Ibaeran spent the days that followed training with Bafuro.

It wasn’t an easy thing and Bafuro certainly was taking it easy on her as even though he might have been old, he could still fight and every time he and Ibaeran would spar together he would always defeat before then telling her why she failed to defeat him and then proceed to start with another sparring match which he would once again win and then once again proceed to tell her why and how she failed.

Bafuro did not seem to care that she was girl and he forced her go through excruciatingly painful and brutal training but Ibaeran did not fail to impress as she pushed herself to train harder and harder, driven by the desire to keep the promise she made to Preyina.

Ibaeran got stronger as the days passed and slowly, she was molding herself to be a great warrior but even with all the progress she had made she still doubted herself and feared that when the time came, she would fail.

Ibaeran, even with how far she had gone feared that she might fail and doubt continued to trouble, feeling her mind up with fear.

Her doubt in herself and her abilities made her fear that after working so hard and coming as far as she did, she might fail.

One night after a long day of train Ibaeran and Bafuro sat down on the floor enjoying their dinner.

Bafuro barely torched his food though and just watched as Ibaeran ate.

Ibaeran noticed the way her master was not eating

She then asked, “Why aren’t you eating”.

“No reason, I’m just thinking about something” said Bafuro.

“And what might that be” asked Ibaeran.

“How many warriors had come to see with each of them believing they could be the next Su Baera yet the only warrior that ever came to me showing great promise doubts that she could be next Su Baera” said Bafuro.

Ibaeran then stopped eating upon hearing what Bafuro said.

“Tell me child, why go through so much but still have doubt in yourself and your abilities” asked Bafuro.

Ibaeran remained silent not knowing what to tell her master.

“Why do you want to be the Su Baera” said Bafuro.

Ibaeran just sighed before saying, “I had a dream and, in that dream, I saw a lady with wings made of light, she told me I would be the next Su Baera and then place her hand on my neck. When I woke this mark was on my neck, actually I didn’t notice it was there it was actually a friend of mine name Pre…” Ibaeran stopped herself from completing the story not wanting to talk about Preyina as she was still healing and mourning over her death.

Bafuro noticed her hesitation to complete the story; he also took a special interest to the part with the lady with wings made of light.

“The lady with wings made of light” said Bafuro with a smile on his face.

Ibaeran sense from the way Bafuro spoke about the lady he knew about her or maybe he had even seen her before.

“Do you know who she is, the lady with the light wings” asked Ibaeran.

“I don’t know much about her. After I won the tournament all those years ago, I was taken a strange cave by the Uha Tamunarans. They told me the steel wings of the Su Baera was in the cave and that I should go and claim it for myself so I did. The Uha Tamunaran themselves did not follow in; I guess it was probably because they were scared of the steel wing’s power. I went in and found inside the cave the steel wings of the Su Baera. It truly was breathe taking as it shunned with a beautiful silver glow and its raw power could felt be felt through the air I breathed and the ground I walked upon. It was truly a sight to behold” said Bafuro remembering the unforgettable moment when he first so the wings for the first, how it shone brighter than any diamond or gem and The Overwhelming power he felt as he approached it.

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“Why didn’t you try to claim it for yourself then” asked Ibaeran.

“Who says I didn’t. I like every single warrior that ever won the tournament before me believed they were destined to be next Su Baera. Tried to claim the wings for myself but before I could someone stopped me” said Bafuro.

“Who?” asked Ibaeran?

“A cloaked lady with wings made of light” said Bafuro.

Ibaeran’s eyes then widened in shock upon hearing what Bafuro said.

“I myself didn’t believe it when I saw her for the first time. I wasn’t even sure of what she was as she did not seem like an Uha Tamunaran but yet she was not human either. I stood before the lady too frightened to move or even speak but then the lady spoke with an angelic voice, telling me not to be afraid. I calmed down after hearing her sweet angelic voice” said Bafuro.

“She told me that I could try to claim the wings of the Su Baera like many others before me but if I did and was not worthy its power would destroy me. After that she vanished and left me there to make a choice between claiming the wings of the Su Baera and risk being destroyed by it or leave without claiming it” said Bafuro.

Ibaeran understood from the look on his face alone the choice he made.

“You left it didn’t you?” asked Ibaeran.

“I’m alive aren’t I” said Bafuro.

“Why did you choose to leave, why not take the risk and claim the wings of the Su Baera” asked Ibaeran.

“Because I understood one simple thing and that was that I wasn’t worthy. The Su Baera is a selfless warrior, a hero in every sense of the word; he protected all the nations of the world not because he had to but because he could. I like the many other warriors only wanted the wings because I wanted to be free not because I wanted to save our people or protect the nations of the world, I was just tired of being a slave” said Bafuro.

“And after that I came to the forest and made a home from myself far from the city and the control of the Uha Tamunaran’s. I decided to train warriors who believed they could be the next Su Baera because I felt that if I couldn’t become the next Su Baera, I was obligated to at least train him or her in this case” said Bafuro.

“And the Uha Tamunarans just let you leave?” asked Ibaeran finding it hard to believe that the Uha Tamunarans would just allow any of their precious slaves to leave.

“I was only one man, they probably thought I would need them to survive out here on my own and would most likely perish without them besides they would never waste their time to retrieve a single slave when they have so many” said Bafuro.

“So, you just left” said Ibaeran, shocked upon hearing how easy it was for Bafuro to leave the oppressive hands of the Uha Tamunaran.

“Didn’t you do the same thing when you chose to come here so I could train you” asked Bafuro.

Ibaeran upon hearing what Bafuro said remained silent for a few moments, thinking but coming to the realization that he was right, she did the same thing Bafuro did and just left her miserable life as an the Uha Tamunaran slave, her Uha Tamunaran masters probably did not care enough about a single slave to be bothered by her absence after they had plenty of slaves to take her place.

To the Uha Tamunaran the people meant nothing to them and because they were so many of them they would not really care if a few of them were hurt, went missing or even died after all they could always be replaced by another slave, the grim and saddest truth of being a slave to the Uha Tamunaran was that you were worthless to them in every single way, your life could at any moment end and they wouldn’t even care enough to pick you dead body from the spot where your life ended.

And the most painful and sad part of it all was that, they weren’t really captive, they weren’t caged or chained by steel shackles and they could leave whenever they wanted but they choose to stay with their masters out of fear of the power the Uha Tamunaran possessed and what they would do to them with that power if anyone of them were to stepped out of line, they were essentially prisoners who didn’t have the luxury of being caged in a cell but instead were locked up in a cage of their immense fear for the Uha Tamunaran and their power.

Bafuro then looked Ibaeran in the eye before sighing and then proceeded to ask Ibaeran a question that had been bothering him since the very day he found her standing in front of his door step, “Why do you want to be the Su Baera?”

Ibaeran looked back at him but could not give him an answer and the honest truth was she didn’t have an answer to give.

Ibaeran never even wanted to be the Su Baera and the only reason she was working so hard was only because she wanted to keep her promise to Preyina.

“I…” Ibaeran forced herself to say something but no word agreed to come out of her mouth.

Bafuro just smiled at her before saying, “I hope you figure it out Ibaeran”.

Bafuro then finished his meal and then made his way to his room.

“Get some rest Ibaeran remember you have to wake up early to train. The tournaments will start in a few mouths and you have to be ready” said Bafuro before he entered his room.

Ibaeran, after Bafuro left, lied down on the sheets on the floor and as she did so she couldn’t help but think about what Bafuro asked her.

As she thought about what Bafuro asked her she began to think about how big of a responsibility being the Su Baera was.

She thought about all the power she would possess if she became the next Su Baera and what that would mean for.

She would have to be the one to protect all the nations of the world.

Everyone would be counting on her to fight the battle they couldn’t.

If she became the Su Baera, she would have to take on the responsibility of the Su Baera, to protect the nations of the world.

Ibaeran feared that she would not be able to handle the power and responsibility if she became the Su Baera as she wasn’t even sure that she wanted to be the great and mighty Su Baera.