'' Where did Sakura go ? I can't see her. ''
Amidst the crowd, Seiya lost her. He went to go check out the leftmost side of the village where the food vendors were located which only made a painful reminder of hunger arise in the form of a growl.
He had not eaten for the last two or so hours and he knew he needed to get some food before it gets any worse.
'' Do I have any money? Oh right, I packed some coins. ''
He had funds packed into his bag when he left the palace, he had this allowance given to him by his elder sister for years now. He was so glad he had this cash as he planned on stuffing his face but he knew he'd feel guilty if he didn't also treat Sakura.
It brought him back to thinking about where she might be, should he go and ask someone if they've seen her? He didn't want to hold the thought out much longer so he had asked the nearest lady carrying a bucket of water about her.
'' Hey have you seen my friend? She has pink and green hair. She's around my height and she has a white and pink robe on. ''
There was nothing else he could say to describe her appearance aside from that and when he hoped for an answer that could help him, he merely got a shake of the head as the lady walked away.
How unfortunate.
He wanted to scream her name but he knew it would've been rude to do that in a crowd of people.
'' Hey kid, you need some help finding someone? ''
A man's voice reached Seiya's ears which forced the young prince to look in the direction of the man in the straw hat who was near several trees. He walked towards the male after taking a second to scan his features, he had bandages on his hands and he couldn't properly see the man's ears.
'' Yes, do you know where my friend is? She has p-''
'' Pink and green hair, yeah I know where she is. She wandered into these trees trying to find someone. ''
The elder male interjected with a fast reply which left Seiya to walk past the man who had then smirked as Seiya had taken the bait.
There was no signs of life in the direction Seiya was headed in and he prepared to turn around but the sudden explosion that went off on him forced his body to be sent flying further into the forest.
The young boy was sent flying through trees and crashed into a giant boulder, his clothing was crispy and burning.
'' What the heck just happened?''
Seiya spoke as his weary eyes tried to focus, seeing nothing but smoke as his sight was a bit messy. The person responsible was walking towards him, his hands glowing with a orange hue.
'' You survived, I expected it wasn't going to be so simple considering you have royal blood flowing through your veins.''
The male held both hands in front of him as he prepared to charge another explosion to obliterate the boy but Seiya couldn't simply lay there. He pulled himself out of the rubble and held out his hand towards the Bomber right as the second explosion went off and in that moment, the Bomber's explosion turned blue and crystallized as Seiya's desperation had overwhelmed the Bomber and forced him to back up and away from his own explosive attack before he was caught and frozen.
'' You are just a child , how did you..''
The man spoke out of curiosity as he tried once more , setting off smaller explosions in the form of bullets that had a delayed explosion to harm the boy but he couldn't see Seiya due to the giant ice formation in the shape of the explosion covering his line of sight.
Seiya had not spoken as he tried to punch the Bomber, only to be met with a certain '' reality '' .
Seiya's fist was greatly injured upon trying to punch the man but he wasn't sure why. He would find out the reason for it immediately as the male spoke, giving the answer as to what just happened as he could see the confusion on Seiya's fast as he was holding his left hand that he used to punch with.
'' This is the Iron Skin Technique, those who have cultivated and have reached the base rank of sprout wields this skill. You can't possibly hope to harm me so just die here as the runt you are. ''
The man held out his hand ready to explode Seiya once more but the young boy felt a burning sensation within his chest once more, just like the dream that he had earlier that day.
'' It is forming, wield it.''
Seiya's body felt a surge of power through his body as he held out his hand again as the explosion was beginning to go off, this time he had created a laser of condensed ice from his hand instead of freezing the explosion.
The beam of condensed ice tore through the explosion and sent the hat atop the man's head flying. The male's face was revealed, he had scars all over which had been apparently burn marks caused by his own power.
'' You've gotten too cocky kid, thinking you can stand on the same ground as me.''
The man sent an explosion from beneath himself to send his body flying skyward before creating another explosion above him so he could be propelled down towards Seiya who felt the voice speak to him.
'' Finish it.. ''
Seiya had held his hand up to the sky as he prepared to attempt firing off another beam of ice but the thought of killing someone had caused him to hesitate and he couldn't go through with it despite the man coming at him.
He could only look up at the man coming towards him as he was left defenseless but the rapid growth of floral vines and trees had mitigated the assault planned by the bomber.
'' What are you doing just standing there ? Let's go ! ''
Sakura appeared on Seiya's left , running towards him and grabbing his hand as they were now running away from where the Bomber had been. They needed to get back to town so that they could escape and despite Seiya looking back at the place where he had just been , he had just noticed his bag that held his stuff was for the most part destroyed or left scattered on the floor due to the Bomber's initial attack.
Most importantly, his money was left on the ground and now he had no for-sure way to eat.
'' Don't worry, I got someone to help us! ''
The female yelled at Seiya as they finally reached the village once more.
'' Its a good thing I got to you in time, we aren't ready to go head to head with people who wish us ill will. A Sensei will do us some good, let's go meet him! ''
Sakura held Seiya's hand tightly as she lead him to the outskirts of the city where several people dressed in combat training gear were taking lessons by an Elderly Man with short grey hair and a long moustache was finishing up a lesson.
'' This is the School of the Free Flowing Palm. ''
The girl told Seiya who looked like he was somewhere between being awake and half asleep. His body was still filled with adrenaline but his consciousness felt like turning in for the day, not to mention he was still hungry.
Without being able to comment, Seiya passed out from the injury he sustained earlier as well as the exertion of power he had wielded a few moments ago.
Meanwhile, back where the Bomber had been. . .
The man knelt down to pick up the imperial coins that Seiya had lost, rubbing them with his fingers as he smirked.
'' You almost made me scared with your power but I was right. You are of noble descent, I will get you for sure next time. ''