53 Who Are You?

"Well young one, that is quite a lot of information to absorb." Taking several deep breaths, the older man seemed to have grasped the whole situation.

"You seem stronger than the younger generation of our village, can it be that you are from a noble lineage within the city? No, that would not make much sense for a noble to be out here all alone like this."

"Well since you could have killed me at any time and haven't, you are clearly not an enemy. So, come sit down and listen to uncle's story." The older man told Leo as he gestured his hand for Leo to sit down comfortably.

"A warrior, what does signify exactly? You may not have gotten this far on your journey, but a true warrior hates battle. Do you know why?" the older man asked Leo as he awaited his answer.

"Why?" after pondering over this question for some time, Leo couldn't think of anything noteworthy to bring up and just gave up trying to deconstruct the meaning behind this older man's words.

"Battle is the result of when someone is being threatened. A true warrior has the ability to protect themselves and those around them, but they hate battle." The older man explained to Leo as he continued his story.

"Generation after generation within our village, us from the older generation teach this to the younger generation. The reason is because the citizens of our village are all offspring of the soldiers who served under battle hungry gods and fought in major battles that helped shape the world we live in today."

"The one weakness of our human instincts is greed, but another is the willingness to kill and slaughter our way to our goals. It is impossible to build something meaningful if all you care about is yourself. Thus, we warriors pride ourselves in becoming strong enough to protect those around us, our family and brethren!"

"I served under the previous chieftain of the village and we went on a raid for the first time in many years to slay the spiders. Since you rescued me from within the cave, you know just how formidable of a threat those spiders have become."

"If my village still exists, it means that the raid we partook in, was successful enough to drive the spiders back. However, there is no telling from all of the way out here, how large of a sacrifice we had to make, and how many warriors were killed or captured like me."

"This may sound out of line, but if you were able to rescue me successfully, I may need to bring you along with me to rescue some more of my brothers that are still within that cave. Since you are so young, I hope you will not mind me testing your strength before we head out?" the older man finally finished and waited for Leo's answer.

In appearance alone, Leo looked at most fourteen years old, and there was no way for this older man to gauge his level of power unless they sparred. What Leo did not know, was that this older man was as strong as his test instructor back at the guild.

Now much stronger than he was back at the guild, both in level and his arsenal of techniques, Leo felt rather confident. Although the older man was going to test him, Leo felt that he would be the one to test this older man. An older villager with some battle experience was not necessarily someone who could match an above average commoner within a city.

"How about we both give it our all in this match, and whoever wins, gets to take the lead on this new rescue mission you are dropping on my lap?" smirking and filled with confidence, Leo replied to the older man's offer before dashing out of the waterfall and into the field around it.

"Hmph, this little kid seems like he is too confident in his strength or simply seeking punishment. Since when has a junior dared to talk down to an elder like this?" thinking about how he wanted to bash this youngster's face in to teach him a lesson, the older man quickly followed Leo outside of the waterfall.

Several moments later, Leo and the older man faced each other. Luckily for him, the older man was paralyzed while he still had his battle axe on his back. Wiping off the remainder of the webbings on his weapon, the older man started to talk to Leo from a safe distance away.

"This elder will not go easy on you, but I must warn you, I feel completely revitalized and could match up to any warrior I have met under the executive level of strength. Come, and let me teach you the difference between a junior and a senior!" Shouting out the last of his words, the older man began to place his body in a defensive stance, waiting for Leo to make the first offensive move.

"Do not think so highly of yourself!" hearing the older man talking down to him, Leo felt a little bit of pressure and a blow to his ego. Unleashing his battle intent and full power, Leo quickly rushed towards the older man without a weapon.

"Are you really seeking death?" the older man called out to Leo as he watched him approach. Never in his wildest imagination, would he think that Leo would be ignorant enough to rush him without any weapons!

Suddenly, a big breeze started to surround Leo and the older man, and only began to get faster and faster until the breeze concentrated into three different spots surrounding the older man, making three visible walls of air.

"What the hell?" the older man quickly re-positioned himself and his battle axe to leave no openings. He was not sure how this was happening, but he started to feel a strange type of pressure.

"Triple Air Shuriken!" Shouting out the name of his technique, Leo continued picking up his speed as the three spots with air flowing quickly formed into air shuriken. Within a breath of time, the three shuriken formed into two-foot-wide shuriken as they locked onto the older man. With a flick of his hand, Leo seemed as if he was controlling these air shuriken as they began to fly towards the older man!