Chapter 5

Awakening in a strange, unfamiliar world, Ken found himself plunged into a sea of confusion and anxiety.

Just moments ago, he had been at the clan treasury, witnessing the heartbreaking murder attempt against his mother.

Now, he found himself surrounded by an unknown environment, struggling to make sense of the bizarre turn of events.

"Where am I? This isn't right. Something is wrong," he thought to himself with confusion clouding his mind.

Immediately, Ken's eyes darted towards the figure of his mother, her prone form now lying motionless in a strange and foreign place.

The sight of an unknown elderly looking man hovering over her, hands lightly probing her core, sent a surge of panic coursing through his veins, his protective instincts raging to the forefront.

Adrenaline pumping, Ken lunged forward, intent on defending his mother's honor, only to find his limbs leaden and unresponsive.

The exertion of his recent fight had left him weakened, his body buckling under the weight of his own determination.

As Ken hit the ground with a dull thud, his strength utterly sapped as a wave of confusion compounded his desperation.

With the memory of his mother's attack still vivid in his mind, he struggled to reconcile his body's failure with his desperation to protect her.

"What's wrong with me?" he thought to himself.

His heart pounding in his chest as he grappled with the unanswerable question.

"Why can't I move? I have to save her...but I don't even remember how we got here..." He thought to himself.

Paralyzed on the hard ground, Ken's head swirled with panic and confusion as he watched the elderly man tend to his mother's unmoving body.

Though he could sense a faint recollection of the fight that had taken place in front of the treasury at his clan, his memories were shrouded in the haze of trauma.

As he layed there, unable to move, he cast a doubtful gaze at the elderly man, a storm of emotions raging inside him.

“Would this old man hurt my mother? Or was he trying to help?” Ken's desperation to protect his mother warred with his inability to comprehend the situation, leaving him frozen, his heart pounding in his chest.

With his eyes focused on the elderly man, Ken felt a blend of relief and uncertainty seep through him.

Relieved that the elderly man before him seemed to lack the malicious intent of the attackers who had assaulted his home, but uncertain of this unfamiliar figure's true intentions, he still had doubts.

As the elderly man’s gentle hands tended to his mother's body, Ken's gaze caught on the elderly man’s tools and deliberate movements.

A glimmer of understanding began to take root.

“Perhaps this old man was not an enemy, but a healer, attempting to save my mother's life” He thought to himself.

Ken held his breath, forcing his body to obey his commands.

As he forced himself to rise, the elderly man’s gaze drifted towards him, his expression was grave but not unkind.

In that moment, the tension in Ken's body seemed to ease, the fear that had been coursing through his veins giving way to a cautious hope.

"She has sustained grave injuries," the elderly man spoke in a quiet, measured tone.

"But she is strong. And with the right care, she may yet live." He said as he took his gaze back from Ken to his mother.

Ken's eyes widened at the elderly man’s words, relief and a strange sense of gratitude washing over him.

Slowly, he began to relax, his body easing into the ground beneath him as he let out a shaky breath.

"What can I do to help?" he asked the elderly man, his voice as little as a whisper.

The elderly man stared at Ken with a look of understanding.

"There is nothing you can do now. You need to rest, regain your strength. I will do all I can to save her."

"While her body may be healed, her core has suffered significant damage," the elderly man revealed, his words like a dagger to Ken's already-wounded heart.

"She may never be able to use her core energy again. It will be a long and arduous road to recovery, and even then, she may never regain her former strength."

Ken's world seemed to shatter at the elderly man's words. The very essence of his mother's power, her identity as a warrior and a clan member, had been stripped away by the assailants.

Ken's eyes moved from the elderly man’s face to his mother's still form.

Stunned into silence, Ken sat immobile, his eyes fixed on his mother's prone form.

Questions flooded his mind.

“How would she cope? How would i protect her? What would become of us now?” He thought to himself.

In the absence of the familiar heat of her core energy, he felt a chill take hold of his heart.

As the moments stretched into silence, the elderly man continued to attend to Ken's mother, his movements deliberate and skilled.

Finally, the elderly man broke the silence with a gentle voice. "She is stable for now, I suggest you stay with her so she wouldn’t freak out when she wakes up”

Ken stared at him and agreed with a nod.

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