Javal was a bit took aback at Yasei’s quick thinking to block the razor leaves but not completely surprised that he was able to do it in time. He quickly ran as fast as his legs could carry him and jumped up trying to land an upwards slash at Yasei hoping that his stopping ice breath would be enough of a distraction to get a good hit in. He had given everything that he had tried his best if the upward slash didn’t work then the battle would be over. As Javal jumped and slashed hoping it would at least connect, he was suddenly shocked to see it get circumvented then quickly retaliated with a blow straight for the head. He was only able to feel it hit the right side of his head, suddenly he felt like he was falling and then everything went black. He had been knocked into unconsciousness due to the blow and also completely drained of energy due to his injuries.

With a sharp crack to the side of his head, Javal was falling back, knocked unconscious by the blow. Yasei quickly stepped forward and caught Javal before he hit the ground, not wanting him to get any more hurt than he already was. Really, he didn't even mean to hit him in the head like that, he had just reacted in the moment and now he felt terrible.

It was just supposed to be a friendly sparring match, so hitting Javal in the head like that might have been a bit too far. Then again, Javal had been fighting with his blade, trying to cut Yasei, so maybe it was Yasei's fault for not taking the fight as seriously as he should have. He hadn't even unsheathed his own blade, just fighting by using it as a staff the whole time.

With a sigh, Yasei checked to make sure he was still alive, holding a hand in front of his mouth to feel his breath on his palm. He was still breathing, so that was good. Unfortunately, Yasei didn't have any healing magic, so all he could do was wait for him to wake up on his own. He carried Javal over near the now leafless tree thanks to Javal's magic and laid him down on the ground before sitting with his back against the trunk, cushioned by his own fluffy tail.

How long was it supposed to take someone to wake up after being hit in the head? An hour? A day? Yasei wasn't really sure, so after a few minutes he just pulled out his staff and started poking Javal in the stomach to see if he would wake up.

"Oyyyy, Bochannn. Are you okay? Oyyyyyy."

The last thing that Javal felt was a quick sharp blow to the side of his head and suddenly darkness consumed his vision. Soon after only seeing darkness, Javal saw a vision of his swordsmanship master Ronrik in front of him shaking his head. The scene then shifted to a large and loud battle at sea between two giant galleons. Javal was looking up to see the battle seeing cannonballs fly and pirates fall to the water below. After a little bit of observing the battle, Javal tried to swim closer only to find he was starting to sink. Soon he felt himself getting pulled deeper into the water.



He then saw his former pirate captain, Captain Wilford’s ghost in front of him shaking his head he then shrieked, “You have failed me get stronger to learn the truth”, the ghost then rushed to him and screamed in his face, “Wake up”.



He then jolted awake with sharp pain hitting his head and moved his arm to cover the spot of the pain.



“Woah what happened the last thing I remembered was facing an attack head on”, he then looked at Yasei, “I lost didn’t I?”, he jumped up out of Yasei’s grasp and bowed down.





“You have beaten me fair and square. For that, I must thank you for facing me in combat. You have been an honorable and great opponent. You have taught me that I have a lot to turn to in combat. Some of the maneuvers you pulled were super strong and confusing to deal with. I know this may be an irksome request but I humbly ask you to teach me your ways. The way you used your abilities and techniques has amazed me and I would like to learn how to implement that in my techniques”.

Yasei was surprised by Javal's sudden awakening, but his surprised changed to a chuckle quickly. He was glad to see he was alright after taking such a beating. Just as energetic as before, jolting up and hitting his head. Yasei kept chuckling and just nodded in response to Javal asking if he'd lost. But, Yasei was surprised again as Javal hit him with a new question.

"Hah? Mmm..." Yasei started groaning, scratching at his beard uncomfortably. "I'm no teacher. And I use a staff, not a katana. Don't use magic either." He slowly tried to decline Javal's offer as gently as he could, but he couldn't hide his awkwardness. He didn't see himself as any sort of teacher and being suddenly asked to become someone's caught him off guard.

"Nope, I don't think I can teach you anything. I use spiritual energy, not magic like you, and we use different weapons. My lessons would be useless for you." Yasei finished with a shrug and a shake of his head before he stood up from his seat under the tree.

Javal became a little bit embarrassed by his own clumsy actions and getting so easily defeated by Yasei but still remained equally as enthusiastic as before as he listened to Yasei’s response.



“Your refusal although saddening is understandable although you have said no I’ll try my best to learn from our battle and use the skills from it in the future”, Javal responded he then had a thought, “If you can’t teach me Yasei what should I teach myself what did I do wrong in that battle? What can I do better next time to defeat an opponent such as yourself” he then looked to Yasei with an excited smile ready to learn how he got so easily defeated by his strong opponent.

"Mmm, what you did wrong...." Yasei mumbled to himself as he crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked deep in thought, nodding his head slightly as he mulled it over.

He wasn't really analyzing all the details of the fight as he battled Javal, so trying to figure out what exactly his opponent had done wrong that allowed him to overpower him wasn't that easy. He decided something more general might help more anyways.

"You take things too seriously!" Yasei laughed, clapping Javal on the back. "Relax a little, Bochan! Don't choreograph every attack so much, just go with the flow. You put in too much effort with all your attacks and ran out of stamina in the end there. Hold back a little more, you know? You try too hard."

If there was only one thing Yasei could be called a master of, it would be "not trying too hard". Even that whole fight, he'd held himself back from using his full effort. It was a truly rare occasion that the huge Lion-Dog went all out in a real battle. He'd never do so in a friendly sparring match. Of course, Javal didn't need to know that.

“I take things too seriously huh”, Javal said, “How do I not take the battle seriously”, Javal pondered out loud.

He then walks  over to Yasei and bows deeply as a sign of respect, “Thank you Yasei again for your advice I will definitely implement it into my style. The way you fought was so skilled you combined skill and spirit together in ways I'm sure I can learn. You had some pretty impressive manuevers like your polearm technique and spirit attacks”.

Javal then looks over to the barren tree and chuckles, “Sorry if I kind of get carried away there I tend to put my all into all my battles”.



“So What do you want to do now my friend”, Javal asks, holding his hands behind his head happily.

Yasei shrugged. "You can still take the battle seriously, but not too seriously." He laughed heartily. No, Yasei really wasn't a good teacher. He just didn't know how to properly explain what he did. It was all instinct and experience, which were just things someone couldn't teach.

He looked at the now barren tree with a sigh. The shade beneath the pine tree would have made a really nice spot to lie down and take a good nap, but now it was a sad sight to see, all of the pine needles ripped away by Javal's magic. It was too bad. He would have liked to relax here after the fight, but it had really gotten a bit more out of hand than he'd expected. The field was full of the scattered pine needles and chunks of ice, some of the grass frozen. Their fight really did a number on the place. Well, it was mostly Javal's magic that did it, but still. It was Yasei's idea to spar in the first place, so it wasn't like he could pin all the blame on Javal.

They'd better leave before anyone came and started yelling at them for ruining the place!

"I'm going back to the bar! I could use a drink after that fight." Yasei announced with a hearty laugh before setting off. "Come on, I'll teach ya how to handle your booze! When I'm done, you'll be able to down a whole barrel and barely be buzzed."

Javal looked at his hands and was thinking Yasei’s words in his head, “I have to take the battle seriously and not too seriously at the same time, hm''. Javal then looked to Yasei and said, “Sorry I have a hard time grasping that concept usually when I fight I try to give it my all its the only way of fighting I know from growing up on a pirate crew and my swordsmanship training and that was fighting till your very last breath to survive”.



Javal then looks around to observe the damage that his and Yasei’s battle had caused.



“Woah I caused all of this I must repent for what I’ve done”, he then jumps down and bows to the ground, “I’m so sorry ground please forgive me”.’



After that, Javal walked alongside Yasei heading to the bar as they walked Javal’s eyes were filled with excitement, “Woah maybe after your teaching I can drink more than a cup of sake”, Javal then laughed at his own horrible joke.

"Ha! When we're through, you'll be able to drink a barrel of sake! Let's go!" Yasei laughed cheerfully as he gave Javal another heavy clap on his back that could have knocked an average person flat on their face. 

Javal had no idea just how bad an idea it might be to take Yasei up on such an offer. At least he wouldn't until he experienced the most dreadful hangover he'd ever experience in his life. Unfortunately, as much as Yasei could help teach him how to drink, he was no help with dealing with a hangover. The Lion-Dog had never experienced one himself, his alcohol tolerance was too high. He didn't even realize they existed.

Javal probably wouldn't even remember how he got back to his ship that night while Yasei strolled leisurely down the street in the morning, humming to himself and wondering if he'd see him again and if he'd have taken his advice to heart.