A soft breeze flows past a giant mountain range in the early morning, the sun not yet risen. Coming to a small grove, it blows through, rustling the fine silver hair of a small boy holding a chain-whip ready in his hand, the handle resting in his right. Suddenly striking out at an old man opposite him, the tip of the whip flies toward the old man's face. The old man dashes backward, easily dodging the strike. Within a second, Astraoth, the small boy, retrieves the whip, and, rotating his body, lashes out at Oromius.

Gathering Essence Energy, Oromius deflects the whip with a short blast, sending multicolored light soaring through the air, pushing the whip past him. Astraoth, in recovering the whip, wraps it around his left hand, using it to launch the whip at Oromius. The tip goes streaming past Oromius, easily avoided. However, Astraoth, smiling confidently, uses the handle of the chain-whip, jerking the whip downward diagonally, causing it to fly to Oromius. With merely a half-second to react, Oromius flashes forward, multicolored light streaming out behind him. Completely avoiding the whip, Oromius looks to Astraoth, smiling gently, amused.

Astraoth narrows his eyes, focusing, and, coiling the body of the chain-whip around his left arm, utilizing its existing momentum, dashes backward, opening the distance between him and Oromius, stopping at seven meters apart. Essence Energy accumulating around him, Astraoth transfers the energy to the chain-whip, and, releasing the body of the whip into the air, begins to slash with the whip, sending blades of multicolored light and energy hurtling through the air towards Oromius.

Oromius manifests an energy shield to block the strikes, but as the strikes arrive, Astraoth flashes forward in a blur, immediately beginning to attack the shield, lashing out to the left, transitioning to another blow as the first ends, whipping at Oromius' right. Continuing the assault, Astraoth goes into a frenzy, his strokes getting faster, attacking from every direction, his figure beautiful; as if dancing. Finally breaking through Oromius' shield, Astraoth rushes toward Oromius, caught in the thrill of battle. Oromius readies his great axe, racing at Astraoth, and beginning to take the initiative, Oromius smashes down with his axe, aiming directly for Astraoth.

Astraoth dodges to the left, sliding over a meter away from Oromius, lashing out with his chain-whip, attempting to keep a meter of distance. Oromius projects a tiny shield and sprints at Astraoth, using the shield to block a single blow from Astraoth's whip, predicting the strike's trajectory. Oromius whirls the axe around at Astraoth, sending it hurtling to Astraoth's right side. Astraoth quickly manifests a shield to block, unable to dodge. The axe slams into the shield and blows Astraoth away, the shield barely holding. Astraoth flies over two meters into the air, falling back down, shaken, but only slightly injured.

Extending a hand to Astraoth, Oromius helps Astraoth up, smiling tenderly; Astraoth, however, frowns, annoyed at his injury, complaining,"Dad, why did you have to hit me so hard?", his eyebrows knit together in frustration. Oromius calmly looks to his son and rests his hand on Astraoth's shoulder, his eyes calm and reassuring.

Oromius responds,"I did not want to injure you, but I had no choice; you were caught in lust for battle and would keep attacking unless I managed to wake you from your fervor. To that end, I had to at least deal some damage. I am glad it was not worse; it is but a minor injury."

Astraoth narrows his eyes, confused. Asking,"What do you mean father? Was I not in the right state of mind?" Smiling wildly, his eyes red with blood, Astraoth continues,"My recollection is that we merely had a fine battle."

Oromius rests his other hand on Astraoth's head, attempting to calm him down, speaking slowly and deliberately,"This is exactly what I mean; you need to relax and calm down, you still have not escaped from the chaotic allure of violence. Calm down, take a deep breath."

His eyes returning to their usual calm crimson, Astraoth collapses to the floor, his hands clutching his head, filled with confusion. Speaking weakly to Oromius, asking,"What happened Dad? I...I felt...odd, very, very odd. I can't quite remember what just happened."

Oromius takes Astraoth into his arms, holding him as he explains,"What happened was not unusual; people of your lineage often undergo such fits before their awakening. Don't worry, once you learn how to wield your powers correctly, you will no longer have any more attacks. I can't explain in detail now, but just know that after your demonic awakening, on your sixth birthday, you will no longer have to worry."

Astraoth, finally calm, lets go of Oromius and stands up, replying,"Okay Dad, I will wait for answers. However, I want to find a way to control this...affliction."

Oromius, also standing up, responds,"First of all, it is not an affliction, secondly, to control it, all you need to do is have complete mastery over your mind. Try meditation. Anyway, we need to pack up, you did a good job in the skirmish, but now, we have to get moving."

Leaving the grove, the sun begins to rise above the heavens, and shines down upon the lonely path, the morning finally present.