As Realdo's steel blade swung down towards the old general, the latter simply sidestepped with ease and tapped the sword's blade. Instantly, the weapon fell from Realdo's hand and planted itself into the ground. The old general then attempted a chop to Realdo's neck, but Realdo parried with his arm before sliding back to create distance between them.
"You talk about me siding with the wrong cause! This is the direction the goddess has decreed the world to go! Who are you to say otherwise!" Realdo retorted, his conviction evident in his voice, defending the path he believed was divinely ordained.
The general, unfazed by the younger man's rebuttal, countered with a firm resolve. "Any goddess who sends children to die in the name of something we don't even understand is not something I can support anymore!"
Realdo scoffed, his disdain palpable. "Oh, you're still crying over your granddaughter being killed in the succession war? It was her fault for even signing up! And you siding with these rebels who don't even have a vision for what the world should be like after they burn everything to the ground is no better!"
The old general, his demeanor icy, snapped his fingers in response. Realdo's arm, the one he had used to parry the previous blow, suddenly exploded, causing him to scream out in agony as he clutched his other arm over the wound in a futile attempt to stem the bleeding.
"What I am doing is a cleansing, so the world can truly heal. This goddess is no goddess! As far as I see it, she's burning this world to the ground," the general retorted, his words steeped in conviction, revealing a belief in a necessary upheaval to rid the world of its current corruption.
Realdo, now sweating and writhing in pain, managed to retort, "Funny coming from someone who might actually bring back the great flame!"
Realdo, in a desperate move, pulled a device from his pocket and clicked a button, causing it to emit a beeping sound and a green glow. Reacting swiftly, the Old General threw a needle into Realdo's neck. The needle's impact was immediate; Realdo fell to the ground, dropping the device.
The Old General issued a command to those present, "Pack everything up and retreat. I will stay back and report he was killed by rebels. I will meet you again at the first arena."
"I see. I suppose that makes sense," Yun-Jin responded, understanding yet slightly amused by the fairy's description. Ty, joining in the light-hearted moment, added, "Hey, I don't smell that bad, just a little sweat," he defended himself, rubbing the top of his sweat-drenched head. His hair, having grown longer, cascaded down past his shoulders.
"I suppose some sweat is worse than others. Yours is actually a nice aroma, but we should really get back to training. You wanted to get better with how to use a bow, right?" Yun-Jin redirected the conversation back to their training session, emphasizing the importance of their practice.
Ty nodded in agreement, eager to improve his skills. Lt Daemon, unable to resist, gave a slight chuckle. "Liking his sweat now, huh?"
Yun-Jin snapped back with a playful retort, "Oh, shut up. I didn't mean it any more than the truth."
"Go ahead and form that bow and arrow thing again?"
"S-Sure," Ty replied, putting aside the playful banter between Lt Daemon and Yun-Jin, focusing on his task. "I really am just learning this, but I noticed a while ago my fire can stick to people until I recall it."
Taking a deep breath, Ty began rolling his hands together as black fire formed in his palm. He stretched it out into a bow made of black flames. "I only learned this recently through some outside sources," he mentioned, hearing a voice crack in his mind, Not ready to reveal me yet. Ty thought back, Not until you're ready to tell me everything I need to know.
Yun-jin, intrigued, responded, "Well, regardless, it does seem pretty neat. But try firing an arrow again, like the one you used to beat Fernando, that asshole, a while ago."
Ty nodded, inhaling deeply before focusing, shaping a secondary flame into the form of an arrow. He released it, sending the flaming projectile lightly tackling into the tree, where it stuck like a glue-like substance.
Yun-jin, slightly perplexed, observed, "That's more like throwing a rock at a wall with the display of a bow than actually holding a bow. Try to just envision a bowstring attached to a bow and then fire an arrow. Here, take an actual arrow and see if that helps."