't be undone. Right now, I'll need to focus on what's in front of me"

  She tells herself. Locking up those stray thoughts, especially since right now-

  {AW}: "I know you're awake Adav" she smiles at her son who was disappointed she saw through him pretending to sleep.

  {AW}: "There's a lot I want to say, but first, let's have breakfast. Raka should be done preparing by now"