Numerous thoughts swirled inside Adav's head. He swore he'll get stronger to beat Taegun, but how does he plan on actually doing it? For now, the image of his father fighting was burned into his mind, how he moved showed the pinnacle of what he taught in the dojo. Something he only ever thought was purely theoretical, seeing how the lessons would eventually build up to that point wasn't something he thought would be possible.

  He stops in the middle of the forest. While him wandering here wasn't something he planned on doing, he has ventured into these parts before, but not too frequently due to the presence of wildlife. But for certain, it will be hard to find him in case people are looking for him.

  He arrives at a small clearing, nearby a small cave, small enough to keep large animals from entering it, but large enough to keep him safe from the elements when needed. He found this years ago when he was exploring. Who knew he'd actually use it as a temporary shelter.

  He slaps his face to regain focus. "No time to be recalling all that. Right now I must train" He mutters. But without a teacher or a guideline, what he instead fell back on is what was drilled to him in the dojo. Simple swings and footwork. Of course, this isnt a simple drill anymore, instead remembering what his father taught him, focus on the fundamentals first. So until he can swing and move like his father, this is what he will do for now.

  For hours, he practices the same movement, repeating the same swing, yet even after all this, all he does is tire himself.

  "Damn it, I'm missing something" He grumbles frustratedly. No matter how strong or how fast he tries to move his body, there is a limit he reaches. The limit one's body can perform at, yet in this world, that is not the limit of what 'humans' and all the other creatures can do.

  He recalls the lessons about energy regulation. At the time, he didn't really get what his father meant about 'focusing your energy into movement' and such. Isn't that just moving with all your might? He remembers scoffing at such roundabout way of telling him to work harder. But now, he's starting to doubt if that's all there is.

  Should I ask for help then? For certain, Garjan must have an idea being hailed as one of the best in the army after all. But he dismissed the idea, likely he'll just be brought back to his family.

  "Train your fundamentals"

  His fathers instructions continues to pester him. At this point, he's basically lost on what to do. Thus, in an act that others may see as madness, he simply resumes practicing his swings.

  "If I can't get a grip with this energy, then there's no way I'll be able to avenge father" Adav thinks to himself. Now it's either he gets it or faints trying.

  A few more hours passed, he has acquired a rhythm, his mind empty. But as soon as he does reach this point, another primal wanting arrives. Hunger. For the whole day he barely ate, followed by scaling the mountain as well as training. It's a miracle that he hasn't passed out from all the work earlier, but alas, eventually it does arrive.

  Feeling his body weaken and grow heavy, he finally realizes how hungry he is, and the fact that he hasn't brought any form of food.

  "Maybe I could hunt?"

  He thinks, looking towards the forest. He had a sword to kill and defend himself with, so hunting sounds like a possible option. Deciding on this, he starts walking to find his prey.

  Minutes turn to an hour. While he has found animals, sneaking up on them has been difficult much less chasing them on an empty stomach. The smaller prey disappear under the bushes while the bigger ones outrun him before he could get close.

  He also had a close encounter with a predator, noticing clawmarks on nearby trees that signify its territory, he quickly backs away. The last thing he needs is to fight when he's ready to collapse. Finally he decides to forage for fruits and berries, which he found more success with, at least in the sense of having something edible to eat.

  "A handful of berries, barely a snack" Adav says as he eats a handful of various berries he found as he wandered around. There were some more but the odd color made him think twice of testing them out.

  He then drags himself back into the small cave to rest. Once again, more unpleasantness show themselves, first with the cold temperature as evening comes as well as the hard and damp surface, keeping him from resting properly.

  He ponders if he can just bear with it as his body is already telling him to sleep, yet he forces himself up. At the very least, he should avoid sleeping in the cold.

  With his sword, he starts cutting the nearby bushes and branches, dragging the leaves to the small cave to create a makeshift mat and cover from the cold winds. It wasnt much compared to a comfortable room and bed, but much better than the condition before.

  Finally, after a long arduous day, tired, hungry, and cold, Adav finally is able to sleep and end his first day in training.

  The next day comes, it wasnt any better than the previous, in fact he is in a far worse state. The berries he had was too little and now hes even hungrier. His makeshift mat wasnt properly set up so his body aches.

  "I cant train like this" He grumbles, picking up his sword. Yet he knows he cant really improve his conditions suddenly. He cant hunt nor forage well, but his body needing nutrients puts him to need to do those.

  So once again, he set out to forage for food. And once again, the amount he got was nowhere near what he required, but in the process, he has learned better on where to find such food, through stalking the herbivores of the area, as well as their movement patterns. Perhaps when hes gained enough energy back, he can attempt to go on a hunt.

  Satisfied with the improvements he\s made, he then goes back to training his swings. Now even with more food gathered, he notices the power he is able to apply is far weaker than before. Do I need to wait for my body to digest the food? He wonders, or perhaps the cause is something else

  As evening came, he once again goes out to forage for food. The meager amount he\s been able to collect not being enough to last him the whole day. This time, he tries to hunt once more, knowing an animals general pattern. For most creatures, he found that they barely look up, so ambushing from trees shiuld be a viable way of hunting. But when he attempted this, as if having some 6th sense, most animals would avoid where he is camping, save for the smaller animals, in which he was able to hunt 1 rabbit.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  "Yes!" Adav rejoices, finally some solid food. though the next issue was how to prepare. He has never skinned an animal before much less cook anything.

  First, a fire. He thinks as he looks around. He knew about starting fire with either rocks or branches, but never tried them himself. He also knew about fire magic, generally one just needs to remember the right words, but he\s never learned those either.

  Cutting 2 branches, he decides to just go for it, trial and error. He knew it had something to do with friction and getting the branches to light on fire, but after a few minutes of trying different methods, no fire nor spark has been made.

  "Damn it, and it has gotten dark" He says looking around. Luckily his cave was nearby so he won\t get lost, but with the rabbit already dead, he knew he had to prepare it soon before it starts rotting. Finally he sets his eye on the distant lights.

  "... this is to make sure the rabbit is wasted. I\ll learn how to make fire another time" He tells himself as he walks towards the lights to steal some fire.

  A few minutes later, he\s back at the same spot, roasting the rabbit without having it prepared. At most he skewed it, but with the fur still remaining, though having it burnt by fire, the final appearance looked much burnt than it really is.

  He then cuts it up with his sword and began eating. It wasn\t the best, it was also cooked unevenly, but with how hungry he is, such things didnt matter as much.

  As he was enjoying his meal, a unexpected visitor appears. Hearing a low growl, Adav quickly leaps to the opposite side to look at the source. A large creature shrouded lightly by the darkness, eyes glowing and staring at him. Maybe the smell attracted it, or maybe he wandered too far into it\s territory, whatever the case Adav readied his sword, then charged.

  From what was taught to him by his father, the lightning and thunder style excels in taking initiative, using their speed to make the first move and control the pace of the fight. Although ideally, you should have cut the target down by the first strike, as one of the biggest flaw of the style is-

  "Haa!" as he swung down his sword, the beast somehow swatted it to the side with it\s paws as it somewhat stood.

  "!" His sword lands on the ground besides the beast, and it now raising its other paw. He couldnt pull back his blade in time-

  *Bam-slash

  *Aagh-" Adav is sent tumbling with the swipe, his right arm taking the brunt of the damage is also bleeding from the slash. But at the same time, he has managed to slash the beast from its blindspot, wonding one of its paws.

  Once again, the two stares the other down. Adav hoped that the slsah would be enough to make it flee, but that doesnt seem to be the case, rather it seems its now growling even more.

  "Damn, I practiced that slash for years you know, and you\re telling me it\s not fast enough" Adav complained, trying to hold his sword with both his hands, but his right arm is feeling numb and weak, plus the burning pain when moving it. His right arm would be lost if he takes another hit there.

  Ok, so Im at a huge disadvantage, I can\t attack it directly, it seems to ba able to take my attacks, and I can\t take another attack from it. Adav mulled things over. At least, it being a beast, perhaps I can just damage it enough to make it flee? No, my cave is too close to here, It\ll just follow me back or it could track my scent.

  He attacks again, this time feinting an attack, and when the paws come, he strikes the paw instead with the blade. Sadly the pads on the paw made the cut much shallower than expected, as if the creature didnt even feel the blade.

  The creature pounces at Adav, and he barely manages to evade. Using his sword to deflect its paws while using his footwork to evade to it\s side, he\s barely able to find an opening for a counter attack, and whenever he does, the creature is ready for it.

  His already low energy is slowly being drained as the fight progresses, and his fatigue building up.

  Think, think, what advantages do I have? A longer reach, though pointless if I can\t catch the creature offguard. Hands? tools? didn\t bring any, Im stuck here with what I have. At most I have my small cave with the makeshift things-

  An idea pops into Adav\s head. As the two continue their exchange, Adav starts retreating further back, creating move space, this is so he has more time in between attacks to-

  *slash- crack

  He cuts a brach above him as the creature leapt, causing it\s vision to be obscured momentarily, of course it\s attack is still ongoing, but now with the reach advantage-

  *Stab*

  He manages to strike the creature without sustaining injuries himself, and a deep one at that. The creature quickly retreated a small distance. Perhaps now he can counterattack-

  "haa!" Adav chases after the retreating beast, now injured from the stab wound, it couldn\t move as well, so taking this chance he decides to finish it off.

  *Slas-clang

  His slash is once again parried by it\s paws but now it was too slow with it\s other, letting Adav back away. Now that it\s injured, they\re about even. He tries to lure it somewhere where he can try the branch tactic, but now it doesnt recklessly attack and is more cautious.

  Out of tricks, Adav can only advance and hope in the resulting clash, he comes out victorious. Strike after strike, both parties slowly get weaker, but Adav\s right hand is also feeling harder and harder to move, at this rate, he\ll be forced to fight with one hand, at which point he\ll lose any advantage in their clash.

  Once more the creature pounces, left swipe. At this point, Adav makes a decision, commit into one strike. He charges with a thrust, his left arm taking the brunt of the attack but also with it, letting himself get a deep strike in.

  This should do it, he thought, internally rejoicing. But a deep burning sensation seeps on his torso. The creature bit his shoulder, given how close he needed, this was something he should have anticipated.

  "!!" The creature clamped on his shoulder tightly, making him lose feeling on his left entirely. He needed to draw his sword back to deal with this, but it was lodged in too deep and he cant pull himself out from this.

  Damn it, move! He willed his right arm to take the sword out even if it meant breaking the blade. But despite his efforts, his right arm too is feeling cold and numb.

  Theres no way I\ll die like this. Move! He sceams at his hands, losing sight of anything else but that one action.

  *Crack*

  A short but massive surge of strength fills his arm one last time, letting him pull the sword but having bent it inside, the length has been split in two. but at this point, there was only a singular thought in his mind.

  Die! Die! Die!

  Adav screamed internalls as he repeatedly plunge the broken sword onto the creatures neck. It\s bite slowly loosening until finally both parties collapsed.

  "Finally... It\s over..." Adav said weakly. He couldnt move his body any longer despite it screaming in pain. He glances to the bite wound, then to his arms. Despite the bleeding, he remembers that last moment, despite his arm supposedly weak, he was able to use it again with full force. He finally get the feeling of what this energy is. In short, it\s llife, willpower, something he\s lived with since he can remember but never paid much thought into it, and it running in the background

  But exactly since he\s now familliar of how enrgy feels, he he also well aware of how drained he is.

  "Damn, after all that, to have it all just end like this..." He thinks as he tries to focus what little energy he can muster in himself onto his shoulder and right arm. At least, I should be able to save an arm so I can keep wielding my sword... He thinks

  As his energy runs out, his wounds barely improved. Witout anything left to spend, he simply lays there motionless. Trying not to fall asleep as it may be his last, continually finding for something to grasp onto.

  But exactly because he is now out of energy, he can now also sense something else. Another source of energy, not within him but outside. The amount was faint, especially before he noticed this, similar to his feelings with his own energy, him being completely empty may have been the sole reason he is able to touch upon this feeling. Realizing this, an idea happened, an idea he wouldnt have considered outside the situation he is in

  Can I use this? He thought, as he tried having his skin take in the energy outside. Finding the feel he had when he first manipulated his own energy, he tried applying the same sensation with this outside source. In contrast to manipulating his own energy, the process on taking in external energy was painful, causing him to stop and reconsider if this is even correct. But with the scant energy having been turned into his own, currently this was his only option to survive.

  So, gritting his teeth, he began pulling the energy from outside into his own body. It felt like killing himself, but with him being well aware of his state, the pain was just another hurdle he needed to grit and bear with.

  The pain of taking in the energy felt like having hot water flow directly inside one\s body, like an inverse of sweating, the fluid outside disappearing but the insides of ones body feeling the entrance of heat. At first he tried taking as much in through his whole body thinking that he\ll just need to bear with the pain in a smaller timeframe, but the moment he did try, just like an impulse, the surge of heat made him stop out of reflex.

  Then he tried the opposite, having a single part of his body have it trickle in, and yet again the pain causes him to stop shortly after starting. It was becoming clear that this wont be such a straightforward task

  He tried various methods that he can think of to manage the pain, but with him stopping being a simple reflex, he then changed to testing out another way of doing this, can he control the flow entering to keep the pain from becoming too much and forcibly stopping the flow.

  For the next hour, this is what he dedicated to do, and by the end, he found a compromise.

  He has yet to be able to manage the flow that well, but he has found a feeling, where he could restrict it somewhat so he could keep absorbing for a minute or so. In this discovery, he also found, once he was able to move, that the absorbtion did physicall damage his body, he then decided to focus the absorbtion on his wrists and legs, avoiding vital organs as well as his hands and feet which will be in constant contact with things.

  And thus, with this, ends his next day in training. On the verge of death, but clinging on, his grunts of pain barely audible as he pushes his body to survive.

  "At least, some blanket" Adav mutters as he cuts down some bushes and branches and dragging those back to form a cover and a mat for his small cave.

  It wasn’t much but at least heat and comforted improved a bit.

  Finally, ending his first day in the woods, cold, hungry, miserable, yet finally able to rest.