A thunderclap echoed in the sky, originating from the lightning beam which tore through the clouds and suddenly twisted toward the ground, deciding to descend.

That lightning landed in the middle of the jungle.

Boom...

A small crater was formed in the place where it landed, birthing a fog which started to rise up and disperse, revealing a human sitting on his butt, legs spread, arms on the ground, and face to the sky.

It was Kiesh, and now he was witnessing a weapon coming toward his direction from the sky: a circulating axe!

It flashed and landed beside him, stabbing the ground.

"Ohhh," he exhaled his breath, trying to gather his thoughts and understand the events around him affecting his life.

"What the... what's happening today? I'm being transported from one place to another; it doesn't even feel magical now," Kiesh asked himself, remembering each time he crossed space and boundaries. 

First, it was from Earth to a banyan tree where his body deconstructed, then to Deepstoksect, followed by the portal, and now the lightning.

"Welp, it's not like I am complaining, but if I had to choose the mode of transportation, I will go with lightning," Kiesh remarked.

Kiesh liked the lightning one best. That river of blue sparks coiling around his body made him feel weightless and free, especially the moment when these blue lightning bolts brought him into the sky. At that time, he felt like freedom was in his palm, and nothing mattered to him except the present.

He enjoyed the sight of blurring clouds left and right accompanying his journey, along with the green ocean of leaves below.

"How... how thrilling."

"I like it…"

While reminiscing about his current journey, Kiesh stood up to reach for the axe which had accompanied him in the ride. This axe was given to him by Master Paras.

 Kiesh observed the surroundings.

There were nothing but trees present everywhere: right, left, in front, even behind.they were humongous, reaching up to halfway sky, with dense branches and bushes filtering the sunlight, making the dust around him illuminated.

-Ding!-

"Oh, this too..." he said, remembering the reasons for coming here.

[Punishment: 100 days of seclusion in the deep forest of Vatika to learn the way of warrior]

< Description:-You have disrespected a Cultivator by badmouthing him in front of mortals, thus you are deemed guilty of charge. >

< Always remember there is nothing more important than respect and dignity for the warrior, thus you are issued a task to learn about the value of dignity and the way of a warrior. >

"How petty; a warrior who is offended by a remark of mortals. Believe me, bro, if you lose your cool just because of some words, then you are in no position to call yourselves a warrior."

Kiesh jumped up, landed on the nearby stone, pointing his axe toward the sky, and said,

"A warrior is one who is ready to face anything, one who does not falter in front of danger, one who is always ready to face danger, a person always on guard, mindless words from foolish mouth doesn't affect him; in fact, nothing could make him phase… "

"A person full of composure, calmness, and guts"

" There is nothing which could surprise him."

"That's a warrior."

Kiesh said with majestic elegance spilling through his posture, as he stood on the stone with both hands behind his back. He finished his speech with the line,

 "Just like me."

Swish, a sound echoed from behind kiesh.

"Who's there?"

Before Kiesh could turn around, the branches of the nearby trees came to life, rushing toward him and grabbing his legs, hanging him upside down in the middle of the air.

It didn't stop there; instead, more and more vines surged up, gaining life. These tree branches rushed toward him like octopus tentacles, hovering all around Kiesh, giving off a sinister vibe.

In response to that, Kiesh tightened his grip on the handle of the axe and slashed at the incoming branch, making it lifeless, evident as it fell to the ground. But before it could land, a second branch took the lead, attacking him like a venomous viper tearing through the air. This was not the end; more and more vines rushed from every direction, his right side. Kiesh rotated his body in midair and slashed at one of the pointy peaks.

Kiesh was always good at sports; football and cricket were his favorites, but that did not mean he was bad at other games. In fact, it was the opposite; because of his fast reflexes and quick thinking, he already triumphed over any athletic sports.

That was the major reason Kiesh was able to counterattack these branches: his quick reflexes helped him. He cut those branches one by one, displaying his skill.

But soon, the increasing quantity of viper like nemesis and his depleting stamina made Kiesh realize this was out of his league. 

A horde of tree vines surrounded him from every direction; one or two that were slashed aside didn't amount to much.

"Wait, no!!" His final scream of plea echoed in the forest, waking up the sleeping birds and hibernating animals.

Kiesh's ultimate fate was to be hung on the tree. These tree branches wrapped around him, taking the shape of a cocoon. This cocoon was like a bundle of tree bark, swinging here and there in high positions like a fruit.

Those swirling vines now calmed down.

After a while, the cocoon which had swallowed Kiesh swung, trembling in the air like an egg waiting to be hatched; while circulating around.

—Slash!

—Slash!

This sound echoed, and the surface of the cocoon shook;

 in a particular place, a vertical gap became visible.

Slash.

It was narrow, too narrow, the size of a thumb.

Slash.

In the next slash, it widened.

Slash.

It became the size of a finger.

And then it continued to get wider until a sharp edge of the axe was outside.

Axe mouth part which was outside descended down, tearing apart the surface of cocoon in two parts like a blade cutting cloth revealing Kiesh figure who pushed himself outside, landing on the ground with a

—Thud!

"What the hell is this…"

Kiesh faced the tree, which loomed over him, dwarfing his form. Currently, it was calm without any movement like a normal tree, but Kiesh knew this was not it. The moment he lost his guard, these branches hovering above will attack him trapping him again in that dark place where taking a breath was too much of hassles.

Kiesh still remembered the feeling of getting trapped inside a cocoon surrounded by darkness without any light struggling to breath and feeling like energy depleting rapidly. 

"How... how dare you trap me, vegetables…" he said between breaths. After all, being inside that cocoon was suffocating.

Kiesh ran toward the tree, skill fully avoiding the branches here and there.

His goal was to remove this nemesis from the face of the earth!