There was a little wind which blew by at this moment as if spicing the already tensed environment. A leaf from a tree starts falling at the next moment, slowly and steadily, and eventually hits the floor. It seems like the moment the leaf touches the ground was the signal for the beginning of the fight, the last and final showdown between the teacher and his student. Their cutlass met and the smile which annoyed Michael was ever present in Andrew’s face, there was a struggle and force was used in order to oppress the other but no sooner, they separated with no obvious winner between themselves. Their first move seems to end in a draw but Andrew doesn’t give up and at quick lightening pace he threw a knife in the direction of Michael but seems like Michael was able to predict his next action as the knife was blocked with his cutlass and since he was not balanced formerly just moved back a bit. Although by a little insignificant margin, a winner was found in the second move. Michael was provoked by that trick of Andrew and moves with great speed towards Andrew and Andrew doesn’t just wait and moves up to meet him also. Their blades meet once again but this time around more than ten moves were exchanged as they both tried their possible best with their attacks which were meant to kill but seems like they both understood each other perfectly as they were both able to block the attacks perfectly. But this time around, a kick landed squarely on Andrew’s right side which pushed him with great force, he stopped himself by pushing his cutlass deep into the ground but he didn’t stop immediately but was dragged a bit further back. There is now a deep cut on the ground but Andrew isn’t bothered about this as the smile on his face has vanished. “I taught you all you know, so I know all of your flaws. You trying to fight me was a mistake. You should have killed me first, then maybe you could have had a fighting chance against my brother”, says Michael and a smile was now on his face. Seems like the face which has the smile has been interchanged, but Andrew doesn’t reply and just moves towards Michael with great speed, it was a really dangerous battle as one wrong move could lead to the death of one. Once more, sparks could be seen as blades collided and this time around the kick which came from Michael was dodged perfectly by Andrew and he almost had a smug reaction on his face but a punch to his face ruined his emotion once more. Although being hit twice already in this fight, Andrew was still able to hold strong in the fight and defend himself from any fatal strike.

Few minutes into the fight, a shadow could be seen flying back and he was stopped by a tree. It was Andrew whom flew back, he coughed out blood but didn’t pause at all as a blade strike which could have taken his life came at this moment and he was able to dodge it at a hair’s breadth. He threw the remaining knives which he carried with him in order to stop the next attack of Michael and give him some breathing space, and it did work as he had planned as the knives which he had thrown disrupted Michael and stopped him in his tracks. He had indeed taken a lot of hits during this fight and he needs to calm down a bit while trying to analyze the situation more better.

“As you can see, you are by far weaker than me and you can’t ever overcome the chasm between our powers. I would be the winner whom takes it all at the end, I would have to thank you for taking care of George for me”, says Michael at this moment. But although he said that, what was going on in his mind was different, ‘He shouldn’t be this weak that he is not able to disrupt my flow of attacks and take this much hit. If he had broken through to the strength realm as he had said formerly, he should even be stronger than I am but he actually seems a tad weaker than I am. Or was he bluffing when he said he has broken through? If he hadn’t broken through he should not even be able to follow up on my moves up till this point. Or maybe his injuries is not fully healed and hence he is not able to fight with his full strength’. Although he was the one at the forefront in this fight, Michael reasoned through everything carefully, ‘I should just be careful incase this is another one of his little tricks and if it isn’t, I guess I would have to kill him. Such a tragic loss for such a good hunter but I would always prioritize myself over anyone, and I need to be more powerful at all cost and the herb is needed for that to happen’, a vicious grin comes into his face. Andrew just spits some more blood from his mouth in reply and shines his teeth which has become bloody before moving to continue the fight.

But the fight still continues in the same way with Andrew being hit numerous times, and although there weren’t any fatal injury, his body was soaked with blood but this time around he was able to land two or three hits on Michael which was a huge change since the beginning of the battle. Once again Andrew was hit on his head with the handle of the cutlass, he stumbles and moves back. He shakes his head due to the hit but Michael doesn’t give him time to recover and he followed up with a slash at the neck of Andrew. And again, Andrew was able to block the strike with his own cutlass. The force sends him backward with one of his knee on the ground, head facing towards the ground. When he raised his head up this time around, Andrew just smiles broadly, walking towards his wine gourd, drinks up a bit before saying, “Well then, it seems like I have seen your potential and I have taken many of your hits. This should be about enough payment for all you have done for me then”. He dusts his body from all the dirt he had gathered, tears the clothes on him which was made from animal skin and his body could be seen at this moment. Although he has just gotten to fourteen years of age, he seemed like a grown up adult whom has exercised every part of his body perfectly as all the muscles were stacked in the right place and he had a perfect body also. Apart from the scar which he got from the first time he almost lost his life which was still very pronounced, all his other scars were very faint like they could disappear at any time. He was average in height with his silky, long dark hair which had been packed up and his face which had fairly beautiful blue eyes, little eyebrows, average nose and succulent well proportioned pink lips, his innocence was heightened to the peak at this point and his bare body added a perfect charm to it all. If Andrew was seen by anyone, he would have been seen as another neighbor whom just worked hard and doesn’t seem like the guy who could kill anyone but his aura at this moment would prove such train of thought wrong. On noticing the aura emanating from him, Michael had to step back. He now understood how he had been able to land those hits squarely on Andrew and how no matter how he had tried, he had not been able to land a critical hit on him. Andrew has been playing him all along and has been directing his hits to places were he had wanted it to and even if he was able to hit any vital part of his body, it did be an attack with no much force to deal any particular grievous damage, he had been right all along to have been weary of Andrew but seems like he had still underestimated him. “Now, it’s my turn I guess”, Andrew says while staring straight at Michael.

It seems like the second round of the fight was about to begin as Michael had won the first round, although without dealing any critical damage, he was suppose to have have the greater morale and revitalized. But it seems unlikely as the new Andrew at this point gave Michael chills and at this moment, he was sure that he won’t be able to survive this fight but he doesn’t still give up as he grips the handle of his cutlass way more tightly than usual with sweat running down his forehead down his clothes. He encouraged himself by saying inwardly, ‘Why would I be afraid of this kid. I trained him after all and got him to the place he is right now. I know of all the tricks he could muster and this would probably be one of his tricks which he had and this surge in aura should be another one of his tricks in order to get me to give up all resistance. He said that he could control his aura after all, this should all be a fluke’. He said all those in his head but his body doesn’t seem to believe it as his grip on his cutlass has tightened to the point that blood was not flowing properly and seems like just a bit more force would crumble the handle of his cutlass or his palm would burst with blood flowing out.

“Ready to die now?”, Andrew just smiles while saying. Michael roars in reply while summoning all the power he had in order to engage Andrew. They pass each other at great speed, with the other at the opposite side of where they formerly were, silence ensued for a while. All of a sudden, there was a spurt of blood, followed by a loud scream and it came from Michael whose right hand has been severed and it was the hand which was gripping his cutlass. His cutlass fell and Andrew turns at this moment to look at Michael and his gaze was complicated but it soon returned to normal as he started walking slowly towards Michael. Michael on noticing his actions, tries to grab his cutlass with his left hand but couldn’t bulge one bit. “You seem to have forgotten but let me remind you once again, I have laced my cutlass with poison which has an almost immediate paralysis effect, so no need to struggle”. He walks towards Michael at this moment and intends to grab him towards the plant as he had done to George, but at this moment, Michael with veins bulging on his head grips his cutlass with his left hand and in the next moment, blood was flying in the air while Andrew’s eyes becomes dull all of a sudden.

(Author’s note - I have been talking too much recently and it might seem annoying to you all but I did like to say that I am sorry for just describing the appearance of the new reincarnation of Andrew. Some might be pissed with me for this but I just had to do it at this point to avoid doing it further down in the novel. It was tasking to create this battle scene also, had head ache, had to sleep, wake, sleep and wake again before I was able to write this. God has been helping me all through but I am getting pretty tired though, never imagined how tasking it would be to write a novel to the extent that I don’t even have time for myself. Thanks to all my readers though, you have all been motivating me. Another long chapter I guess)