A small clearing in a forest near a city called Grandfort. A boy who looked around 15 years old was punching a tree repeatedly to the point his fists bled.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

The sound echoed through the forest, he was sweating profusely which caused his hair to partially cover his eyes, but one could still see a glint born from a certain resolution...

Crack!

The tree fell with a loud thud, followed by a comforting silence. With his daily training done, he succumbed to exhaustion and fell asleep right there.

The young man was the embodiment of average, maybe slightly above average. His height was average at 170cm, his tan and fit body along with his lingering juvenile features were also average for boys with his age and background.

The boy's name is Aegon Silver. He hails from a family of generational peasants, except for his brother and now himself who decided to enter the world of cultivation.

He was moving in his sleep. He dreamed of his days in the countryside with his family, he dreamed of entering the Sacred Bond Martial House, he dreamed of being able to provide for the ones he loves and he also dreamt of a particular cliff...

Time passed and a few hours later his eyes snapped open, a pair of beautiful blue eyes shined full of energy. This was perhaps the only feature that made him above average.

He woke up full of energy with his fists were completely scabbed over.

This would be an abnormal rate of healing but Aegon’s cultivation is already at the peak of the 1st level of Body Refinement also known as Hardening Skin, where a martial artist develops a harder skin and a better healing towards surface wounds.

Even in this regard he was average, well if we exclude the sons and daughters of wealthy aristocrats and nobility.

As Aegon was walking home he heard the rustling of leaves close behind him, followed by a roar that seemed to be from a magical beast.

Turning around to take a look, Aegon was shocked at what he saw and immediately stepped back to create distance between himself and the beast.

It looked like a crocodile but with taller legs, something that Aegon knew from his brother’s lessons. It was a Kroxy, a sub-species of magical beasts.

Seeing his prey fleeing from him, the Kroxy moved his snout, raising a cloud of dust that made it impossible to see through.

It lasted for only a few seconds before the dust started to settle but by the time it did, the Kroxy was gone.

The knowledge he had about this magical beast flashed through Aegon’s mind as he waited until the very last moment before jumping sideways just as the Kroxy appeared from underground, his jaw wide open, he snapped it where Aegon was only a few moments before.

Confusion and surprise flashed in his eyes but before he could even retreat he was hit with two slings in his snot and hind legs.

Aegon stood there stunned looking at the fallen beast unsure on what to do next, after some thought he tried stabbing the Kroxy with his hunting knife.

Snap!

The knife snapped in half without doing any noticeable damage to the beast at all. Aegon was once again left staggered, this time by the sturdiness of the beast's skin and his stupidity for thinking his knife could do anything in the first place.

His self reflection made him forget about the situation he was in for a few moments but his daze was broken when he heard his slings snapping.

-[F*CK SH*T, better run to fight another day|] Without looking back, he ran towards the city.

...

Grandfort City

A youth was approaching the city gates with dirty, soaked clothes. The guards smiled upon seeing him and were ready to give him some compliments for his hard work, but their words got stuck in their mouths the moment their gaze shifted to the boy's face.

This youth was obviously Aegon. He had just returned to the city after the fight with the Kroxy, he should be happy after meeting a magical beast stronger than him and being able to escape, but Aegon was back to being frustrated with himself.

He was a bit embarrassed with the looks people were giving him and quickly gave his identification to the middle-aged guard.

“Little Brother Aegon, I see you are in a bad mood, did something happen when you were training?” said the guard with a worried expression.

“Senior doesn´t need to worry. I was just frustrated with a mistake I made, but I was actually meaning to ask you if the magical beast market is already open...”

The guard noticed Aegon didn't want to talk about it so he didn’t press further. “Hmm, the market is open and there's a lot of people there already, it’s best for you to hurry, remember, the early bird gets the worm”

Aegon smiled in response and ran straight for the city market. As Aegon was running he couldn’t help but admire the city’s landscape, the houses were a lot different from his own in the countryside, here the buildings were all made of black stone, small and stacked close to each other giving it a very unorganized feeling.

Aegon quickly arrived at the market and was met with a big crowd flowing into it.

“It really is crowded; I need to hurry or else all the good partners will be gone”. Without further delay he started looking through the vendor’s stalls.

After a few minutes he found the first stall which sold magical beasts. There was a decent variety of magical beasts for sale from several species. The one that caught Aegon´s eye was a Green-scout Eagle, a species well-known for its stealth capabilities.

Aegon was excitedly giving his silver coins to the seller when his hand was suddenly grabbed...