On the tip of a large boulder above a rapid river sat a young boy with tattered and torn clothes.

His robes that are made of cheap, scratchy materials has been dyed brown by his dried blood. All who cast their eyes upon him could see the harshness of the battle that he survived from, but the aura which is flowing out from him is a tranquillity that seemed to harmonise with the vast land he is on.

The others sat quietly nearby as they waited patiently while guarding his meditation. Even the playful Aisa and the twin dragons are still as they rested on the large Land Wyrm.

A filament of energy flew out of the river and dived into Kairos through the crown of his head. It is a concentrated water type Heavenly Energy that was absorbed into him. And then a brown coloured strand of earth energy flowed out of the land.

Moments later, another strand of silver-coloured energy came out of the rock he was sitting upon. A metal elemental heavenly energy.

In this manner, strands of energy came from all around and flew towards him.

As they entered him, his body began strengthening at a rate that is visible to the eyes. Lean muscles developed and hardened, his skin turned clearer by the minute, and his hair that was dull immediately filled with life and shone.

He was so filled with energy that a powerful heat radiated outwards from where he sat, and the very air started to burn. Then as if he couldn’t hold all that power within him any longer, Kairos let out a great roar releasing a titanic blast and a domineering shockwave that shook the trees and frightened the fishes out of the river.

Titan Rank, Huang Grade physical strength!

The physical constitution that is thought to belong to those that transcended the mortal flesh.

Those that cast their eyes upon him now saw a delicate and dignified figure. By his presence alone, a powerful yet majestic pressure rolled off him.

After a short moment, the powerful aura dissipated, and to the others, besides the refinement of his looks, he appears to be no different than before.

Others may distinguish a person’s cultivation ranking because of one’s aura, but it is very difficult to detect one’s physical strength by sight.

Also, unlike breaking through a cultivation rank, a physical strengthening will not cause his body to expel the impurities within.

The link to one’s cultivation is the amount and purity of Ki within, and that purification process where one experiences are, in fact, the body’s way of improving energy conduit within oneself.

Kairos opened his eyes with delight and looked at his friends. It is an incredible feeling to become stronger, and he checked his body thoroughly.

“Seems like most of my wounds have closed up, and the injuries as patching up smoothly.”

He is still far from fully recovered. The damage he received from the daggers were actually insubstantial as he had avoided being hit in his weak points. It was the destructive Ki from the double S ranker, the Grand Patriarch of the Hope family that shredded him from within. At one point, everyone even thought that he wouldn’t be able to make it.

“Let’s move out.” He said with renewed strength in his voice.

The others looked at him, surprised. After his breakthrough, it’s not surprising that he will feel reinvigorated but after that close brush with death, and the echoes of excruciating pain he had been through still lingering in his mind, it is a surprise that Kairos would not rest.

However, they also know that he wouldn’t want to waste time resting, especially when his buddy asked for his help.

Seeing the terrible condition that Jim’s mother is in, Kairos knew that time is their greatest enemy right now. He swiftly donned into a new set of robes prepared by his disciples, and they set off towards the Capital city on the Land Wyrm.

At first, Kairos wanted the fifteen of them to return immediately to the Devilheart family to complete their mission, but after knowing that he is coming back to the Hope Mansion afterwards, they refused to leave no matter what.

When they arrived at Saint City, Kairos went straight into the local magistrate office and wordlessly presented the jade ring on his finger that represents his nobility. The one before the counter scurried away, and moments later, a magistrate came attending to the boy and they conversed earnestly for a little bit.

In the blink of an eye, they seemed to form an agreement, and the boy walked out of the office with a group of men in tow. All of these men are dressed in the military grab of the magistrate district guardsmen.

They led Kairos and his disciples to the local stables, and each person chose a horse amongst the various beasts of burden in the place.

In a guardsmen stables, the selections are limited to various types of horses, and they don’t have many kinds. After everyone was mounted, they looked down and saw Kairos still standing there looking rather clueless.

“Teacher, as a Viscount you need to pick the Dragon Horse,” one of his disciples hurriedly whispered.

The dragon race is the sovereign among the beast races, and also a symbol of leadership.

It is no surprise that the Dragon Horses, are the kind of mount prepared for the leader of the group. However, Kairos continued to tarry. After a deep sigh, his body flickers, and he appeared a moment later on the horse’s back.

“Let’s go,” He said.

The others waited for him to move. As the leader of the horses, if the dragon horse does not move, the other horses would not dare to trot in front of their leader.

The guards and even the disciples looked at each other with odd looks in their eyes. Why is Kairos not moving?

“Umm... Aisa, how do I steer a horse?” The boy sent a mental thought to his dragon.

Before Aisa could reply, the dragon horse having detected that its rider is a complete amateur started to protest. It stomped its hooves in displeasure. As the prideful leader of the herd, it had only ridden with leaders of men and has long been accustomed to having skilful riders.

There was never a time like today where the person was as clumsy as Kairos.

The dragon horse’s pride could not accept such a fledgeling on its back and brunched its muscles as it prepared to jump wildly. Its eyes turn dangerous for a moment, shocking everyone. But unlike what the others expect it to do, the dragon horse suddenly froze.

When it was about to rampage, it suddenly felt an oppressive gaze behind its back like it never had before. It was an unimaginable sort of glare as if a fate worse than death looms over it. The dragon horse is about to cry. It is quite certain that if it moves even a little, it would undoubtedly regret for the rest of its life.

Underground, the Land Wyrm jiggled its body in delight.

This feeling of doom is a familiar thing for it, but this time, the victim is someone else, and it openly gloated.

Unfortunately, there is no one around to see this.

Ever since it had unwisely surfaced from its lair and was caught, it had felt the horrors of the death game, hide-and-seek. Hopefully, one day, more players will be added. Perhaps this puny horse?

“It stopped”

Kairos’ eyes widened when the Dragon Horse suddenly became as still as a statue. He secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but now when he nudged the beast to go forward, it refused to obey.

Selena who was rushing over in fear that the mount may throw her teacher off skidded to a stop. She turned her face away from Kairos and stifled a laugh, before quickly recovering.

Kairos sighed.

She saw him flapping around, didn’t she? His image as a Martial Teacher is cracked, isn’t it?

At least, the other hadn’t noticed it, right?

He looked around…

Everyone’s eyes are on him, including the guardsmen who couldn’t believe that a Viscount would be stuck helplessly on horseback.

They saw…

Ah Pui rode up sheepishly by Kairos’ side, and politely he asked, “Teacher, uhh… do you need assistance?”

As if grabbing hold of a lifeline, Kairos turned and look at Ah Pui, and then his expressed turned into one that obviously cried out: ‘What Do I Do With This Creature?!”

Everyone laughed heartily.

Half an hour later. The group is en route to the Hope mansion. This being the first time for Kairos to ride on horseback had been an exciting ride. Fortunately, it had been easy for him to learn the ropes and quickly break in to ride at a quick pace.

Without him knowing, Aisa had been secretly applying pressure to the prideful dragon horse, forcing the creature to submit to Kairos’ clumsy tugs and taps. However, he proved to be a slow learner when it comes to riding. It isn’t that he couldn’t understand the concept, but somehow, he just couldn’t get a proper feel on what the animal wants.

But whenever the mount was confused on what to do, she would send it mental commands with stern warnings to obey. Her cute and kiddish voice sounded like death to the steed.

With such an unfair, duplicitous method to control his mount, the others became incredibly impressed by how quick the young Viscount has learned to ride expertly. However, by the time they rode near to their destination, the boy has mastered basic primary horse riding with Aisa’s help.

On their way to the mansion, the guards had apologised profusely for laughing, but he dismissed it with a gentle wave.

Most noble children would have learnt how to ride from an early age. Frequently taking long trips early in the day with their parents and guards as a form of practice. It is a tradition of Saint Empire to do so as the children of nobles, no matter of high or low in status, are groomed to become the leaders of man. And riding is a fundamental skill that all nobles must be introduced to as soon as they could. This was also why; the dragon horse never had a rider that was as poor as Kairos.

If not because of Aisa’s ‘gentle’ bits of advice for it to do whatever Kairos asked it to, the Dragon Horse would inevitably have thrown its rider off and stamped on him.

No matter how diluted its bloodlines has become, it is still a descendant of the great dragon race, and no one can doubt that it is a beast of considerable power. As steed of war and strife, even on a battlefield, few things could hurt it. The Dragon Horse is no doubt the champion among the equines of the mortal realms.

But unfortunately, its pedigree meant nothing before the ancestor of dragons.

Only releasing a tiny bit of her wrath was enough to scare its progeny into swearing its undying loyalty, as well as the loyalty of all its children for the next ten generations running. To her uttermost delight, Aisa managed to gain many new pets.

While the tiny primordial dragon seemed pleased, the boy remained clueless of the momentous event that just transpired.