“What?” Indra asked his son, looking surprised. “You want to learn the Weapon Force and the Energy Force?”

“Yes,” his son said, nodding in assent.

It was early in the morning, where both father and son were up to conduct their morning training. That was when Lucky decided to request his father about it.

“Dad, I want to learn the Weapon Force and the Energy Force.”

His proposal was met with confusion by his father, who had not expected his son to ask him about it.

“Why so soon?”

“It’s because I want to become stronger.”

To Lucky’s simple answer, his father had to chuckle and smile as he saw the determination in his son’s eyes.

“Alright,” said Indra, nodding in understanding. “Let’s do it.”

He walked away towards the shed and came back carrying two razor sharp blades, handing one to his son and keeping another to himself.

“I’m going to first demonstrate to you the Weapon Force for some easy understanding.”

“Okay,” said Lucky, nodding in understanding.

“For starters, you must understand that Weapon Force is basically you channelling your raw energy into your weapon, be it a solid object, or onto yourself, to enhance its durability, performance, and strength,” his father explained while his son listed intently.

“Wait. Onto myself?” Lucky asked, looking confused. “What does that mean, dad?”

“Well, it's basically channeling Weapon Force throughout your body to make you stronger, faster, and have great endurance. For example, you strengthen your arm using Weapon Force. Something like that is what I mean.”

“Oh! I get it now,” his son replied, nodding in understanding.

Indira smiled and went on explaining, “Outputting too much can destroy the blade, but outputting too less could result in your weapon being too weak to protect you. Remember: against thugs, monsters, or these kinds, your weapon is the key to your survival.”

Lucky nodded in understanding, and his father held his sword up in front of him as he went on explaining.

“Right now, this sword appears razor sharp with no magical effects on it at all. Hold up the sword I gave you, Lucky.”

“Like this?” Lucky asked, imitating his father and holding the sword up in front of him.

“That’s it. Now, hold it firmly because I’m going to hit it with my sword. Ready?”

Lucky nodded in assent, and Indra swung his sword at his son’s sword, causing a loud metallic clanging sound to occur from the collision of metal on metal. The force of the impact caused Lucky to get surprised as he was forcefully pushed to the right. He stumbled a few steps before regaining his footing and looking back at his father in astonishment.

“When two normal swords clash, this is the result,” he explained to his son. “The force of the swing depends on the wielder, and you can bet the stronger force always trumps over the weaker. Now, let’s try this again, but with Weapon Force. Watch closely, Lucky, because my sword will start glowing as soon as it’s charged with my energy.”

For a moment, nothing happened before Lucky saw that his father’s sword began glowing in a bright yellow colour. It surprised the kid from having witnessed something unexpected despite being forewarned by Indra.

“As you can see, my sword’s now energised with Weapon Force, meaning it’s superior to the sword in your hand.”

“I’ll say,” commented Lucky, smiling wryly at the glowing sword. “It’s glowing and this one isn’t.”

“Oh really? Is that all the difference you see between them?” Indra asked curiously. When his soon looked doubtful, he chuckled and said, “It’s fine. Anyway, let’s try this again. Lucky, get back into the position you were in and hold up the sword. Keep it firm, alright?”

“Okay,” replied Lucky, moving into his previous position and holding his sword up with as much firmness as he could muster.

Indra took on a swinging position and paused for a second before swinging his sword at Lucky’s sword. The difference between the two blades became evident when the glowing sword cut through the non-glowing sword like a knife cutting through butter.

“What?!” Lucky exclaimed.

He was shocked by the result that presented itself when the top portion of his sword got cut off smoothly without facing any resistance against the foreign blade.

“Looks like mine trumps yours,” his father remarked.

“Dad!” Lucky said, looking both shocked and amazed. “How did that happen?”

“I explained to you just now,” his father stated, swinging his sword expertly and holding it up for his son to see. “When your weapon of choice is imbued with Weapon Force, it increases the weapon’s durability, strength and performance, easily able to cut through regular swords and seems like an indestructible object.”

“Oh wow” said Lucky, looking amazed. Then he got a question and asked, “What if two swords with Weapon Force in them clash? What would happen then, dad?”

“That would depend on the force behind the user’s swing, strength, and resolve to carry it through,” his father explained. “You’re basically going to cut down anything that’s in front of you, so you need the resolve to cut down whatever it is that’s in front of you, otherwise, your sword will become weak and fail its task.”

“That doesn’t answer my question, dad,” replied Lucky, looking quizzically at him.

Indra laughed and said, “What can I say? Your question requires an analysis based on what ifs for me to explain it to you properly.”

He thought for a moment in silence before getting an idea and explained it to his son.

“Imagine that you and I are fighting with our swords imbued with Weapon Force. Now, at the point of our clash, a power struggle will occur between our swords, and if my force is greater than yours, then you’ll get pushed back, and vice versa. So, it completely depends on the strength of the force behind your weapon when you use it on your opponent.”

“I see,” said Lucky, nodding in understanding. “Basically, I just need to have a stronger Weapon Force and carry it through without any hesitation.”

Indra nodded in agreement.

“Yes. Be it monsters or, in the worst-case scenario, people; carry out what you must and cut them down without hesitation.”

Lucky became surprised at that advice and asked, “I understand about killing monsters, but… killing people? Is that really necessary, dad?”

“Lucky, as you grow older and mature, you’ll find out that you’ll be faced with a lot of difficult choices in life. To kill or not to kill. To save or not to save. It’s a split-second decision that could lead to good or bad outcomes. But the choice is in your hands, therefore choose wisely.”

“What would your advice be, dad?” Lucky asked, looking puzzled.

“My advice?” Indra wondered aloud, and he glanced up at the sky to think. Then he looked back at him and said, “Personally, I wouldn’t give you any advice, Lucky. I’m the wrong person you should take such advice from. Even now, when I look back at some of what I’ve done, I’m riddled with doubts whether I did the right thing or not. That’s why, I cannot give you a proper advice.”

He looked at his father, who looked to be sad as the actions of his past seemly caused him some kind of pain.

Just then, he heard the Decisive Player telling him, “Move on, Lucky. It’s clear your dad’s harbouring some kind of negativity that had happened in the past that he just doesn’t want to talk to anyone about.”

Lucky nodded in agreement and asked, “Okay. Can I try it out, dad?”

“What?” Indra asked, sounding distracted.

“I said can I try it out? The Weapon Force into this?”

He asked the question and raised the sword missing its top portion.

“Uh. Yeah. Sure,” his father said, reacting distractedly before smiling. “Before that, do you even know how to feel the energy?”

“How to feel it?” Lucky asked, tilting his head and looking puzzled. “Don’t I just need to focus on the sword and have it channel my energy over?”

His words made Indra laugh and say, “If it were that easy, there’d be many Weapon Force users around, Lucky.”

He shook his head and decided the first step he must do to teach his son was helping him feel his energy.

“Close your eye, remain calm, and look into yourself,” his father said in a calm voice. As his son did as he was told, he went on saying, “You should feel something, a tingling sensation, something that you could reach out to and touch but you can’t.”

Lucky remained quiet and listened to his father’s words while focusing on himself like he was told. He tired to remain as quiet as he could, and he could hear his own heartbeat beating rhythmically against his chest. As he continued to focus more and more, he no longer heard his heartbeat and felt a total silence and emptiness.

At that moment, his fingers twitched, and he knitted his eyebrows as he felt something. No, it was more like he sensed something was flowing around. It was not the Decisive Player playing around with him, it was something familiar to him, like it belonged to him, like it had been waiting for him reach out to it.

“Do you sense anything?”

He heard his father’s voice coming from a distance and replied quietly, “Yes. I sense… something.”

In conformation, he heard the Decisive Player say in his mind, “Good job sensing your energy on your first try.”

Lucky smiled and opened his eyes after having succeeding in feeling his energy. Seeing his reaction, Indra could not help but smile proudly at the success his son had in such a short amount of time.

“Okay. Since it appears you’ve sensed your energy, now channel it into that sword,” he said, indicating the one Lucky was holding onto.

Lucky nodded and held the sword in front of him before closing his eyes once more. Again, he focused his mind and went on an errand in search for the sensation he had earlier. It took him seconds to find it and opened his eyes before channelling his energy into the sword. Soon, his sword began to glow in yellow colour just like it did with his father’s sword while being fuelled by the Weapon Force.

“Alright!” Lucky said, feeling triumph at succeeding on his first try in channelling Weapon Force into his sword.

“Well done, Lucky!” Indra said, pleased to see his son succeed while wearing a grin on his face. “Want to try and see how strong that sword is now?”

“Yeah!”

Both Lucky and Indra were ready to test out their blades, which were imbued with Weapon Force from their respective sides. The two warriors took fighting stances, with Lucky mimicking his father’s stance as he never had practice in a sword fight. Even so, he was determined to push his father’s sword back and win on his first try since he succeeded twice in a row in that morning training.

“Let’s go!” Indra shouted, and swung his sword at his son’s sword.

Lucky did the same, pulling back a little and swinging it with as much force as he could muster against his father’s sword.

There was a sudden clanging sound when the two swords came crashing against each other. Lucky was giving it all as he fought to push his father’s sword away and win, which impressed Indra greatly. Still, being the adult with more strength and experience, Indra easily overpowered his sword and completed his swing, causing Lucky to stagger backwards in shock while losing his grip on the sword that flew high into the air and fell flat on the grass a few meters away.

“Looks like I’m stronger,” said Indra with a grinning face.

Lucky sighed and shrugged as he walked over to pick up his fallen sword and returned to his father. Then he looked at him with determination and spoke in a voice full of confidence.

“For now, dad, but the day will come when I will beat you!”

“Oh! Now that’s the kind of spirit I expect from my son!” Indra said, and the two of them laughed cheerfully.