The appearance of the river beast gave rise to panic but it also died down quickly.

Our town was situated at the border of a wild forest but there was a strong barricade array separating the two lands. This array was laid down by powerful mages at the border, preventing any wild mana beast from the forest to invade the human domain.

Hence no wild mana beast has ever infiltrated our town for decades now.

Suddenly the appearance of a river beast in the woods of Merrian town stirred quite a panic. The town elders reported this news to the guild masters who then sent a team of experts to reexamine the border, to check if the array had been compromised. But they didn’t find any defects in the protective array.

Later the guild master gave a stern talking to the town elders when they heard that a couple of brats were the ones who spotted a river beast. They immediately declared the kids were just delusional and henceforth shouldn’t trouble the guild if they don’t have any concrete evidence. They left a warning to the town elders this one time.

It's been about 5 months since that incident.

Right now I am lying in my room exhausted.

I had just finished doing the homework that my mom had given me.

After that incident, I hardly got to go to the woods to train.

Most of the time goes on studying!

I am not against studying mana manipulation but I don’t like reading pointless subjects like language and maths.

I already am fluent in the human language and can also read and write.

But what the hell is the abomination called ‘Grammar’

Why the hell does it even exist?

I mean we can talk, convey our message to one another.

So why do small things like grammar be given so much importance?

It was the same with people with nobility.

When I was the Overlord and had to deal with those noblemen, they always talked with such a pompous tone and used complicated words. They just loved talking to themselves, I could never make sense of most of the conversation we had. I had to hire a personal assistant to deal with their random bullshit. It was so frustrating!

One thing I noticed was that the nobility of every race loves to practice ethics and mannerism. These nobles look at other people who speak crudely with disdain. As if they are looking at a piece of rotting poop who happens to have a mouth. Gloxinia force-... I mean, she made me learn about the way a royalty should behave.

I was just an orphan street urchin, so I never learned manners or ethics.

This subject called Grammar was the same thing here.

‘Grammar’ was just made by a presumptuous perfectionist who had a lot of time in hand to waste.

But anyway, I had no choice but to learn it, thanks to my strict teacher… my mother.

The next subject I hated was Mathematics.

I came to know that in maths, there were more things than just addition and subtraction.

Dad taught me mathematics so that I could take over our family business and help him in the near future.

Whenever I got bored while Dad taught me mathematics, I would distract him by asking questions about antique wares. He would quickly forget about teaching and instead immerse himself talking about his antique wares and their origins.

But later mom would frequently catch us red-handed idling by, and then the both of us were scolded.

Hence these past months, I was only able to study and train very little.

I am really itching to go training in the woods.

I just completed my homework and came back to my room.

My mom after checking my homework went outside to tend the gardens.

She really loved her garden. You could say after me and my dad, the garden was the next thing she loved the most.

Just when I was lying on my bed gazing at the sky through my window, I heard Heather shouting:

“Big brother! I spotted a big doggie near the woods. Let’s go pet him ~ Big brother, you there?~ Big bro?!~ Big brother Ben!”

She kept pestering me and I had no intention of moving from my bed.

“I am fast asleep after studying. You go ahead.” I replied back.

“Oh, you're asleep. I see~ well that can’t be helped then, I will go myself.” saying so Heather went away.

How can such an innocent and dumb girl exist?

I know how easy it is to fool this girl, but her stupidity always tends to surprise me.

After saying so Heather already skipped her way to play around.

I gasped an air of relief.

“Benji, stop moping around on the bed and go outside. Little Heather came all the way to invite you and you just lied to that sweet, poor girl.” my mom yelled at me from the garden.

Dang it, I almost forgot mom was also outside.

I rolled on my bed lazily,

“I am really tired, mom. Good night.”

“It’s still noon, how can you be so lazy. What happened to your enthusiasm when you were saying you wanted to go training, huh?” my mom said with a sneer.

I am laying on the bed but I can clearly imagine the teasing expression in her tone.

I got up from my bed and peeked out of the window,

“Mom, can I go to the woods to train?”

My mom standing in the garden glared at me, she was wearing gloves and her clothes were stained with mud from the garden,

“Huh? Young man, if you want to train you can do it here. You know there was an appearance of a river beast in the woods. Whether it's true or not, poor Moses and the other kids are terrified. No kids are allowed to wander in there.”

Poor Moses?

That pathetic arrogant brat should be fed to mana beast for all I care. Hmph!

She then stretched her arm,

“You can train in our backyard, mom will give you pointers herself,” she said while puffing her chest proudly while holding our garden hoe on her shoulder.

I just sighed and went back to my bed,

“Nevermind then.”

“Hey! Benji, what’s with that reaction! Come back!” my mom scowled.

I am touched by her sentiments but she doesn’t have any idea how rigorously I train.

I did tell my parents I go to train but they think that I just go to loiter around the woods.

So I kept everything about my training a secret.

If my mom sees me training she would have a heart attack. She will surely ground me at home, never allow me to take a step outside again.

Just when I was idling in my bed.

“Big brother, this doggie followed me~ See how big this dog is!” Heather said loudly outside.

This girl came back again?

I just told her I was asleep and she quickly agreed not to bother me. Did she already forget?

“Heather!!” Just when my mom screamed.

I quickly jumped out of my bed and peeked out the window.

To my surprise, there was a big beast standing behind Heather, about the size of a human adult.

This white beast was a gray wolf, a mana beast!

From the manner of the way it was limping, it looked injured.

It followed Heather with its limping leg as it glared at Heather like a tasty piece of meat morsel.

My mom quickly rushed towards Heather.

“Get away from that thing!” she screamed from the top of her lungs.

Heather was startled by her and instead took a few steps backward.

The gray wolf saw this and quickly opened its wide jaw to attack Heather.

But my mother was quick on her toes.

She quickly reached beside Heather and pushed her aside.

The beast missed Heather but caught my mom.

Her upper arm was now inside the jaws of that gray wolf.

Fresh blood started dripping from his mouth and the breaking of bones clearly echoed.

My mother gritted her teeth with agony.

“MOM!!” I screamed in shock.

Heather, who fell a few feet away, was shocked seeing this scene.

Her eyes were wide open staring at the bloody mess,

“Aunty!” she yelled in horror.

My mom turned her head towards Heather,

“Get away from here! Now!”

Despite her arm being in the jaws of the gray wolf, she still was worried about Heather.

Heather started bawling her eyes but quickly got up and fled away from the beast.

“Fuck!” I yelled.

I quickly got down from my bed and picked the mattress.

Underneath the mattress, was my pouch stacked with my throwing blades.

I quickly picked the two pouches and jumped out from the window.

I sprinted through the vegetable garden and didn’t even bat an eye while stepping on the newly planted plants.

There was no time to think about small things.

My eyes were fixated on the gray wolf and my mom.

Currently, her upper arm was in the jaw of the wolf.

The wolf was glaring at my mom and wasn’t ready to let go.

My mom desperately tried to free herself but it was in vain.

Her face was twisted in the pain, she seemed to be in agony.

I quickly stuck one of the knife pouches between the elastic of pants and the other knife pouch, I held it in my mouth.

Without wasting any second, I sheathed out two knives and held them in my two hands.

This gray wolf was a low-tier mana beast but it had strong jaws and was quite agile on its feet. This beast appeared near my home out of nowhere and it also seemed to be injured before coming here.

If I have any chance to kill it, I should aim for his head.

I took the knife ready to aim and throw but I stopped.

My mom’s arm was stuck in the jaws of that wolf and she was struggling to free herself. Hence the wolf's head was obstructed behind my mom. I couldn’t get a clean shot.

I clenched my teeth and looked at the other vital area to aim.

The gray wolf had a thick fur so my stone knives would not even be able to touch its skin.

But near the folds of the wolf’s limbs, the fur was thin.

I quickly threw my knives with all my strength, aimed at the back of the wolf’s limbs.

I didn’t even wait, I aimed the second knife at the other leg.

The knives flew like an arrow slicing the air and penetrated right at the joints of the two back legs.

In the next seconds, I took out all the remaining knives and threw them, aiming at the areas where the fur was thin. The knives flew as raindrops penetrated the wolf’s flesh. His big furry ass fell on the ground.

The wolf let out a whimpering tone and his eyes shifted and fixed on me.

I glared back at the wolf fiercely.

I picked a shovel laying near the garden and rushed at the wolf.

This scene reminded me of the day when I was assassinated. The scene where Gloxinia was impaled by that wretched Demon general flashed in my mind.

I was powerless and couldn’t save her.

I wouldn’t let the same thing happen again in this life.

How dare some rotten mutt dare attack my mother in front of me.

If only I had the ability to use mana, I would have incinerated this mutt down to ashes. But to use mana I have to wait for at least about 5 more years.

Right now, I am just a hairless, seven-year-old brat.

But past these years, I had trained my body.

“Benjamin! Don’t come here!” my mother shouted as she saw me rushing towards her.

Her face was pale, and she was drenched with blood from her wound.

“Mom! Close your eyes,” I shouted back.

My mom gritted her teeth,

“I said back off, Benjamin!”

I didn’t stop and rushed towards her just armed with a shovel in my hand.

“Just this once, listen to your mother! Take Heather and get away from here,” she ordered me.

The wolf moved his head and gnawed at my mother’s arm.

My mother groaned with pain.

“Mom! Close your darn eyes for fuck sake!” I screamed.

My mom was shocked to see me using vulgar language.

I guess Heather’s foul-mouth personality rubbed on me.

While sprinting towards the wolf, I dug the shovel in the ground and took a handful of dirt on its blade. When I got close enough I flung the dirt on the wolf’s face.

The wolf was blinded and even my mom was blinded.

My mother seemed to have panicked and didn’t heed my words. Damn it, never mind.

What's done is done.

Without wasting any second I jumped on top of the wolf’s head. I grabbed hold of his ears to grip his head and stabbed my shovel right on his jaw.

The shovel easily pierced the beast’s jaw and red blood gushed from the wound.

The wolf tried to shake his head to throw me off from his head but I had a tight grip on his ears and my legs tightly held his head. There was no way for this mutt to overthrow me.

All the shaking hurt my mom as she screamed in agony.

There was no time to waste.

I quickly ducked and started slicing the wolf’s jaw to force open his mouth and free my mom.

The wolf’s skin was thick and a normal kid wouldn't be able to even scratch his skin.

But I have been working out all this year and my strength was not like any normal kid.

Armed with a shovel, I quickly slashed on its jaw, cutting and widening the wound.

My face was covered with blood but I didn’t even blink.

It wasn’t soon I forcefully opened its jaw and freed my mom’s arm.

The wolf was furious and pushed my mom away and then focused his attention on me.

My mother fell a few feet away and was covered in blood and her arm was a mess.

But I had no time to check her condition.

The wolf was now shaking his head jumping up and down to shake me away.

Even though his back legs were out of order, his agility wasn’t anything to laugh off.

Suddenly it jumped and used his front leg to attack me. I was quick to move my head and I barely managed to avoid its claw.

“You fucking mutt! Dare to attack my mom!” I screamed furiously and stabbed the shovel right in its eye with all my strength.

The wolf wailed in pain and jumped up falling on its back.

I had no choice but to get off the wolf otherwise I would be stuck under him.

I jumped away to the ground and tried to get some distance from the wolf.

The wolf tried using his front feet to shake away the shovel stuck in his eyeball.

Crap!

I am out of knives, I need to get some kind of weapon to kill this mutt in one shot.

I can’t run away from this wolf.

If I was alone here, running wouldn't be a problem but there was my injured mother and Heather too.

So killing this gray wolf was my only option.

It wasn’t soon the wolf shook away the shovel stuck in his eye and again turned his attention to me. He was very furious, glaring at me.

I panicked and looked for a weapon nearby, and my eyes fell on the shovel that the wolf just got rid of.

I quickly dashed but the wolf seemed to know what I was about to do so he attacked me with its claw.

I had no way to avoid its claw, so I used my arms to block its attack.

With a loud crash, I fell a few meters away before rolling onto the ground a few times. The whole world just turned upside down and my arms seemed to go numb. It wasn’t soon the pain in my arms started kicking in and my arms were drenched with blood.

There was a deep wound on my arms and even my bones seemed to have shattered.

Fuck!

So much training and my more than hundreds of years of battle experience as Overlord counted for nothing?

With just one attack of a low-tier mana beast, my arms are in shambles.

Will I die in the hands of some lowly mutt?

And on top of that, the gray wolf was already injured when it came here. If the wolf was in top condition, it would have already killed everyone here 10 times already.

The wolf fiercely dragged its lower body towards me as it glared fiercely.

His bloody jaws were wide open thanks to my wound, there was a weird sound like a growl.

I tried to get away but he pounced on top of me.

I tried to kick him and get away but it was in vain. He opened his wide jaw and tried to bite me.

Thankfully the injury that I gave to his jaw didn’t have much bite force.

I struggled to get some distance but everything was in vain.

Just when I was thinking about my next move, I saw my mom drenched in blood standing beside me.

I have no clue when she even arrived here.

Her frock that once was stained with dirt while gardening was now drenched in blood from her wounds. She glared fiercely at the wolf-like predator looking at its prey. Her injured arm was hanging by just a flesh which was barely attached and in her other arm, she was carrying a sickle.

She usually used to look like my sweet-strict mother, pouting angry or happy like a little girl. But right now she looked like a goddess of death.

I can’t help but shiver when I see my mother in such a state.

“You insolent dog! Dare attack my son!” she screamed and swung her sickle on top of the wolf’s head.

The wolf didn’t even have time to react. There was the tender sound of flesh piercing and in an instant, the wolf’s severed head rolled down on the ground.

The wolf was beheaded in a single strike and the whole wolf’s body instantly went limp.

I couldn’t help but stare at mom in shock.

“Benjamin, are you okay?” she asked me.

“I~ I am alright, but what about-” before I could even finish talking, mom fell to the ground.

As soon as she heard me say, ‘I am alright’ she took a breath of relief and fell unconscious.

I quickly hurried towards her.

To my horror, her arm was in a rather bad shape.

She lost quite a lot of blood and her left arm was barely attached just by the skin.

Her broken bone was shattered and she will never be able to use her arm if we don’t get to a powerful healer magician.

My arms were also a mess so I used my mouth to tear a piece of my shirt. I need to at least stop her bleeding for the time being.

“What the... it's already dead?” a voice echoed from behind.

The tone seemed to belong to a mature man.

I turned my head to see two people standing near the wolf and staring at it.

One man and woman both dressed weirdly.

The man was huge in size and he had a bald head. His skin tone was tanned and his muscles were bulging as if it was carved by the chisel itself. He wasn’t wearing any shirt but only light armor that covered his arms and shoulder blades. On his shoulder, he carried a hammer that was as big as himself. His eyes were rather small, can’t even tell if it was open or shut close.

The man stroked his beard and glanced at the situation around him.

Beside him is his female companion.

She had frilly green hair and beautiful blue eyes staring at the dead wolf. She had a slender body and her skin was rather fair and beautiful. She was wearing a black frock and matching her black heels. She was also armed with a staff that had a weird blue gem in its end.

From her expression, she seemed to be in a daze.

Who are these two weird people and where did they come from?