"That's it, read your opponents move, from his eyes to body movements, act accordingly if not with sight use your hearing"

Edward was sitting on top of a tree branch as the sun still hasn't risen. He overlooked a child battling a lone three-tailed fox. The fox was an average level monster that was cunning and fast, low-level adventurers would have a hard time catching.

Nemia was facing against it as he held a staff made from wood and several metals. It had engravings on it as well as several stones that gave it a beautiful presence. He wore a simple robe that was for a priest initiate but with a few modifications, the fabric was taken from the two boss wolves that gave him bonus agility and vitality, but he wasn't allowed to use the benefits and only rely on his innate abilities if not he won’t grow.

The fox lunged at him with its claws stretched out, Nemia dodged by a small space by rolling to the side and quickly countering with a sweep of his staff. But the critter jumped away and saw an opening and dashed towards him yet again and aimed for his legs, but the opening was feint. Nemia used the staff to raise his body making the attack miss and then slamming the thick staff on the poor animal, it's body crushed and innards exposed the creature was dead.

"Haaaah.....I did it"

Nemia was panting as sweat flowed down his face but he had a smile for his success.

"Better although you used a flashy attack rather than a quick way to end the fight, if it was a wolf you would have been bit, still good job"

"I'll do better next time"

"Alright, now take on 10 of these little guys and then 20 then 30 until we reach 50 and then we’ll finish up on sense training and we'll move on to spells"

At his words several more foxes appeared and surrounded Nemia, the foxes were under Edward's control with the use of his skill [Pack Master]. Nemia went into a stance and eyed the little orange critters that were going to attack him, they seemed more ferocious than the one he faced earlier, he had defeated boars, wolfs and several flying creatures for the past 5 days, he defeated each one but suffered injuries that were quickly healed by his teacher but he had the worst time when he faced something directly controlled by him.

Still, he stared at the creatures in front of him with a serious expression. Seeing this Edward couldn't help but grin.

"Begin!"

The foxes began their assault and Nemia fended them off with precise and delicate swings of his staff.

"Wow... can't believe a kid like that can take those on, he's even faster than them"

"Just goes to show that anyone has potential....but it's scary he has to face 50 of those later on......"

"I know.....I hope our training is simple.....even though we gained so much, it hurts everywhere….."

A group was talking amongst themselves as they watched a child fighting against a group of foxes. He crushed a fox under his staff as he smacked one fox from the air. They were the party of the swordsman that stalked Edward.

"Look at him go"

They kept watching him but their quiet time was soon interrupted by a cold voice.

"If you've got time to watch you've got time to do the training I told you to do, now move or do you need motivation?"

Edward gazed from above the tree as he opened his palm and a dark flame covered it.

"Ah no, no! We'll move, we'll train!"

"Right let's go!"

The group then quickly performed several different exercises.

"Haaaah, why couldn't they just be like that idiot?"

Edward glanced towards the middle of a spring, there was a red-headed man that was swinging a crimson blade that was double his size. Every time he swung the blade downward, the spring split partly, sweat covered his whole body as he was breathing heavily but he continued to swing the blade.

'Well My eyes don't lie, he'll be useful if properly trained, as well as the others.....but....since when did I become a personal trainer?'

He gave a deep sigh as he recalled the past days.

.

.

.

.

.

Nemia was resting on a nice and comfy bed, after he finished the book Edward gave him, he ate all the food and slept as he waited for Edward. He never had a comfortable rest due to the disturbances in his room, but now he could rest easy and didn't want to wake up, but all good things must come to an end.

"Wake up"

With a shake he was quickly pulled out from his slumber and back into the world. Giving a yawn he removed the rest of sleep from his eyes and stood up.

"Goodmorning, will we be training now?"

With a proper greeting, he sat up and gave a bright smile to the man beside him.

"No, I'll be teaching you lessons, I hope you finished the book."

He gave a questioning gaze but Nemia shot it down with a firm nod.

"Yes, I did, I'm ready for the next lesson"

Edward nodded and then left him to clean himself up and return to the room for the lessons to begin.

‘Inspect’

Name:

Nemia Locke

Class:

None

Race:

Human

Level:

3

Age:

12

Deity:

Merrick The Chaotic

Titles:

The Chaos Summoner, Chosen by Chaos, Priest Candidate

Fame:

0

Infamy:

5000

Guild:

N/A

Rank:

N/A

Strength:

50

Agility:

57

Vitality:

65

Resistance:

48

Intelligence:

351

Luck:

52

Magic:

273

Magic Resistance:

167

Chaos Energy:

2%

Affinity:

Fire 12%, Water 8%, Wind 7%, Earth 18%, Light 4%, Darkness 34%, Chaos 41%

Favor:

– "High Gods Blessing"

Bestows Limit Breaker, Fast Learner,

- "Merrick's Chosen Priest" - +50 % Chaos related skills

Status Effects:

"Fast Learner" - 3x Exp gain

"Limit Breaker" - Unlocks limit for growth

Skills:

Chaos Summon (Adept)

Scholar's Will

Undying Drive

'Nothing ordinary except the fact that's he's slightly ahead of me in several stats which is a good thing'

He thought to himself as he gave a brief summary, he intentionally disregarded the high infamy Nemia had and focused on his stats and skills, just like Lilac and Aya he also gained two of Edward's skills.

"Alright before we start, I'll sum up your overall abilities, you are highly above average in terms of intelligence and magic capabilities but all your physical stats are low which is understandable. But I already made a plan and if we follow it you'll have no worries getting better as you are already higher in several stats compared to me when I started. We will be doing several training sessions roughly divided into physical training, spell training and lessons"

Nemia who was sitting on a desk was eating his breakfast made by none other than Edward, his meal consisted of a hefty scrambled egg and rice combo, with some fruits on the side as well as a glass of juice. He was eating happily as he listened to Edward's lecture. After finishing all of it and cleaning his face, he asked a question.

“Is the physical training added because of the connection of the body to the mana capacity of a person?”

To his words, Edward nodded and smiled.

“Good you did read the book, well I won’t go further into details but a brief summary, imagine your body as glass and mana as water, the glass can only hold so much water so the water cannot get any larger, but if the container changed and gets larger, then the water will also increase.”

“In short if I increase my physical attributes it will affect my magical abilities as well, not only that but I will be better than most priest that rely only on spells”

Nemia cut in with a summary and once again his teacher smiled.

“Alright we will not go into the different kind of spells, the elements involved and how to invoke them as well as how to counter one, don’t fall asleep when I talk and after this, it will be physical training”

The spell lessons went for over four hours and as they were in the middle of class Nemia was continuing his eating, the reason being to regain the necessary amount of body mass he lost for the physical training. After finishing the final lessons about countering spells.

“The most efficient way to counter a mage?”

“Prevent him from casting even a spell by going into close range and attacking, if not doable prepare a spell to counter it using the opposite element or using a magic artifact to disable spells”

“Alright, we’ll stop here for now and move on to physical training, I hope you got enough fat because you’ll burn it all away, the only time you can rest is when you need to sleep and that’s only six hours, we have a tight schedule.”

To his words, Nemia only gave a nod and stood up.

“I want to exercise now that I have some strength”

He wasn’t discouraged by Edward’s words and had a firm determination to do his best, seeing this his teacher was pumped up as well but there were two people in the room that had different thoughts.

‘Good luck little one…..’

‘I hope big brother doesn’t go overboard…..’

The two were Lilac and Aya who were listening to his lecture, although they didn’t need to Aya wanted to listen and Lilac joined in as the way he thought as interesting. But after finishing the lesson it came to training which they lost interest and was about to leave when a hand caught the two of them.

“Where are you two going? Let’s train together, the more the merrier~”

He gave them a smile but his intentions were clear.

You’re going to train no matter what.

.

.

.

.

.

And they left towards the fields and started their grueling training, and what was surprising is that only two people were suffering from the training, and the one he was focusing on was doing alright. He had sweat covering his whole body as he kept running at a brisk pace, he was already done with his requirement of 10 kilometers yet he was still eager to run. Seeing this Edward left him to test his own limits after saying.

“This is the first time I’ve been able to move this well, I’ll gladly run till I collapse”

Nemia with a face full of sweat said like an athlete, and after hearing this he couldn’t stop the kid and let him run until he did collapse after reaching 46 kilometers. He laid on his back as he looked like a man who did a death march, yet he had a satisfied smile on his face as he panted. He saw a shadow loom over his face and saw Edward giving him a smile both saying good work and you’re an idiot.

“I’ll heal you up and drink this potion then we’ll finish the rest of strength training, I hope you’ll also breakthrough the different sessions”

Instead of telling him to rest, he added more expectations after seeing what he showed. And the student was even more eager to show what he could do.

“I’ll be sure to surprise you”

“heh, hope you can back it up, now drink”

The two had a manly moment as they were basking in the sweat and hard work, but not everyone felt the same way as there was a weeping girl running around with someone in tow.

“Master I can’t run anymore, it’s been 80 kilometers already! Can we rest?”

“Aya is also finished, now flight magic!”

Lilac was panting as sweat flowed through her body, but in truth, she wasn’t that tried as she already passed this type of training and could go for 10 more laps before getting to the point of exhaustion but seeing what Nemia did she lost the strength to continue but someone saw through it.

“Oh, you want to stop? Fine then do it after 20 more laps”

Edward gave a cold and brutal response.

“Hiiii! Have mercy! I can’t do that!”

“I am being merciful, that’s why I’ll only give you 20 laps more, or do you want me to lose more mercy”

With a smile that was anything other than a warm smile, Lilac whimpered as she continued her exercise.

‘He doesn’t even praise me or give me a potion, the master is so unfair! Hmmp!’

She was a little jealous of the treatment Nemia had as he trained but after she saw Edward have a warm expression, she also smiled and continued on and miraculously finished the laps but collapsed on the last one and she needed to be carried back.

The spartan like training continued, after the stamina training they moved to strength training by lifting several weights, Nemia had to lift small rocks that were half his size and move to a specific spot after that keep changing the size of the weight, he managed to lift a boulder about his size but failed to move it yet he wasn’t sad about it rather more motivated to get stronger, Lilac, on the other hand, had to bench press a large boulder and Aya as well although Aya was allowed to use gravity spells to help with her spell training.

The next training was endurance and the most grueling of the physical training sessions as he needed to endure getting hit several times for the training to work.

Bash

“Again!”

Bwak

“..a-again!”

Biff

“haa kuh aga-“

twak

“..a-“

Crack

Edward was the one who was In charge of dealing the damage to him as he knew how to control his strength, they started from small flicks and scratches but Nemia wasn’t satisfied with just that and begged to be hit even more, and Edward fully obliged and gave full-blown blows to the body that sent his body to the wall or falling to the floor, he kept his strength to the bare minimum that Nemia would survive and after getting pounded several times Nemia couldn’t even stand as his body was full of blows and bumps, he only stopped when Nemia couldn’t get up anymore.

“Huuuk…..haaah uuuuugh”

Moaning of pain could be heard as Nemia was down on the ground, Edward was just staring at him as his face wasn’t visible by the ray of the sun.

If anyone saw this they would only think that it was a man beating up a poor defenseless child, and naturally, the two that were with them couldn’t stand the sight of Edward beating the kid. And Aya was about to run and kick Edward when Lilac stopped her.

“Sis let me go! Brother is going too far! Even if it is for training he can’t do that! He didn’t do that for you or Aya! So I need to-“

“Aya stop”

The little girl's argument was stopped with only two lines, Aya looked at Lilac as she was biting her lips as she watched the whole thing, she would be the first to stop Edward but she didn’t.

She patted Aya’s head as she stared at the sight of a boy who was still trying to get up and a white-haired man staring at him with a blank face as he had a grim expression.

“Look at masters face Aya, the one who is the most hurt is him…..”

Aya then looked straight towards where she was looking and the sun finally stopped shining on his face enough for Aya to see and after seeing it, all thoughts of what she was going to say disappeared at the sight of a man that had a sorrowful expression, he was on the brink of tears but he held it in and if someone looked closer he had bruises on his face as well as his body. He wanted to stop the endurance training when he first landed the blow but after seeing the way Nemia stared back at him he couldn’t and if he did he would only hurt his will.

That’s why for every blow Nemia receive he would receive the same amount of pain but multiplied to the point that it would be lethal for him, the magic he sued was {Body Link}, a spell that would connect two or more people to share certain things like thoughts and abilities but can also be sued to share certain sensations and he sued it to share the pain, the reason being is that he wouldn’t be able to continue the training if he didn’t as it wouldn’t be fair for the one who was lying in front of him.

“It is enough Nemia, you have passed even my expectations, rest for later you’ll begin learning how to control that power”

He was reaching for a potion from his pocket but his arm stopped as he heard something move, and as he turned his head Nemia who had his arm broken legs shaking as he barely stood up and his eyes swollen from hits was standing as he moved his lips.

“a…g.ain”

Edward stared at the sight of a badly beaten Nemia standing up and even asking for the training to continue. He stared at the kid as the others as well, after hearing him ask, he moved slowly towards Nemia and raised his hands and aimed for his head.

“Master!”

“Brother!”

The two shouted as they saw what he raise his hands and was about to stop him when Edward flicked his forehead and made the body fall to the ground and later several noises could be heard.

“zzzzzzzZZZZzzzzz”

Seeing this, the two were confused and was enlightened by him.

“He was already asleep the moment I landed the last punch…..”

He said as he raised his hand over the loudly snoring Nemia, and a green magic circle appeared under the unconscious kid and his body shone green. The marks from all over his body were slowly disappearing and a loud crack could be heard as his arm was slowly reforming.

“but how…”

“He got up? It was his willpower….honestly, he is more stubborn than me….”

Edward said as he shook his head and carried the sleeping kid and laid him on the shade, the sun was high up as it was about noon, they spent almost half of the day just for the physical training.

Lilac and Aya quickly went to Nemia’s side as the two quickly checked up on him, Edward left the bottles that he made especially for him.

“I’m going to hunt something”

With those few words, he suddenly disappeared from his spot and was nowhere to be seen.

Aya then started to chant a healing spell for Nemia, even though he looked alright she wanted to make sure. Lilac was about to say something to Edward when he quickly disappeared, she knew he wanted some time alone.

‘Master….don’t be too hard on yourself’

She thought as she then laid Nemia’s head on her lap after Aya finished healing him up.

.

.

.

.

.

‘Fuck me, did I really have to do that? Seriously?! I know I needed to do it but….aahhhh!!!!!!’

He once again went on a killing spree as he beheaded a two-headed anaconda, he was walking aimlessly and in less than five minutes he already murdered all the monsters in the area.

[You have leveled up]

[You have leveled up]

[You have leveled up]

[You have leveled up]

[You have leveled up]

[You have leveled up]

……

Several messages appeared in Infront of him as he leveled up like crazy, he was not only level one but he was at a high leveled area and to top it all off he had an exp multiplier. But he didn’t celebrate the wonderful finding that others would kill to have.

After killing everything in his sight and he couldn’t sense any more prey, he saw a large mountain in the east of where he was and dashed towards it. With unbelievable speed he quickly crossed the gap between his initial spot and the mountain, as he was nearing the huge rock he didn’t stop his speed and stretched out his fist and it connected with the rough texture and the ground shook at the impact.

Pain surged through his arm but he didn’t relent as he continued to pummel his fist into the mountain as every time his fist connected vibrations came.

Rumble

Boulders came falling down as he continued to vent his frustration on the poor mountain, his fist sent shockwaves that went deeper and deeper into the mountain.

He then stopped pounding the mountain and stared east of him and shouted.

“Show yourselves!”

His voice echoed throughout the area, but nothing moved nor anything showed themselves.

“I swear, if you don’t come out, I WILL GET PISSED”

He spoke with a lower voice but his cold killing tone sent the message crystal clear as the bushes from twenty meters away from him moved as a couple of people emerged.

“we..we’re going to get killed!”

“I..I don’t wanna die yet”

“Waaaaah”

Voices were heard as they showed themselves, a total of six people showed emerged from the bushes, and the one that was in front of the group was the old ranger with the red-headed swordsman beside him.

“Calm down…..if he wanted to kill us we would be dead already…..just don’t get him mad….we can reason with him”

The ranger spoke softly so that he would only be heard by his party but Edward could hear him clear as day. They hoped that it would be solved as a simple misunderstanding that they were just hunting near here and was attracted to the sounds and looked for the source. But his plan was foiled before he could speak.

“You again? You’ve been following me around for a while, I didn’t care but now that I’m in a terrible mood so you better have a damn good explanation why you’re following me this time”

‘Damn….so he did know…..if I lie he’ll find out…..damn I don’t know what to say! Why did we even follow him in the first place?’

It was the very same party that kept following him whenever he was hunting, they thought they could gain some spoils he left behind if they trailed behind him but instead he went straight to a mountain and began pummeling it with his fists and now he was staring at them as if wanting to vent his anger on them.

His words sent chills to their spines as the large man who was their tank was shaking from his bloodlust. No one in their party dared speak a word even the ranger who was the oldest among them, couldn’t speak. As they were talking a long time speaking they didn’t realize he was just a few feet away from them and his bloodlust was covering the area around them making it difficult to breathe.

“If you won’t say anything then I’ll-“

“Please train me!”

Before Edward could finish his words, he was cut in by the single person in the group who was still standing without problems or seemed to have no problems coping against his killing aura.

His party looked at the swordsman with a look saying. ARE YOU SERIOUS? The truth is they also were curious if the man could help them become stronger but it would be dangerous getting close to him, just by seeing how he fights if they said the wrong thing they might end up the next thing on the floor bleeding. They were worried that the man in front of them would get irritated or worse strike at them but instead he had a smirk but his bloodlust still chocked them.

“You can’t be serious”

“I am!”

“Why the hell do you want me to teach you?”

“Because you’re strong, and the way you move your knife, it’s even better than what I can do”

“Just train by yourself, you can get better that way”

“I can’t, I know I can’t get stronger by just training, I need to be trained by someone stronger”

“Ohhh~ and who is that?”

“You”

“heh, flattering me won’t get you anywhere kid”

“It’s the truth! You took down that giant goblin without sweat and with one attack, I don’t know anyone else who could do that”

“That goblin hero was a small fry, not even worth an effort to die from a headshot”

‘Wait it was a goblin hero!? A dangerous monster that could lead a goblin horde to hunt a city! And he called it a small fry…..’

The archer could barely believe what he heard, but after seeing it he couldn’t deny his claims.

The two conversed with one another, as they did, the rest of the party were surprised that the man wasn’t attacking them and was having a conversation with their friend. As they spoke, the bloodlust slowly dispersed and they could breathe easily again.

“To call it a small fry, you really are a strong person, if I get trained by you then can I get stronger as well?”

“That’s a given”

“Then I-“

“denied”

The swordsman was shot down before he could even ask again. Yet he wasn’t that easy to stop.

“Please”

“No”

“But In or-“

“No”

“I’ll do anything!”

“…..”

His lard words were shouted straight into Edward's face, the others that saw this gulped as he had a dark look on his face.

“Why do you seek power?”

At first, they thought he would simply get mad, he calmly asked a question instead. The swordsman saw a slight hope of persuading him, so he answered.

“The reason is, I’m weak”

“Fine”

“And I want to be a strong swordsman like the hero from legends…I want to become a great adventurer, I’ll be your follower so please accep-….eh?”

“You said you were weak, that’s enough reason and I know you have others….just know you might die from my training”

The swordsman blinked twice and was confused but then had a bright look on his face, he quickly lunged towards Edward in order to hug him. But was met with a boot to the face and was trampled to the ground.

“I said fine, but that doesn’t mean we’ll be buddy-buddy so don’t get too close…..”

The others could only stare and nod at his words but the swordsman grabbed his foot and was smiling triumphantly.

“Thank you! I’ll be sure to be useful”

He removed his foot from the one hugging it and looked at the rest of the group, then an all too familiar grin appeared on his face.

“Who’s the leader of this party? Come forth”

At his words, a black-haired ranger walked forward and stopped a few feet away from him. He was well aged and had the look of a man with many experiences.

“I’m the leader, my name is Devin Sparrow, please forgive us for tailing you all this time….”

“I don’t care, now then I’ll give you an offer like the one I gave this idiot, this goes for all of you”

“A…choice?”

“I will help you attain power, the power you hold within you but cannot achieve but for a price”

The ranger was dumbfounded, the man who appeared was planning to kill them for spying on him was now offering them a choice to gain power. If he wasn’t there he wouldn’t believe it, the logical choice now would be to decline as anything that might involve the man was dangerous without a doubt. But before he knew it words came out.

“What’s the catch?”

With a smile, Edward spoke.

“Simple you’ll work for me, be my soldiers, workers or anything else I require and in exchange, you lot will have the power beyond what you can even imagine, and for a record, I’m not the devil so don’t worry about stuff like make a deal and give up your soul I’m not that guy”

He had to add the last part, he sounded like a guy offering shady deals, the ranger was struggling to find the choice. Leo was one thing but does he have a reason to accept? He was not that old but why does he need power? Then voices came from behind him.

“Can…we really be as powerful as you?”

The biggest one of the group asked, he was taller than Edward and had a beefy body, he wore iron armor and had a big shield on his back along with a mace.

“Yeah, can I destroy a monster with one punch?”

The small man beside them spoke, he was wearing a close-fitted shirt and tight pants like a jumpsuit. He was a monk, a close combat melee fighter that focused on using fists and kicks.

“No, dream on”

The answer he got was the cold hard truth.

“But you’ll be strong enough to kill an ogre alone, no wait what’s something stronger than an ogre?, well that depends on how much effort you give maybe punch through a mountain, I know I can”

He gave them a more believable achievement.

“Can I learn high-class tier 4 magic?”

“You’ll be able to achieve even higher probably tier 7 magic 8 if you focus”

“But that’s magic that only royalty can use!”

Edward shook his head and instead of speaking he stretched out his hand and a surge of mana flowed around him as a magic circle appeared on the ground.

“O blessed sun come forth and smite my enemies, let the breath of destruction meet the essence of life, Pulse Nova”

The air thinned out as a large ball of fire that could be compared to a miniature sun appeared in front of him, the area around the small sun started to burn, the others started to sweat from being near it and even felt their hair slightly burn. He then lifted the ball without effort and looked towards a small distance and threw the ball. The red-orange comet flew towards the spot and after colliding with the ground sent a series of explosions that could be heard from their location.

“……”

The mage that asked watched while the area had smoke and a mushroom cloud appears from it.

‘hmmmm, guess getting scorched by that damn dragon was worth it….it was just a stronger version of that damn fire blast that dragon used….still I hate the chanting part, I’ll just skip it next time’

“That was just tier 5 magic, I could do a tier 7 but that would drain me, and probably kill everyone around”

The mage was still focused on the distance, but her answer was already given, by the way, she looked at the explosion with sparkling eyes.

“Umm…will I be able to use high-class healing magic?”

A petite girl in a cloak asked, she was slightly scared at Edward but seeing that he wasn’t going to do anything bad, she calmed down and asked.

“Anything that doesn’t involve raising the dead can be achieved like restoration of body parts, curing dangerous poisons, and dispelling curses. I have an assortment of books and spells that I can teach, but you’ll have to learn alchemy and be studious for the different parts”

With a full explanation the girl nodded, but she was still staring at Edward’s face.

Every one of the group was eager to learn and become stronger, the only one left is the ranger.

“Now, do you have anything to ask?”

But Edward’s question was met with silence, the ranger was still in thought, the only reason he was hunting was to eat and earn. Nothing else, sure they were weak and couldn’t hunt like others, but he still doesn’t have a reason to get stronger. And Edward saw that part of him.

“No goals? No dreams? No ambition for power…..there are always people like you”

His words seemed to wake the ranger from his thoughts as he began to focus on the white haired man in front of him.

“And that’s the kind of person I need for my workers……follow me and I’ll let you see something you can’t see in your entire mundane lives, and maybe when you follow me, you’ll find a goal to work with. Seems fair to me”

The whole group was staring at the ranger and waiting for his answer, they wanted to join but it would be the leader’s final decision. The old man then looked up and stared Edward down.

“is what you said true?”

“Yes”

“Everything?”

“Yes”

“But we’ll have to work for you? And what if we suddenly stop working for you”

“You won’t, that’s how it goes and if you do betray me….let’s just say you won’t be able to do anything after that”

His cold gaze and bone-chilling words sent the message clear as day. The ranger then looked towards his party, each and every single one of them was looking at him. But then he got a slap on his back as a smiling red-haired swordsman spoke.

“what’s wrong Devin? Usually, you’d be speaking nonstop on how bad this is but now you’re awfully quiet! Did you get a stomach ache or something?”

“No you idiot, I got a bumbling moron beside me so shut it”

“now that’s the Devin we know….let’s get stronger together”

He then walked forward towards Edward and stretched out his hand.

“We’ve decided, we’ll accept your offer to become stronger, and we’ll work for you”

As if waiting for his words Edward shook his hand firmly, as a devilish smile appeared.

“You won’t regret it, and one thing, remember that I said I wasn’t the devil?”

To his words, the party nodded

“Yes, you’re not going to say you really are him….right?”

The ranger asked jokingly but he had a hint of worry

“Nope, don’t worry I’m not”

To his words, the party gave out a sigh of relief, but his next words sent chills down their spines enough to make them slightly regret joining him.

“I’m much much worse~ Hope you don’t die easily~”

.

.

.

.

.

“I’m Devin Sparrow, level 29 ranger, I hope we can work together”

“Leo, Armstrong! Future legendary swordsman, I may be level 25 and weak right now but I’m going to be stronger with the help of my new sensei!”

“I’m Alex Mercer, Shield bearer….umm I’ll make sure to protect you with my shield”

“The names Shen Ling I’m a monk”

“This wonderful mage is named Tifia felt, I’ll be the one to cast powerful spells so don’t praise me too much”

“….I’m Lea….Lea Altha, I’m a healer….if you’re hurt please don’t hesitate to ask”

The group introduced themselves to Lilac, Aya, and Nemia, who stared at them and suddenly looking at Edward.

“So yeah, they’ll be training with us, they are basically interns so treat them with care”

The three looked at each other and smiled, then they introduced themselves.

“It’s nice to meet you, My name is Lilac, I hope we can get along as well”

“Aya’s name is Aya, do you like games? Let’s play!”

“Nemia Locke, a pleasure to meet you all”

After a brief introduction, the overall mood was gentle, Lilac was still wearing her helmet while talking to the swordsman and ranger. Aya was chatting with the mage about a few spells. Edward then approached Nemia who was sitting in the shade while the tank and the monk were sitting around the tree.

“Nemia, how are you feeling?”

“I’m feeling alright, you don’t need to worry about anything as my wounds and body are completely healed.”

As if trying to prove a point, he stood up and did a flip. Edward then nodded but was about to say something else when he was interrupted.

“You don’t need to say anything else, I know you were hurting the same time I was….I will keep getting stronger so I won’t be a burden to you, so please continue training me”

Nemia stood strong and gave him an answer before he could speak. Edward sighed and shrugged his shoulders as he then walked away but not before speaking.

“Hope you can keep your motivation till the end because It’ll only get harder”

With a smile, he then stood a stump of a fallen three and overlooked the whole area.

“Everyone line up!”

With a loud echo, his voice spread throughout the area and surprised everyone but the three companions he had. Seeing this Lilac had a bad premonition that training would begin again. When the party heard this they walked towards his spot and was still chatting, to this a vein popped up on his head.

“Alright…..when I said line-up, that means you LINE UP, everyone forms a line with three people each, MOVE!”

With a commanding voice, the party quickly formed three lines. The first line was made of Leo, Devin, and Tifia. The second line was the Shen, Alex, and Lea while the third line was left for Lilac, Aya, and Nemia. The people stood completely still like new recruits in a military exercise.

“Alright you maggots, I’m going to do a briefing and you better listen up, is that clear?”

“Sir, yes sir!”

The third line quickly responded like usual after Edward spoke. He had a tone like a drill sergeant while overlooking the group. On the other hand, the rest of the group were busy chatting.

“What does he mean?”

“I don’t know…how long till we get stronger and do some monster killing?”

“Yeah I can’t wait to use high-class spells”

Another vein appeared on his forehead as he took a deep breath.

“I said IS THAT CLEAR!?”

“Si..sir yes sir!”

The group finally said in unison, nodding he then gave a long speech about what they were about to do.

“And after that, we will focus on individual training, I’ll help you all so do your best…otherwise, I’ll increase your training length and you don’t have a choice, I’ll train you to the point of you wishing to die”

[Title Acquired: Drill Sergeant]

With a devilish smile, he finalized his speech.

“Bring it on, we’ll take on anything!”

“Don’t get too full of yourself you’ll only harm yourself rather than help with that attitude”

“Heh, I’m going to kill anything with one punch”

The group we’re feeling optimistic about the training but the veterans could only silently lament as the only one that was motivated to do the hell’s training was Nemia who had a firm determination. Seeing this Lilac could only give a brief prayer to the new victims of their master.

‘Please don’t die…..’

After the first two hours.

“Heh, running to build stamina, easy. I can run for miles.”

After 6 hours

“huff, I can feel my muscles burning! Maybe a small break after this…wait no?”

After 10 hours

“Mercy! Please let us rest!”

The group that was once motivated was now on the floor panting while the healer and mage we’re unconscious. Aya was healing the others from their injuries from the endurance training.

“Wew…..not even half the day has passed and now you’re down…Aya make sure to heal them back up and give them the drinks to recover fatigue”

“Yes brother”

‘Let us rest…….please have mercy’

The ranger looked at him as if looking at the devil as he drank the clear liquid, after downing the drink he felt his body become light as his tiredness disappear.

“Wha…what is this? It feels like I’m refreshed....”

“Thi..this is a high-class stamina potion! It costs about 3 gold for a bottle!”

“be sure to drink it all, after that we’ll move on to personal training….I won’t let you rest”

‘eeek…..’

The group started to regret drinking the potion and tried to feign their fatigue but it was hopeless as one idiot was up and running for more.

“Alright! It’s time for sword training!”

Leo was quickly up and about as he picked up his sword, the others followed suit as they moved to open space. Once there Edward moved a few spots away from them and all of a sudden a large pile of weapons covered the spot in front of them. Various weapons could be seen in different qualities and the people were astonished at the sight of the pile of weapons.

“Now, take one weapon each or two depending on your profession. You can see the name and quality of the weapons but I sorted and picked the best from the ones I have”

He explained but the people still didn’t move, all except one eager swordsman seeing the weapons and charged towards the collection of swords, while he was picking something for himself the ranger asked.

“Are you sure? I mean we’re grateful but just giving out weapons, not to mention something of this quality…..”

“I am sure, a boss needs well-equipped workers, plus you’ll be relying on your skills rather than weapons so it’s just a bonus, not pick, I won’t say it again”

Hearing this the others then began to pick weapons, but because of the variety and rarity of each one, it was hard to choose.

“Ooooh this tower shield can cover my whole body, it goes well with this spear”

“A pair of knuckles and battle boots! It even has the fire enchantment”

“This bow….it’s a recurved bow made from rare metals and enchanted with wind spirits…such a rare thing”

“WOW an ember rod! No, wait that frost want is cool! Ahhhh that lightning rod!”

“hmmm ahhh maybe this birch staff…..”

The group quickly went from one weapon to another searching for the perfect weapon.

Nemia was about to pick his weapon when he was stopped by Edward.

“You’ll choose your weapon not here, follow me, Lilac take care of them”

“Alright master, please take care”

The two went towards a clearing and there Nemia asked.

“Why can’t I pick a weapon from the rest of the pile? You said it was the best of ones you had”

Edward then stopped as he deemed it far enough from prying eyes.

“well best of the normal ones I have, the rest is a bit special but powerful that what you previously saw, just like my knife”

Edward took out his knife and as he did its eye quickly opened and scanned the area, Nemia stared at the knife with a little bit of shock but was waiting from Edward to continue.

“Now then, before we continue, what do you think about cursed weapons?”

“They weapons on immense power yet has a steep price to pay for acquiring that power, they are made by master craftsmen using different ways mostly forbidden ones. And to wield a weapon like that one get’s cursed just by touching a weapon and might get possessed by it”

“Good, that’s the given definition, but I found a better way to put it”

To his words, Nemia tilted his head

“My definition of what a cursed weapon is this, it’s just like any high-class weapon with a high requirement to use and anyone that doesn’t meet that requirement gets a penalty. Also, they have ego’s that if you get to know are quite knowledgeable although they try to kill you from time to time, now a demonstration, Ovri speak”

He said as he stared at his knife, Nemia waited for a response but after a few seconds, nothing happened. He was about to ask when Edward spoke first.

“Oi….when I say speak you speak, or do you want me to use you as a bloody toothpick? Hmmm, I do need to clean the oven…maybe use you as a poking stick to the flames…”

he looked like a madman trying to scare his knife but a voice suddenly came, a deep and grouchy one. The knife’s eye suddenly flashed red as it looked around seeming to be tired as it saw Edward.

“I’m sleeping…..bother someone else…”

“What was that? You said you want to be sued to catch fish later on and gut it? fine you seem to like blood as well so it’s good”

“….What does thou want master?”

“Oh, you seem to be talking well now, I thought we had to chop up some rocks later I did need to make a campfire”

“I apologize for earlier, please don’t use me to break rocks….”

“Hmmmm….fine I don’t want to damage your blade”

“Thank you”

“I’ll just use you to cut our meat later on”

“……”

It was an odd sight, a knife being intimidated by a man. But the sight was entertaining for the child in front of them that was giggling.

“So, basically you think of them as not cursed rather weapons that normal people can’t use because of their high requirements? And they have their own minds so we just need to make them obey and the penalties will be less dangerous...I see….”

Nodding Edward smiled, the blade looked around the two and a sigh was heard.

“Exactly, you got a message as well didn’t you?”

“Yes, it says for unraveling a truth that no one has yet to understand I gained bonus points to intelligence”

“I expected nothing less from you”

“Thank you, but you were the one who thought of it first, I merely copied you”

“well I won’t deny that I guess not being able to make anything but cursed weapons is a good thing”

“You made this? As expected of you”

“hohohoh now now continue the praising”

The two ere praising each other without worries as Edward then stretched out his hand to a free meadow and there another pile of weapons appeared this time a dark aura covered the whole area because of the accumulated dark energy.

“You have to pick one yourself, I won’t help you to pick as you need to find the right one, being a priest you need to pick something according to your class and be careful, they have their own ego so be sure to dominate them lest they dominate you”

To his advice Nemia nodded and then approached the pile, he felt as if hundreds of eyes were looking at him pulling him to different parts of the pile.

‘Me..me…me I can make you strong! I just need your body’

‘hmm, a child? This will be easy to control…..’

‘Oooooh~ I want him to pick me, then we’ll kill that bastard that turned me into this’

Voices could be heard from the weapons, Nemia stared at them and heard several voices asking him to pick them, and most of the voices were voicing their anger at the one that made them. He closed his eyes and then spoke in his mind.

‘I will now pick one of you, but know this……I will be the one in charge, so do not even think that you will take over me’

As he voiced his thoughts the voices that tried to persuade him were silenced. He then moved towards the piles and picked up staff, the moment his fingers touched the hilt he felt dizzy as if his head was clouded with fog.

‘hihihi~ quite a brave boy…..now then choose me and then I’ll give you power but I’ll have to eat your emotions….well power does come at a price’

A female voice came as he was no gripping the staff, he felt something hugging his body, a warm and gentle presence that tried to caress him.

‘That’s right give in~ I’ll be the one to take over…..ah….eh?’

A thud could be heard as the staff dropped to the ground, Nemia stared at it with a poker face but his eyes revealed his scorn.

“It isn’t the first time my mind has been tampered with, and I don’t like it….Sir, can I destroy this staff?”

The staff as if feeling it’s destruction quickly regretted its decision to try and take the boy's mind.

‘Wa..wait! I was just kidding I don’t want to take over you it was a joke…..hahaha’

Nemia stared at the staff yet his eyes were still cold.

“hmmm I don’t really mind….but I made it using a branch from a divine tree and the heart of a lamia…..aswell as some extra stuff from the dragon cave. Sorry but no”

“I see, I understand….”

‘ahhhh…I thought I was going to get destroyed…..’

“We can scrap it for parts later on, I need to make some things or I’ll get rusty so you can take it apart after were done here”

After hearing this Nemia had a small smile, he tried not to show his delight but couldn’t stop a small grin. He then moved towards different weapons and after hearing what will happen if they try anything funny they quietly let him wield each one but he sighed and moved from one weapon to the next until he came upon an silver staff, it wasn’t a staff for spell casting rather it was for close combat.

It was about 6 ft. in height 25mm thick, Nemia then touched the staff but felt nothing trying to take over his mind. He then gripped the staff and tried to pick it up but failed to even raise it by a millimeter. He gritted his teeth as he pulled it up to the point of veins showing, it was the first time he couldn’t pick something up, even the weights he had when running was about 50 kg in total yet he could still run without problems, but now a staff was not budging one bit as he pulled on it. He then breathed calmly and tried to cool down as he let the weapon go.

“The bo staff? Wouldn’t a spell staff be better than that?”

Edward asked as he moved close, yet he was just given a smile by Nemia who had the eyes of a kid that found his new toy.

“I’ll be picking this, it will help me gain strength in my body as well”

“If you can pick it up, then it’s yours, it’s actually the only thing here that almost doesn’t feel like a cursed weapon because it doesn’t attack its user. Probably due to the materials.I only used the cores of elemental slimes ….as well as divine wood and Mythril,so it can function as somewhat as spell staff”

Edward spoke as Nemia once again tried to lift the staff.

“I told you to pick anything as it’s your choice but that staff weights…”

As he was speaking Nemia managed to lift the staff but only barely as he was bending his knees to just raised it a few feet.

“Just the amount you can't lift easily….hmm, alright if that’s what you want but I’ll be making a few adjustments to it to make it more suitable for spells. I could make it lighter…but that look on your face tells me you don’t want to”

Nemia only gave a nod as he tried to lift it to arms length to try a sweep but was shaking as he was now in a stance fit for a strike.

“I’ll leave you to it then…now, how long are you going to hide there? Come out before I drag you out”

Shaking of leaves could be heard behind a bush as a red-haired fellow popped out with a smile as he was scratching his head.

“Ahhh that’s sensei for you, hehe I was curious where you two were gonna go so I followed and I know this is sudden but I want to have a weapon like that”

“haaaah….not anyone can use those weapons”

“because they have high restrictions?”

“because they have…you were listening to the whole thing weren’t you?”

“yes”

He had eyes saying that he should be praised for his honesty but Edward was trying to keep the urge to tie this guy up a tree while stripping him.

“No”

“But you said you just need to make the weapon obey you! It’s like a legendary weapon that has high specs so you need the right stats, but if I use it while trying to get it to obey me won't it be alright?....huh what’s this?”

Edward pinched the bridge of his nose, he couldn’t believe a muscle head like this guy understood a great secret he unraveled, but he did seem eager for a good sword.

“Pleeeeease! I want a good sword and the ones on the other pile are nothing compared to these ones right? I just need to make it obey even if it has a high requirement I’ll make sure it obeys me so-“

“Fine”

“I’ll do my best so I can….really!?”

“yes, now shut up before I make a weapon actually possess you”

Edward then led the all too eager Leo to the pile and he picked up a sword without even thinking about it, Edward then sighed as the kid would be influenced by the weapon.

“Great now I have to…”

“I don’t like this one it says I’m too stupid for it”

“…..so even weapons agree”

He was worried that he could have been taken over by a cursed blade but his worries were for naught, he took several blades and swung each to test it but he sighed and threw it back to the pile, he stopped until he reached a crimson red blade that was bigger than him.

It looked like the buster sword but the only difference is it was double-edged and there were several engravings on the blade, the hilt was made from a mix of metal and bone and it gave it a dark yet powerful image. With a smile he reached out to the hilt but before he could an eerie aura covered the blade.

A visage of a red ogre was standing at the back of the blade glaring at the swordsman, seeing this he couldn’t move from his spot and was just struggling not to faint due to the bloodlust.

‘Puny human, you are not fit to wield the blade that my clan died to become’

A dark cold voice echoed and struck fear into Leo, he couldn’t move as he stared at the ogre with complete fear. Edward who was watching this had a poker face as he was leaning on a tree, he had no intention of interfering as it would destroy the meaning of the test.

‘It was too much for him, but that blade is one of my prize words, hehe I wanted to make the buster sword that Cloud used but made a few alterations and made it bigger and way sharper. Now I wonder what he’ll do’

Leo didn’t move an inch from his spot as he stared at the red ogre, he knew that the thing was most likely an illusion but his body still didn’t move. After a while of not moving Edward moved from his spot and was about to stop the test when all of a sudden.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

A loud battle cry was heard, but it sounded more like a scream of terror, the swordsman ran straight to the weapon, seeing this the ogre released more of his aura and covered the area around the sword. As he got closer and closer to the blade it became harder and harder to breathe.

‘Fool! You aren’t worthy to come near here nor touch the sword! Die from the fear gripping you’

The swordsman was about a few feet from the blade when he slowed down and fell to his knees as he breathed heavily.

‘That’s right, know your place! You aren’t an ogre nor strong enough to wield us so perish!’

An even stronger wave of aura was sent towards him and covered the man, no ordinary human could withstand such fear and would without aq doubt collapse, but.

Whooosh

The man dashed forward and quickly grabbed the hilt of the sword, he breathed heavily as he was failing to even stand up from the pressure, yet he made it.

‘Impossible! You should have fainted from my fear!’

The ogre was furious as he was holding onto the hilt of the sword, the swordsman was now smiling at the ogre as his face was pale and he was on the brink of collapsing.

“Hah…ha….I know true fear, and compared to you…..it was like a duck trying to act scary…..”

The swordsman glanced towards Edward, having experienced his [Despair] the ogre’s fearful aura was minimized, yet it was still a miracle he could move and it was thanks to his skill, the same one that made him stand up to an army of wolves all alone.

The man gave a thumbs up to Edward as he then fell to the ground and snoring could be heard. Edward then moved and picked the sleeping man from the ground and faced the visage.

“I didn’t think he’d actually do it….[Reckless Courage] what a funny skill…..well hope you take care of the kid reddy”

‘grrr….to think a human can wield us…unforgivable! For us to be beaten by a human and then turned to this……such shame on my clan’

“well then if you don’t want to shame your clan anymore then make sure the kid becomes strong like an ogre, then your clan might get their honor back as the weapon that was wielded by a master swordsman”

‘I see….correct you are human….we will make him to an ogre yet….but if he fails we will take over….’

“heh, then I’ll just kill you if you do”

With that, the visage of the ogre disappeared in a gust and it finally had an owner.

‘haaaaaah……I had to smooth things out but it went well, hmmp….guess this makes you a good pawn….I’ll mold you into a swordsman that the whole world will know….hahahahah’

He had a wicked grin as Nemia approached, he was holding the staff with both hands as he used his shoulder to help him move. He was having a little trouble but he had a look that said he would be able to us the staff without worries.

“now then, let’s continue the training and after you’re able to use it without problems we’ll hunt”

“Yes sir, give me a day and I’ll be able to wield it….maybe gravity magic can be useful….”

Nemia answered as he thought of several ways to help him use the staff for now. They returned and continued the hellish training, after that, they ate and slept for about 6 hours then was forced into training yet again.

“Please let us rest normally….my muscles are aching because of the pain”

“We can’t concentrate on spells if we don’t have beauty rests!”

They voiced their complaints but was met with a cold gaze and after a few fireballs, they finally moved and continued to train.

Edward had to train six people personally, Nemia could train by himself now as he wielded his staff skillfully in just two days. Lilac and Aya trained together as they didn’t want to bother Edward as he focused on the six.

To help him train them individually he used his skill [Chaos Clone] which created 5 copies of him, nodding to one another they then approached each of the six while the original one was in front of the swordsman.

The 6 spoke in unison

“Alright, time to make you break your limits and a few bones while we’re at it”

After hearing that, only one person was brimming with energy, a redheaded swordsman carrying a large crimson sword on his back.

.

.

.

“You’re a tank, you need to double your vitality and strength, if you fall, the ones behind you will die so stand under the falls while logs hit you”

“Won't that kill me?”

“No, well it can but don’t worry I’ll heal you up before you die”

“now let that boulder fall on your body and not get crushed”

“How?”

“Use your body, begin!”

“ahhhhh it’s too big!”

.

.

.

.

“Hya! How was that? I sent a shockwave to hit the tree”

“Your movement is sloppy, you have too many unnecessary movements and your body composition is bad, are you a monk or a flabby monkey which is it?”

“Oh yeah! I’ll show yo-”

Biff

Crunch

Crack

“Ready to learn?”

“….. Please teach me then”

“Like this, follow my footsteps, no wrong ahhh…..again haaaah maybe I should beat you up so you can learn how much strength to put….”

.

.

.

.

“Fireball!, see that!? I just scorched that tree”

“It’s a pathetic ball of light….”

“Oh come on! It’s the best skill I have”

“Have you tried to manipulate how much mana you use into the fireball? How about adding a spin to it to increase the impact? You can also use a stronger chant here listen to me, it goes…”

“Ahh that’s way better than my normal chant……”

“Now do it again this time add the spin increase the mana consumption by 15% and use the new chant”

“Woah! I destroyed 5 trees! And it still went through all of them”

“Now do that with the others….”

.

.

.

“Ummm bay leaf and shadow tongue can be used a poison….but if in reverse it can make a potion to use”

“good, now make a potion out of these”

“ahhh…but aren't these weeds?”

“They are, but if you use the stem of this grass weed then you can have a quick ointment if you use the step vine then it can heal burns…..”

“ahh! It worked and my healing spells increased a bit……”

“Learn the proper names and right amount to use in a potion otherwise you might overdose someone”

“ye..yes!”

.

.

.

.

Wooosh!

“haaah…miss….”

“use your eagle sight, as well as use the wind and height advantages, a ranger needs to use anything he has to do a quick snipe from afar”

“How did you…never mind….I’ll get on the tree then”

Wooosh

“I…I hit it..500 paces away I can’t believe it”

“yeah, congrats after failing 135 times you finally did it”

“….”

“Just being honest, now do it consecutively until you do it 20 times straight”

“I’ll do my best”

.

.

.

.

“Alright! I’ll finally be trained by you now what do we do? Kill monsters? Fight with swords? Come on I’ll do anything!”

“Go in the river and swing your blade 1 thousand times”

“Eh?.....”

“Do it”

“But I want to”

“You’ll get a skill after that”

Swoosh!

Woosh!

“The wrong stance, raised your hand more, above your head and down to the ground, noooooo your feet should stay still while the only thing moving is your arms, breath in while you raise it and out when you slice downwards”

“Ho!”

“Good, do that and you might get a skill, as well as get used to the weight of the blade”

The days passed quickly as they trained and hunted. They are now currently on the fifth day as Nemia and the others were finishing individual training.

Edward was staying under the shade topless while meditating, he heard a few footsteps and opened his eyes as Lilac was approaching him with some refreshments.

“Did I disturb you?”

“Nope, just finished training, honestly I need to meditate because of the stress training those idiots…..why can’t they be like Nemia?”

Edward gave an exaggerated sigh as he took a glass and downed the water. After hearing his words Lilac sat down beside him and watched the others train.

“You say that, yet you seem to be enjoying it as well”

Edward gave her an annoyed look

“I have no idea what you’re saying Lilac……I hate training them, they make so many mistakes but when they finally do it they have that look like their worlds were just given a gift…honestly….”

Then he heard giggling from beside him, Lilac was covering her mouth while laughing. Edwards eyes twitched at it and tried to look menacing but she was right, he was enjoying training the group.

‘Haaaaaah being happy training these guys….I feel like some teacher seeing his students graduate’

“You don’t need to hide it, master, why not praise them so they’ll do better?”

“No way, if I do that it will get to their heads and they’ll get lazy, they’re not like you, Aya or Nemia. Even if I praise you, you’ll still do your best”

Lilac laughed even more which made Edward pinch her cheeks, to this she flailed her arms like a child.

“Ahhh master it hurts”

“Shut it, you keep laughing! Even if I add more to your training you’ll just do it so this is punishment”

He stretched her cheeks to the farthest he can, they look like a normal couple having playful fight. After a while, he released his pinch, and Lilac pouted as she rubbed her cheeks.

“Master is too much….”

“Hahhhh, I could be much worse and you know that after all I’m evil”

“Master don’t say that……you’re not like that…”

“I am”

“No, you’re not”

“I am and if you won’t stop saying I’m not, I’ll prove it”

“You’re not, how will you prove i- ahhh?!”

Suddenly she was laying on the floor and Edwards smiling face was hovering inches above her.

“ma..master what are you?”

“I told you I’m eviiiil~”

He moved his face closer and was now beside her ear, her breaths could be heard as well as his. Her face was slightly flushed as Edward whispered into her ear.

“So, say it….I’m evil….whoooo”

His breath tickled her ears as she let out a small voice, she tried to push him away but he was just too strong.

“I..I wont”

She still didn’t say it if she did then she would let him win.

“Stubborn aren’t you? Then if I kiss your right now…I wonder if you’ll still think the same?”

She was slightly red before now she was red as a tomato, she tried to struggle free but stopped as she stared into his eyes.

“Hmm, not struggling are we? If you don’t say it I’m going to take you right here….”

“It’s fine….”

“eh?”

Edward stared back at her surprised at her answer, she looked at him with calm eyes as she smiled.

“if it’s you…I don’t mind, after all, everything I have is yours….”

Closing her eyes she awaited his action, Edward who was on the offense was finding it hard to continue. He gazed onto Lilac's face, her cheeks dyed red as her lips were ripe as if waiting for him to take it.

“I told you I’m evil…”

“No you’re not, after all, an evil person would quickly take a girl here, but you stopped”

He leaned closer to her and closer until they could feel each other’s breaths, he stopped just an inch before their lips met.

“If you don’t want to I’ll stop”

“I didn’t say anything did I?”

“Hooh seems like you want me to”

“Does an evil person stop just before taking a kiss?”

“Point taken”

The two closed their eyes and joined their lips, when suddenly.

Two people suddenly came and disturbed them.

“Shall we have lunch right now? We’ve hunted a couple of horned bears, shall we prepare the fire?”

“Brother, Sis! It’s lunchtime! Aya is hungry! Hmmm…? What are you two doing?”

As the two approached they saw Edward on top of Lilac while looked at them, Aya and Nemia stared at them while they stared back.

“…..”

“…..”

Edward suddenly grabbed his shoulders as he shook softly.

“Lilac pulled me and tried to kiss me”

“master!”

Without a delay, Lilac pushed Edward away while covering her red face, she gave a cold stare towards Edward as she then moved to the rest of the group.

The three were left as Nemia bowed as a sign of apology while Aya gave him a smile and two thumbs up before leaving. Edward was then left alone as he stared at the sky.

‘What came over me? Haaaaah……I’m somewhat pissed, I’ll just double their training so I can release some stress, it would help them as well, maybe I should make them face the minotaur no I can’t do that. I’ll definitely make them face 2 minotaurs each, I’m such a devoted trainer’

[Title changed: Drill Sergeant changed to Demonic Drill Sergeant]

With a smile, he stood up and moved towards the group who were happily chatting after their hard training. He stopped as he stared at the horizon of Coron, as an eerie feeling crept in, War was coming and Chaos was the only one that can stand up to it.

“hmmm bring it on, be it war or battle’s I’ll win no matter what”

With a bold statement, he walked towards the group and prepared the final preparations for the upcoming battle. A small group yet powerful was being built up and they were growing at an exponential rate but they weren’t the only ones growing strong.

.

.

.

.

A lone armored being stood on top of a hill overlooking the plains, from the spot they could see a silhouette of a city from the distance.

“general! We’ve subdued the behemoth! 25 squadrons casualties and 34 deaths confirmed, requesting a small break to heal the wounded and rest for the march”

“I see, permission granted, heal the wounded and rest, we advance after a brief rest”

Without turning from the spot the armored person relayed his words to his adjutant.

“Sir, please excuse my impertinence but, the men are greatly fatigued, we’ve been marching nonstop and we have been fighting monsters continually without rest. The men are at their limits…if this goes on we might- huck! Ack si..sir!”

Without warning the man was now raised up by a crimson gauntlet, he didn’t even see the generals movement. Chocking noises could be heard as the adjutant was having a hard time breathing.

“We have been given an order by the god of war to reach Coron within the time limit of a month, we have only 4 days left. I will not let excuses such as monster attacks slow our pace, leave those that cannot continue and move, only the strong are needed in our path of conquest, is that clear?”

“ye…yesh si..sir”

The man then fell onto his butt as he gasped for breath, as he was coughing and regaining his breath a second messenger came.

“Si..Sir! urgent report, another behemoth appeared this time but this one is stronger than the last, allow us to dispatch it”

The silence was the only thing heard as the armored General walked towards the edge of the cliff and saw a large four-legged beast charging towards them.

“Have the men rest and prepare to depart in 3 hours”

“About the behemoth sir?”

The man then fell back and disappeared from their sights, as only words were left.

“I’ll deal with this poor of an excuse of a monster”

The armored general fell at a terrifying speed towards the ground as below him the hulking monster was charging at a frightening speed, It saw a small red object falling, and after looking at it, it found its prey.

Guruuuu-uuuuuu-uuuuah!!

A loud roar echoed in the area, even the soldiers sleeping and resting were shaken up by the roar of the beast. Yet the one in front of it even wearing a helmet had a cold expression as if looking at nothing but a small insect.

The behemoth a tarrying demonic monster, that could trample down cities by its charge alone, a company of a hundred of adventurers needed to work together to defeat it, and even then they’d win, the losses would be great.

The beast opened its jaws as the falling being was directly above it, with jaws stretched out ready to devour the beast it seems the person only jumped to their death.

Crash

“grooooooooooah!?”

A pained roar came from the beast, rather than devouring the small person the beast was grounded to the ground with a steel fist as the crimson knight was standing above its head. But it was only for a second as the beast regained its strength and shook its body.

The knight had to leap away and land a few feet away from the beast, it didn’t move from its spot but a large magic circle surrounded it as a suction of mana flowed towards the monster and after a few seconds, several marks appeared near the knight and suddenly.

Booooom!

A chain of explosions happened around the knight and it left nothing but rubble and large craters. The knight seemed to disappear from the slot but as the smoke cleared up a barrier of crimson flame circled and surrounded the knight, the knight wasn’t even harmed not even a speck of dust appeared on the armor. Seeing this, the behemoth roared yet again and charged with the intent to kill the puny person that appeared in front of it.

“Foolish beast…..now your place on this world, come forth o weapon bestowed by the god of war, heed my call and grant me the strength to demolish my foes, Warmonger”

A large crimson red battle axe appeared in front of the knight, the behemoth lunged towards the red knight but the moment the knight gripped the handle of the axe, he disappeared from sight and appeared on top of the behemoths back as the axe was dripping with blood and he slammed the butt end of the handle and the beast crashed forward as the knight jumped off.

Gruaaaaaarah!?

Pained roars echoed as the behemoth crashed onto the ground, it tried to stand up but failed and saw that both of its front legs were no longer attached to its body. It tried to move but saw the knight approaching it and swung its tail towards the tiny knight but it was a mistake.

Whooosh

The moment the tail got near the knight flames covered the axe as the tail flew behind him and the knight walked towards the downed beast at a brisk pace. The axe was held with one hand as a fire like aura covered both it and the knight. The beast seems to be out of tricks, opened its mouth as a dark pulse was slightly growing from it.

“Futile….”

The dark pulse kept getting larger and larger until it covered the whole mouth of the behemoth, the knight stopped walking and raised the axe high as a pillar of flames flowed from it.

Grooooooooooooooooooah!

With a roar a dark beam shot towards the knight, it was big enough to destroy a whole mountain and the knight would be surely vaporized if it hit. But the knight wasn’t idle as the moment the beam was released, the axe descendent to the ground with its crimson pillar of flames shot forward and sliced through the dark beam.

“Die”

The crimson flame sliced through and got in contact with the behemoth slicing it clean in half as the flames devoured both sides of it.

Groauagh…………ah..h

A short roar escaped the beast before the flames engulfed it. After this, a series of cheers were heard and the knight looked up on the cliff and saw the soldiers cheering loudly.

“hoorah! Hoorah! The champion of The god of war!”

“Nothing can stop our general! Nothing can stop the crimson blades!”

“The god of war is with us! He will lead us to victory!”

“Hooorah!”

Several loud cheers echoed, but the knight paid it no mind and stared at the corpse of the burning behemoth. Then a window popped up in front of the knight.

[You have leveled up]

“hmmm it had been a long time since I received a level up…..”

‘open status’

Name:

Caleb Meria

Class:

War Berserker

Race:

Demi-human

Level:

574

Age:

29

Deity:

Aztog The Powerful

Titles:

The Champion of War, Great General, Aztog's Chosen, Zealous Follower

Fame:

35467

Infamy:

12096

Guild:

N/A

Rank:

N/A

Strength:

89,649

Agility:

61,890

Vitality:

83,001

Resistance:

77,589

Intelligence:

40,190

Luck:

123

Magic:

43,787

Magic Resistance:

48,567

War Energy:

56%

'I've gotten stronger.....but it is still not enough.....in order to serve Aztog the god of war, I need to be more powerful.....I will be the one to defeat the others...after this mission, I will challenge her and this time...I will win...'

With that thought Caleb faced the troops that were on the cliff and with a commanding voice the crimson berserker shouted an order.

"Rest for we are close to our destination and once we arrive, leave no building unscratched! We shall carry on the order of our god!"

"wooooooooooh!"

Once again the crimson plated soldier looked towards the horizon as if staring into someone, could it be a coincidence that Edward was staring back at the horizon as well as if the two were staring into one another.

"I will be the true champion"

And with that declaration the red plated berserker returned to his camp and waited impatiently to arrive into the city.