As Jenso was struck in the face, he staggered back a bit as he felt the pain from the blow. "You're right...I usually use that against groups of people...It usually works, but that's probably because those bandits and whatnot were slower then me.." Jenso responded, and dashed at Lark. "If you think I'm going to give up, you're wrong!" He shouted. This was just like when he fought Prisma! He was being beaten with ease yet again! As Jenso charged at Lark, the surge of power that he'd felt before rushed through him again. He jumped into the air, aiming a kick with his left foot at Lark's chest.

Lark Chuckled and nodded as Jenso approached him, focusing his Ki to tank Jenso's attack again. "Yea, that'll happen when you've-" A sudden lapse in his thought process caused Lark to stutter his word and summon his sword on instinct. He held the flat edge of the blade with his left hand and blocked Jenso's kick with the opposite side. His feet slid across the dirt ground a few feet, and he lowered his blade in shock. Lark blinked a couple of times, and then smiled. "Hey hey hey! Look at that! That's Gaian Levels of Ki M'boy!" Lark cheered, gripping his sword with both hands. "Alright, back to the sword!" He called out, rushing Jenso and slashing at his chest. If Jenso dodged, he would slash again, and again, not giving him an opportunity to attack safely.

Jenso gave Lark a confused look. "Wait...did I.." He muttered aloud. But before he could finish, Lark was already charging at him. 'Shit..!' He thought, attempting to jump out of the way of Lark's slash. He didn't see any immediate chance to attack him right away, but he didn't see any other choice. If he retreated, Lark would outspeed him anyway. He aimed a kick at Lark's left knee with his right foot.

Lark moved much quicker, and struck Jenso's leg in mid-kick with his sword, slicing deep, but stopping just before it tore into his bone, and holding his leg in place with his right hand. "Easy there," Lark muttered, looking somewhat traumatized that he'd hurt Jenso. "That's enough."

Jenso cringed in pain as the blade dug deep into his leg. "Argh! Crap..!" He shouted, glaring at Lark. He looked angry for a moment, but then he looked more sad then anything. "Heh...I did pretty bad, huh..?" He said with a faint smile, feeling somewhat dissapointed in himself. He looked at his injured leg now, not saying anything else.

Lark desummoned his sword again, but not before heating the blade's length and instantly cauterizing Jenso's wound. He then rushed to support Jenso over his shoulder and huffed. "Gotta be honest kid," Lark started, pulling Jenso back towards his hut, "If I didn't block that kick, it might've killed me."

---

Lark pulled Jenso over to the chair he'd sat in before, and Pij fluttered about on the table, eager to see the result of whatever the heck the two were doing outside. Lark nodded to the bird, and she immediately quieted down. "Sorry, kid. Kinda lost myself for a moment there," Lark said quietly, sitting across the table from Jenso. "Brave of you to try and attack despite a lack of any opening. 'Course, if that were a real fight, you'd be dead, even against somebody with the same speed as you."

Jenso smiled at Pij as she flew in and then looked at Lark. "No problem man...It happens." He said. "That sure was a great training, though. I think I did learn something. You said you channeled your Ki through memories, right? I think I did it too." He paused, looking at his leg. "I was thinking about how Prisma beat me before and how this situation was similar, I felt this rush of adrenaline and for a little while, I just felt...stronger.."

Lark nodded silently. "It's not just the memory, but something back then really must've triggered your inner power really fucking heavily. That kick was on par with mine at full strength- No, it was stronger. That's not a normal source of power you've got there, kid. That's uncanny." Lark sighed loudly and rested his chin on one hand. "Whatever it was you did, it worked. Unfortunately, it's not as easy as just figuring out what triggers it. That burst of Ki wasn't controlled, it was like your soul was trying to defend itself. You've gotta figure out how to become one with it, like, tickle it into acting up on command... Uhg, I don't know." Lark fell forward and placed both hands on his head. "Bah.."

Jenso nodded in agreement to Lark. He was amazed that his kick was stronger then his. "Yeah...I need to find a way to trigger it at will.." He muttered, thinking. "Back then...I knew that the safety of everyone was at risk. I knew I needed to beat Prisma. There was too much at stake...if I didn't win, he would kill everyone. I didn't have any other option then to win...that must be what triggered it the first time." He paused for a moment and frowned. "Yet I still lost.."

"Losing isn't the end," Lark muttered from under his hands and scruffy hair. The old man rose his head slightly, chin still rested against the table, and looked up at Jenso quietly. There was a very subtle pain in his eyes, but he kept himself composed despite the painful memories that resurfaced. "Five years ago, before I had even shacked up in this dreadful little rock-grave, the same thing happened to me and my people on the island of Gaia. A strange woman in a black mask was somehow able to find our village despite the magic that hid it. She seemed peaceful at first, flirting her way through our men and women to her hearts content, and not really bothering anyone. That is, until one day, when several of our most powerful warriors were killed in their sleep," Lark paused and looked down at the table's intricate details and closed his eyes. "Nobody knew how she'd gotten so many married men and women into bed, nobody knew how she'd turned virtue into lust, and nobody thought she was that strong. Before I knew it, I was flat on my ass as I watched her chase my son off the island, and kill every last one of my family members before me. I fell asleep, and the next thing I knew, I was awake on the shore of your continent with Harold by my side. He says, 'eh, you washed up on shore' and I didn't question it. Just had to cope with the deaths of my people... And well, as you can see, I don't exactly cope in the healthiest ways." Lark sat up and stretched his back. "Haven't had to summon the ole' soul breaker in ages. Haven't really spoken to anyone other than Harold for ages either. It's been pretty lonely out here. But hey, Pij didn't leave me when I was tossed into the Ocean. She's been with me as long as I can remember, aint that right Pij?"

The little bird tweeted happily and flew over to comfort Lark. He chuckled as he feathers tickled his cheek, and cleared his throat right afterward. "You aint dead yet, Jenso. Don't throw away your future like I did. A loss is only the end if you let it consume you."

Jenso listened to Lark's story and didn't say a word until he was finished. He didn't know what to say right away. Jenso felt very bad for Lark, his past experience was just as bad as Jenso's. As Lark spurred Jenso on to keep going, his frown vanished and a wide smile appeared across his face. His eyes were filled with confidence. "Yeah...yeah, you're right! I'm not going to give up!" He shouted. "I'm going to get stronger, and I'll make sure nobody has to suffer the way you and I did. I promise!" He declared, moving to hop onto his feet. But then he remembered that he had been injured, and decided against it. "Oh um, I probably shouldn't get up yet."

Lark smiled and motioned towards his bed. "That's the spirit. But I'd stay off that foot for the rest of the day. If anything, you should sleep here tonight. Course, it's not like you have anywhere to go. Or do you?" Lark asked, somewhat confused on what Jenso planned to do next. "It's not like you're going to find this Prisma guy by just wandering the world randomly. And from the sound of it, your town is pretty much wiped off the map. How are you going to get stronger if you have no goals?"

Jenso blinked a few times. "Yeah..I'm not sure where to go next.." He responded to Lark. "I thought you might have had a way to track Prisma down, but...maybe I should head to another town. One where they could use my help against other threats. In the meantime, I might end up running into that guy anyways. Like you said, there's no point running around randomly." He said. "Do you know anywhere I could go?"

Lark shrugged. "Beats me. Maybe you should think about it tomorrow morning, and rest for now, though."

Jenso didn't enjoy the idea of needing to rest, but it didn't seem like he had another choice. Of course he could still leave, but it would certainly prove difficult with the pain that would come from his leg. "Alright...thanks for letting me stay here dude. And for the training." Jenso said, getting onto his feet slowly and getting into the bed. He only met Lark not too long ago, but he knew he could be trusted now.

Lark sighed and nodded. "Don't mention it," He said softly to himself. Pij flew onto his shoulder and nuzzled close to him. Lark chuckled and rubbed her underside with his finger. "I'm sure we'll have an idea in the morning.."

Lark yawned and continued to pet Pij. "You know what to do, girl," He whispered. Pij flew off and through the Ajar doorway. Lark groaned loudly and collapsed on his desk. His recent energy consumption has left him more exhausted than he'd thought at first.

Meanwhile, far down the sprawling paths, a man was thinking over the proper site for a burial ritual...

---

The next morning, Jenso awoke with the pain in his leg completely gone. Although the sword left a permanent scar near his lower thigh, it had completely healed, and wasn't sore at all.

"Ah, good. You're awake! Pij told me something you may want to hear," Lark said, beckon Jenso over.

Jenso yawned and stretched. "Wow! I slept really well! Your bed's great!" He complimented, staring at his leg. He stretched it out and pulled it back in for a moment to see if all the pain was gone, and hopped back onto his feet. "Wow, my leg's healed already! That's amazing!" He shouted, turning to Lark. "Oh, what did she tell you?" He asked Lark.

"Your high Ki gives you a long-term healing factor, as long as you can rest and eat. Speaking of food, there's some cooked beast over there," Lark pointed a a large leg with meat on it across the table. "Pij told me about some guy who made his way through the forest to the north last night. He seemed pretty suspicious, which aint a lot to go on, but if you want some kind of lead..." Lark shrugged and took a bite out of his own beast leg. "Seems like a cool lead."