THE BEGINNING OF A JOURNEY

The letter had been sent to the Verdant Military Section by Leander Eros concerning his son's request and in less than three days a positive response was received.

Kairos was supposed to travel over to the Verdant's Military Training Center for his trial after seven days.

During this period of waiting, Kairos had done nothing else other than train and sharpen his skills. Although he had been trained by his father from an early age in combat and use of weapons in order to have at least a means to protect himself considering his lack of abilities to manipulate any element but as he grew older he had eventually stopped his training as he had gotten preoccupied with other things.

Luckily he was still able to handle a weapon even after few years of abstinence from training, but there wasn't any harm in sharpening these skills the more or at most even try to improve them, considering he would be taking a trial at one of the most prestigious military training center and would have to eventually outdo quite a couple of young outstanding and promising element manipulators.

In a vast field covered with nothing but grass, two figures stood few steps apart both panting as they stared at each other firmly.

"Ugh." One of the figures groaned in a low tone, his panting seemed more aggressive than his opposition, and some of his gray hair stuck to his scalp due to the sweats running down his face, armed with two daggers, his hands would occasionally shake weakly and there were sights of numerous bruises on his body, but he didn't seem to mind any of this, instead his radiating blue eyes seemed to be fixated on the man standing few steps away from him.

His opposition on the other hand who seemed older than the first, was barely panting, and didn't have much bruises either, his expression and gaze didn't seem stern but instead looked ludicrous which kind of complimented his brown curly hair and beard and in his hand was a beautifully decorated sword which he would occasionally swing playfully.

"You're getting slower Kairos…and you're meant to be the younger one." The older figure…Leander said in a mocking tone causing his opponent to stare at him more intensely."

"And you lack dignity old man, you spar with your junior who is a Vulgar and at the same time doesn't even have up to half of your experience in combat using a sword made with rare grade mana stone that adds buffs to your  physical build and abilities." Kairos immediately replied in between heavy breaths as he stared intensely at his father and opponent, his grip slowly tightening up the hilt of his daggers as he spoke.

"Bhahahaha." Leander hearing his son simply laughed out loudly and uncontrollably causing Kairos to stare at him ferociously but in a matter of split second his expression tightened up and his expression turned serious:

"That's life boy…life doesn't have any form of dignity, life doesn't care if you're a Vulgar or Manipulator, it doesn't care if you're strong or weak, life is simply unfair and unsympathetic." Leander responded in a bold overwhelming tone before suddenly launching towards his opponent with his sword stretched out.

Kairos as though expecting his attack simply moved out of the way and equally launched an attack of his own towards his opponent, swinging both his daggers dangerously towards him but Leander wasn't fazed by this and instead used his sword to deflect the strikes from the daggers, he then increased the intensity of his defensive strikes to a point they transitioned from a defensive strike to an offensive.

Kairos at this point could barely avoid the sudden attacks and instead used his two daggers to block them, but unfortunately his daggers could also barely block off most of these strikes leaving him with various bruises and cuts. He knew he couldn't keep up anymore with the continuous strikes, so he pushed himself a few distance away from his opponent.

Kairos barely standing on his feet, his gaze had gotten hazier and his breathing felt rapid and strained, his hands could barely move too, and his grip on his daggers felt very loose but what made him the more troubled and weary was his opponent's unaltered state despite their long straining duel. Kairos at this point knew if he wanted a chance to win this duel he would need some sort of sly and untraceable plan as physical strength or skills wasn't an option anymore.

"...But what crafty plan could he execute on a veteran fighter like his father that would go unnoticeable by the old man." Kairos pondered seriously but his opponent's didn't give him much time for thoughts as he launched towards the fazed out Kairos catching him off guard, but Kairos had somehow managed to escape this assault by just a hair breadth, as he pushed himself further away causing himself to crash uncontrollably to the ground due to his sudden loss in balance.

In no less time, his opponent had towered over him, with his slightly gleaming blade pointed directly at him. It was at this moment Kairos realized something, something he had earlier overlooked and never saw as a means to win, something he would use to turn the tides of this spar.

"This is it boy…there's no other way out for you, you've lost." Leander announced in a proud tone with his blade still pointed at the chest of his opponent.

"The only time I will admit defeat is when I drop down unconscious old man…which last I checked I'm still conscious." Kairos to the surprise of his father and opponent replied in an equally proud and unwavering tone.

Before Leander could get a chance to give a reply, Kairos somehow managed to flip himself backward which he used to stand back on his feet, he had at first staggered but had eventually found his balance and without wasting any much time launched towards his opponent, as he swung one of his daggers towards him dangerously. 

Leander at first was confused by his son's new manner of attacking approach, considering how he had barely been able to fare well with both his daggers before and now he was only using one of his daggers for his new set of attacks…he had tried to understand what his opponent tried doing but all he could see was the aggression he kept adding to his strikes and outright concluded he probably was too worn out and his new form of attack was his last resort of action before he finally falls unconscious or concede.

Leander defense had eventually lessened as he could now easily deflect his opponent's strikes casually, a pleased grin suddenly etched Kairos face as this was what he was expecting, Kairos knew after a while his opponent would probably change his strikes from defense to attack, so he decided to act swiftly.

Kairos immediately covered the distance between him and his opponent, moving in a zigzag manner that made it impossible for Leander to make a direct attack at him, standing few steps away from Leander, he quickly thrust his dagger towards him but the latter easily blocked it off with his sword and adding some force to a swing had managed to disarm Kairos from his dagger.

While his expression had turned proud after successful disarming Kairos from his dagger, his expression suddenly turned to that of shock as he slowly looked down his body, only to notice a dagger pointed directly to his stomach, a smile suddenly etched his face as he raised both his hands up in defeat.

"I guess I might have underrated you a little too much boy." Leander said with a smile before casually staring at the setting sun and it's slanting rays that gave the sky a warm orange tinge. 

"That should be enough practice for today, we've be on it since dawn and this old man would need his rest…besides tomorrow is the start of your long journey and you wouldn't want to go over to another region under a different faction, in the presence of totally different people covered with different scars and cuts, it'll bring a bad name to this Innocent and outstanding Island and to me your loving good looking father." Leander said in comical tone before tiredly leaving the field.

Kairos stared at his father till he was out of sight before powerlessly dropping to the soft grasses of the field as he bathed in the faint rays of the setting sun, he was still panting heavily but his breathing seemed to slowly return to normal as he sat on the soft grass in silence for a while.

"To think I'll actually be able to train vigorously from dawn till dusk without dropping unconscious due to exhaustion despite my body not enjoying the physical enhancements the Mana gave its host is quite outstanding I must say." Kairos commended himself in a tone only he could hear.

While the Mana had given humans the ability to manipulate natural elements, it had also increased the physical qualities of its host, buffing up their strength and agility while also increasing their durability and resistance to things a mundane human wouldn't normally be able to resist.

Yet despite all the progress he made during the period of his seven days training, he still felt it…wasn't enough.

Well while it sounded quite outrageous, it was also very expected and rational, considering tomorrow was the beginning of his crazy long and tedious journey and the trial the Military Training Center would be giving will play a crucial part in his plan and Kairos was sure no random weakling element manipulator would be going for the trial, so he would have to somehow outdo people who were probably many times stronger and more durable than him. 

…Who knows what I'll face, who knows if I would be able to ace the trial, who knows what would happen afterwards…I guess life is truly unpredictable. But one thing I do know is there can't be room for failure…there's so much at stake after all." Kairos mumured as he pinned the dagger in his hand to the ground and used it to push himself up to his feet. 

Staggering for a while he managed to gain balance as he slowly walked to a point where he picked up a black hood lying on the ground, he then put on the hood and slowly walked away.