"Already a profounder at birth? How amazing is that?" Sabrina was starting to grow excited as well.

I didn’t chime in, but in my heart, I knew wondergods were even more impressive than what my friends were describing.

"Wondergods all have divine abilities and divine power. The grand twilight that created the universe also occasionally gives birth to a new wondergod," Riot’s voice was calm and a little lacking in emotion. Nonetheless, his voice garnered the attention of all his friends right away. Lucky smiled slightly upon seeing this, "Some wondergods are born in groups and can have kids, but many are not. They become the only one in their race."

"Then, how can someone become a Wondergod Body Former?" asked Marcus, suddenly full of curiosity.

"Wondergods are notorious for creating amazing legacies," it was Axel who answered this time. "Remember how Luck said a lot of wondergods couldn’t have kids? Without descendants, how could they pass on these legacies? They could only pass it on to others. Thanks to that, wondergods became fond of teaching other species how to transform their bodies to become a wondergod as well. That’s known as Wondergod Body Forming! It's an area of formulation that’s equivalent to the pharaoh path."

"In that case, I totally agree," said Marcus nodding his head fervently. "Axel should definitely be able to do it! Even if he can’t, little Luck sure can."

"No, I agree, Axel! You and Lucky are both so strong, after all. Can anyone in the sports club compete with you two? I’ll definitely go take a look if both of you go," Mikah said excitedly.

"Didn’t they both get kicked out from the sports club for fighting Luciano and his gang?" asked a pretty little girl with her long black hair tied into pig-tails. She had a slightly graceful air about her and spoke exceptionally well, "Those wanna-be nobles are so annoying."

(Another Major Acadia Primary School student, Haan. She was always a mysterious girl, even when we were very young.)

"Don’t talk about that, Haan." Micayle pinched her friend resulting in the latter making an *ow* noise. Micayle nudged Ryatt’s arm as she whispered with a sweet smile, "Hear that, Luck? Didn’t you always talk about forming a power base? So what do you think? Maybe that profounder takes you as his student!"

To Micayle’s shock, Ryatt’s perpetually calm eyes lit up with a shining light of excitement. Ryatt already entered this state when he heard his friends say he could be a profounder’s student. What was a Profounder? Profounders were mana refining magi who could be compared to profound life-forms. By formulating their magic core to a certain plateau, they could transform their bodies into energy conduits. Profounders could control magic treasures and slay monsters with magical powers. They were way more vital than the humble martial fighters and even stronger than the heroes that made up the local police and military forces. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say a strong profounder could kill such people with the wave of a hand! To be considered to have stepped on the path to becoming a pharaoh magus was not easy. One had to start by becoming a Profounder! That was every humble man’s fantasy, but very few saw it come to fruition. As for becoming a pharaoh? The young Ryatt didn’t even dare consider this. After all, was I even a hero yet? Did I know how to evolve into a profound life-form? I was completely ignorant of these things. Since there was more than one path, I felt there was no point in thinking about pharaohs and magic yet. Maybe I would try to become a wondergod one day by transforming my body. The kids continued chatting until they reached a crossroads. Some of them parted ways after being received by their chaperones. After walking for half an hour, they were already in the residential area where the remaining five lived. "It sounds pretty exciting. I want to go, but…I don’t know if I can get permission," young Ryatt grumbled, suddenly looking distraught. A novelty for me. "My stepdad can be a real jerk. Am I right or wrong?" "Right, definitely right," Micayle giggled. She found her friend's current face adorable, as Ryatt rarely showed such an exaggerated reaction. Her laughter only made the young me feel more miserable. "It would be so cool to leave behind these boring primary education schools and enter the world of the nobles. Would we have to deal with these inherent scholars then?" Haan sighed as she gazed at the clouds above. "Too bad I have no hope of doing that. Maybe I’ll be a hero scientist. The World Government is hiring new humble employees every day. Those guys have a little bit of gold, so they get special treatment. If we had gold, they wouldn’t dare behave too arrogantly in front of us." "I guess. My mom says resources are also a form of power," I shrugged indifferently, once again calm as a still lake. "The weak always get bullied by the strong. It's the natural order." My older sister had often said this line to me and I felt it was entirely accurate.

"Little Lucky, you absolutely have to go; you can’t miss this chance," Micayle held my arm as she insisted. She was unwilling to let the issue go unless I agreed to attend. "I thought Mikey was the excited one?" I replied with a smile at this longtime friend of mine. Micayle just giggled and scratched her little nose. "Wondergod Body Transformation is too scary," Mikah suddenly said after what seemed like careful deliberation. "My seniors say you have to go through excruciating pain to transform your body. I would rather be a magic former! I want to understand the elements and have a magic treasure one day; that’s my dream. Big Luck, you have to get in so you can teach us, too! That way, we’ll all be profound in the future." "Suddenly, I’m Big Luck?" I laughed, my little heart feeling warm. My friends truly wanted me to follow my dreams. ‘Why, then, should I continue to hesitate?’ However, right as the young me had this thought, he had a sudden premonition of danger. "Huh?" sensing something, I froze and glanced around, alert. "Just sneak out bro, it wouldn’t be the first time," Axel laughed as he threw his arm around Ryatt’s shoulder. "I’ll help you. Just wait and see how we become profound together and shock the entire academy! Hm? Luck?" Axel felt surprised because Ryatt suddenly stopped moving, the latter’s ears twitching. Seeing the look in his best friend’s eyes, Axel instantly raised his guard. "Pfft, Profounders? You twerps? Get real," a loud and obnoxious voice suddenly rang out behind the walking youths. "You won’t even make it home in one piece." Haan, Micayle, and Mikah were all caught off guard and jumped in fright. Out of the bushes on both sides of the street, a dozen youths wearing dark clothes strolled out, snickering as they started to surround the five students. Ryatt and Axel reflexively took positions that guarded our friends in-between us. The youth who spoke was tall and fair-looking, with long platinum blond hair. He had shifty eyes and what seemed to be a permanent sneer affixed on his tender face. That's right, it was the same punk aristocrat from school. (Major Acadia Primary Student and Black Tyrant Pirate, Luciano Graves. I really forget about that guy sometimes.) "Even an exalted member of the House Graves such as I had to struggle three years even to reach the Power Hunter hero stage. What hopes do the likes of you wretches have?" Luciano laughed disdainfully with his flunkies. "Have you noticed, Harding? I haven’t repaid you for that black eye yet. Today, I come for my compensation. Daring to attack a hero? You and Drakel must pay the price for your insolence!" "He’s a hero, so what? What a prick…" Haan snorted under her breath, unimpressed. Luciano’s eye twitched in anger, allowing young Ryatt to detect that the former had heard Haan. I took note of this and frowned. Haan had actually spoken relatively low, and not even Axel seemed to have heard her. I had exceptional hearing since birth, so I could easily listen to her. However, how could Luciano Graves hear her mumbling from 20 meters away? I wondered about that. 'So this is the power of the hero realm? His senses are far superior to the humble.' I became incredibly uncomfortable due to this revelation. Although this so-called hero didn’t seem dangerous, my intuition was still screaming danger! I instinctively believed in my intuition over anything. However, the threat seemed not to be aimed at me, nor did it originate from Luciano. Who was in danger? What was dangerous? I couldn’t help but ask myself these questions over and over. Although a dozen goons around me looked rough and mean, I didn’t feel too threatened by most of them. Since the age of three, my sister trained me in martial arts. I may not be a hero yet, but I believed my strength was already enough to fight a weak hero. Luciano was exactly a weak one! I thought that even Mikah could knock down a couple of these goons if forced. ‘So why do I feel so anxious?’ "You brought a bunch of pirates to gang up on some kids? And you still pretend to be some kind of noble?" Axel barked sarcastically. He sneered as he held his nose up to Luciano, "You’re just silver-spooned brat, with gangsters for parents. You lost to me twice, and you will lose to me again." "Silver-spooned, you say? Hmph," Luciano casually crossed his arms and smiled. "I suppose you could say that. Although I may not have a lot, I have far more than you, a frightened turtle in a dark well." "It’s a frog, bro," I said indifferently. "The saying is 'you’re frogs in a well,' not turtles. You're trying too hard..." The four students around me snickered. "Laugh while you can, bastards!" said Luciano, his face darkening. He sneered as he stepped forward aggressively, "Why do you think I have my own loyal band of pirates at the tender age of eleven?" "Why should we care?" Mikah gnashed his teeth, his initial fear turning into rage. He disliked this bully, Luciano. "Silence, worm," Luciano didn’t even look at Mikah. His gaze had drifted to Micayle and Haan at an unknown point in time. This gaze was even quite strange. Luciano maliciously smiled at them as he began to shout, "I will tell you why, you simpletons! Thanks to my so-called gangster parents, I obtained a low-grade spirit pill. Now, I have already formed my power base. Bow before my heroic air! Suppress!" Suddenly an intimidating and formless pressure descended on the youths, making everyone but Axel and Ryatt shudder. Whether it was Mikah, Micayle, or Haan, they couldn't help but shrink back subconsciously. After they retreated behind the youths in front of them, they felt a lot better. Axel was forced to take half a step back, but he quickly regained his footing. My eyes narrowed, but I continued to remain silent, secretly building my body’s momentum.

I was ready to strike at any moment. Axel was stunned by my composure, but he immediately grits his teeth and enters a battle stance. Like this, Axel managed to dismiss the intimidating effect of the pressure completely. He stepped forward once more and stared menacingly at the pirates. "H…h-h-hero power. It’s the pressure exerted by a hero’s power base. Luciano’s really a formulator now? But when…how?" stammered Micayle, unwilling to accept this. She had the same class as Luciano. How could she have failed to notice something so important? Before, she thought the talk of Luciano being a hero was just that - talk. Luciano always bragged and ran his mouth, it was nothing new. Feeling the truth with her own flesh left Micayle terrified. She couldn’t believe their rotten luck. Ryatt and Axel might be intense, but they were not pharaoh formulators. How could they fight a hero with their humble strength? "Can you feel it? Do you feel your inferiority?" Luciano laughed with abandon. "The heroic power to suppress the weak with nothing but my presence, it’s so intoxicating. Drakel, Harding, weren’t you two so tough? I warned you time and time again to stay in your place. Drakel! Because of you, I failed my last mission from the family. Perhaps I should thank you by telling you that we just visited Marcus and Sabrina." "Yeah, Sabrina’s a cutie. We gave their families a nice gift." "Haha, you perv, you still like them young?" "The master’s arts all require living sacrifices. Once I become a profounder, I’ll be a direct disciple. I’m just preparing. Anyway, it's not like young master can play with them yet." The goons snickered and mused among themselves, their random chatter filling the listening Micayle and Haan with dread. Haan tightens her hold on Micayle's arm, which also tightened its grip. "What did you do to our friend?!" I barked out, finally enraged. I truly felt incensed at this moment. 'Luciano used his heroic powers on regular people? The Hero Association forbids such behavior! Luciano has chosen the path of the villains. According to Phu, he would be a target to true heroes everywhere.' I knew that this was a world where the larger fist was always right. The humble weren’t allowed to talk back or compete against the strong. However, even among the strong, there were rules set in place by those more powerful. 'Tsk, I guess I shouldn’t expect a pirate to be righteous.' Thinking up to here, I closed my eyes. In my mind, I saw the ethereal portrait of an awe-inspiringly majestic creature. Its massive body stretched for 3,000 meters, and it was covered in sparkling rhombus-shaped platinum scales. On the creature's head were four small protrusions that were clearly developing horns. The creature's spine was lined to sharp spikes down to its 800-meter long tail. Even though that sleeping creature was incredibly massive, it was obviously in its infancy. Viewing this creature always eased my soul, and I calmed down quickly this time too. I developed the habit of viewing this portrait in my heart as early as I can remember. It always helped me focus, and I would even feel more intelligent after meditating on it for a few hours. My elder sister taught me not to fear this trick long ago, but only because she also had a similar portrait in her heart. "You have gotten in my way for the last time, Drakel. Both you and Harding will pay for hurting me and crippling my brother," Luciano frowned as he signaled a few times with his hands. The surrounding goons came in a few meters tighter, while Luciano himself retreated a few meters. "Pah!" Axel spat on the ground in front of the goon closest to him, gaining a menacing glare from that age 17 or 18 pirate. "Your brother was a pussy, your crew is full of pussies, and you are the birth canal they traveled through, pussy." Axel’s words sent the surrounding lackeys into a frenzy of shouting and cursing. "Son of a bitch!" "Your grandfather is a pussy, and your father is a pussy!" Axel cursed on obliviously. "Boss, give the fucking order!"