Getting started for real on the cultivation and a real battle. YUS!

I have reversed the Tiers

Now Tier - 1 is the lowest while Tier - 10 is higher (I will change it in the previous chapers)

Do you guys want me to mention his cultivation in the end of every chapter? Feel free to write your opinion in the comments.

H.F.

Snow had lived in a small but sturdy shed by the Oak tree. The shed was something that Grim had built using his magic. Snow had lived there for the entire time he had been thought by Grim.

Snow had learned a bit about Grim while he stayed with it. Grim was a surprisingly gentle figure, though it was sometimes overly direct. Grim didn’t care for useless talk and when it said that Snow should practice with his sword, it went back to the shade cast by the giant Oak tree.

Every time it entered the shade, it disappeared. Snow still didn’t know where Grim went.

Snow had learned a great deal from Grim in the past few weeks. Such as an introduction to magic and Qi manipulation. He had even been able to achieve Tier - 1 Qi cultivation, which was surprising as he was still about 4 years old.

Grim had told Snow that a normal human with an average mana storage capacity would need to be around 8-15 years old to comprehend the first Tier of the profound law of nature.

Grim told Snow that he had an amazing closeness with his magical element and that this caused the near miracle to happen.

Snow thought back at the time he attacked his grandfather, and remembered using something that felt like Qi.

He just tried to imitate that and then he achieved the first Tier after a short while.

Grim had told Snow to continue practicing the Art of the Draw, even if the sword style wouldn’t really fit him in the future, it was practically the only style he could use now. It would also make him more powerful than a being of the same level for the first few slashes and strikes.

Grim still haven’t told Snow what his training plan was yet. He had tried asking Grim, but he just got a straight answer “You should focus on your current training...”

Snow had whole heartedly tried to absorb Grim knowledge about the world. It proved to be quite difficult as Grim only gave extremely basic instructions about the different animals and races.

Snow had once asked a question with absolute interest “What is the strongest creature of this world?”

Grim had just replied “Dragons”

Snow had to ask a whole series of questions to get some useful information. Though he was excited when he thought about giant flying scaly creatures. He thought of the devastation and destruction they were rumored to have caused. He unconsciously held a bright smile while thinking of the subject. His subconsciousness was quite sadistic it seems.

The information he got from Grim was that dragons were the strongest creatures, but this was only because they had a massive mana storage capacity, they could fire spells much greater than their cultivation in mana. This was sheer brute force in mana. Most of them was also lige an impregnable fortress of scales.

Snow shivered at the thought of going against a dragon with a basic iron sword. he would never be able to slice against the thick scales.

Snow had asked a final question about if Grim had ever defeated a dragon, apparently silence was the answer as Grim just looked towards the Oak tree.

Snow decided not to touch more on the subject, as he could imagine large teams going up against dragons while only a few survived. He imagined Grim in that situation.

---

A few weeks of training had passed, Snow was able to accomplish a few different kinds of slashes and strikes with his stance. He was also able to connect them together. Though he still required much training Grim had told him that he was currently on Tier - 3 of the Art of the Sword. And that the next step was being able to flawlessly connect the slashes and strikes.

And that the Tier after that Tier - 5 would be the tier when he would practice Sword Qi together with his strikes.

Snow was very excited. He had made some solid progress, he could feel himself that having motivation and pressure gave rise to incredible advancements.

Grim had dragged Snow over to the Oak tree, Snow felt that it was time for his real training, and he was curious about what it would be about.

Grim spoke in it’s usual and eerie voice “We will soon begin your training. First of all your training won’t be here. It will be in a forest filled with low tier Demonic beasts. Why? that is because I want you to learn to hunt and experience a natural bloodlust, so that you can resist the anger and bloodlust in the future. You must not fall to your instincts.”

Snow nodded excitedly, he even grinned at the thought of bloodlust.

Grim continued “This is precisely what i mean you must learn to control yourself! Whenever i talk about torture or murder you smile like a creepy kid hearing a magical story.”

Snow looked down in embarrassment, this wasn’t something that he could do when talking to other people. It would be hugely creepy if a bloody eyed albino kid laughed if someone mentioned slaughter or torture.

He knew that he had to work on himself in that aspect.

But Snow was still very excited, he wanted to experience the world. He had read and heard about fantastic creatures and wanted to experience the wonders of the world.

Grim took out a huge map from out of nowhere. He laid it on the grass and began talking “The forest have 4 layers, The outer, middle, inner and center. Each section holds a different tier of creatures: outer and middle hold a lower Tier - 1 and a higher Tier -1. The inner hold the Tier - 2 creatures. The center hold a rumored Tier - 3 creature. You will spend 2 years in the outer section. After that you will move to the middle section for a year. When you’ve conquered all the Tier - 1 Creatures you will move to the Inner section. You will stay until you’ve killed at least one of every creature in the forest...”

Snow was excited but he thought of the Tier - 3 Demonic beast and asked Grim if he should enter the central part.

Grim replied “You will stay out of the central part...”

Grim didn’t teach Snow anything about the weaknesses and strengths of the different creatures, this was something that Snow had to figure out on his own.

Grim believed that Snow could be extraordinary if he got through difficulties alone.

Grim padded Snow on the shoulder and they both disappeared.

Snow felt himself getting dragged through a grayscale world. He could see buildings and people, it was like they were stuck in motion. Snow had never been outside the orphanage, and seeing new things was fantastic too him. Even if colors and smells didn’t exist in the grayscale world.

Grim suddenly stopped and Snow realised that they were in a lush forest. Snow breathed in through the nose. He wanted to experience the feeling of being outside.

Snow could sense a multitude of different kinds of flowers. He could smell the wet bark from the trees and the different leaves. He could smell the sweet scent of sap. But something weird was also being expelled into the air. It was a sweet smell, but it didn’t smell like it belonged to a plant.

Snow looked around looking for Grim, but he couldn’t find him anywhere. He realised that he had to train on his own, otherwise he wouldn’t get any real gains.

Snow followed the sweet scent in the air. He wondered what it could be.

After Snow had moved through countless bushes he suddenly felt the smell getting stronger. He stopped and gained cover behind a tree. He hadn’t smelled something like it before, so he wanted to be on the safe side.

Snow looked towards the clearing where the smell came from, what he found shocked him a bit. He pulled out the wooden sword he had gotten from his grandfather and he took a stance.

What he saw was a monster or rather a demonic beast. Snow guessed that this would be his first pray. The monster was a fairly large bird which had two talons. It had stuffy cheeks and a large body build. The feathers on it’s small wings and body were colored white with brown points.

Snow looked deeply into it’s eyes and could only sense a faint intelligence. How we was able to figure that out was a mystery, but he just had a feeling that it was true.

He sneaked closer and closer to the bird. Grim had told him of a bird who looked like the one he was praying on, the only thing Grim had described was the bird's name and features. The name of the bird was Fasan.

Snow approached the Fasan while sneaking along the ground, he held a fierce look in his eyes. He was ready for battle.

Snow had long ago, decided that the best approach to attacking the bird was to use the element of surprise.

For some reason Snow had acted as if hunting was a natural part of his being. He had masterfully hidden behind several objects and used them as cover.

Snow was making solid progress in moving towards the Fasan, he was now only a bush away from the creature.

He licked his lips in hunger and bloodlust filled his eyes.

Snow had gotten careless, the huge golden gate in his mind was slowly opening, and even without him realising it.

The fur on his hands transformed into the hybrid claws. A tail sprouted from his tailbone.

Killing intent had filled him. Snow got up from his crouching position and leap silently from the ground towards the Fasan.

The bird might not be very smart, but it’s intellect comprised of survival instincts. The bird could feel a dangerous presence nearing it, and it slowly began walking in the opposite direction.

Snow was already in the air, when the Demonic beast decided to sprint at full power. The Fasan was amazingly quick on it’s feet, and it looked like it flew through the air. With its bipedal talons it could maneuver amazingly in the forest. This was it’s homebase!

Snow had failed to rip the Fasan to shreds with his surprise attack. He sighed at the natural ability of even a weak Tier - 1 Demonic beast. But he wasted no time, he darted through the forest, chasing after the Fasan.

Snow had tried to use Art of the Draw on the Fasan, but his surprise attack had failed. He decided to try and use a quicker strike with less power. If he hit the Fasan with his wooden sword he wasn’t sure if he could defeat it with the strike, but he could probably hit it.

Snow chased after the Fasan with all his power. He knew he wouldn’t win a battle of attrition with the bird, so he decided to infuse some of his temporary Qi into his legs. This would boost his abilities temporarily but the drawback would be the waste of Qi.

Suddenly, Snow speed increased by an incredible 30% This was nearly too much power for the small body to handle. His speed increased by a large margin so he quickly gained ground on the bird.

Snow was looking fierce as the blood color in his eyes moved like waves. The door in his mind had opened halfway and transformation of his body had sped up. Snow realised the gate was open and tried to calm his mind. This proved more difficult than he had though.

Snow’s speed was increasing as his transformation progressed.

Snow took a brief stance while on the move, he brought down his right hand to his wooden sword. Which had been sheathed again. He muttered while preparing the first strike “Art of the Draw: First strike” This had become a habit of Snow.

He knew it was unnecessary but it helped collecting his thoughts.

The air moved as the wooden sword flew sliced the it. The sword was aimed directly at the bird's neck.

Snow felt the strike connect to his target but only a feeling of hitting bone which rebounded the sword. The strike held a considerable amount of power, but the material limited the damage.

The bird shrieked as it was hit. It was moved back 1 meter before collapsing on the ground.

The sword held considerable power but the strike was more of a blunt blow than a slice.

The bird hissed and sprouted before rising up again. It was angry and knew that the small beastkin didn’t have the ability to seriously wound it. The presence before might have been a mistake thought the stupid bird.

Snow was also angry, he threw away the useless wooden sword. The golden gate in his mind had opened so much that his hands were fully transformed into hybrid claws.

Snow grinned as he looked at his hands. Strangely this time he felt no pain as the golden gate opened.

Snow gathered more temporary Qi in his hands before shooting of once again at the stationary bird.

The bird had chosen to take the fight up with the small beastkin, And it also rushed at the Beastkin.

Snow didn’t want to waste power on a ranged attack, so he gathered Qi in his claws instead. Like a cat the claws were pushed out from the fingers and they looked incredibly frightening as they had a barbed and crooked look.

Snow and the bird had nearly made contact when Snow lowered his body and made a roll. He was right beside the bird when the roll finished, he used his cat like flexibility to jump towards the side of the bird.

He extended his right arm and punched a hole in the bird as if it was made of butter. His claws ripped right through the flesh and shredded the bones. His small arm was about up to his elbow into the bird.

The bird looked at the boy curiously before falling to the ground. Snow took out his hands from the bird and licked the blood of his hands. He had a frenzied and crazed look in his eyes.

It didn’t take long for the boy to jump the bird. He ripped through it’s flesh with his claws and ripped out it’s bone for the marrow. He didn’t care for roasting the meat and he wanted the fresh blood of his first prey.

Snow ate until he was full. He sat down on the ground with a burb. The gate in his mind seemed satisfied and closed rapidly.

Snow quickly felt the power drain from him, and he was suffering the backlash from using temporary Qi for an extended amount of time.

Snow was full so he crawled to a nearby tree before hiding under one of it’s roots. He was exhausted and wanted to sleep. He held no thoughts of bloodlust or hunger. He was incredibly full and just wanted to rest.

If a normal human had done this feat, it would be worth praising. Normal Tier - 1 creatures was not something a basic human could defeat.

Today was the first appearance of Red Snow. Though many more were to come.

---

A week had passed and a dirty and tired small body was moving around the trees avoiding the bushes. This body belonged to Snow. His impressive fighting before was nowhere to be seen.

Snow quickly realised after a few days that he couldn’t continue consuming the Temporary Qi that he had gathered. This made him fight with only his claws. The claws was not the problem.

The problem was first of all his size. Snow had not even turned 5 yet, and this meant that his body was incredibly small. His limbs were simply shorter than his optimal size.

The 2nd reason was his strength and speed. Snow might be strong and quick for his size, but again he was simply too small. This meant that he either had to boost his abilities with Qi or use his intellect to fight.

Snow had learned that he couldn’t let his instincts take over, this would cause him to use the most efficient method possible for killing his prey. This meant using Qi for enhancing his abilities. Snow had to be in control and fight the creatures with surprise attacks and traps.

Snow had devised a few basic traps. But many of even just the weakest of the herbivores would simply overpower his traps and escape with sheer brute strength.

He had to escape every time he sensed or smelled a omnivore or carnivore. The omnivores and carnivores were typical either more in numbers or more powerful than herbivores, which made sense.

Snow had quickly learned to differentiate the different beasts by smell, this proved incredibly useful when searching for prey. This was probably what had allowed him to survive.

Snow was currently looking over a chart he had gotten from Grim before they left, this was a chart on which stood all the creatures he had defeated. Snow had to drop some of the beasts blood on the chart before a checkmark showed beside the creature's name. This map was divided into sections with correlated with the sections on a map he had also been given.

On the map the whole forest was marked, with 4 sections marked with a different color. one for the outer, one for the middle, one for the inner, and the last one for center.

The colors were also presented on the monster chart he had been given making it possible to see which monsters he had to defeat in the different areas.

Until now he had only checked of a few, which included the Fasan. Grim had been generous he had left off, Snow right beside one of the weakest creatures of the forest.

Snow had, had trouble, but he had learned to cope pretty quickly with the environment. However it still left marks on his condition.

If he fought without Qi enhancements he would sustain a few injuries, but wouldn’t be able to recover for his next ‘meal’. He would however increase his cultivation and get stronger and more prepared for stronger enemies.

If he fought using Qi enhancements he would sustain next to no injuries however he wouldn’t recover all his Qi for the next battle. He would also never increase his cultivation and he would only get stronger with time. He wouldn’t be able to fight increasingly stronger enemies.

Snow had chosen to focus on his training while using no Qi enhancements. This meant that he had to use traps or sneak attacks for fighting. He held a natural ability to hide, but it proved difficult to assassinate his enemies with a single attack.

He would at most gravely wound his enemies making them go berserk trying to take him with them as they fell.

This was how he came into his current condition. For a small body he held an incredible number of small wounds.

But, he had gathered enough food for a good while. Demonic beast were usually pretty large and had a good amount of meat on them.

Snow wanted to achieve the next layer of Qi unraveling soon, he wanted to increase his training and thereby his strength.

Snow had found a large lake and he currently resided in a fairly large corpse of an Oak tree. This tree was pretty wide and held enough room for his spoils.

Snow also couldn’t take the easy way of eating berries, grass or bark. He would simply throw up immediately upon it entering his stomach.

But the large amount of meat he had stored gave him time for training and cultivating. He would only have to gather a new meal once in awhile. Snow also realised that he would soon face the predators of this forest and he actually wondered why no predators had wanted to hunt him down until now.

Snow didn’t know but Grim had actually stayed by his side most of the time, however the only reason it was there for was to deter the predators and protect Snow against the powerful monsters of the forest, at least until he was ready.

Grim didn’t make it’s presence known though, as it would limit Snow’s will for survival and training.

Snow had nearly attained the next Rank up in the Art of the Draw. He was currently struggling against using the sword strikes interchangeably and freely. He could use all kinds of slashes and strikes, but connecting one into another was another deal.

His stance either looked like a dance of sword strikes which connected beautifully, but was useless in a normal fight or his stance looked weird and flawed but functioned okay, in battle.

Snow knew he was on the verge of discovery but it was more tricky than he had imagined. making flawless and interchangeable manoeuvres on the fly was very difficult.

Snow had also built up his Qi for a good amount of time now, and it was nearly time for him to try and unravel the next layer of cultivation. His Art of the Draw stance was Tier - 3+ nearly tier - 4. But his Qi unraveling was Tier - 1 still. He knew that his Qi unraveling halted behind, but he couldn’t do anything about it as his body was not yet fit for cultivation.

Snow was just about to use his Qi for unraveling when a strange smell came into his nose, he could smell that this creature was hostile and was near him.