Jaejoong and his group had fled to the region of Risine after encountering Captain Jang Hyuk and his knights in the City of the Dead. They passed by several towns and villages where Jaejoong had instructed Han to get them supplies and clothing while the rest of their group remained in the outskirts. Jaejoong had sent Han because he could go into towns and villages without attracting attention to himself, unlike Jaejoong, Donghae and Dara whose faces were known to most people. Jaejoong also didn't want to test Donghae and Dara's loyalty, yet.

Every time Han came back to them, he brought in more food and supplies than the equivalent amount of money Jaejoong had given him. The warrior simply explained that he was good at bargaining and using his charm with the female shopkeepers.

They soon found a secret oasis in the desert of Risine with the help of Cloud.

Cloud’s vast storage of information brought them to a perfect sanctuary. The oasis was hidden between two rocky mountains known as Agora. Risine folks had always used the two mountains as a point of reference when travelling the dessert. None had yet dared inspect or climb the mountains because it was located deep into the burning desert of Risine. From afar, Agora mountain looked like one huge mountain. Even if one managed to walk around it, he would still think that Agora was only one mountain. But from above and Cloud's point of view, one could see that Agora was two mountains standing side by side. A small and almost undetected pass was the only way to get to the oasis between the mountains. Time and patience was needed to find the existence of the pass.

Cloud who had been wandering the world of Haldor for thousands of years had all the time needed to completely map every part of Haldor. The black cloud had discovered the oasis several decades ago. Intrigued and curious if there was another way to reach the oasis, he meticulously checked every nook and cranny of the twin mountains until he found the hidden pass.

The oasis was visible when seen from above. Luckily, the air balloons used by the Haldorians to travel across the vast land of Haldor were incapable of reaching the heights of the Agora mountain peaks. And since the Oracle had done everything to stop progress and the discovery of faster and higher flying air transportations, the secret of the Agora mountain remained unknown to Haldorians.

The secret oasis inside the Agora mountains provided Jaejoong and his group water to drink and sources of food. Plants and trees growing around the oasis provided fruits and berries for them. And since most animals and birds knew the existence of the oasis, they occasionally had meat on their diet when they managed to capture the animals that came to drink.

Jaejoong knew they could hide here for years. But Jaejoong had told Captain Jang Hyuk that he would go back to the City of Solaris and destroy the Oracle. He still had every intention of doing that. Living in this place was peaceful. But it would soon bore him. He needed to settle things with the Oracle before he could really have a long and peaceful life.

The only reason he had not yet grown bored with the place was because of the training Han was giving him and Dara. Dara’s training was simple since she already had Jaejoong's fighting skills and reflexes. Not to mention his horsemanship. She only needed to train her body to have more strength and stamina to last through several fights.

Jaejoong on the other hand, had to start from the basics. His body and reflexes had to re-learn everything he knew! And only after perfecting the basics of fighting, did Han teach him the different styles and tricks the warrior had learned from all his travels and adventure around Haldor.

It took Jaejoong two years before he became the undisputed champion in the Fist Fight Arena and ten years to master sword fighting from Ji-Ho. But now, he only had three months to re-learn how to properly wield a sword and defeat a man using only his hands and feet!

And it was all his fault!

He thought three months would be enough for him to get back his skills since only his body had forgotten how to fight and his mind still remembered everything. He was wrong! No matter how much he trained his body, he couldn't recover fast enough the skills and reflexes he had mastered for years.

After trying several times to defeat or at least touch Han's body with the wooden sword he proudly created from a tree branch, Jaejoong realized that even if he got back his fighting skills, he would never be able to defeat the warrior. He was also forced to admit that he wouldn't be able to defeat Han even after years of training. Han was like a force of nature. Impossible to stop and predict.

He couldn't help but suspect sometimes that Han wasn't really human, but a deity or a monster like in one of those stories Cloud liked to tell. The little black cloud had decided to continue giving Jaejoong knowledge, in short, teaching him. After training with Han the whole day, Cloud insisted that Jaejoong listened to his unending lectures or stories. Cloud's lectures often made Jaejoong sleepy, only the threat of getting hit by thunderbolts forced him to remain awake. He once suggested that Cloud get inside his head again to speed up his learning. To his surprise, the cloud refused, citing that going inside Jaejoong's mind was too claustrophobic for him and brought out undesirable memories during the time when the little cloud was trapped inside him because of the presence of the Oracle's fireshadow.

Jaejoong, though, appreciated Han's training and Cloud's teachings. The two were helping him become much stronger and better than what he was before.

But getting beaten again and again by Dara was damaging his pride and manhood! Even if she now possessed all his fighting skills and abilities, he still towered over her five-foot-eight-inch height! He should in theory be able to at least get in one successful punch. His limited foresight should also be able to help him.

Unfortunately, Dara continued to make mincemeat out of him whenever he sparred with her! His power of foresight proved ineffective with close-in fighting. Because even before he could see Dara's move, her attacks and punches had already been delivered directly to his face and body! He was often left bruised and flat on his back after every sparring session! His pride thoroughly diminished.

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