The day after Miko had defeated him, Shòuxíng was sitting on the floor in a dark room by himself. Images of what happened the day before repeatedly flashed in his head.

(Your problem is the same as Jin’s. You have immense power lurking inside you but you just refuse to let it loose.)

He clenched his teeth.

(Do you think you can protect Hana being like that? Do you think she’s happy with you being a lapdog for her sake?)

“Shut up…”

(No! You’re just hurting her!)

“I said shut the fuck up!”

He sprang to his feet and shouted.

(Stop being a fucking coward! If it’s to protect her who cares what you become she’ll still love you! Just don’t throw away your pride for her, that will only make her hate herself!)

He fell to his knees holding his head.

“Get the fuck out of my head!”

He then slammed his head on the ground so hard that it cracked open. Shòu’s consciousness then started to fade and he laid out limped on the ground.

The location was the Day Continent, a place that hardly saw night. The constant sunlight had caused the continent to have several desert areas. In one of these deserts, a sole child was walking wrapped in a cloth to prevent him from the sunlight. The strangest thing about this was that the cloth the child was wrapped in was stained with blood. He walked silently through the desert with heavy steps with a dead look in his eyes. After some time, the child’s feet stopped and he scanned the area with eyes.

“……….”

After a while, he started walking again.

“Rah!”

He heard a roar and turned around and found himself looking into the mouth of a serpentine beast that was seconds away from swallowing him whole. The child didn’t panic and actually leaped into the beast’s mouth. He clenched his fist that was covered with gold scales and threw a punch. His punch blew a hole in the monster’s body. It fell dead at the child’s feet. The child only looked at its corpse for a bit before pulling out a knife to started cutting up the body.

“So this is where you were, Shòuxíng.”

The boy heard a voice and turned around and saw a tall muscular man with dark skin, white hair, and red eyes.

“Xin.”

“Come on, we got a job.”

Shòuxíng nodded and stood up. He followed behind Xin. The two walked until they came across a cave. They entered the cave and saw several boorish looking men with weapons in their hands.

“Oh, Boss. You finally found your kid.”

One of the men said and the others laughed.

“I told you already, he’s not my kid. I just came across him on my travels a year ago when he was almost killed by a pack of dark wolves, and saved him because I saw great potential in his abnormal strength. He’s no different than the rest of you bastards I picked up on the road.”

Xin walked towards a crate and started going through the weapons inside.

“But you named him, taught him how to fight, and fed him. That’s pretty much all my father did for me.”

“Me too.”

“Me too.”

Xin sighed and took out a glaive.

“Now I understand why you all are scummy bastards.”

He walked over to Shòuxíng and gave him the glaive before facing his men.

“Tonight, we move.”

“Oh!”

Later that day, a town located several hundred miles away from the cave was on fire. Corpses filled the streets and blood stained the sand.

“Boss, we found the thing the client requested for us to find.”

One of Xin’s men brought a small chest in front of him while was sitting on a stack of corpses. He opened it and took out what was inside. It was a golden necklace.

“All this bloodshed over a mere necklace.”

“You say that but you’re the one who took the job, Boss.”

“I know. I just find hard to swallow how cheap life is in this world sometimes.”

“I don’t really understand but don’t you think you need to do something about that?”

Xin looked where his subordinate was pointing and saw Shòuxíng fighting against a wounded soldier. He was breathing heavily and the glaive that was twice his size was trembling in his hands.

“That guy may be wounded but I don’t he’s anything a kid can handle.”

Xin looked at Shòuxíng in silence for a bit before looking away.

“Leave him. He needs to figure out what it takes to survive in this world.”

He got up off the corpses and started walking away. Meanwhile, Shòuxíng roared and swung the glaive at the man, who jumped over it and kicked him in the chest.

“Ugh!”

Shòuxíng bounced off the ground and the glaive was knocked out of his hand.

“Hey, I think Shòuxíng is gonna die this time.”

“Yeah, his enemy is too strong.”

Xin stopped walking and looked back. He saw Shòuxíng being stomped on by the soldier.

“Dammit! How dare you kill my family, you little monster?! Even if I can’t kill anybody else, I’ll make sure to send you to hell!”

He roared while he started to kick. Xin sighed.

“Shòuxíng!”

Shòuxíng looked past the enemy who was on the verge of killing him and looked at Xin.

“If you don’t want to die then you must kill! Remember, you’re a beast before you are human! So kill the prey in front of you!”

“Ahhhh!”

Shòuxíng’s eyes became slit and he roared and sunk his teeth in the man’s leg.

“Ow! Let go, you fucking brat!”

The soldier lifted his other leg to step on Shòu but Shòu suddenly got up and pushed him to the ground. Shòuxing then climbed over him and dug his fingers into the man’s eyes. He screamed out in pain and started punching Shòu on the side of the head. Shòu screamed and sunk his fangs into his neck. He ripped open his neck and caused blood to spray out. Shòu roared to the sky with blood around his mouth and his fingers digging into the man’s skull. The soldier’s screams became bone-chilling, so much that even the mercenaries felt frightened. Xin, on the other hand, nodded in approval before walking away. Shòuxíng stopped roaring and looked back to see Xin walking away. He quickly got off the soldier and ran to catch up to Xin and walked beside him.

Shòuxíng went on to spend several years with Xin and his band. During those years he killed more than he could count and had fought in many life and death battles. He was now 12 years old and was on a mission with Xin. Their job was to eradicate a merchant’s family. Xin decided that Shòuxíng was to complete the mansion on his own. Shòuxíng readily accepted and it only took 15 minutes for the mansion to be on fire.

“Please! I’ll pay you anything you—Ahh!”

He slashed the throat of an elderly woman who was dressed in fancy clothing. He then grabbed her by the hair and dragged her body as he walked through the burning mansion.

“Ekk!”

He heard a low shriek and threw the body at the door and broke it down.

“Ahh!”

He walked into the room and saw two girls his age group clinging on to each other.

“Grandma, no!”

They started bawling when they saw the elderly woman’s corpse.

“Why are you doing this?! We never did anything to you!”

Shòu looked at them with a confused expression.

“Why do you think that you must do something bad for me to come and kill you? As long as you seek to live you must kill. Isn’t that common sense?”

“What are you saying?!”

“More importantly, can any of you fight? It’s boring to kill people without a fight.”

The girls didn’t answer and only started bawling harder. Shòuxíng looked at them with a blank expression and lifted his glaive.

“I see. I’m sorry for wasting your time.”

He grinned and swung down his glaive. The screams of the girls echoed in the burning mansion.

“How was it?”

Xin asked him after he returned.

“Boring. No one was there to put up a good fight and the constant begging got on my nerves so I smashed some of their heads.”

“….I see.”

Xin lit a cigarette and took a puff of it.

“Say, Shòuxíng. You’ve been with me for almost five years now and gotten used to killing….How much would you say a life is worth?”

“I don’t know. It depends on the day I guess. I mean, if I’m starving and I can get something to eat if I killed someone I’ll kill them in a heartbeat, but if I’m full and I’ll stop and think if it’s worth it.”

Xin looked at Shòuxíng for a bit before speaking again.

“Then what would you exchange my life for?”

“Nothing, because you’re my father and your life is the most valuable thing in this world.”

Shòuxíng then started walking away with a smile on his face. Shòuxíng looked at his back and sighed.

“I’m not your father. No father would turn his son into what I made you.”

He slowly followed behind and muttered.

“I’m just a heartless piece of shit who’s a little curious about life.”

This would be the last time Shòuxíng and Xin did a job together.

Less than a week later, Shòuxíng was running desperately through the rain down the streets of a destroyed town. He saw someone laying on the ground and increased his speed.

“Xin!”

He ran up to Xin and gasped when he saw the holes in his body and blood that was leaking out of him.

“Xin! Xin!”

“I can hear you fine without the screaming.”

Xin weakly opened his eyes and looked at Shòuxíng.

“What happened?! I heard that you were fighting someone pretty strong!”

“It’s nothing. I just lost to someone stronger than me. It happens every day.”

“But-But you’re bleeding.”

“Well, would you look at that. That bastard really did a number on me.”

“This isn’t funny!”

“Sheesh. Calm down, I’m just gonna die. You’ve seen countless people die before. Just treat me like the rest.”

“But you’re not like the rest!”

He saw Shòuxíng trembling in the rain.

“You’re the only one who didn’t throw me away and allowed me to stay by your side. To me, you’re someone special!”

Shòuxíng’s shout caused Xin’s eyes to widen. He soon smiled.

“Shòuxíng, sit.”

Shòu sat down beside him after some hesitation.

“Listen, Shòuxíng. The world is a cold and cruel place; only heartless beasts can survive here. That’s why I was forced to become one….That’s why I made you into one.”

He grabbed Shòu’s hand.

“Do you remember the day we met? You were on the verge of death but you just refused to die no matter; not because you were scared of death, it was because your pride wouldn’t allow it. I was captivated by that pride that I lacked. You were like a king among beasts, someone who would make all those bigshots cower in fear. I don’t know why, but I suddenly wanted to witness the moment when you took your place on the throne. I wanted to be a part of the experience.”

“You still can!”

Xin shook his head.

“I’ve killed enough to know when someone’s beyond saving.”

“But!...What am I supposed to do without you?!”

Shòuxíng was almost screaming at the top of his lungs.

“Isn’t that obvious? Live.”

Xin started grinning.

“Live with all of your might. Live with your pride as a king among beasts. If you do that, I’m sure that you’ll be able to become someone whose life holds meaning….Unlike me.”

Shòu could feel Xin’s body becoming cold.

“Xin…”

Tears started flowing down Shòuxíng’s cheeks as he held Xin’s hang tightly.

“Shòuxíng…..”

Xin looked at him with a single tear in his eyes.

“I’m sorry for leaving you behind. If anything, you gave…my life….meaning.”

Xin closed his eyes.

“Xin! Xin! Open your eyes, Xin! Don’t leave me!”

His eyes were closed but he could hear Shòuxíng’s voice clearly. He suddenly remembered the last conversation he held with his killer.

“So how much did they pay you to kill me?”

“….Fifty gold coins.”

“Really? My life is valued that little. Hahahaha! Well, I guess that answers my lifelong question.”

(Heh. I guess we were both wrong. To this boy, my life is priceless…..I can’t say that doesn’t make me a little happy.)

That was the last thing the man called Xin thought before leaving this world.

The next day, Shòuxíng stood in front of a grave he made for Xin. He stared at the gravestone in silence before turning his back and walking away.

“Xin, I’ll do it.”

There was an intense fire burning in his eyes as he walked.

“I’ll become the person you thought you saw that day.”

His teeth turned into fangs and his nails turned into claws.

“I’ll become the king among beasts and take my place on the throne in your honor.”

That was the birth of the mad beast that ran wild on Day Continent until he encountered the one person who could calm the beast inside him. But that is a story for later.

“………”

Shòu woke up on the floor and slowly sat up.

“…Xin.”

He clenched his fists tightly and his eyes resembled that of a dragon.

“I’ll show them.”

The faces of Miko, Jin, Bloom, and all the pillars flashed in his mind.

“I’ll show them all just what kind beast they’re messing with.”

A terrifying roar came from Shòu’s body which caused the whole city to shake. He stood up with a frightening aura oozing out of his body.

“I’ll conquer them all as the King Among Beast!”