Garjan as he grew up, looked up to Ashan. Initially as a powerful and reliable figure in the military, but soon when he acquire the mark, something that can only appear for a number of people at any time that gives proof to them as the peak of martial prowess, his admiration for him grew even more. The conditions for acquiring the mark wasnt clear, some of the previous holders were said to have felled powerful beasts, some has traveled the land to improve their techniques, and for Ashan, it was certainly by felling hundrreds of soldiers by his own.

  The incident was a major turning point in the war, the enemy having ambushed their squad, with a numerical advantage of 1 to 5, a lot of their squad were quickly killed, morale plumetted, and the survivors managed to lock themselves by a cave, leaving Ashan to act as decoy by his own decision. As they hid, they knew their lives were forfeit anyways. At the time, while Ashan was powerful, facing hundreds by himself was an impossible task.

  Or at least it should have been, because hours later, he finds them huddling in the cave and announced that the enemy troops have retreated, after most of their numbers have been defeated by him. His outfit was a mess, barely handing on to his body. His body was riddled with small cuts, and tons more scards, likely wounds healed in the midst of combat.

  But beyond those, what was noticable was a glowin mark by his upper arm glowing. He himself wasnt sure what it was, but according to Ashan "Once it appeared, my body felt lighter and faster, and that I could fight for even longer. Thanks to that, the enemy decided to retreat" is what he retold, not realizing that he himself was chosen to bear the mark.

  He became his ideal and a legend on that day. He showed the peaks of the way he fought. Lighting and Thunder style became a more talked about topic. Once thought to be lesser compared to the other styles who had marked masters before, this was the first for that school of combat. Naturally Garjan trained himself in that school of combat.

  But as soon as the style became well known, it also showed its faults. Foor one, the style itself was lacking in defensive methods. It focuses mostly on the Northern and Western principles, focusing on offense and speed (lightning) and the destructive wave method of ignoring armor (thunder). But leaning heavily on offensive, meant that if one fails to deliver a fatal blow, their enemies counter may very well end them.

  This issue was ignored by Ashan due to his inhumane speeds that he can reach, meaning enemies wont even be able to guard against his attacks, but for the rest of its practicioners, it meant requiring to invest in a separate principle. Causing the actual users to perform differently and less efficiently, which eventually drove most of its practicioners to other schools.

  Garjan himself chose to believe in the original vision of the Lightning and thunder style, working diligently to be able to reach speeds that made the style usable. With guidance from his model, and being able to fight beside him, he was able to reach a point of mastery few can boast about, but in comparison to Ashan, the difference was still insurmountable.

  When Ashan declared he was done with fighting, Garjan was devastated. His goal was going somewhere else, and his efforts still werent enough, he promised him he\ll overtake him one day but years later, this promise simply became a burden.

  The more he improved, the more he realized the gap between him and his model. At some point, with Ashan out of the picture, he became the strongest among the practicioners, yet the level he was at was nowehere near Ashan\s level.

  Finally, when news of Ashans death reach his ears, he rushed towards his home. He has kept in touch, even teaching a bit on his dojo, so he knew the path well. But what he found upon arriving was simply despair. The dojo burnt, enemy soldiers roaming about and his son captured. He grieved for the death of his hero, but more than that, was the death bringing a dull end to his legacy, for he knew, no matter how hard he worked, he\s nowhere near Ashan\s level, even before he gained his mark.

  He didn\t want to accept such reality, thus the reason for him allowing Ashan\s son, Adav, to escape into the forest was because he was clinging on to some hope, that like his father, Adav may find some kind of breakthrough.

  3 days, after that his unit is ordered to secure another location. In that timeframe, he prays that Adav is able to show some kind of promise. So hoping that, he reports to Adav\s mother that he lives but has hidden himself in the forest. Using his duty as an excuse for he himself could easily locate him with his abilities, he buys Adav time to himself. The thought of him dying not even being considered in his bout of desperation.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  So, when the third day arrived, when he found Adav practicing swinging, the average person may have concluded that there was no progress. But for Garjan who at his level nearing mastery, he could tell his swings was not one done for practice sake. Adav has learned to make use of the energy inside him, a feat most people can\t attain even when training all their lives, all the more without a mentor guiding them. What\s more, his original shirt he came with were now ripped and served as bandages to his body, implying that he has reached this point through great struggle.

  Whatever may have happened in the past days, it seems he has found a breakthrough. Thus igniting his hope once more. On the dream he gave up on, someone else could attain it. Satisfied with this, he turns back to prepare for departure. He\ll inform his mother of his survival, but also his denial to see her until he settles his own issues.

  Perhaps in a month or two from now, he\ll be able to return here, and in that time, Adav may be able to do as he wishes, as well as succeed in his fathers role as Garjan wishes.

  Silently he leaves the mountain.

  ---

  There was a time where Adav thought the drills taught to him in the dojo was pointless. Of course at the start it was to help him get used to the feel of swinging a sword at the point where he wants to swing at. But when he reached a certain level, all that became monotonous, feeling like he himself wasnt improving any further.

  At the time, he had asked his father to teach him the next level, as at that point, he was performing much better than all of his peers. But he was denied, until he reaches the needed sense and level, he\ll need to continue his swings.

  He of course wasnt taking any of this and behind his fathers back, he asked his top apprentice at the time, Patnav to teach him more. He was hesitant at first, but he had leverage against him, seeing him slack off at the town on certain days, he relented.

  Patnav too spoke of energy handling but as Adav couldnt undrestand, he thought Patnav was simply telling him to improve his muscles so he could move better. But despite how much he trains his body, the techniques taught to him always felt off. He could perform the moves, but he could never replicate it the way Patnav nor his father does.

  But now that he was much more aware of this energy inside him, the practice drills now have purpose once again. Now able to practice what was being told to him before, managing the energy inside him, making full use of it in his swings, the speed and power he was able to reach were now levels above from what he could do in the past.

  Yet, this is not enough

  "Faster" He tells himself while reliving his fathers fight once more. Even if he was muuch faster now, it still paled in comparison to his father.

  *grumble

  His stomach tells him to eat something. The beast he defeated days before has been spent, although not the best tasting meat, he found that one method of refilling one\s energy was simply through eating. So starting then, he made sure to not starve himself.

  He was slowly improving on foraging, but the amount berries could provide was no where near enough. Hunting too has become more difficult, with his broken sword, his reach has been severely limited.

  He could make use of his newly discovered option with gaining energy from his surroundings, but that too was inefficient compared to a well cooked meal, especially considering the pain it subjects the user to.

  So with this, he has been testing out other various things to help. For one, he now uses a simple spear, fashioned from a long stick and a sharpened rock. He was apprehensive at first, not wanting to abandon the path of the sword, but with his sword broken, making a makeshift spear was far easier than a sword. He has made a wooden sword, but its durability nor sharpness was nowhere near as good as a sword.

  While making use of the spear, he has been learning how to hunt, while with the sword, to avoid having to remake it over and over, he has found a method of using his energy to \coat\ his weapon to improve their durability. With this, even with a wooden sword, he has been able to hunt even the larger predators of the area.

  He also didnt stay in one spot, knowing that him hunting the creatures means less training targets, he has been moving around, only avoiding leaving the mountain in case people see him.

  And so, just like this, months passed for Adav, honing and perfecting what techniques he remembered as well as hunting and learning from his surroundings. For him, the whole time felt like years, with his constant focus and obsession for reaching his father and to slaying the one that brought his life to this point.

  Finally after 3 months in the mountain, he has come down.

  The timing too was something he planned, as he was exiting, a figure awaited him by a clearing.

  Garjan.

  Unlike when they met before, he was clad in his armor, wielding his signature sword in hand. There were also 2 other soldiers behind him, none Adav knew.

  Last time he was prohibited by him from taking revenge as he was deemed to be weak. But now he is standing in front of him with intent to fight.

  He has sensed him a few times in the midst of his training, at that point, he was able to extend the reach of his energy to the size of a room, but was able to sense even further faint presences of other creatures. The first time he sensed him was perhaps a month in training. At the time he thought the presence to be another animal.

  Then the presence disappeared, only to return another month later. This time with is more improved senses, he was able to recognize armor and iron, deducing it to be a person, to be Garjan. Once he disappeared again, shortly after Adav has decided that he has learned all he can from the surrounding and self training. Now what he needed was to experience clashing with people.

  Thus he waited, further improving upon his sensing in the meantime, until finally he senses that familliar presence. At that point, he faced the direction and departed to enter the next phase of his training.

  "Garjan, tell me where my fathers killer is" Adav says to Garjan. Holding a wooden sword opposed to the soldier fully clad in steel.

  "You\re mistaken. Im only here to take you back to your mother, by force if needed" Garjan replies readying his sword

  "So I need to defeat you if I want to take revenge then" Adav says, readying his wooden sword

  To this, Garjan does not say anything.

  And in that silence, the two clashed.