Chapter 2 - Arthur Vermillion

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This morning's sunrise was a breathtaking display of radiant colors. Bright streaks of red, pink, and orange slowly overcame the dark blue and purple of the twilight sky. The sky resembled a prism; all the colors blended perfectly into each other. The sun itself was just peeking out of the horizon, and its brilliant rays already shined brightly and began to warm the air.

Staring at this entrancing view is a youth sitting on a roof colored deep red. This astonishing scene, along with the youth, perfectly resembles that of a famous master artist's work.

The youth who was sitting is Arthur Vermillion.

It will be 2 days from now until his birthday. But instead of a face full of excitement and anticipation. His face shows that of a man whom all the problems of the world seemed to pay him a visit.

"Arthur!"

A gentle and familiar voice breaks the train of thoughts that were wildly rushing inside Arthur's head.

He immediately got up and his expression suddenly took a 180-degree turn as his original depressed and worried face became a joyful face.

If this was seen by anyone they would probably think that his face was made by some sort of clay that he could instantaneously manipulate.

"Good morning, Father," Arthur said smilingly, showing off his perfectly aligned teeth.

"Don't good morning me! What are you dawdling about up there, you are about to be late for school!" His father said with a serious but a warm attitude.

This man was Arthur's father, Jiu Vermillion.

Arthur then quickly realized this and he immediately said his father goodbye and promptly left the Vermillion Family's Residence.

When Jiu Vermillion finally saw his son leave, he silently glowered.

Of course, he knew what was the reason that his son was always up there alone.

It is simply because of his poor innate talent. His fellow disciples had always been 2 miles ahead of him while he was still stuck at being a mere ordinary mortal.

If things keep going on in this way, the Vermillion Family might be removed from the 3 major families of the White Alyssum City.

And this was something that Jiu Vermillion didn't want to see ever occur.

-White Alyssum Martial Institute-

Arthur Vermillion was just on time for school. However, he was bound to gather some attention since he was the last person to come.

'That retarded instructor isn't the one teaching, good.' Arthur thought to himself.

When he was about to take a seat, he immediately heard someone say an insinuation.

"Humph! Since when did a failure such as you become so important that you dare to be arrogant?! You are such a disgrace to our—"

The youth, who was insinuating, was immediately halted by a cold and icy eye.

When he turned around he noticed that the gaze fixated on him was a beautiful girl wearing a long green dress.

If she stared at him a little more gently, he might even declare her love to her immediately even if he gets rejected. However, reality is not as benevolent as there's not even a single shed of gentleness that can be seen in her eyes, only terror.

This was a combination of both background and power being used at the same time.

This girl was the daughter of the Jade Family's Patriarch, Rose Jade. Not only is she the most outstanding student in the class this year, but her appearance and allure also reach the top. Only Luna Bluan, the daughter of the Bluan Family's Great Elder, can slightly match her.

Upon recognizing who she was, he immediately apologized, "I-I apologize. I w-was only joking, o-only joking!".

When Rose Jade saw how this man acted cowardly in front of her, she immediately turned her gaze away from him, completely disregarding him.

After that, she turned her head to Arthur Vermillion and patted the seat beside her, hinting him to take a seat there.

Arthur Vermillion, on the other hand, lightly smiled and shook his head. Thereafter, he chose an inconspicuous seat and rubbed the surface of the wooden desk with his right hand.

He placed his left fist below his chin and proceeded to listen to the lecture the instructor was giving.

On the other hand, Rose Jade was feeling a bit disappointed and thus, couldn't really focus on the class. Although she had already expected Arthur to have that kind of response, she was still unhappy about it either way.

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After the class had ended, Arthur walked towards the Vermillion Family's residence when a gentle and warm hand suddenly touched his shoulder, halting his movement. He turned around and saw Rose Jade lightly smiling at him.

"You should listen to your fiancee once in a while."

Looking at Rose Jade, Arthur could only quietly sigh. His eyes locked onto hers' but no words ever came out of his mouth.

Realizing that he was at a loss, he slowly turned away from Rose Jade and continued to head back towards the Vermillion Family's residence.

Rose Jade was about to stop him again but as soon as her hand reached the back of his fading back, she changed her mind when he recalled how his eyes looked when he was talking to her.

When she was about six years old, she and Arthur became close friends.

A year after that, her father carefully explained to her that she and Arthur would become much closer when they grew up, to the point that he would have a grandchild to play with, after that, he started laughing boisterously.

She didn't understood it at first but when she grew up, she realized the meaning behind his words and later that day she angrily went into her father's room, then she threw everything in his room at him.

Her father never understood why she did that up until now.

But, instead of being shy whenever she was with Arthur, she became closer to him instead.

Arthur also realized what he was feeling and he also began to become closer to her.

However, everything swiftly changed after both of them stepped into the path of cultivation.

-Vermillion Family's Residence-

"Pah! Pah! Pah!"

The sounds of wood and flesh rang in the silence of the night.

Red blood were scattered all over the wooden dummy in front of him and dripped onto the ground.

Arthur would occasionally burst out with an explosive strength that would shock even a veteran mortal fighter.

After a series of moves, his fists and knees which were now as red as a ruby, were shaking visibly.

Realizing that he couldn't continue anymore, he decided to sit down and meditate to recover a bit of his energy.

After a couple of minutes of rest, he started swinging his fists and his legs again at the two wooden dummies. His moves were already flawless and inculcated.

However, if someone was to point out what was missing from him... Then, it was power.

Arthur has already reached what an ordinary mortal thirteen-year-old kid like him could do.

It is the utmost limit of what his body could take. If he wanted to improve, then he will need to cultivate.

However, in his case, that is where his problem lies.

When he first started cultivating, a some sort of force was impeding him from reaching the first step towards the Body Strengthening Realm.

And that was something that he couldn't remove much less understand. That is the reason why he is stuck at being a mortal while everyone was already at the beginning and even the middle stages of the Body Strengthening Realm.

This greatly depressed Arthur, however, he was not willing to surrender. He worked harder than everyone else and trained harder than his peers, he wanted to become someone at the same level as Rose hence be able to get close to her while disregarding the judging eyes of the people.

But as it stands now, he still falls far too short to be doing that. It is no more than an unreachable dream.

Subsequent to his training, he went directly to his room and immediately fell into a deep sleep.

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