“Okay, Energy Charge!” Indra said.

“I’m on it!” Lakshman replied.

Lakshman nodded at his father and became still. He closed his eyes and remained silent. Instantly, he felt the flow of his energy. Originally, it was difficult for him to feel it. But now, it has become much easier to tap into his energy.

As he felt the flow of energy, he took a deep breath. Then he slowly breathed out and opened his eyes. Instantly, the wind around him started to blow faster. Energy started to circle around him and he felt the flow of energy releasing from him.

“Good, good,” Indra said, nodding at him.

Lakshman smiled, but he continued concentrating on his energy. He remembered the events from yesterday, where his energy exploded from releasing too much too quickly. Remembering the event, he had decided to take it easy today.

“Keep it up!”

Turning around, he saw Sumara speaking to him loudly from her position.

“Relax and flow with the force.”

“Yes!” he replied in a loud voice.

This was it. He knew this feeling. It was the feeling he was supposed to feel. Unfortunately in his excitement, he got carried away last time. This time, he felt normal and wondered if it had something to do with his father’s encouraging words.

“Master’s energy is flowing well,” Ondine commented as she and Sumara watched.

“It is,” Sumara agreed with a nod of her head.

A few seconds ago, she was worried. From Lakshman’s constant energy explosions, she began to unconsciously react by using powerful magic to stop it. However, seeing no such reaction like before, it surprised it.

“Maybe it had something to do with what Indra said?” she muttered to herself.

“Hmm?”

Ondine turned and looked puzzled.

“You say something?” she asked.

“No, it’s nothing,” Sumara replied. “I’m just impressed by how easily he is controlling his energy at his age.”

“Of-course, master is a genius!” Ondine said proudly.

Sumara simply shook her head and said “I wouldn’t call him a ‘genius’, but he does indeed possess capabilities superior to most twelve-year old kids.”

Just then, a final whoosh of wind went past them. This made them realise that Lakshman finished Energy Charging. They stopped talking and watched them as the battle began.

“Don’t hold back, Lucky!” Indra said as he took stance with his sword in hand. “Cause’ I certainly won’t be holding back against you!”

“I won’t, dad!” Lakshman said and he smiled as he pulled out his weapon and took stance, facing his father.

For a few seconds, there was silence except for the wind which blowed smoothly. Indra and Lakshman eyed each other seriously. They made small movements with their foot. It looked like they were checking each other for a possible opening.

“UUOOOOOHHHH!”

The first to launch the attack was Lakshman. He charged at Indra and took a swing at him. He was surprised to find that he swung at nothing. Then he looked up and saw Indra soaring over him.

Indra landed on his feet and quickly brought his sword to hit Lakshman in the back. Reacting in an instant, Lakshman quickly brought his sword over his shoulder and blocked his sword. Then he deflected it, before turning around while swinging his sword at the same time.

Once again, he swung at empty air. This time, he saw Indra jump away and land a few meters from him. He quickly went after Indra, but he suddenly came to a stop. He suddenly remembered an advice his father gave him during one of their training sessions.

“Do not blindly charge at your enemy if there is an opening! It will most likely be a trap!”

Remembering those words and their intended meaning, he looked at his father. He suddenly realised, Indra had quite a few openings. This was unusual of Indra and, realising this, Lakshman knew his father’s intentions.

“Nice try dad, but I’m not falling for it,” he said as he straightened up.

“Tch!” Indra said with his tongue. “Well, look at you! You’ve grown, haven’t you?”

“Yes dad, I’m becoming strong thanks to your training,” Lakshman said and smiled.

Indra started laughing. Once he stopped, he said “Good, but it doesn’t help me now! It looks like I will have you fight you in a direct confrontation!”

Then they became serious and locked gazes with one another. They remained in their fixed position for another few seconds, fiercely staring at each other. Suddenly, it was Indra who made the first move.

Indra suddenly charged at Lakshman so fast, he had enough time just to receive his sword with his. The force of impact by the two swords made a loud noise. Then, even more than the sound, was the force from Indra’s attack.

“Wow!” Lakshman exclaimed as he felt the ground crack beneath him.

They struggled to push against each other. Lakshman looked at his father and was startled to see his expression. Indra was serious and was pushing hard against him. At that moment, Lakshman realised this fight was about to take a leap!

“AAAAAAAH!”

Indra shouted and he pushed Lakshman away with his sword by a powerful force. Lakshman came to a stop a few meters away. He lowered his sword slightly and saw Indra charging at him once more. This time, he was ready, but he was suddenly surprised by his father’s next move.

One moment, Indra was in front of him. Then the next, he vanished. Lakshman started looking all over for him. Suddenly, he felt a presence from behind. He realised, with his sharp instincts, it was his father about to strike. Knowing it would be too late to block the attack he leaned forward and used his legs to kick himself to turn around.

It turned out to be a good choice. At that very moment, a sword sailed over his head. It was apparent that Indra was attempting to knock him out. However, it was not going to happen while Lakshman was on guard!

“You won’t defeat me that easily!” Lakshman shouted as he quickly prepared himself.

Indra looked at him in amusement.

“Excellent! You’ve learn to anticipate my moves, but what good does it do to you when you can’t touch me!”

As he finished speaking, Indra lunged at Lakshman, who easily blocked the sword. Then he deflected the sword and swung his own sword for a strike. He missed as Indra disappeared. In an instant reaction, Lakshman swung around and blocked Indra’s sword.

Like this, they continued to swing at each other with increasing speed. It eventually became a speed battle of swords between them. Each blow they delivered at each other was easily blocked by the other. Each having no advantage, but it soon became a test of reaction speed and timing.

“Whoa!” Ondine exclaimed in awe as she watched the battle rage. “This is... intense!”

“Yes... it is,” Sumara agreed. “Far more intense than any battle I have ever come to witness.”

“I see... hmm?” Ondine said before realising something. “Wait, are you saying my battle with Indra wasn’t intense?”

“Well...” Sumara hesitated before saying “It was an interesting match, but as you can see at how intense this is.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just take a look at them,” Sumara said, indicating at Indra and Lakshman furiously swinging at each other. “In your battle with Indra, it was not this fast. The level of power output was slightly less. The reaction speeds were slower and speed was slightly less. In fact, I believe Indra is taking Lakshman far more seriously than he did you.”

“Eh!?” Ondine exclaimed in shock. “Are you saying, he went easy on me?!”

“That isn’t what I said,” Sumara said patiently. “What I mean is... you can tell the difference between your skills and his skills can’t you?”

“Now that you point it out...” Ondine said and hesitated.

Ondine did indeed notice the difference in their skill. Lakshman was faster, stronger and possessed more power than her. She realised it would take her far longer to reach his level and, by then, he would have reached an unprecedented level of power.

She suddenly looked upset as she looked down. Truth be told, she wanted to stand on equal footing with her master no matter the racial difference. Over the weeks of spending her time with him, she came to respect him greatly. Although, she also became very annoyed at how dense and stupid he is.

“You don’t need to feel so bad,” Sumara said consolingly as if she understood clearly the depressed mood Ondine had about her. “You will be strong in your own right.”

“Eh?” Ondine said, turning to look at Sumara.

“Everyone in this world is different to each other. They do things differently, they behave differently and they certainly think differently. However, that’s what makes them unique. You cannot take that away; otherwise, you will defeat the purpose of trying to be what you can be.”

Sumara said while Ondine listened. Ondine could not believe what she was hearing. She looked at Sumara in amazement and Sumara looked at her with a puzzled expression.

“What?” she asked. “Is something on my face?”

“Eh? Oh! No, there isn’t,” Ondine said, returning to reality. “It’s just that... those were some mature words you just said, Sumara.”

Sumara stared at Ondine with her usual half-open eyes and a cold expression on her face. She simply stared at her for a few seconds in silence. Finally, she sighed before replying.

“I may look like a kid, but I am an adult.”

“Ah! Sorry... I keep forgetting...” Ondine said apologetically and Sumara shook her head.

They returned to watching the battle which has taken a stalemate between them. Indra and Lakshman were breathing quickly as they stood staring at each other fiercely.

“Very good, Lucky!” Indra exclaimed brightly. “You really have become strong!”

“It’s thanks to your regular training,” Lakshman replied shortly.

Indra laughed and said “Perhaps, but it was your determination that produced such outstanding results.”

“Maybe... but at this rate, I can’t beat you!” Lakshman said, sounding exhausted.

“You can if you try harder,” Indra said and he wore a cunning smile on his face.

“Thanks dad, but I will find my own way,” Lakshman said and he grinned at him.

Then they laughed together. Lakshman was breathing more than Indra. It was obvious who was winning this battle. Just then, Lakshman stood straight and moved his right handed sword arm to the left in a familiar position.

That was a position Indra had not seen before.

Wondering what it was, he asked Lakshman “What is that stance?”

“I’m going to hit you with my energy attack, dad!” Lakshman said brightly.

Indra’s eyes widened and he said “Oh... Well, thanks for letting me know! Now, I’ll make sure to avoid them.”

“That is, if you can avoid them,” Lakshman said.

“What do you-?”

Indra began to question Lakshman, but he had already made his move.

He quickly gathered large amounts of energy and charged it into his sword. His sword glowed bright red and his aim was at Indra.

“UUUUUUUUUUH!”

With a yell, he swung his energy wielding sword in a swinging ark. As he swung, energy was suddenly released and it went whooshing towards Indra. Indra, with his eyes wide open in surprise, jumped out of the way in a split second.

The wave of energy soared to a certain amount of distance before exploding. The force of the explosion caused great dust to rise into the air and wind to start blowing very fast. For a few seconds, everything became crazy, but they soon settled.

Once the dust cleared, Indra came into view. He was unhurt, but was obviously taken by surprise by such an attack. He was looking over his shoulders at the distance mountain sized dust rising into the air. Then he turned his attention back to Lakshman and stared at him with wide eyes.

“WOW!” he shouted, both in excitement and in shock. “That... was... amazing!!!”

“Thanks... but you were able to dodge though,” Lakshman said with a sigh.

“Yeah, but still... that is still impressive!” Indra exclaimed with a grin on his face. “Well done!”

“Thanks, but be prepared... I’m going to do it again, this time even faster!” Lakshman said and he raised his sword above him.

“What?! Seriously?!” Indra exclaimed in disbelief.

Lakshman quickly gathered energy and charged his sword with it. This time, he swung his sword down and energy was released once more. This time, the speed of the energy was so fast, Indra realised he will not be able to escape in time.

“I see what you meant!” Indra shouted. “It’s so fast it leaves me with one opinion; face it head on!”

As the wave quickly reached him, he took his stance with his sword. He poured large quantities of Weapon Force into his sword and prepared to fight the wave. He then swung his sword at the wave and he found himself fighting hard against a powerful wave.

The force behind the wave of energy released by Lakshman was incredible. It pushed Indra back slightly, but he soon held his ground. He struggled against the wave, holding his sword with all his might.

“UUUURRRAAAAGGGGGHHH!”

With a loud scream, he cut down the wave and split it into two by his sword.

“What?!” Lakshman exclaimed as he watched his father cut his wave into two.

The two waves travelled some distance away from each other and made smaller explosions of the previous huge explosion. Once everything settled, Indra was left standing with a smile on his face. Lakshman was dumbfounded as he stared at him.

“That was great!” he exclaimed cheerfully.

“Right...” Lakshman said.

“Amazing effort, but time to end this!” Indra said.

“What?!” Lakshman exclaimed in surprise.

Indra disappeared. The next instance, he appeared right before Lakshman. Lakshman realised he would not make it in time to stop his sword. As Indra’s blade neared him, they suddenly stopped in their movements.

“What the?!”

Indra stopped in his tracks, looking surprised. Even Lakshman felt it, the sudden surge of power. They turned to their left and saw a wave of energy headed their way. The way was actually much stronger than Lakshman’s.

“Wow!” Indra exclaimed when he saw the wave.

Lakshman could not believe what he was seeing. He did not remember firing an energy wave that had a return effect. Suddenly, Indra turned to him looking worried.

“Look out!” he shouted and he pushed him so hard, Lakshman was sent flying for some distance.

Then he faced the wave of energy and met it head on with his sword. Lakshman recovered from his landing and he looked up to see his father fighting against the force of the unknown energy wave. Then his eyes widened in shock at seeing his father struggling.

“It’s... stronger than my own?” he muttered in disbelief.

Indra’s face contorted as he fought desperately against the wave. After some time of desperate struggle, he finally released the energy from his sword.

“UUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!”

With a loud scream and eyes wide with intense strain, he swung his sword down. He finally cut down the energy wave into two. The split energy waves split away and exploded some distance from them.

Once everything cleared, Indra was breathing heavily as he continued to stand. His body was literally heaving with each breath. Just then, he looked up and hi made an angry expression on his face.

“You...!” he said, staring at the dust.

A figure walked out of the clearing dust. He was tall as Indra, strong and had red hair spiky hair. He was smiling at Indra and looked satisfied by watching him breathing heavily.

Indra let out one deep breath and straightened up. He looked seriously at this stranger and spoke.

“What are you doing here, Phoenix Emperor Felix?!”