The warm winds rustled the vibrant vegetation with a sporadic and peaceful rhythm, as a brilliant gleam of the golden glistening sun glittered within the natural morning dews, atop the succulent grass. Tingling one's sense of smell, a breath of petrichor brought in a feeling of relaxation and tranquility, and the entire scenery presented itself as a fresh start for any individual, a new beginning in the phase of life.

"Ha...hup!", outside the small wooden hut, a revitalized Legas stretched his muscles with a round of side sit-ups.

The boy's face oozed with a glow of excitement and determination, having gained his mobility after a long period of complete stillness. His copper-toned body appeared flawless, the wounds and scars from the life-threatening battles being wiped off in entirety as if they hadn't existed in the first place. None would believe at the fact that this child had persisted through an arduous and traumatizing hell just a few days ago.

"I can't believe it was so fast," the old man mumbled, ruffling his chest-length beard as he carefully observed the boy's 'can not be less than perfect' physique. "Adding on a few days of unconsciousness, your entire body had healed within less than two weeks. Simply unbelievable!"

"I can't believe that this is, my own body," Legas appeared bewildered, flexing his ripped muscles all over. "It feels as if I have been reborn?"

"Your senses should also have sharpened, right?"

"They have," the boy took in a deep breath in an attempt to pour all of the lingering fragrances into his nose. "It feels as if this is not the same world that I used to perceive."

His eyes hovered around the dense and luscious scenery, not missing even a single detail as close to the veins of a leaf a dozen meters away. A distant gurgle of flowing water assaulted his ears that gave away the location of a surging river within the hills. Most importantly, the presence of various powerful, and terrifying beings that prickled his skin had astonished the boy the most.

Legas reckoned that they must be deep inside the valleys, a place which his parents had strictly prohibited to venture. If he tried to get back to the village from here, he would probably be shredded to pieces before traveling a measly hundred meters. But there remained one thing that had troubled the boy this entire time, his face distorting in a frown as he glanced back at the old stranger who stood behind.

Nothing. Not a wisp of presence could be sensed emanating out from the man, and even with his heightened senses, Legas couldn't find the trick to it. The old man stood like any other normal human, but the boy felt as if he was looking at a ghost.

"What?" the old stranger asked with a faint smile, noticing the boy's perplexion.

"You sure play dirty, geezer," Legas said with a tinge of displeasure. "If I depart away from this place alone, I would become a monster snack within no time. I am stuck here with you until I become strong enough to handle this forest. Isn't that so?"

"Hahaha, you are overthinking, kid. I won't shift away from my long dwelled place just for you now, will I?"

"But you did go through all the trouble of nursing me for days. Why? Why me?" Legas asked back with a face of curiosity.

"Hmm, well, even I cannot believe in this situation, but seeing you right in front of my eyes, I can't help but question back the factuality of this one legend."

"Legend?"

"Yes, legend," the old man pointed his finger ahead. "If I am not wrong, you, kid, carry the blood of a mythic clan that had supposedly existed centuries ago. The Rakshashas."

"...hah?"

"Wait, let me explain in detail," the old man interrupted the dumbfounded boy as he took in a deep breath.

"You know Einhart, right? The undefeated human emperor who conquered everything within this continent? Well, the legends of the Rakshasha clan date back to his time, around six centuries prior."

"You see, all of Einhart's conquest was recorded in great detail. His relationships with the dwarves, his support of the beastkin, the subjugation of the Elven kingdom, negotiations with the mighty dragons, everything had been pinned down to books and pages with striking accuracy. But..." he pointed his finger downwards before continuing. "But his expedition to the south is what remains the most mysterious, and there exists nothing in written proof regarding that."

"...why?"

"Think about it. Why would only one adventure of the undefeated emperor need to be buried within the canals of history," the old man asked with a faint smile.

"Umm, no idea," Legas shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe he didn't want the masses to learn of something?"

"Correct. Einhart had traveled far and wide, never having failed in his conquest once in all of the lands...according to written history. But, he had supposedly suffered a crushing defeat under the hands of this one group of people. Even though his thousands-strong army had then consisted of elites among the elites, they could not overcome a few hundreds of humans."

"It all came known when the emperor lay on his death bed and had barfed out the truth hidden for years. Do you know how he had described the scene back then," the old man held a face of excitement, and his eyes glowed with the sparkle of a little child.

"How?" Legas asked, equally submerged within the tale.

'It was useless. Each one of them could subdue tens among us. The finest dwarven weapons were bent and distorted under their bare arms. The elven arrows were akin to toothpicks hitting their skin. The strongest of beastmen were overthrown like infant cubs. Even the dragons had their magical tongues pitifully ripped out like mere fabric. Anything we tried, was swatted away with pure, raw strength. It was a total disaster.'

.

The old man exhaled a deep breath after he had finished the narration in one go, eyeing the boy's expression with curiosity. Legas' face had gone transfixed, as if he could imagine each scene mentioned, with vivid and gruesome details. It felt like he physically stood within that ancient, breathtaking battlefield for a moment and his lower jaw had hung down under sheer amazement, making his mouth go wide open.

"The physical limits of humanity. That's what Einhart had described them as," the old man continued with a face of pity. "His statements had been buried later, under many pretenses by the imperial family. They probably thought such a revelation could cause mass panic, and also destroy the unparalleled image of the first emperor. Information on any sort of contact with the clan after Einhart's rule remains unknown and their very existence became a legend during the upcoming decades."

"The physical limits..." Legas muttered in astonishment. The immense weight that laced the phrase stood too high for him to even imagine. "And you say I carry their blood? But how?" he glanced at his own hands with widened eyes.

"Not just carry, you utilized the latent power of their bloodline...Genetics works in mysterious ways," the old stranger sighed with amazement.

"A lot of people probably bear some portion of their blood in today's time, since it's nigh impossible for such a clan to have been wiped out in a single night. But among all of them, only you were talented enough to activate the powerful traits that had remained recessive over generations."

"But mother! and even Lora had used that weird power!"

"That is different," the old man's voice turned solemn. "For them, the trait was still recessive, but under dire circumstances, they had traded their life force to forcefully kick start it for a short while. That is why they had died right after."

shudder!

"Th-That's not true!" Legas' body flinched and his pupils constricted to dots. "Even I would have died if not for...!"

"You wouldn't," the old man interrupted, shaking his head. "As long as you had the will to live, even without my help, your body would have naturally healed up. My treatment had just fastened the process."

"Th-That's..."

"It was your aura that I had felt up here. Your family had only used a partial transformation," he put forth the harsh truth with a tinge of pity in his eyes.

Legas stood stunned. The vivid images of his sister's condition set forth traumatic explosions within his mind. Right, before her strange transformation, Lora had already been on the verge of death.

"hahaha...", a bleak and hollow laugh escaped the boy's throat. "So, while I was being thrashed all over without having accomplished a single thing, they had been using up their very lives, to save me?"

Under a heavy sense of guilt, Legas bit his lips almost hard enough to bleed. A dreary feeling of uselessness gushed out, drowning down his heart as the boy shivered. It took a few deep breaths as a cost for him to regain composure before he gazed at the old man with a face of resolve.

"Teach me...how to control this power."

"Well, of course, I can't do that.", the old man replied in a bland tone that felt like a hammer strike, as the boy's pupils widened in shock.