Chapter 19: Chapter 19

TWO YEARS LATER 

In my opinion, the last two years have flown by extremely quickly. It's most likely due to the fact that I spent most of my time training with Sack and the others, or simply hanging out with them. In terms of training, the children trained by me, my father, and Sack's father have grown in my opinion significantly stronger. The older children who had previously refused to train with us have recently joined us as well. This occurred because the children who began training had defeated them in a friendly sparring match, and they did so fairly easily at that. Despite the fact that my father did the majority of the work, it just goes to show how good a teacher I am.

With the exception of Sack, I am currently engaged in actual combat with all of the other children. Even having Sack on board would be too much for me. However, even if he were to join, I believe I would still win. Don't get me wrong: Sack is a powerful individual in his own right. I'm sure he can hold his own against my father for a minute or so, demonstrating his incredible skills. Dodging to the left, then parrying a behind-the-back attack while kicking another to the left. I used my wooden sword to push the one in front of me back about twenty feet before jumping right to avoid another surprise attack from behind.

Three more rush up to me with their respected weapons, not waiting another second. I swing my sword at the first, then the second, and finally the third, pushing them to the side. Before anyone can get up, I rush at full speed, hitting and tossing their weapons far from them. "All right, everyone, this is enough for today; I can see many of you are tired," I say before they stand back up to resume our training. Those who were about to attack again collapsed in exhaustion after hearing those words. Sack, who was making sure nothing went wrong, approaches me.

While the kids who had been in combat earlier moved and rested on the sidelines, he was preparing his own weapon for our very first duel of the day. He shifted his spear into a ready combat stance ten feet away, while I did the same with my weapon. Rather than waiting for him to make the first move, I take the initiative. The ground beneath me shatters, forming a spiderweb pattern. Rushing at him with such force that the air around me makes a "swiishh" sound. Sack moves at his own incredible speed, shattering the ground just like mine.

The kids watching saw only a blur at first, then an impact between two great forces, sending shockwaves in all directions. Their shocked expressions are so obvious that a flying insect can easily enter and exit their mouths. It is only natural for them to feel this way, given that neither of us have demonstrated our true potential until now. The reason for this is because the awakening ceremony is in two months, and we want to fortify ourselves even further before we leave in one month. The trip will take about three weeks, but because we don't know what might happen on the way there, we have decided to leave a month earlier. (When I say we, I mean our parents, because we have no say in the matter.)

Picking up where we left off, Sack is currently launching attack after attack in rapid succession. In contrast, I am either blocking or dodging his attempts. I shift to the side quickly, but Sack, anticipating my move, moves his spear to be aimed at my head. Seeing the spear I jump backwards dodging his attack, Sack on the other hand pursuits me with his spear overhead of him in an attempt to launch it down. As soon as I land, I launch my own weapon downward, the spear and the sword collide splintering both weapons into numerous small pieces.

From the very beginning we both knew that if we were to use our full strength, these wooden weapons wouldn't last long. To be honest, the first attack we each launched had severely damaged both of our weapons. Knowing this, we both toss our shattered weapons to the side and rush at each other to resume our duel, but this time on hand to hand combat. The children who are watching have once again shocked expressions. This time, the reason is that we both not only know how to use a weapon, but hand to hand combat as well.

THIRD PERSON POV 

"How are they so strong!" one exclaims, shifting his gaze in quick succession to follow their every move. "No wonder we can't beat Sack or Ash; their skills, strength, speed, and everything else are simply on a different plane than ours," another, equally surprised, says. While the others are too stunned to speak, they simply stare at the two fast-moving projectiles. However, that does not mean they can follow their every move with their eyes; they can see them now and then, but only because they both clashed, causing them to stop.

Any courage they may have had are, but long gone. Seeing two people who aren't even teenagers yet has instilled in them the belief that nothing they do will be able to catch up to them. Even if they could all give all of their strength to one person, that person would still be unable to defeat one, let alone two of them. Nevertheless, the desire to get stronger has increased ten folds on each and every one of them. They understand that nothing they do will be able to catch up to them, even if it is just one person. They believe that if they all work together and grow stronger together, Sack or Ash will one day use all of their strength on them, all of the strength that they have been hiding up until now.

You are reading story To Start Again at novel35.com

That is another reason why Ash decided to go all out today; he has noticed that, while they are motivated to train, it is still insufficient. He believes that sooner or later, they will become disinterested in training. That would be bad since all of his time spent on them would be wasted, but also he would be unable to leave knowing they aren't able to protect themselves. That is, however, something he no longer needs to be concerned about. The kids are so driven that they are all fixated on the duel in an attempt to learn something new. Despite the fact that their eyes can't keep up with those fast movements. 

Two adults can be seen observing the duel not far away from those children. These two people, in particular, are Ash and Sack's father. They had come over to see how far the children had progressed, but after a brief glance at the duel, their desire and curiosity had all, but vanished. Instead they both have smiling faces while at the same time radiating a prideful aura. They believe that those two are that strong is because of them. What else could they possibly feel? Children who have inherited their genetics are already this powerful. If children as young as five years old can be that strong, what will happen when they get older? How much more powerful would they become? They both thought at the same time, as if they had one mind.

"Ash is holding back despite the fact that they both appear evenly matched, and I can tell Sack knows it as well," Carl, Sack's father, tells Gray, Ash's father. Carl is torn between feeling insulted that Ash isn't going all out for his son and proud that his friend's son is so strong that he needs to hold back from his own son. Gray is experiencing the same turmoil as Carl, but his emotions are the polar opposite of Carl's. Opposite because he is proud of his son while also dissatisfied with him for holding back. Those feelings change after seeing Ash gain even more speed, dodging all the attacks aimed at him, and then striking right on Sack's stomach, sending him flying back while knocking the wind out of him.

Without waiting another second, Ash dashes towards the laying down Sack at twice the speed he was before. After being over Sack's head, he punches him right in the stomach, shattering the ground beneath him. In Sack's eyes, it's as if he teleported in front of him, while his right hand moves so quickly towards his stomach that he doesn't have time to block, let alone dodge. Even though they couldn't see what was happening until the end, the children who were watching have surprising expressions once again. Gray and Carl approach them both after the duel is over. Gray speaks first after getting close enough to say "You are both very strong; keep practicing like this and you will both reach even greater heights. And don't be discouraged, Sack; you are also strong; in fact, you are currently stronger than I was when I was your age."

Carl nods in agreement with Gray. They are both extremely strong, so much so that it appears as though they have been training for years. It's unbelievable; if someone told him something like this without knowing these two, he'd think they were crazy, but seeing these two train like true professionals has convinced him that he's dreaming it all up. However, at the same time, he knows this is true; after all, he helped train them every day to become this strong. Whether it's a dream or not, it's still a positive possibility, so thinking about it for much longer won't help me or them in any way, Carl reasoned. "I believe this is sufficient training for today. Have you both forgotten that we are leaving in a month and that we need to prepare for that trip? I understand you needing to get stronger because you never know what might happen, but we would be there for the same reason. You two are still children; leave the difficult work to us adults "Carl says after completing his thought.

After assisting Sack in getting up, Ash shifts his body closer to the two adults to discuss what Carl had said. "No, I understand... we completely understand, it's just that we thought it would be better for us to build up our strength before the trip. I know you're both very strong, and I don't doubt it, but just in case something were to happen, we'd be able to defend ourselves a little better "Ash tries to persuade them of their reasoning. He knows that won't work; after all, two five-year-old boys without mana will be powerless against beings with mana. Ash is well aware of this, thanks to what "Jack" has done. He is attempting to persuade them because he wishes to continue training. He's not a train addict; all he wants is to get stronger.

"HAHAHAA, let them be Carl, and let them train. It's not a bad thing to want power; it's how that power is used for evil that's the problem. Ash also makes an excellent point; in the end, it may not be necessary, but they will be a little more safe "Gary says this seemingly out of nowhere. Sighing Carl turns around and walks away with Gray right behind him, saying "do as you wish." The two boys, on the other hand, exchange smiles. "Let's keep training, Sack," Ash says, taking a combat stance. "Let us" Sack does the same thing as Ash. Two great forces collide once more, while the children watching are at a loss for what to do.

A MONTH LATER 

ASH'S POV 

The departure date has arrived, and it is a chilly day. If the temperature dropped even further, I'm sure it would start to snow. I'm currently dressed in an all-black jacket with a red scarf around my neck. I'm also dressed in long black pants in the same color boots. This trip would take at least a month, and we had prepared all of the necessities for it, so I don't think anything would go wrong along the way, or so I hope.

You can find story with these keywords: To Start Again, Read To Start Again, To Start Again novel, To Start Again book, To Start Again story, To Start Again full, To Start Again Latest Chapter