“Kirian, just 1 more day until you’re 18!” Sarah shouted.

“Yeah, I can’t wait. I can finally leave. I need to finish a few last-minute things and then I’ll be ready to go.” Kirian looked to Sarah and patted the top of her long brown hair. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon. You will have to train hard while I’m away. Maybe you will even catch up to me.”

Sarah pouted, “Rein, you know I can’t catch up. You and Arnie are the fastest cultivators of our generation. I would have to stop everything to even have a chance to catch up to you two!”

“Well, never say never. I recall that you spent most of last month tricking the town kids into giving you more candy. Those elaborate schemes of yours must take time to plan. If you focused that sort of time on cultivation, then you would at least be a yellow rank 1.” Kirian sighed, “if only mom and dad didn’t spoil you.”

Sarah was 5’8” and still growing. She had long legs and a narrow waist, while the rest of her womanly assets were starting to form. If you looked closely, she had many features from her mother, Cindy. Sarah’s most distinguished features were her emerald eyes, which represent the main bloodline of the Cain family.

She whacked Kirian’s hand away and crossed her arms in front of her. Sarah’s emerald eyes stared right back into Kirian’s emerald eyes. She boldly asserted, “Well, Rein, I bet by the time Arnie comes back I will at least be at the Yellow Grade 3. I will show you! She huffed. Sarah quickly turned and walked back towards the kitchen. Most likely for another snack. Kirian chuckled to himself and started going back to his room.

In the Cain family clan, your 18th birthday marked the beginning of adulthood. The Cain family is a reputable family that decided to seclude themselves from most of the outside world. The family motto, “strengthen and unite the family in order to protect and thrive outside.” This motto was passed down from the founder of the Cain family, Arthur Cain. Rumor has it that Arthur left his family due to internal conflicts. Eventually he settled in the outskirts of the now Silver Country.

Kirian Cain’s 18th birthday is tomorrow. Kirian will be allowed to leave the family Clan and adventure to the outside world. After your 18th birthday, Cain youngsters are not required to return to the clan until they turn 23. Kirian Cain’s older brother, Arnie, has been gone for 3 years. The Cain family does not interact much with the outside world, but they are not as secluded as those hidden powers. Their Clan is large enough that they cover 150 li. They have a small town, shops, merchants, and others that all reside within the Cain family territory. Most people in the Cain Clan are distant relatives or devoted followers of previous members. The clan does not force members to return, but many chose to settle down back home. Cain clansmen venture far and wide, but they remain attached to the clan to provide it enough strength to remain autonomous.

Kirian walked back to his room. His room was nicely furnished and had 1 bedroom, a living space, and a large bathroom, and a courtyard that was half the size of the inside. The courtyard consisted of weighted rocks, target boards, wooden dummies, and weapons racks. The essential starting pack for a young cultivator.

Kirian is the son of Ralf Cain, the 2nd in command. Ralf’s older brother, Eric Cain has been the leader for the last 40 years. Ralf never needed to compete with the clan head. While Eric and Ralf were both groomed to be the successor, they settled the matter in private long before Eric took over. This led to a peaceful atmosphere. Kirian’s Uncle was just like a second father to him.

Uncle Eric and Kirian’s father supported all the youths of the Cain clan. Kirian might have had a leg up. He was a young master of the Cain clan, but he put in his fair share of effort. Kirian was one of the hardest workers. Every morning he would awake at 5am. He would put on black athletic shorts and a T-shirt and head out to his courtyard. Due to his early schedule and vigorous workouts he was commissioned a room with a courtyard when he was 13. His weapons and physical exercise training created large clouds of dust and loud noises in the training area. The training area was for everyone, so it was located just outside of town. It was close enough that many neighboring houses and shops could hear loud activity. Normally this would not be an issue, since the shops and streets would be filled with noise, but at 5am many were sleeping.

When Kirian was assigned his own personal training space, he increased his daily activity. He would run 10-15 li as a warmup without using his cultivation. The Cain family did not allow for weaklings, as you were only as strong as your weakest link. This did not apply to weak cultivators, but weak physical bodies. A strong physical body would do better than a weak, fair, flower boy who only knew how to use his energy force. If your energy force were exhausted even the strongest of cultivators would have to rely on their bodies.

After his warm-up, Kirian would focus on his muscle endurance and strength. He would lift heavy rocks and other weighted items. Over the years, this gave him a nice think physique where you could see the faint ripples of muscles. As he was only 17, he was not as big as his father. He would proceed to work on his weapon skills. He had a handful of teachers growing up which instilled him the basics of knives, swords, long sword, projectiles, archery and more. While he did not focus on all of them, he at least knew how to effectively use one if that was all he had. Kirian preferred to use a sword, knife, and other sharp projectiles. Once he finished improving his sword art understandings, he would repeat his physical exercises using energy force. Once he exhausted all his energy units, he would move through his sword progressions. If you were out of EUs, you could still rely on your physical body and weapons techniques. They may not kill or damage cultivators, but they could save your life.

Kirian grew up hearing stories of other clan members feats and more than half of them have saved their lives using just their body and skills. He took this lesson to heart, which is why is training was so intense.