20 A spar before departure

Baldy nodded in satisfaction as he heard Nate's statement. It was just like what he said. A person cannot have a goal unless he sees the world in a broader view and those who have a goal without seeing the world might find their goal to be meaningless at the end of the day.

"Well said but let's get to the fun part. I won't give you any handicap since you just advanced. Show me how much you've grown after the advancement" Baldy took a wooden sword and slashed towards Nate.

Nate dodged effortlessly but dodging a single slash meant nothing. Baldy started to move faster with each step and before long Nate was already sweating drenching his shirt in the process.

*Bang Bang*

Nate fired his pistol which failed to land on Baldy but it gave him enough time to pull some distance between him and Baldy.

Nate quickly summoned his flashbang and pulled the pin and threw it towards Baldy. "Mr. Baldy here catch it." Nate threw where Baldy stood as he threw it casually without any power behind it.

Baldy saw a cylindrical object throw towards him and since Nate threw it near his foot he didn't dare catch it and drew few steps back while gazing at the object while griping his sword harder.

Unfortunately for him, the distance he drew back wasn't enough and with his eyes, on the grenade, it exploded with a piercing sound. The flashbang or stun grenade did as its new meant and activated all the photoreceptor cells in Baldy's eyes blinding him temporarily causing him to see after images.

And the sound disturbed fluids in the Baldy's ear making him stumble few steps while covering his eyes. Although the effects were temporary and Baldy was much more resilient than a normal human being the stun still affected him for a few seconds and it was all that Nate needed.

Forcing mana towards his feet Nate dashed towards Baldy and kicked his leg making him fall in the ground. With two Desert Eagle in his hand, Nate pointed them at Baldy who was slowly regaining his sight.

"I win Mr. Baldy," Nate said in a smug manner.

"Huh, WHAT?" Baldy said in a loud voice.

"I said I won Mr. Baldy," Nate said again.

"WHAT. I CAN'T HEAR. SPEAK LOUDER. OI IS THE EFFECT PERMANENT?" Baldy said as he tried to get up with a stinging pain in his ears.

"Hehe, No just take a rest, Mr. Baldy, it's temporary," Nate said with a laugh. It was his first victory against Baldy but that was only because Baldy was not aware of the grenades effects.

"WHATTTT" Baldy drew his ears towards Nate.

"I SAID ITS TEMPORARY. TAKE A REST FOR AWHILE" Nate shouted

"OH, OKAY" Baldy shouted as well. It was a natural reaction as people would shout if they had a similar encounter.

After a few minutes, Baldy fully recovered from his hearing loss. Although stun grenade was categorized as a non-lethal weapon it could still do potential damage to hearing and sight.

"What the hell was that? Your new summon" Baldy asked shaking his head.

"Yeah, its called Stun Grenade or flashbang, whichever you prefer. As for its effects, I don't need to explain since you experienced it first hand." Nate said with a smile clearly proud of his summons and how he used it.

"Flashbang huh! it's nice. Good stuff as always. I suppose there are variations as well. Have you tried to summon them." Baldy asked. He had seen many variations of pistol and shotguns and it was only logical if this flashbang had its variation as well.

"There should be. I haven't tried it but I think there should be more than one." Nate replied. He knew of frag grenade and smoke grenade and as for others, he was not aware of them. Nate spent rest of his day sparing with Baldy and this time he lost as his cards were already laid out and it was easy for Baldy to read his pattern.

Flash Bang took 4-5 seconds to explode and it was plenty of time for Baldy to move out of its lethal range. Baldy didn't inflict much damage to Nate as they had to leave tomorrow. He couldn't have Nate injured before he even fought the war.

Next day came and Nate got ready to leave the camp. Riding in the horse Nate gazed at the camp as it was the closest thing to what he called home. He had spent a full year in this place and had learned and grown so much.

"Let's go its a week journey on a horse we can't spend much time gazing at things." Baldy patted Nates shoulder and pulled the reins of his horse to run down the road. Nate followed Baldy as well as they stormed down the road.

"Mr. Baldy what about Olly and the others? Did they already leave?" Nate asked as they had been apart for half a year. Olly and others were taken to another branch for training and Nate stayed with Baldy to train in the assassination.

"Mm, they will reach the borders in few days. They left a couple of days ago." Baldy replied.

"Mr. Baldy. How did the war start? I mean is it just fight for territory and resources or there is more to it." Nate asked as they rode their horses through the bustling city market.

People were dying at the border yet there seemed to be no effects on the city and its daily lifestyle.

This had always puzzled him and questioned if there was even a war.

"I can tell it's not about territory. There are things you're not qualified to know yet. Just complete the mission and you'll know about the politics in due time." Baldy replied not interested in telling the story.

It was a silent journey as Nate would question a few things and Baldy would only give half answer that didn't answer much. Before long Nate just stopped questioning and they focused on riding their horses.

Camping at night and riding at the day Nate and Baldy left the bustling city and rode through the vast plain towards the Northen border. Unlike Earth, much of the land here was untouched and flourishing with nature.

Forest and rivers gave a peaceful vide to the ride until they reached the borders. Thick stench of blood lingered in the air along with the rotten smell of dead bodies left in the grounds.