“Huff, 738, huff, 739…”

In an empty deserted rocky plain a young boy was bare chested as he had rocks on his back doing push ups and vigorously counting his reps. Welnir struggled as droplets of sweat dripped all around his body. Pushing through, Welnir continued as he reached his 740th rep of push ups.

“Dammit, I think this is my limit!”

Struggling to get past 740 reps Welnir’s body gave as he threw the bodies of rocks off his back. As he got up Welnir knelt, catching his breath from the exhaustion. His daily schedule was a training regime that consisted of running for 200 miles and doing various body lifting exercises throughout the day. After completing the push ups Welnir guzzled some water in his canteen before standing up and looking towards the large rocks scattered in the area.

“It’s been a year now, the progress is slow, but I’m close.”

Looking at his body it was abnormally ripped as he looked like an adult with his muscular body yet he was only 6 years old. He had been grinding for a year now, training everyday and coming back to the orphanage to eat and sleep. From his actions the nearby citizens were weirded out as the boy was very unresponsive, and always ignoring the people who had interacted with him. The locals noticed as the boy came back all sweaty and stinky in the middle of the night. Though Welnir ignored them as he had a bigger goal to achieve than to interact with fools.

“There’s no time to waste, I have to become stronger!”

Being serious, Welnir suddenly became extremely fast, almost vanishing instantaneously before appearing in front of a large rock. In one second suddenly shatters and shrapnel of rocks scattered everywhere. The once large rock which Welnir was staring at was destroyed in one punch and to add a vanishing speed that almost seemed inhuman.

“Still not fast enough, I still need to keep training my runs!”

Though this was impressive to the normal eye, Welnir knew that he could go faster and faster as in his past life in the future he had achieved the peak of the human body. Going in a rampage this was the day he could finally test his results in a year. Welnir swung his fists and arms savagely and appeared everywhere as rocks scattered. It had been a long time since he had used his physical techniques, but as he kept smashing away boulders upon boulders Welnir became more aware with his body.

‘Snake Flex Technique Savage Twist!’

As Welnir continued he recalled a technique which his body could handle. It was called the Snake Flex Technique Savage Twist. The technique required having a body that was fast and flexible, yet enough power to be destructive. It was a technique that he had made when he reached the peak of the human body. It basically had footwork that dislocated its own users joints and composition and controlled all the body’s muscles in a deadly twisting way to achieve fast speeds. Though he knew the one thing that had made this technique deadly. The deadly part of the technique was the immense pain one had to go through to negate the pain in controlling their muscles and joints. It had to be perfected to the point where one had the ability to dislocate joints and twist muscles at will with no imperfections leading to pain.

“Argh, I still haven’t perfected it yet.”

Even though Welnir was doing this effortlessly he had to stop in the end several times as he was unfamiliar with his small frame twisting. Simply twisting too much and dislocating joints could easily damage his body and could even lead to death. Mastering the body was the key towards the technique, but with his little body he had to carefully do it. Even though it was dangerous he had to retain as many techniques as possible and master them again with his current body. The faster he regained them the more he could attain in the future.

“Huff, I think I’m done for today…”

Looking towards the mess left behind him it satisfied him as he still had 2 more years to absolutely perfect everything. Walking back towards the orphanage it was already night time as almost everyone blew out their candles. As Welnir entered the city and walked towards the orphanage he suddenly heard a consecutive loud bang from a metal hammer. Looking to the direction of where the sound was coming from, Welnir saw bright sparks coming out of a small house. Having lived here for a year, Welnir was curious as he had never explored this area of the kingdom before.

“A smithy at the very back door of the kingdom? Who in the world would set up shop in this sketchy ass area?!”

Confused, Welnir curiously walked towards the smithy where he had heard the loud sounds coming from. Though as Welnir approached the smithy a voice came out of the small house as it sounded rough.

“Young boy, I wouldn’t dare take one more step if I were you.”

Hearing this suddenly Welnir stopped immediately as he sensed a killing intent radiating and going towards him.

“H-hey I didn’t mean to intrude, I just never heard sounds coming from here before. I didn’t even know there existed a smithy in this part of the kingdom.”

As Welnir responded he found it weird as the man inside the small house didn’t respond after his own response. Not waiting anymore for a response Welnir slowly walked backwards trying to leave the area as it was possibly an indication he could leave.

“Young boy, don’t leave yet.”

Hearing this Welnir froze once again and before he could respond an old man bare chested came out. Examining the old man, Welnir saw he was filled with many deep scars around his body. Furthermore, the old man was extremely gigantic, nearly reaching 8ft. Additionally, he was extremely muscular to the point he looked like an ogre too. Not wanting to provoke the old man, Welnir responded.

“Do you need anything?”

As Welnir responded the old man sized up Welnir as he suddenly saw something in Welnir.

“Boy, why are you training so hard? I’ve never seen a boy have those types of arms before, let alone a teen. Most kids at this age hope to become a mage. Why are you working so hard?”

Awe struck the old man questioned Welnir of his odd trained body. Trying to figure out the old man, Welnir himself too was shocked as he sensed mana spewing out from the man.

“Y-your a knight mage? Why is someone like you here working at a smithy?”

Figuring out the old man, Welnir never recalled this person before in his childhood let alone a smith who worked and specialized at smithing around his parts.

“Hmm, so naive, if you can sense my mana then that means you yourself are a mage?”

As Welnir heard this he was shocked as he really was naive. He never had been a mage let alone had the ability before to be knowledgeable so he had spilled the beans already of his talent.

“Don’t worry though I won’t tell anyone. Though I am curious, why are you hiding your potential as a mage?”

“I could say the same to you too, old man, why is a coveted Knight Mage here working as a smith?”

Though as Welnir asked this, the old man hysterically laughed aloud.

“Hahaha, you’re right! Since we’re both so mysterious how about we introduce ourselves, eh? I am Gulious Reaver.”

As the old man said this, suddenly Welnir’s eyes were wide open. Welnir was surprised as he knew who the old man was. Welnir as a soldier back then had heard of an infamous enemy of the Divine Kingdom. Welnir remembered a name in the papers which was ingrained in his head.

‘Gulious Reaver, the infamous Knight Mage, a deserter who had executed the descendants of the Royal Family. A wanted man that abandoned the Divine Kingdom killing those who had opposed him on his path no matter who they were!’

Remembering who the old man was, Welnir was surprised as he never had expected a powerful figure would be hidden in these parts of the kingdom. Learning who the old man truly was, Welnir became cautious as he knew that the old man in front of him truly was a dangerous person.

“I-I’m Welnir Baudelaire, nice to meet you, sir Gulious?”

Welnir knew that provoking this man was a death sentence as Welnir knew this man was a legend that rivaled the strongest beings in the future. Holding a strong decision Welnir wanted to leave as soon as possible.

“Hahaha, don’t be so tense young boy, ah wait, Welnir, that’s your name, how silly of me! Well, now that we’ve introduced ourselves I’ll tell you exactly why.”

Confused, Welnir grew curious as if Gulious would actually tell him the real reason.

“Well, you see I came here because I got caught in an accident! I injured myself, so right now I can barely even use my own mana properly. I’m recovering so I decided to start a smithy out here in the borders. So, how about you, Welnir?”

Looking at Gulious, Welnir expected the vague answer, but Welnir played it off.

“Well, I don’t like the Divine Kingdom, they treat others below them like animals that don’t deserve to live. Why should I want to be crowned and treated nicely by the likes of those?”

Hearing this Gulious grew more interested as he heard this coming from such a young boy. Why would a child even know this fact about the Divine Kingdom when he’s so young? Even so, Gulious wanted more answers.

“Well, then that seems like a fair reason, but why are you training physically hard? Is it possible you already know which category you're in? For even a child knows nothing about the 4 categories of mages”

Waiting for a response Welnir froze slightly not knowing how to answer. If he had told Gulious he just knew then he would be more suspicious. Not having many options, Welnir chose to use a generic lie.

“I just read a book about mages and learned about categories. I linked my stats and the book and I found that I could be a Knight Mage.”

Saying this both parties were tense as both knew each other had just lied. As the tension grew Welnir got ready as he was going to book it and run. Though as things were about to escalate Gulious strangely laughed.

“Haha, you’re interesting kiddo, how about you become my disciple?”

“What?!”

Surprised, Welnir was taken aback as he did not expect Gulious to even consider anything the likes of what he had suggested considering they had both lied to each other. Though Welnir knew he couldn’t object to his offer, he wasn’t necessarily unhappy though. Being taken as a disciple of a Knight Mage and to add to that he’s an enemy of the Divine Kingdom how couldn’t this be fortune for Welnir? If he could learn to be a Mage earlier his goals would come closer and quicker. After considering the question, Welnir answered confidently with a straight face.

“I’ll become your disciple, but would you help me take down the Divine Kingdom?”

Having heard Welnir’s response, Gulious suddenly smirked. Observing Welnir, Gulious reasoned if the young boy in front of him would accept or he would become his enemy. Hearing the right answer Gulious smirked as he knew Welnir was special. Specifically no one in history had ever awakened mana at such a young age, the average person who awakens their mana is usually 8 years old. Though from Gulious’s observation he knew this boy was merely 5-6 years old. Additionally, from observing Welnir he truly did feel that Welnir hated the Divine Kingdom and knowing that he could trust the boy as he himself was an enemy beyond surrender.

“Well, since our goals align I wouldn’t even bat an eye to agreeing to your request. The infrastructure of this world is corrupt, there is no good. All there is, is power and oppression and those who succeed from it. Come here tomorrow morning, I will sharpen your rough talent and you will shine above the rest.”

Hearing this, Welnir was surprised as he saw a change in Gulious. Looking at Gulious’s back while he yawned, going back into his tiny smithy, Welnir wondered if the man in front of him was a monster. He wondered this because suddenly his status panel showed him something extraordinary.

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Acquired New Trait From a Rank 7 Knight Mage

[Disciple of The Feeling]

+ All Weapon Skills Are Learned 50x Faster

[STATUS PANEL]

Name: Welnir Baudelaire

Race: Human/Demon Seedling [PURE 100% BOTH]

Rank: None

HEALTH: 460/460

STAMINA: 550/550

MANA: 10/10

[STATS]

Strength - 10.3 [Increases Physical Power]

Defense - 9.8 [Increases Health & Nullifies Damage]

Endurance - 9.5 [Increases Stamina]

Agility - 9.3 [Increases Speed]

Intelligence - 1 [Increases Mana & Ability Power]

[TRAITS/SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES]

Demon Circulation [Mage Talent] -> Intelligence Stat Increases 10x Faster

Demon Affinity [Mana Talent] -> Special Affinity Only Demons Possess (100% PURE)

Demon Resilience [Physical Talent] -> Defense Stat Increases 10x Faster

Demon Transformation/Inheritance [Special Talent] -> LOCKED CONDITIONS MUST BE MET

Demon Speed [Physical Talent] -> Agility Stat Increases 5x Faster

Disciple of The Feeling [Special Trait] -> All Weapon Skills Are Learned 50x Faster

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