《Transcendent Martial Asura》 Prologue A slight breeze drifted in the air, with the sky cloudless and the moon showing off its full splendor. In the shadows of a dense forest, the rays of the moon shone on the tiny gaps the trees made. Suddenly, a shadow of a person flickered past disturbing the peace of the forest and causing the moon to momentarily shine on the figure along with the peaceful wind to whistle loudly. Before it settled, a moment later a few more shadows similarly flickered past causing the wind to whistle even louder. As if hindered by something, the figure in front seemed to have slowed down, then with a sudden burst, the shadow dashed out of the forest onto a grassy plain. With no obstacles in the way, the moon was now able to fully reveal the figure. It was a man, a little over thirty years old with his military-styled haircut now covered in dirt and leaves. On his face, there was a long scar leading from his right eye all the way down to his chin. The scar gave him a look of savagery and it seemed as if it was done recently. Blood trickled down from his chest, which was covered by a tactical jacket and was soaked with blood. There were bloody holes and huge cuts on his clothes, each one seeming to however, just barely miss the vital points. The man struggles to get up, until he looks to the front. He gives a small laugh, perhaps at his situation or at himself. To the front of him were countless people, wearing the same clothes as the man all lined up in large groups, while he could hear at the back, footsteps that seemed to stop just a few feet before him. The man looks at the moon in the sky with a peaceful expression and realizes he has nowhere to escape now. Surrounded by his enemies and nowhere to run or hide, this was where the long game of "hide and seek" will end. A man from the back stepped forward, his clothes were the same as the others, however one difference was the small golden bird that was pinned on the chest of his jacket. "One, please don''t resist anymore and come back with us. Do not make more any more mistakes." "Return? You want me to return? ''Little brother'', you know what I did. The higher ups will definitely not let me off." The man gives off a loud laugh. "On-...Brother, I will plead on your behalf. The five of us here will all do. We''re family after all." The lone man''s expression twisted. "Family?! You guys were never my family! A make believe family that in the end only follows orders and disregards each other!" The lone man stands upright and faces the man in front. "Do you really want to do this? Opposing the organization is sure death." The man asks with a serious expression. "Do you think I was wrong to take revenge for them? Although none of us are blood related, but the two showed more loyalty and passion than anyone else. Getting used and discarded just like that, is that even right?! How did they feel when that happened?!"Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. The man that was leading had a pained look on his face, his hands trembled and his lips quivered a little, but only once before it stopped. He looks at the lonely figure, raises his hand and without hesitation gestures for the attack. The organization called Nyx was a secretive group that operated worldwide with its origins and members unknown. Its members were masters of their crafts and fighting tecnhiques, it even included people with special powers or talents, such as ESP or pyrokinesis. The lone man was one of those people with special powers, being able to use a special kind of energy that allowed him to be able to be without equal, thus he became the leader of Nyx''s special forces. Ordinarily, it should been impossible for him to be defeated, however Nyx has sent countless numbers of hitmen for the past 3 years that it has drained him both mentally and physically. Even worse, he has suffered grevious wounds and could barely recover. Just now, his last trump card to escape was also gone when he was sneak attacked and his right eye took the blow. The lone man looks at the five figures in front that quickly disappear and dash toward him with their weapons drawn. Yet, in his mind, he was having flashbacks of when they were younger. When he was young, he was living on the streets. His parents abandoned him and never came back, life was hard for him and his will to live became smaller day by day, until one fateful day he was scouted by an agent of Nyx. There were over hundreds of people like him from who knows where, who were put through inhumane training and torture to bring out their talents and to sharpen them. In the end, only eight remained and that was when he officially entered into Nyx and also when he met his "family". Perhaps the only worthy memory of the group were number Seven and Eight of their eight man team who were real siblings. Seven was a gentle and kind girl, everytime she was forced to kill she would throw up afterward, yet she always persisted on. While Eight was strong, but like his sister he was too kind, he would always hesitate and in the end if he did kill, he would always make sure to make a grave. No one said it, but it could be said that the two were the supporting bond for this ragtag bunch of killers. Their presence seemed to be able to help the group forget their troubles and job. However, when he was sent on a long-term mission a few years back, he came back to the news of their death. He didn''t believe they would fall that easily and even though his team tried to stop him, he eventually found out the truth. The two were sent out on a covert mission to a far away country, but unexpectedly information was leaked out, and the two were caught. The higher ups of Nyx knowing this did not do anything, even with their merits, so in the end when he came back it was already too late. He grew angry at the fact that Nyx dumped them so easily and that nobody not even his "family" tried to help. Knowing this, he went on a rampage, going alone to the country and slaughtering everyone, innocents included. He did not stop there and personally went for the higher ups of Nyx that were responsible for the mission and the decision to not send backup. "They don''t care about you guys, they only treat us as tools. I have paid them back...**, **, I''ll see you guys soon." The man mutters and closes his eyes. He retracts his defenses and draws all his energy into his core. In a flash, he feels as if a countless amount of blades has pierced his stomach and then he feels a fist on his chest. He felt it hesitate for what seemed like an eternity, and then...it pushed. The man flies into the sky like a broken kite, his blood raining down in the process, yet on his face was a tranquil smile. The energy at his core suddenly started to swirl faster and when the man opens his eyes again, a blinding light flashes. BOOM! The man''s body is broken apart into particles with nothing spared, not even rags of his clothes. The once tranquil sky is now covered in clouds with the moon being hidden, as if it did not want to witness the event. Chapter 1 - A new life A moment of darkness, and then a small light that begins to expand, until a pop sound was heard. A young man with a peachy complexion laid sprawled out on the grass, his eyes trembling once then opening. "Ugh..w-where? Am I still alive?" The man tries to get up, but sudden pain from his body makes him fall back down. "Pain..? Didn''t I-" The man begins to realizes something. He starts to relax and looks around. He was lying on grass surrounded by thick trees, some of the sun''s rays were shining on him and occasionally he could hear the sound of birds chirping. "This...where am I?" He looks at his hands and realizes there are no scars, his hand wasn''t even the same size with it now being more slim! He checks himself and realizes this body wasn''t "his" body! "Wha-what''s going? Whose body is this? Just who am I then?!" The moment these thoughts appeared in his head, a headache that seems to pound harder and harder in his head made him start to spasm. Argh! The man lets out yells of pain while twitching uncontrollably. He felt as if there were millions of needles in his head pricking him, while a small hammer continuously nailed them deeper. Never in his life has he felt this kind of pain with his hands grabbing the grass with such strength that blood starts to appear, gnashing his teeth so hard he feels as if he would crush them and twisting his body so hard he feels he might just snap his spine. He struggles to fight it for an unknown amount of time before he...blacks out. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When the man wakes up, the sun has already set and night has come. He blinks once, then twice before slowly getting up, while still wracked with pain he endures it to sit upright.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. He takes a deep breath then looks around a bit before closing his eyes to gather his thoughts. After waking up, memories that did not belong to him slowly flooded him and as they gradually became clearer, they seemed to have merged with his "other" memories. Many scenes appeared in his head, as if he already experienced them before. He speculates the headache he received before could have been due to this. From his memories, he knows this is no longer the same world. This world where magic prevailed and existed in abundance unlike his past world where technology ruled. There were 3 great giants in this land and they were the Azeroth Kingdom, The Empire of the South and the Holy Kingdom. The body he possesses now originally belonged to a noble of the Reyes family. He is the eldest of his siblings with a sister and a brother who were more talented and gifted than him, thus he had to put in more effort, yet the gap grew bigger and bigger. So as a last resort, he believed a rumor that there was a treasure that could help reverse this. He entered the western forest of the Azeroth Kingdom known as the "Devil''s Mountain" only to meet a mishap. He was chased and hunted by beasts, couldn''t find or catch any food that was edible and in the end his mental stress and physical state detoriated till he broke down. In the end, perhaps the original owner passed away with bitterness. The man opened his eyes after recalling things and took another deep breath. He could still feel a slight tug in his head, as if the merge wasn''t yet complete. "Leave it to me. What you want to accomplish, I shall carry on for you." The man spoke out his thoughts. As if a reply was given, the pressure from his head disappeared and the merge was completed. His dual memories fully intertwined, yet he was still able to tell which one was which. The man slowly stood up, gritting his teeth to withstand the pain and looked up at the night sky. Numerous thoughts flooded his head, he wanted to live a better life than his last. He wants to live a life of freedom and peace, yet he knows he must have the power first. Only when he has power can he protect the things he wants to protect and can he walk unbridled. Yet, he''s hesitant about power because he knows power will bring about conflicts. Giving a deep sigh and deciding to set his goal aside for now, he proceeded to slowly walk forward. Although the original owner did not know where to go, he believed his past experience would be able to help find the way out. "Since I have been given a new life, I guess I can''t die just yet huh...Jude Reyes, henceforth I''ll now take over this name." Chapter 2 - Magic Relying on his past experience and skills, he eventually found the exit of the forest. Exhausted, hungry and wracked constantly with pain that he wanted to just collapse, he slowly staggered his way out. He doesn''t know how long he walked, but eventually he could see lights from a distance. "Just...just a bit more." He said with unsteady breaths. However, before he could take another step, he collapsed. He struggled to get up, yet the pain, hunger and tiredness made him unable to stand or crawl. He didn''t realize he blacked out amidst the conflict from his body and mind. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was still deep into the night, a lone man laid face-down on the ground without a sound. The man''s body uncontrollably shivered and sometimes his body would twitch along with some tiny movements, but it was only for a few seconds before he stopped again. Whoosh! A gust of wind suddenly picked up and caused some dust and dirt to fly in the air, however before the wind could settle a group of 4 covered in black robes with white masks appeared. They surrounded the young man and seemed to be looking at him. One of the figures gave a scoff. "Just what is this idiot thinking, coming all the way out here?" A man''s voice sounded out. "It doesn''t matter. We have orders, so let''s hurry up and just finish this." Another figure spoke up, the voice seeming to belong to neither a man or a woman. One of them picked up the young man and tossed him onto his shoulder like a potato sack. The figure gave a nod to the rest and then they disappeared without a trace. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A dream? Is it a dream? A vivid image of his times, sometimes he was alone and sometimes he wasn''t. He remembers the times he worked with his team, it was a joyous feeling at the success of their first mission. But as time went on and the members grew up, it seemed a rift started to slowly grow. Perhaps he didn''t notice or he didn''t want to notice, but when he did, everything was already no more. Creak.... Jude opened his eyes to find himself staring at a ceiling. He blinked once, then twice before he figured something was wrong. A ceiling? He was sure he was outside, unless...somebody rescued him? "Ah..." It was then Jude realized that there was somebody at the door staring at him. He looked at the person for a moment, before he realized it was a servant of his house. The servant quickly dashed out, possibly to inform his father about him. He slowly got up, although he still ached with pain, it was a lot better than before. He reeked of medicine and saw that he was bandaged in numerous areas along with the damaged clothes from before being changed. He noticed some food and a change of clothes set on a table, and feeling his empty stomach constantly ache and rumble, he changed into the clothes on the table. It was a white robe that had distinct yellow patterns on it along with a single bird sewed on the chest area. He didn''t bother checking himself out and instead sat down to eat the food while waiting for his father to arrive. It didn''t take long too, after his third bite his father was already at the door, looking at him astonished. "Son, you''re already feeling better?" His father walked in, clearly still in shock.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Jude looked at the man. Io Reyes, the current head of the Reyes family. Although the Reyes family was situated in the Azeroth Kingdom, they were not tied to the 4 great families or to the Azeroth Kingdom''s royalty, which was surprising as most noble clans would clearly choose one side. Io Reyes, he clearly was this body''s father, however to Jude he felt strange as this was his first time looking at the man, yet it also wasn''t. From his memories, his mother left when he was young so his father had to raise them alone. He used to be very close to his father, but over time as his inferiority increased, so too did the distance between them. He hesitated a bit, before he decided to accept this father of his for now, as it was best for him to get used to it. Jude nodded his head and decided to finish his food before continuing. His father noticing this, sat down across from him and waited for him to finish. After finishing his meal and feeling satisfied, he looked up to see his father staring at him rather intensely. "F-father, what''s wrong?" Jude, still not used to saying father struggled a bit before he convinced himself that he had no choice but to adapt. "Jude, I feel as if something about you has changed. It''s like your attitude has somewhat changed. If it was you from before, you wouldn''t be this calm." "Wouldn''t anyone change if they were on the brink of death?" He was startled, but quickly calmed himself. His father nodded his head as if in affirmation. "That''s good. That''s good...It seems your little adventure at least bore some fruit." Io gave a small chuckle at the change in his son. "Father, did you save me?" Jude was sure it was his father, however he only wondered why he didn''t do it sooner. His father looked at him, then gave a sigh. He shook his head. "It''s best if you don''t ask who saved you. When you''re capable enough, you''ll know then. It''ll only bring trouble if I tell you anyway." "Trouble? Father, what do you mean?" Puzzled, Jude wanted to inquire further however his father stopped him. "Anyway, go see your sister after this. Although your relationship has been distant, it''s best if family gets along after all." With that being said, his father left after hearing his affirmation. It seems his relationship with them wasn''t exactly good now. In the past, they were extremely close but the past Jude started shutting them out as he grew older. Jude recalling his younger brother and sister sneered. "Siblings, huh? Damn, even when I''m hurt and finally come back they don''t even come see me. Some family." He couldn''t help it. After being betrayed by his own, he felt it hard to see his current family in a good light. Although he knows they''re not the same people, a mental scar is hard to heal. He gave a long sigh, before sitting on his bed. He at least wanted to be presentable, thus he had to learn this world''s current magic system, since he has lost his own special power. Drawing from his memories, it seemed this world''s magic system was pretty simple. At an early age, those who had the talent to use magic were born with an elemental affinity, although the cases where a person who were born with 2 or 3 was extremely rare, it wasn''t unheard of. There were several different kinds of elements and even if the elements of two people were the same, both would serve a different purpose as they would have different abilities. Those born without magic had the choice of becoming a warrior if they wanted to. Most wielded weapons and were usually the front line in a fight, due to the fact that they had to be durable and sometimes agile. They had to be able to hold back the enemy, as usually the mage in the team was extremely easy to beat physically. Although, there were also the types that used magic and trained themselves physically, however this was rare as this often divided their pursuit of one talent and thus slowed them down. The firepower of a mage was often stronger and quicker so most opted to often pursue that path. For Jude, he was born with an affinity to an element, so he was naturally a magician. He fell into a sleep-like state to feel his elemental affinity as he wanted to confirm this strange magic for himself. It wasn''t before long that he felt something. It was like a breeze in his mind, the element Air! It seems his air element ability was the power to incorporate it into his body parts, such as making a tiny hurricane surround his fist or surrounding his arm with wind. "Air...huh? Not bad, although it''s somewhat lacking. This ability is kind of dangerous for me as it requires me to be up close to the enemy. If only-" He stopped as he suddenly felt something familiar. "This feeling...It can''t be.." He frantically focused his mind to make sure, and it wasn''t until after he started to feel it again was he sure it was definitely it. How can this be possible? He felt something else inside him, however it didn''t exactly feel like an element. He felt a burning light and thunder in his mind at the same time; however, the peculiarity was that they were as if intertwined one half-light and one-half crackling with electricity. This was exactly the same power in his last life, his Solar Lightning energy! The only difference was it was extremely weak at the moment. It didn''t make sense! Could it be that this power wasn''t linked to a body, but was linked to a so-called soul?! Although he was confused, but he was also greatly excited. With this, he believed whatever life he wanted, it was possible for him to obtain. Chapter 3 - What do you want? Jude began to focus, as it was vital for him to be able to nurture this energy. He realized this tiny amount of energy was too small that it needed time, he needed time. He began to guide the energy to complete a full rotation around his body, as it was not fully integrated into his body unlike his elemental power. It didn''t take him long, as with just a few breaths of time the energy completed a full rotation around his body once. It was also due to how weak it was that the time it took to rotate was also very short. A tiny spark flashed in his right eye for a brief second before he breathed out deeply. Being slightly elated, he allowed himself a bit of time to calm down before he began to think of ways to nurture this energy. In order to improve an element''s power, a person would have to improve their affinity with it. The first and most simple way was using the person''s element and striving to push past the limit. It not only depended heavily on one''s talent but also their ability to comprehend, this was also the slowest and steadiest way. The second way would be to find a place with dense elemental power that matched a person''s element and then train there as that would improve the speed of progress and further stimulate the person''s element to grow. There was also one more way which was to obtain special herbs or treasures that could help. Even though this way seemed easier and while it''s true the effects were great, obtaining such items were very hard as these items were usually one-time use, heavily guarded, in dangerous places or required the person to be at a certain level to be able to use. If someone were able to obtain such items and was weak, that person would definitely have to surrender it or die. The levels in this world were fairly simple and you were determined by how strong you were by your rank. The Magic ranks in order from least to greatest were, Beginner Magician, Intermediate Mage, Advanced Magician, Master Magician, Magus, Archmage, Master Archmage, Grand Archmage, Veneficus and finally Magi Deus. In order to tell what rank a person was at, one only needed to look at the aura that surrounds a person when he/she does magic. Beginner Mages had a white aura, Intermediate had light cyan, Advanced had dark cyan, Master had light green, Magus had dark green, Archmage had light blue, Master Arch had dark blue, Grand had dim gray, Veneficus had dark gray and Magi Deus had silver. Jude was currently a Intermediate Mage which means his aura was light cyan in color. However, Jude''s special power was different. It did not have an aura when used and could not really be categorized the same as an element. It was a form of energy and could, however, closely relate to special elements but even then, it did not follow the rules that all elements followed to improve, thus he had no follow the normal ways to improve his energy. Although he did believe if he did follow the normal ways it would speed up the energy''s growth, however, his energy mainly only relied on one way to grow and that was...to fight! He didn''t need to use it as it would grow continuously on its own even if he didn''t touch it, but if he really wanted to accelerate the growth of it, he needed to fight, the closer to death he was, the better!Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. But, that kind of situation only worked in his last world because there, he had no choice but to become strong. In this world, he saw no reason to battle to the death. It was good enough that he was able to regain his past power, he would just let it grow on its own and maybe in a decade or more he could regain at least half of his original power back. Jude still wasn''t clear on his goal, power was good when one had it, however seeking for power in the end would definitely drag him into muddy waters again. He was not sure if he really needed power and if he really wanted to live again like that. Subconsciously a part of him still rejected this world, that also made him unable to fully break away from his past. Perhaps, the barrier would never come down in this new life of his if he did not accept this world or himself. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- He did not know how long he trained, but by the time he came out, he found the sun was already starting to set. He recalled the sun just came up when he started, he didn''t think he trained this long and was startled that time spent training in this world was so fast compared to his past world. "At any case...I did promise the father. Might as well, at least I would''ve tried." He gave a sigh and walked out of his own courtyard. His destination was another courtyard close to his. While walking, he couldn''t help but admire how big this place where he lived was, it was even bigger than most of his quarters and assigned homes in his past life by a wide margin. "I guess with magic, it''s not too surprising. How convenient..." Mumbling under his breath, he stopped when he reached his destination. He entered into the courtyard and directly went to the room in the middle and proceeded to knock on the door. He felt some sort of anxiety but forcefully calmed it down. A melodious, soft voice sounded out from within. "Who is it?" He started to get nervous again for an unknown reason. His heart started to beat faster and he wanted to run from here, but he grits his teeth and managed to keep his legs rooted. ''What the hell?! Why do I feel like running already? Is it this body''s natural reaction? What the hell are you afraid of, if I''m not?!'' Jude cleared his throat and proceeded to use what he thought was his most natural voice. "Little sister, it''s your brother. I just wanted to talk with you a little." He didn''t notice, but his body was sweating. He didn''t get a reply for a while and thought he was being ignored, so when he turned around to leave, he finally got a reply. But, what came out next was cold and detached as if it didn''t care. "What do you want?" He could tell that even the tone had changed. Not only that, it seems his sister didn''t even bother to address him as her brother. Feeling a bit angry, he turned around and walked a few steps to leave, however, before he could walk out he heard the door open. Unlike Jude''s black hair and dark brown eyes, a woman with flowing silver hair and light brown eyes wearing a tightly wrapped robe similar to Jude''s stood at the door. She was a bit taller than Jude and judging by her aura, temperament or figure, one would guess that she was the eldest and Jude was her little brother and not the other way around! The little sister of Jude, Eirlys Reyes was looking at Jude with a hostile look with hints of scorn, gloom and some slight hesitation. Chapter 4 - Awakening, again Eirlys Reyes, Jude''s half-sister and a young woman of 17. She was an advanced magician and in a few months'' time, she would breakthrough to Master Magician. She was known as one of the top geniuses with talent that could outshine the geniuses in the 4 great families of the Azeroth Kingdom. If she can successfully become a Magus, that''s when her potential would soar to even greater heights. Bits of memories started to flash past Jude''s head. He remembers when they were kids, they used to be close. She would often to cling to him and followed him around nearly all the time. At that time, Jude was very proud and would always try to flaunt. She always said that she wanted to catch up to him, but who knew in just a few years'' time, she didn''t just catch up, she completely surpassed him. This caused him to be a bit depressed, but he didn''t let it bother him as he believed he would still be able to catch up. However, the gap only grew bigger and along with his younger brother also surpassing him, his pride took a big blow and little by little his rift with his siblings became bigger and bigger, until he started to harbor some hatred. Jude, fearing what he might do desperately seeked ways to be able to catch up to them, not only to distract himself, but also to give himself some hope otherwise he would be completely crushed. Jude was startled a bit at her appearance and stared at his sister for a few seconds. His heart was accelerating, he felt very nervous but he did not let it show on his face. He didn''t really understand why, but he could feel fear, hesitation and some hints of suffocating warmth. He managed to look away, took in a breath, then started calming down. Although, his body did not listen, his state of mind started becoming more rational and as a result his heartbeat started becoming slower. His sister was still looking at him, waiting for an answer and in return he turned his eyes back to her and gave a slightly strained smile before speaking. "It''s nothing much. Our father told me to come talk with you and we haven''t talked or seen each other for a long time, so I decided to come see you." Eirlys looked startled, then resumed her normal expressionless face. However, her eyebrows were knitted a little and her eyes contained traces of anger. "You want to talk? Why now?" Jude rubbed the nape of his neck a little. He felt a bit awkward as they haven''t talked for years, yet now he decided he wanted to talk, this would definitely make anybody angry especially if they had a close relationship before. He sighed quietly and knew he had to give some time to mend their relationship. "I just thought we shouldn''t be like this forever. Perhaps I rushed it too fast, but if you want to see me, I won''t refuse you anymore. That is, if you still want to." With that said, Jude walked out of her courtyard. Eirlys stood there watching him leave, her mind and emotions in a mess. "Why now...? All those times...you didn''t even-" She muttered under her breath, with the rest becoming incomprehensible. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jude was back in his room, sitting and currently thinking over some things. His mind was still calm, but he was feeling different kind of emotions. He needed to give his sister time to think things over to be able fix their relationship and he knew he would have to see his sister more. The more contact, the better. He didn''t know why, but he felt as if he needed to mend the relationship between them, it felt so urgent and suffocating he couldn''t resist it. He thought of his younger brother, Arwa Reyes, also considered a young genius. Although he wasn''t as talented as his sister, he was still very impressive in the clan. He worked hard and didn''t slack off, his personality however, was a bit naive but he was respected for his strength and personality.Stolen story; please report. Jude''s relationship with his younger brother was a bit better as he still saw and talked to him from time to time, although it was more like greetings. It would be easier to start from his younger brother first, but currently his brother was outside on a mission along with a few other members. Jude gave a heavy sigh and he rubbed his temples a little. "You''ve really left me with some problems...Forget it. I''ll worry about it later. For now, I have to focus on myself." Jude got off the chair and walked outside. The sun had just set and the darkness was slowly enveloping the sky. Jude stood in the middle of his courtyard, still. He breathed in and closed his eyes. In a few breaths time, his eyes shot open and his left fist flew out twice in quick succession then he firmly gripped the ground, twisted his body and fired out a right all in a second. There was a whistling sound, but he didn''t finish there. He quickly retracted his fist, fixed his body back into a stance then spun his body 45 degrees raising his right leg in the process and executed a right roundhouse kick. He practiced various moves for a long time and when he was finally exhausted, he was panting heavily, his clothes were damp and his muscles ached terribly. He inhaled a mouthful of air, then exhaled. "Huff...still too slow. I have to get this body used to the motions first and then I can fully execute them perfectly without even letting my opponent rest." Jude was trying to train his body to be able to adapt and use the various martial arts he knew in his past life. Although, he could remember them, they were still in his mind in the end. Some of them he couldn''t use without a person and some of them he could only use if he wanted to kill someone. This body of his currently had little to no experience in physical training or martial arts, so there were flaws everywhere, but he didn''t worry as he knew where they were and how to fix them. He sat on the ground to rest for a few minutes before slowly dragging his worn-out body into his room. He didn''t know when it was brought in, but there was food on his table. His eyebrows scrunched up a little. "What...? When did someone bring this in? Was I too absorbed in training?" He knew his senses were severely lacking currently and coming to this conclusion, Jude no longer worried about it. He only ate half of his meal before stopping. He currently just wanted to wash himself as his clothes were damp and he was still sweaty, so he grabbed the neatly folded clothes laid on his bed and tiredly dragged himself to his personal bathroom. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Feeling clean and refreshed, he was currently sitting upright on his bed and still feeling unbearable fatigue, he had a great urge to sleep. However, he kept forcing himself to stay awake as he still had something he needed to do. To him, time was precious, he didn''t know much about this world so he urgently needed some way to ensure he would be able to guarantee his own survival. He doesn''t need a lot of strength, but at least enough to protect himself. He sat down on his bed in a lotus position and closed his eyes. He slowly fell into a stupor and the image of his elemental power and energy started appearing in his mind. Currently, his solar lightning energy was still tiny, but its size had expanded by a little with it being similar in size to a baby''s fist now. He began to gather the energy at his core and when he felt it was sufficient enough, he started to slowly guide the energy up, all the way to his right eye. Just before it reached his eye, he hesitated for a second before he let the energy gush into his eye. Although it was just a second of hesitation, but to him it felt even longer. Jude started to feel a burning sensation in his eye, it was just like an itch at first, but soon it started to feel like his right eye was burning. As it became more concentrated at his eye, the burning feeling gradually expanded to his whole face. He squinted his tightly closed eyes. At first, he tried to resist and muffle his groans, but steadily he could feel the pain becoming even stronger. He wasn''t sure if it was the pain tolerance of this body, but it felt even worse than his past experience. He slammed his head on his pillow and bit into it. He had to endure and stay conscious or else the process would reverse and make his right eye lose vision. He didn''t know how long the process lasted, but when he finally started regaining rational thought, he slowly sat upright weakly and laughed in a hoarse voice to himself. He opened his eyes slowly and if one looked closely, in the dark room they would see that Jude''s right eye was glowing, no longer being dark brown, his right eye was now like the color of a flame. A tiny spark appeared in his pupils but vanished just as quick making one think if it was just an illusion. Jude closed and opened his eyes again and this time his right eye became dark brown again. Feeling a weight off his mind and finally relieved, he collapsed onto his pillow and fell into a deep sleep. Chapter 5 - The Trial It was still early; the sun had just risen yet Jude was already up and training. The servants that occasionally passed by were surprised and whispered among themselves on the strange scene. It was strange to them that their young master was already up so early and that he was even so energetic. Almost all the servants knew that Jude had never appeared much ever since the day his siblings had surpassed him, yet now here he was. What''s more is that he kept doing different strange motions over and over that they thought perhaps he really lost it now. However, the guards and the servants that had experience in fighting were fascinated by Jude''s strange moves and some purposely passed by rather slowly just to watch. Jude did not pay much attention to his surroundings as most of his focus was to locate the flaws and fix them. He wasn''t trying to improve his magic yet as he believed he first needed to be well versed in close combat. Most people would think mages aren''t good close combat fighters, so they would usually never expect a mage going close. Even if they could react to it in time, with his solar lightning energy, he believed there would be few at his level that would be his match. Ever since his right eye had been reawakened, his training had drastically improved over the last few days. The speed he could improve at was extremely quick, as he only took a few minutes to fully understand the flaws and fix them. He would be even faster, however, the problem was his body could not keep up, thus he had to improve steadily instead of all at once. These past few days he only ate, washed, slept then the cycle repeated itself. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jude breathed out and dropped his stance, he was still gasping but it was better than when he first started. He picked up a towel he had the servants leave before and started to wipe his forehead and a little of his back. He absentmindedly wiped while his thoughts were elsewhere at the moment. His body was starting to get used to the various moves he was doing and he could use about 70% of his arsenal without fear of injury. He was starting to itch to try it on someone but did not know how strong he was so he wanted someone that was sturdy enough and would not die or suffer serious injuries. During the last few days, he was a bit disappointed his sister never came to see him, but his father had visited more than once. His father was startled as Jude was actually doing something and since he was someone with combat experience he could tell that Jude''s bizarre motions weren''t just random, they all had a hidden force behind it. While Jude was still in his thoughts, he didn''t know when but he heard very quiet footsteps behind him. He snapped out of it and quickly turned around only to find his father staring at him wide-eyed. His father resumed his normal melancholic expression rather quickly and only cleared his throat before coming closer to Jude and patting his shoulder. "You''re really diligent now. I am relieved that you have started to change after what you experienced." His father put his arms behind his back and walked forward a little with his back facing his son. "Son, you''re 18 already right?" Jude couldn''t see Io''s face, so he wasn''t sure what he was trying to say, but he gave a quiet yes that he wasn''t even sure if Io could hear it. "I see." His father as if talking to himself, nodded his head. Io turned to his son, his expression a bit more melancholic than usual and his eyes contained hints of agony. However, he managed to give a small smile. "Son, do you remember what happens when you turn 18?" "When...I''m 18?" Jude murmured and started to quickly search his memories. It was then that a faint memory appeared. The previous Jude had to undergo a trial when he turned 12, but he couldn''t even get past the first test so he had to take it again at 15, yet even then he couldn''t go far and also failed. When Jude turns 18, he would have to take it again for the 3rd time and this was also his last time. The previous Jude probably never thought of it, but the current Jude thought it was weird. It tested a person''s physical and mental endurance and it was near impossible a normal person at his age could even pass that, so it wasn''t surprising the previous Jude already failed twice.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. His father never told him what the trial was about, but just that it was extremely important if he passed. However, his father also said it was fine if he didn''t pass but Jude could still recall his expression, it was as if it was the only thing that could make him smile genuinely. Jude nodded his head and his father turned around again. "Good. In a few days'' time, we''ll go. Just remember this is the last time, so try your best. Even if you don''t pass in the end, it''s okay." It was only for an instant, but Jude could hear a small pause. He was curious just what was so special about this trial. His memories regarding most of the trial were too foggy as it seemed that the previous Jude didn''t really pay much attention when he was undergoing it. He was slightly anticipating it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The day of the trial. Jude was up and ready and currently inside his father''s room as this was where the entrance would be. His father took out a normal looking wooden box and laid it in front of Jude. Jude knowing what to do conjured a tiny air knife on the tip of his finger and pricked his forefinger lightly. He hovered it above the box and a tiny drop of blood fell down. A brilliant array of colors started to flash from the ordinary looking box and slowly it started to open by itself. In the box laid a tiny white bead, without a speck of dust. His father picked up the bead and gripped it tightly before surging some of his elemental power into the bead. He threw it down when he felt it was starting to heat up. The bead flashed and then instantly disappeared. A white portal appeared in its spot, the other side was too foggy to see, but Jude knew this was how he could get to the trial. His father turned to Jude and nodded his head. Jude also gave a small nod and slowly he stepped through. His father never entered with him as it seemed that only he was allowed to enter. It only took a few breaths of time, but before he knew it he was standing on a snow-white field. The whole area was blanketed by snow like a winter wonderland, but the odd thing was every time he took a step, his previous footprints would vanish. "So, you have arrived." A voice sounded out from behind him. Jude''s eyes widened and he quickly turned around to see an old man dressed in pure white robes from head to toe. This old man was always the one who would be there to receive him and guide him to the trial. What was even weirder was that Jude could not sense his presence at all! The previous Jude definitely wouldn''t be able to, but he wasn''t that Jude. With his past life''s experience and his special energy, he should at least be able to detect him this close, yet he only just now felt his presence. "Please follow me." The old man turned around and started to walk. Jude snapping out of his daze began to follow after him. The old man led him deeper in, seeming as if he was just walking leisurely, but no matter how hard Jude tried, he couldn''t completely catch up. Jude couldn''t see anything besides white, until he saw a faint color of blue. They arrived at a huge gate, it was the only thing different from all the white in this world. The huge gate was dark blue in color and on the middle of the door was the symbol of a dark flower. The old man stopped besides the door and looked at Jude. "Once you enter, the trial will start." Jude walked closer to the gate and put his hand on the door. He gave it a push yet it did not budge. He knew the trial already began when he first arrived. He retreated back a few steps and then raised both arms up with his palms facing the door. A surge of elemental power started circulating in his arms. Two small twisters were surrounding and twirling around his arms and with one quick step he slammed it onto the door. The door shook slightly, yet there was a slight opening. Jude at the age of 12 couldn''t open this door no matter how hard he tried, but when he was 15 he managed to open it enough to squeeze through with effort. Currently, the opening was already enough for him to squeeze through, but he was not going to do that. If he wanted to walk through this door, he would make it comfortable enough at least. He stepped back again, but this time he concentrated his elemental power onto his right fist. A small hurricane started spinning around his fist and once again he slammed it onto the door. This time however, he maintained a stance, twisted his body in the process and rooted his legs deeply into the ground. BOOM. His straight punch shook the door, this time even harder and the door opened wide enough for at least a small family to squeeze through. Jude feeling satisfied and with a slight smile, nonchalantly stepped into the gate. The old man who was watching all this had a straight face all this time, but the last move Jude did had shaken him a little and caused one of his eyebrows to raise up. "Magnificent technique. He has improved, but there are still more trials. This is his last chance as well. Are you worthy or not? We shall see." The old man disappeared all of a sudden and the door that Jude had opened slowly closed by itself.