"Mum, I'm back. I met someone in the woods." S said
The front door opened and the little girl was surprised to see her dad in front of the door instead of her mum being there like she normally was.
"Nice to see you too, Sparky." Arkhon replied sarcastically
She closed the door then they went to the living room to sit on the sofa.
A few seconds later, S decided to speak.
"So, where's mum?" S asked
"Ah, you mean weakling? I snapped her neck earlier. She's dead." Arkhon replied with a smile
S started to laugh as she couldn't believe him.
She knew he had to be lying!
Arkhon just had a weird sense of humour.
"Stop lying! She's not a weakling human you know! She can't die like that! Now where is she?" S asked
Arkhon laughed in response
"Ok fine, you've got me. Weakling is upstairs reading a book."
"Dad. I'm bored. Can we play in the woods like we used to? My night vision got better. It really has!"
"Excellent! I want you to grow up to become a strong demon one day. A strong, smart and beautiful demon."
"Strong? Like Jonny? And more beautiful than you? But I've never known anyone more beautiful than you!" S replied
"Did you just say J-Jonny? Do you know him? Where did you last meet him?" Arkhon asked nervously
'So my senses weren't playing tricks on me. She'd seen my precious Jonny recently.' Arkhon thought
"In the woods. I thought he was gonna suicide himself but I gave him some cookies. He must have left. C-Can we go there? Tell mum that we'll be back." S responded
"Ok, Sparky."
"Dad."
"What is it?"
"Just call me S."
"S? What's wrong with the name we gave you?" Arkhon asked
"It's the name of a special bird in Wingland. You named me after the Demon King's favorite bird!" She replied
"But it's such a cute name!" Arkhon responded with stars in his eyes again
"It's not!" S shouted back
***
Arkhon went upstairs to see 'Weakling'.
Her real name is Holly but Arkhon prefers to address her as 'Weakling'.
He noticed her reading a book he was familiar with.
"Price The Adventurer. What an interesting book you're reading! I'm in it, you know." Arkhon told her
"I know that! I didn't like what you did to Price in the book and in real life." Holly replied
Arkhon could feel his aura get more intense and he sat closer to her, putting an arm around her shoulder.
"Tell me Weakling. Do you think that Price is more beautiful than me?" Arkhon asked
She shivered but glared back at him.
"Of course he is! He's far more beautiful than you! And he's manly unlike you." She retorted
"Ah, yes. Focus on my flaws and attack me for them why don't you?" He replied sarcastically
"Your aura disgusts me. I hate you. I cannot stand you for one more-" She said
Arkhon silenced her by putting his hand around her mouth.
"Shh. Don't excite me like this, weakling. Sparky is waiting for me so I cannot take you."
"T-Take me? H-How dare you? Who do you think I am?" She responded
"Oh. I'm sorry. I was only trying to be polite. For a brief moment, I wanted to screw you until my thoughts became nothing and until there was nothing left. Until I couldn't possibly do it anymore. Desire itself getting devoured by my wings, its feathers no longer waking up from their rest. Until we are left feeling more than mere content. Until we've ventured beyond mere satisfaction."
"You have so many issues, Arkhon."
"I know. Anyway, I have more important things to do so I'll be tending to you another time. I'll train Sparky for a bit in the forest. We'll come back." Arkhon replied, grinning
***
"To ordinary humans, it's completely dark out here in the woods. However, I can see everything clearly because I'm a level 4 demon. You're just a child even though you're a demon too so your night vision hasn't completely developed yet. Can you see that tree I'm pointing to? I want you to climb all the way up to the top ok? You can only hop, jump and swing from branch to branch. No crawling. No taking shortcuts. I'll do the same on that bigger tree. Watch me." Arkhon said
S nodded then saw Arkhon climbing the tree effortlessly, his movements fluid like a beautiful dance. His orange eyes looked like they had stars in them after seeing his daughter trying to copy the way he climbed the tree. She found it quite difficult as her night vision wasn't that good.
She decided to be brave and take a large leap off the branch.
Suddenly, there was nothing and she found herself falling!
"Sparky! Don't worry. Don't push yourself that much if you can't see properly!" Arkhon said, after catching her before she could crash to the ground
"Ok. Thanks dad."
"Now, let's take a short break. I have a bag of marshmallows that won't be eating themselves you know. Let's eat! Next, you'll practice how to balance on top of that tree with some exercises I've observed from monkeys." Arkhon said
"Yummy! Let's eat!" S replied
They were sharing the bag of marshmallows in silence until S decided to ask her dad some questions.
"Dad. I know you remember my name and I'm very happy about that. But do you remember how old I am? Or when my birthday is? Or my favorite color?" S asked
Arkhon paused and took time to answer her questions.
"Honestly, I don't remember how old you are or when your birthday is but I do care about you. I'm not good at remembering those things you see."
"Someone told me that you wanted to leave me in the woods after I was born. Is that true, dad?"
Arkhon crouched down to the ground to give her a hug then lifted her up, holding her close.
"Sparky. The truth is, I felt that way before but now that I've gotten to know you, I'm glad I didn't leave you in the woods. I was in a really bad place and stressed out. So, when you grow up and have a baby, don't leave it in the woods." Arkhon tried to grin to lighten up the mood
"So was it good that I was born?" S asked, smiling with tears in her eyes
"Of course! Now. When you met Jonny in the woods, what did he say to you? D-Did he mention me at all? M-Maybe not." Arkhon replied
"Well, I was kind of confused b-but I think he called you an 'unmanly bastard'."
"An unmanly b-bastard? I can't believe he thinks I'm not manly. He used to look up to me so much as a kid!" Arkhon said back sadly, slumped down on the ground
"And he thinks that you love the weak who struggle. Also, he agreed to make me his bride-"
"He what?! You're definitely confused. I'll probably check up on him again myself. The thing is, I made a mistake and took things too far. I hurt him but I hope that one day we can go back to being close friends. Even closer than we used to be when he was just a high school student wanting to become an Artist."
***
*Jak is training for the tournament*
Jak was at Jonny's favourite location which was in a forest in the middle of nowhere.
It took them 2 hours to get there.
***
"Owch dad! Something keeps hitting my head from time to time." Jak said
"It's nothing. Now keep attacking me. You can only stop until you're too tired to land an accurate strike. After that you'll do some healthy manual labour, lift some rocks and climb some trees. The faster you climb up, the better. If you fall off again, you won't have any dinner." He replied
Jak kept going and wondered why his attacks had very little effect on his father.
"Stop! That was only 5 minutes of continuous strikes. You seem to be unusually tired today. What's wrong?" Jonny said
"Every time I punch you or kick you, my energy seems to be draining from me slowly. I can't explain it. Sometimes my legs take a step back before hitting you. It's weird." He replied
"Ok. That's probably my aura having some kind of effect on you. It might feel too intense to someone like you. Anyway, what you need to learn is how to sense my energy. And you have to get used to that intense energy of mine." Jonny told him
In the same way that some animals can make themselves look tougher when protecting themselves or when fighting, a skilled warrior can make their aura (energy) more intense and even let their Bloodlust influence their aura further. The other person sensing it will feel more fear. He might start shivering, his attacks might get absorbed, he might even faint if he faces him for too long. Or he might run away.
"Get used to my aura, Jak." Jonny told him again
"Why though? What's the point?" Jak asked
Being able to sense the aura (or 'energies') of someone can save you a lot of trouble. You could identify people and be able to tell what their level of malice is. If you can sense strong Bloodlust from someone, it probably means that they have a high level of malice or could be that they've killed many people before. There are two types of Bloodlust: type A and type B. Type A is more pure and innocent because stems from the desire to survive and protect rather than from the desire to 'conquer' or destroy. In battle, it's crucial to have the ability to sense the aura and Bloodlust of your enemies well without getting overwhelmed so you can decide whether to fight right now or live to fight another day." Jonny said
"Ok dad. I-I think I understand. So I'm type A. So, how will I be able to sense your aura without seeing you first?" Jak asked
"As you're only human, it can be extremely difficult to heighten your senses to be able to sense people's energies accurately but I've come up with a simple game. It will take a lot of effort to win. Are you up for it?" Jonny replied
"What game are we playing?" Jak asked
"Hide and seek." He replied
***
Jak was training for a while so Jonny let him play in the forest.
Also, Jak was exhausted from that Hide and Seek game!
Jonny decided to do some training of his own and even decided to bring his sketchbook so he could draw some of the beautiful scenery around him. He hadn't drawn for a while now so he wondered whether his drawing skills were as good as before.
'Phew. It hasn't gotten worse.' He thought
Meanwhile, Jak was climbing a tree to take a closer look at the baby birds in the giant bird nest.
"Wow, there are two baby birds! I really wanna hold one!" Jak said
The birds looked back at the giant human face closing in on them, brown eyes that sparkled with curiosity. To the birds, the human looked dangerous but innocent at the same time. For, if it were an adult human that close to them, those birds would've cried out for help long ago!
"I'll put you back in your house, I promise!" Jak said to the birds
Jak stuck his pinky finger out because he wanted to make a pinky promise to the birds.
The birds cried out because they were frightened.
Or maybe they were hungry.
W: They were either frightened or hungry. It's hard enough to figure out why human babies cry let alone baby birds. I'm not saying that baby birds cry like humans what with tears running down their face and all, come on! That's ridiculous. Figure it out yourself. Figure out what I meant or don't if you believe that there's no importance or value that comes from figuring out what I meant.
D: Just be quiet and let the story continue without interruption, W.
And so, the birds cried out for help and soon, a fully grown adult bird swooped in and attacked Jak Price, pecking him and beating him with its wings until Jak was overwhelmed and desperately tried to hold on.
"I'm sorry ok! I wasn't hurting them. I wasn't!" Jak shouted out
Jak couldn't take it anymore.
His eyes turned red. Not the whole eyes. Just the iris of his eye.
So, his eye colour was brown then it turned red.
He used whatever power he had left in his limbs to swing himself forwards onto another branch and then another. He ran away and finally got to safety.
His eyes went back to normal then he collapsed from exhaustion.
But, he was only out for a few minutes.
Soon, Jak spotted something shiny poking out of a bunch of leaves.
He wanted to take a closer look.
It was a sword and there were letters on it.
"P O W E R. H.S" Jak read the sword out loud
"These letters spell out the word 'power' but what is H.S?" Jak said to himself
Jak tried to pull the sword out from the leaves but was struggling.
It was so heavy!
The heaviest sword he'd ever carried!
"Well hello there. Do you want power? Be careful Jak. You're bleeding. Haven't you noticed?"
"What?!" Jak replied, shocked that he didn't notice his bleeding hands
The sword must've cut him somehow!
"Jak. Let go of power. Power is feeding on your blood too-"
"Shut up! Who are you?" Jak shouted then he threw the sword that he was clinging onto earlier.
The sky wasn't red anymore.
Jak was seeing everything perfectly now.
That's when he noticed the man in front of him.
The man had straight silver hair that was currently in a small ponytail, his blue eyes were fixed on him and he had a friendly looking grin on his face. The man didn't seem annoyed or upset at all! But he had the kind of energy where he wouldn't hesitate to kill you in your sleep if you got on his bad side! His Bloodlust was more subtle than Arkhon's who preferred to use it as a weapon of intimidation to his targets.
"139." he spoke
"What? Wait. Are you Hawkstorm? You're that weirdo swordsman who got kicked around and stabbed in the toilets room."
"And I'm the outlaw with a 100,000 klubs bounty! Come on, kid. You're making me seem lame!"
"I-I feel dizzy." Jak replied
"Oh, your hand is still bleeding. You might slowly bleed to death. This is why you don't just steal people's swords. That's my training sword. He's called Power. Look, I'll heal your hands for you if you tell me where Arkhon or your dad might be."
"Ok. I-I'll tell you. My dad's somewhere in this forest. I think way back over there. I don't know where Arkhon is."
Hawkstorm held Jak's hands gently then tried to heal them but it wasn't working.
He decided to cut a small slice in his hand to draw out his blue blood then let his blood drip onto Jak's hands.
Soon, Jak's hands started healing but they were healing quite slowly.
He fell into Hawkstorms' arms and Hawkstorm held him closer as if he was a baby.
He made the boy rest on his lap as he searched through his bag for something that could help.
It was called vitamin water and was inspired by Fordos III's energy potion.
Fordos' energy potion couldn't be completely replicated by Lakedaemon's best scientists but this vitamin water was the closest thing to an energy potion and had less side effects also.
He shook the boy awake and told him to drink the potion.
Hawkstorm was being persistent so Jak decided to drink it.
"It's disgusting! What kind of drink is this?!" Jak shouted out
Jak tried to wipe the taste on his tongue away with his own hands. When that didn't work, he grabbed one of Hawkstorm's hands using both of his hands and tried to do the same thing to get rid of the taste.
"Come on, Jak. It doesn't taste that bad!" Hawkstorm laughed as Jak kept trying to headbutt him in the chest
"And look at how much energy it's given you!" He added
"It tastes like paracetamol and orange juice and jam all mixed together!" Jak shouted
"So Jak. Are you still training for the tournament? Do you wanna have some fun?" Hawkstorm asked.
Jak tried to slowly slide himself off his lap but Hawkstorm pulled him in even closer with a hug from behind. Jak felt a little uncomfortable but didn't say anything.
"There's this really cool party that'll happen in a nearby town. We could eat, drink, party. We could meet some hot girls-"
"What? Girls? That doesn't sound fun at all, Hawkstorm!" Jak replied
"We'll have fun too! It's a party! Come on. What, do you have a girlfriend? Does she stop you from having fun?" Hawkstorm asked
"I don't have a girlfriend. I'm eight years old. I don't want anyone! Why the hell would I want to meet some gross and annoying girls?" Jak replied
Hawkstorm felt like laughing at the boy's reply but held it in.
"Ha, who cares about age anyways? I had a girlfriend when I was a baby. It was my neighbours' baby. Every time I saw her, I was happy and I'd never cry! That obviously means I liked her a lot if she could make me happy. I'd only let cute chicks pick me up. If they were a man or they were fat and unattractive, I'd start crying so loudly they'd have to put me back down! It's not weird." Hawkstorm explained
"Err, ok." Jak responded, chuckling nervously
'He's such a weirdo!' Jak thought to himself
***
"There you are son! Ready to do some more training? Or maybe we can play your favourite game?"
"Dad, my muscles are aching and I'm really tired. Maybe, we can go somewhere nice to relax." Jak replied
"Well, there's a nice place to stay and it has relaxing public baths and other nice things." Jonny said
"Ooh, I know that one. It's the one nearby!" Hawkstorm said
D: I see you can't even be bothered to give this place a name.
W: SHUT UP!!
"I wanna go! I wanna go!" Jak said
"Alright then. But don't get too comfortable. A warrior makes sure to never get too comfortable." Jonny replied
"But Arkhon likes being comfortable-" Hawkstorm argued
"Shut up, Hawkstorm." Jonny replied, making Hawkstorm laugh out loud.
Jak and Jonny left to go to that place -
D: Ha, that same place you can't be bothered to name-
W: Just let it go!