《Life in Newerth》


 Chapter 1: Prologue

    Eric Faust is the name, and I''m regular soldier for the Human Federation. Being a soldier is different than I expected. Maybe its because times have changed. First, let me tell you why I wanted to be a soldier. First of all, almost all boys wanted to be strong fighters, to help the weak and the needy, alright, maybe thats just me.


    You see, I grew up poor, I was an orphan, I really didnt know who my parents were, the orphanage told me that someone just left me at their doorsteps. I would get bullied a lot by the older children around my area. I would see those bullies bully other children after they beat the living crap out of me, I would just lay there not being able to do anything.


    Its not like I have a strong sense of justice, its just that I really don''t like seeing the weak getting oppressed by the strong. So as I grew up, I would practice with my wooden sword, which I crapily made of course.


    I just didnt practice my wooden sword, I would do chores around the orphanage so that they wouldn''t kick me out, I had to make my self useful, I would do odd jobs around the neighborhood.


    At around the age of ten, Science and technology made a breakthrough, they found a plant that is pretty similar to Earth. At the age of 12, Scientists managed to recreate the Earths atmosphere on different planets, allowing other planets to sustain life. With the abundance of resources, there was no need for war, At the age of 16, Earth was now united, and we called ourselves the Human Empire.


    At age 18, I was finally old enough to join the army, to fight the rotten human beings, to uphold justice. I left the orphanage and was headed towards the local recruiter. Carrying all my belongings in one big duffel bag, and my handy wooden sword at my side, I enlisted for the army.


    The army trained me for 2 years, during those 2 years were hell. As I grew up, I did daily exercises which included, jogging, for miles, push ups, pulls ups and sit ups. Also I can''t forget about processing my swordplay, I always dreamt to be a samurai like guy, but more on that later.


    As I was saying, physical training wasn''t hard, but the social aspect of training camp was hell, everybody thought I was a dumbass for carrying a sword, a wooden sword to be more precise. See, as I enlisted, Human technology has advanced enough that normal soldiers would be using laser guns, no one in the right mind would bring a sword to a laser gun fight.


    So I was shunned by my fellow soldiers, I was only average on the tactical and educational stuff. But I did excel at physical training.


    I graduated training camp after 2 years, which is the bare minimum, and most people do graduate after 2 years, so I was nothing special. I graduated at the age of 20. I was excited,  to finally be put out in the field. I didnt take into account that with the abundance of resources, poverty was pretty much nonexistent, almost everyone in the world was satisfied with their lives. Along with my fellow graduates, we had nothing to do but patrol areas, we pretty much were pretty much policemen.


    6 years have passed, In those 6 years, I did the same thing over and over again, do my morning exercise, practice my swordplay, and start my job as a soldier. My job was pretty to do whatever I wanted, there was literally nothing going on. So in those 6 years, I decided to run around and look for people that need help. Not in fighting bad people, but helping them tackle everyday hurdles, like carrying groceries, constructing new buildings. I know it doesnt sound like what a soldier would do, but at least I''m doing something.


    Which brings us to today, I woke up and did everything the same as always. But this time, something was different, a nearby nuclear reactor had exploded, the cause unknown.


    I rushed over to the site, all I could see is the reactor plant on fire, nearby houses and vegetation are being engulfed in flames. In the sea of flames, I could see people dying, burning alive. I rushed inside the area and see if I could save people. I wasn''t alone, other soldiers like me who swore to put our lives in danger in order to save others, were with me. We rushed inside the building saving who we can.


    My heart was thumping very fast, I could hear my own heartbeat as I was carrying a man towards the safe zone. I don''t know how many hours had passed, but another explosion made me look towards the general area of explosion. For me, everything went silent. I stood still for a couple of seconds until I heard a faint cry in the distance. I focused my eye from where the explosion came from. I see a small silhouette amongst the sea of flames, it was a child! I rushed over hoping to get there on time.


    I managed to reach the little girl, she almost burned alive, but I covered her in my jacket which immediately killed the flames that were engulfing here. I carried the little girl princess style which my jacket covering her. I ran outside of the house carrying her with me, I took her to the nearby ambulance, she motioned her hands, as if telling me she wants to say something. I leaned in and she whispered "my brother, he is still inside, please save my brother."


    As i heard those words, I immediately ran left the little girl and started to run towards the burning house, inside I scoured the entire first floor, but there was no child. I went up to the second floor, and there in a room, I saw a small body slowly being eaten by the flames. The boy was already dead, there was nothing I could do.


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    I started crying upon seeing the body being engulfed in flames. I laughed to said out loud "Eric Faust, you wanted something more exciting, now you got it" I sat down on the burning floor, with no chance of survival, I accepted my fate. My only regret was that I wasn''t able to save the little boy.


    I woke up in a vast space covered in white. I was sure I was dead, as I was looking around, I noticed a humanoid figure just sitting there, I couldn''t see his face though, All I could see is the person wearing pure white robes. His face was being illuminated by some shining aura.


    "Hello there Eric Faust" The white robed guy got up and said.


    "Where am I? I''m pretty sure I died" I asked


    "Well you did die."


    "Then does this mean this is heaven?" I asked once more looking around.


    "No, heaven is better than this blank space" The guy said in an amusing tone


    "Wait, are you God?!" I asked in surprise


    "Yes I am, and this is purgatory, If you want, I can take you to heaven, or I can maybe give you something better."


    I blinked and rubbed my eyes, just checking to see if my eyes were playing tricks on me.


    Then God started laughing and said "This is real my boy, I can take you to heaven, or give you a different life, a life full of excitement, a life full of sadness, of happiness, a life that will be full of hardships, and a life that you may or may not have imagined."


    "Before I make my decision, why me?" I asked while pondering why he chose me of all people.


    "Well, first of all, I watched you from afar, you helped people out of good will, not many humans do that nowadays, and your soul is pure. Second of all, I''m bored, I want to see how you progress in a life that you want, a life full of adventure and excitement."


    " I see, but even if you give me a new life, Its pretty boring down thereon Earth."


    "But I won''t be sending you to Earth, I was actually surprised on how well the Earth managed, I was pretty sure the human race would tear each other apart."


    "Wait, how come you don''t know how the human race would turn out?" I asked with my mouth open, I was sure God should be all knowing and things like that.


    "Well I could see everything in the past and the present, but the future is tricky, there Is a unlimited number of time streams that contain the future, a majority of those time streams end with the human race pretty killing themselves in the fight for resources."


    "I see, so where will you send me?" I asked again in a curious tone.


    "A few decades ago, I already assumed that Earth would pretty much just die, So I made a different planet, in a different universe. The place is called Newerth."


    With the snap of a finger, our surroundings changed, I was floating in space, and beside me, God, still shining bright.


    In front of me was a planet that looks like earth, but it looks bigger, it seems like its 4x bigger than earth.


    "Is this Newerth?" I asked God with my eyes brining with astonishment


    "It sure is, in this planet, you''ll see many different things, many different creatures, its a fantasy world filled with magic, with different races, different monsters and all sorts of things that you could only imagine on your time on Earth."


    "Whats the catch?" I asked before saying anything else


    "Nothing, Im just watch you from the heavens, so, will you take upon having a new life, or will you go to heaven with me?" God asked with a visible smile


    I pondered for a while, and finally, I decided to choose to live a new and exciting life.


    "I choose to be reborn into Newerth."


    "Good good! before I send you off, ill give you a present, ill let you choose your element affiliation."


    "Element affilation?" I don''t know what those are, but he did say something about magic


    "Yes, all living things in Newerth have an element affiliation, it just means that ill let you choose on what element you want to be most accustomed to, it breaks down to these elements, Fire, Rock, Water, Wind, Ice, Lightning, Nature, Light and finally darkness."


    I thought long and hard, and I finally decided to go with wind, since I already had a general idea on what I would become.


    "I choose the wind"


    "Hohohoho good choice, before I send you off, ill tell you this, everything that will happen to you will be not my doing. So don''t blame things onto me. If tragedy will befall upon you, then that is how it is supposed to be. I may have the power to change things, but I will not, where the fun in that?"


    I nod and fully understand, I dare not say anything unnecessary in front of God who can create universes from nothing.


    "Also, in Newerth, people worship lesser gods that watch over newerth, I''m sure you will learn about them as you grow up, now go ahead and have fun in your new life"


    "Thank you very much" As I said those words, the world around me turned dark, and in front of me was a bright light slowly engulfing me.


    I am now ready to take on this new world! Ready or not. Newerth, here I come!

 Chapter 2

    The light that engulfed me slowly faded away, and there was nothing but darkness for a split second. I opened my eyes, and there I saw a humongous man! His face covered with a full beard, his eyes look fierce, which somewhat made me tremble. The giant man reached out his arms towards me, his arms were covered with scars and scorch marks.


    The giant man grabbed me and placed me in his arms, I looked at his face, his face was full of tears, nothing you would expect from a  tough looking man like him.


    "Dear, how is the baby? Is the child breathing? Is the child okay?"


    I looked towards where the voice came from, there I saw another giant, this time a woman. The woman had a tired face, but even though she looked tired, she seemed to look happy.


    It seems I can understand their words just fine, but I couldn''t understand why she was talking about a baby, I looked around, but there was no baby anywhere. Then it hit me, I tried raising my arms, they were chubby and soft. My legs were the same too, I finally realized, that I was a newborn baby.


    These people weren''t giants, they were just adults.


    "Yes dear, the child is breathing, and its a boy!" The bearded man that was carrying me around said with a tone of delight while tears were still running down his face.


    "Good, thats great to hear, we have truly been blessed today, after so many years of trying, we finally conceived a child." The woman, which I assume to be my mother started crying as she said those words.


    I guess this big bearded man is my dad. As I look around, there was only one other person in the room, and she was an elderly woman with a gentle smile on her face. I guess she was the one that helped deliver me. The room was quite small, and was made out of wood, my mom was lying on a bed that looks like that it was made out of straw.


    As my dad was swaying me slowly, his tears finally stopped and looked towards my mom and asked.


    "What shall we name our kid?"


    "We will name our child Faust, Faust Godhand."


    My eyes widen as I heard the name Faust, and a smile fell upon my face.


    "Seems like our little child likes the name" My father said as he slowly leaned over to my mother and passed me onto her.


    As I was being held by my mother, I felt something within me, my body turned warm, it was a fuzzy feeling. It a feeling that I have never experienced before. A feeling that can only be given to you by a mother that truly loves you.


    ________________________________


    3 months had gone by, and everything was normal. I learned many things just by observing and listening to my parents. Our family was lower class, which would be categorized as peasants. Our family lived in the Chronos kingdom, and our village is located near the border of the Chronos, and the Radun kingdom.


    My father is a blacksmith, hence the last name Godhand. My father told me stories about our ancestors as bedtime stories, he probably thought I wouldn''t understand what he said, but he still told me stories nonetheless. Our ancestors were one of the first pioneers of blacksmithing in Newerth. As time went by, due to bad luck alone, our ancestors started to fade into nothingness, there were other pioneer blacksmiths that monopolized the trade, making the Godhands useless. As time went by, bit by bit, the Godhand name started to fade into the history of Newerth. In the Godhand family tree, there is only one root left that is keeping it alive, and its our family.


    Nicholas Godhand ,my father is 7 ft tall, he has a big beard, and he doesnt tend to his hair very well. His covers entirely his forehead, and is close to fully covering his eyes. His hair and his facial hair are both black, with hints of white and gray as a sign of aging, My father is already 53 years old, hence the gray and white hairs hanging about.


    Alison Godhand ,my mother is only 5.8 ft tall, she has a long silky black hair, she has a beautiful face. Her hair is also the same with my dad, covered with white and gray hairs due to old age. My mother is aged 51, she really does not have a set job. She does random tasks around the village. She helps with crops, she does laundry for people, and many other things.


    At 3 months old, I knew I had the capability to talk, but I didnt want to startle my parents by saying full on sentences. So when I talk, I just say words, it still surprised them a little bit, but they were happy, saying how their son is a genius. Also at the age of 3 months old, I knew how to walk. Again my parents were surprised upon seeing this.


    Our house is as small as any other houses around the village, its one floor, and just one big room. My mom and dad share a bed, while I would sleep in a crib that my dad made. Overtime before bed, my dad would sit on the floor in an upright position. It looked like a meditating stance, I couldn''t hold back my curiosity any longer. I pointed towards him and said.


    "What. . .  you . . .  do?"


    My dad opened his eyes and smiled.


    "Well, I''m not sure if you will understand, but what I''m doing is meditating, I''m absorbing the mana around us. Absorbing mana can be differentiated in two ways. The first is absorbing the mana and infusing it directly to your flesh, muscles and bones, this method is mostly used by warriors to enhance their physical abilities. The second way is absorbing the mana in your surroundings and infuse it to your mana pool, this is what mages usually do to increase the intensity of their spells, to determine how long they can cast spells without taking rests. A person will either be a physical or a magical type of person, how a person absorbs the mana will determine what kind of person he is, a physical or a magical. Of course when you are adept at absorbing mana, you can channel the mana on both your inner pool, and your physical body. But only a select few can do this, and usually it takes mastery of one side before one can start absorbing mana for the other. Only masters that have lived long enough to understand the concept can do this."


    As my father was talking to me with full of enthusiasm our mother sat on the bed and started laughing.


    "Why are you telling this to your child? Im sure he won''t understand."


    "Well, he can talk at 3 months old, I''m sure he understands some things, our son is a genius, if not, he''s pretty close to one."


    "Well, even if he is a genius, most people develop to sense mana at the age of 10"


    "Even so, I''m sure he will understand."


    "Hahaha, alright then, finish your lesson and then we will sleep."


    My dad now faced me and continued talking


    "As your mother said, normal children can sense mana at the age of 10 and can start absorbing them. Not all of the mana will absorbed of course, only a small amount of the total mana that you are trying to absorb on the surrounding will actually fuse with your body. Geniuses and prodigies can sense mana at an earlier age. But everyone uses mana one way or the other, everyone in this world can use mana. There are other ways to absorb mana and get stronger, but that will be for some other time, now lets go to bed."


    My dad stood up and went to my crib and tucked me in. He then went towards his bed and lay beside mom, they both closed their eyes and went to sleep.


    Almost an hour passed by and my parents were in deep sleep. I was still thinking about this thing called mana. It seems some amazing things are happening in this world.


    "I wonder if I can absorb mana?" I mumbled to myself.


    I set myself free from my fur blanket, and copied the meditation stance my dad used. I closed my eyes and started to concentrate on my surroundings. At first I could hear birds chirping, my dad snoring, the wind howling, the leaves and grass dancing. One by one the noise started to fade away until there was nothing left but total silence.


    The silence continued for another 5 minutes, until I finally sensed something, it was something warm surrounding me, I guess what I''m sensing right now is mana. I tried to absorb it, but I think I failed, I only sense the mana surrounding my body, not actually going into me.


    I concentrated harder and after what seemed to be an eternity for me, I finally absorbed a little bit of mana. Slowly the amount of mana I can absorb increased. I can feel my entire body warming up, I guess I''m the physical type of guy, but theres something else thats weird. I feel like that some mana is going towards near my stomach, I think this is the mana pool.


    If I had to guess, It feels like 95% of the mana I absorb go to my physical body, while 5% go to my mana pool. I am happy, I''m not sure why I''m able to absorb and detect mana so quickly, maybe its because my mind is of an 26 year old. But I do not care, all I think about now is absorbing as much mana as I can and get stronger as fast as I can.


    After 30 minutes of absorbing mana, my body feels weird, and absorbing mana starts to hurt. I tried to absorb more but my body is rejecting it. I stop and think for a minute. I think this is because of my tiny body and my body can''t handle it. I sure hope this is the case. I guess ill go to sleep and see if I can absorb more mana the next day.


    I woke up and feel like I''ve gotten stronger. There are no physical changes to my body, which is a relief, I don''t want to become a muscle head baby. My father has already left the house to go work on his wares, while my mother is at the house watching out for me.


    I tried absorbing mana once more, but it seems like my body is rejecting it. Im thinking theres a cooling period, but theres no way to test my theory this early in the day. So I went about my day like all normal babies do, eat and sleep and crawl around everywhere.


    The day went by with me doing nothing. Finally night time fell and I tried absorbing mana, This time my body is absorbing mana. It feels like its absorbing more mana and is absorbing mana slightly faster than last night. This went on slightly longer than last night. It seems like my theory is true, and it seems like everyday the amount of mana I can absorb increases.


    -----Time Skip 3 years-----


    Its been 3 years of me doing the same thing over and over again. Eat, absorb mana, sleep and repeat the whole process over again. My body is relevant to my age, which is nice. I didnt want to be a 3 year old kid with a body of a 10 year old or something. In those 3 years I learned a lot of things. First of all, my father leaves the village every 3 or 4 months to sell his weapons at the nearest town, which is about 3 days worth of travel.


    My father told me that the path towards the town is filled with monsters, but he can handle himself, he can take on a normal monster on the around easily. I also learned that these monsters are created from unpure or evil mana. Once you kill a monster, they will leave behind a mana core. The mana core can be used to strengthen yourself. Mana cores have mana in them that you can absorb. The stronger the monster, the more mana you can obtain from its core.


    In those 3 years, I also watched my father do blacksmith work. My father creates mostly weapons with low grade ores such as copper and iron. Ive watched my father work on his weapons, and I can tell that he doesnt do a half-assed job with it. He gives it his all, not a sweat is wasted when he creates a weapon. Thats why when he sells his weapons over at the town, he gets a good amount of money for them. Even if they are made from low grade metals, his weapons are still top class.


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    Now that I am 3 years old, I am more confident on speaking and walking. Children in this village do normal children things, they run around and have fun. But my mindset is too old for that, I want to be stronger. So from this day forward, I will dedicate my self to training.


    First of all, since my body is still small, my training ends quite early. I couldn''t even do half of the training I did before I died. Second, I get weird stares from the other villagers. At first they thought I was just running around the village, then I started doing push ups and sit ups. Even I would get weirded out if I saw a 3 year old running around and doing some intense training.


    My parents didnt give me weird stares, they told me that I can do whatever, they told me I was special, and I know I''m special. My dad even made me a dummy out of wood so that I could practice some close combat maneuvers. After using my hands and feet to beat the lifeless dummy dead, I would grab the wooden sword which my dad made for me. By the way, the wooden sword is shaped like a katana and its almost as tall as me. I have no problem lifting the katana however, because of the mana absorption, my body has gotten stronger, I did not tell my parents that I can absorb mana, I didnt want them to think of me as some kind of monster.


    My training took up my entire morning. Its now lunch time and I went back inside the house to be treated by a warm smile from my mother. After we ate, I went with my mother to do random work. We first go towards the fields where the local farmers work. My mother helps plow the land. I asked her if I could help.


    "No dear, you are too young, let mother do the work." My mother said with a smile


    "Its alright mom, Im plenty strong to handle work." I said while flexing my arms.


    "Hahaha alright dear, why I plow these lands why don''t you plant these seeds?"


    I grab the seeds from her hands and I start digging small holes and putting the seeds in them. Field work continued for about 2 hours. My mom got paid 1 silver and 50 coppers, she usually just gets 1 silver, but with my help, she got more things done, hence the better pay.


    Me and my mom went home and started to clean ourselves, after we done that we left home once again. We headed to other nearby houses and asked if they need any laundry done. With luck, a few of the houses felt lazy and hired us to do laundry for them. We washed clothes for another 2 hours, and we got 2 silvers total.


    We went home after doing other tasks, the sun was already setting. My father just got back from his forge creating weapons. My mother is making dinner, and I was sitting outside meditating and absorbing mana. My mother yelled from inside to call me to eat dinner.


    "How was your day honey?" My father asked my mother.


    "It was great, Faust here has been a great help with work." My mother said while she was handing me a platte of food.


    "Take good care of her son, tell you what, why don''t I teach you how to be a blacksmith?"


    As I was eating I almost spat out my food from excitement.


    "YES! But I also want to be a warrior, a great fighter when I grow up"


    "Hahaha its alright, ill just teach you the basics, and you can do whatever you want when you grow up."


    "Okay! Thank you father!"


    The night went by pretty fast, I washed the dishes while my parents were getting ready for bed. Once I finished the dishes, my parents were already asleep. I went to my bed and meditated once more.


    Morning came and as I woke up, my father was already awake and getting ready to leave. He saw me wake up and said.


    "Good, I was just about to wake you up, get ready and we will leave once you are finished."


    I nodded and got out of bed and changed clothes. I went beside my dad and we left the house and towards the forge. The forge was pretty much beside our house. My dad placed his bag down and said.


    "Alright son, making weapon is pretty simple, all you need is the guts to persevere."


    My dad then started explaining to me the different kinds of ores. There are copper, silver, iron, gold, platinum, mithril and orichalcum. They rank from weakest to stronger in the order they are stated. There are also ores that have been infused with mana. When I say infused by mana, it means that they are usually located very deep underground or near places where there is an abundance of mana. Ores infused mana are harder to work with, but the quality is better. There are also ores infused with elemental mana.


    My dad then proceeded to explain to me how smithing weapon works. It was a fairly easy process which was easy for me to understand. In my old world I was fascinated about "Ancient times" where swords had dominated the era, where metal weapons were the most useful. I read many books about fighting with swords, I also read many books with smithing. The process was the same. Of course knowing something and actually being able to do it is 2 completely different things. So I asked my dad if I can help him make a weapon.


    The day went by and I learned a lot of basic stuff from my dad. From this day forward, I could be considered an apprentice blacksmith.


    3 years went by and I''m now 6 years old. Since there were no schools nearby my village, the closest one was in town, which is a few days travel. I had to study on my own. My father bought me basic knowledge books from his trips. Since knowledge is expensive, he couldn''t get me any fancy books, but I am satisfied. I wasn''t really the study type of guy.


    In those 3 years, all I did was train, and either help my father or my mother with work. At night I would study, and after studying I would absorb more mana.


    When I was 5 years old, my father took me to the forest and showed me just how dangerous the wilderness is. My father lured a wolf monster, he showed me how harsh monsters were, and how to fight them. All monsters have weak spots, and find that weak spot and you win. I didnt get to kill a monster that day, and Im not too confident I could beat one. Ive never seen any monsters in my past life before, so in the sight of one, I slightly trembled.


    I turned 6 a couple months ago, and for my birthday present? I get to kill a monster. My father took me out once more into the forest. He said he wouldn''t do this until I was 12, after I started to gather mana for at least 1 or 2 years. But he found out that I could absorb mana at a young age, he guessed that I started absorbing mana at the age of 4, I didnt tell him that I started at just 3 months old.


    I was confident with my strength, I absorbed mana for 6 years. I don''t know how well I absorbed mana, since theres no one to compare to, except for my father, but then again, I don''t even know how to compare our rates of absorption.


    My dad gave me an iron katana, my weapon of choice of course. The battle went on pretty easily, my father would take the initiative first. He distracted the wolf, while I snuck up on behind him. I never really had the chance to test my strength, So I went all out, the wolf''s back was facing me. I dashed forward and in an instance I coldest gap easily. The speed surprised my father, it even surprised me.


    I pulled the katana out of its sheath, and in one swing, the wolf pretty much split in half. (It was a quick draw, I will be calling it that from now on) The strength surprised me, I guessed that I was just gonna wound the wolf, but to kill it in one blow? It was just amazing.


    My father told me to not show my strength to anyone, I guess it was abnormal to be killing a monster in one blow at the age of 6. We checked the corpse and there we found the monster core, as a gift, my dad gave me the monster core, later that night I absorbed it. It wasn''t a huge amount, but I could tell that it was way better than just absorbing mana from the surrounding area.


    That day onward, up till today, I was just hunting monster cores once very 2 weeks. I also started harvesting the wolf meat, which was delicious, it saved us a lot of money for meals. Also their furs sold pretty well, it helps keep us and the villagers warm in the winter. Their cores I used for myself to get stronger, each and everyday hunting wolfs got easier and easier.


    Today, I got caught up in hunting, I could easily handle 3 at a time, but right now I''m in a predicament. 6 wolves surrounded me. The first one let out a loud growl and jumped at me, I quickly drew my sword and easily sliced the wolf in half. With my sword out, I put on a defensive stance. 2 wolfs jumped at me at the same time, one slashed its claws towards me, while the other one jumped to my side and tried to bite me.


    I easily blocked the paw, I was about to slice the wolf in half, but I had no time since the second wolf already opened its mouth and tried to bit me, I blocked with my sword once more. The sword was now stuck int eh wolfs mouth, with one brute motion, I instantly blew off the wolfs head.


    I was about to deal with the second wolf right in front of me, but a sharp pain in my back stopped me in my tracks. My body was quite sturdy, but boy getting clawed at by a damn wolf sure hurts. This is the first time I''ve felt pain in this world. In a fit of anger, I faced back, raised my sword, and in one clean motion, I swung downwards. The wolf tried to block with its paws, but the result was bad for him. His 2 front limbs got cut off. Which led the wolf to be quite vulnerable. I instantly chopped the wounded wolf into pieces.


    2 wolves down and 4 more to go. Dealing 4 was quite simple. The other 4 wolves went down without so much as a fight. They pretty much died in about 10 minutes. As I was happily gathering the cores I heard a fierce roar right behind me. As I heard that growl, I could sense something behind me.


    *ROOOOAAAARR!!!!!!!*


    The growl was heard as if it was right behind me, but in the distance, I could clearly see it. Its running pretty fast, and its running towards me. The closer it gets, the bigger it gets. I finally realize what it was. It was the leader of the pack! It was twice as large as a normal wolf. A normal wolf in this world is twice as big as a wolf in Earth. So yeah its pretty big.


    I put on a defensive stance and prepare for battle!


    _________________________


    Hey guys, thanks for reading. Ill stop it here, sorry if it was a boring chapter. I really just needed to explain some things.


    If you guys find any loopholes and any errors. Inform me in the comment section and ill try to get to you.


    Im not sure how frequently ill be releasing chapters, next week I''m gonna be swamped with work and school.


    I will try to release one tomorrow.


    Hope you guys enjoy!

 Chapter 3

    *ROOOOAAAR*


    The giant wolf, that I assume to be the leader of the pack is standing right in front of me. And ill be honest, I''m kinda scared and excited at the same time. Ive always wanted a life of excitement. The wolves at first excited me, but as I gained experience, fighting them was kind of dull. But now, its the real deal, the boss of the pack, right in front of me.


    I check my surroundings, the only things present were me, the pack leader, and dead wolves. I checked my condition first, if I die right here, then Im sure I won''t get a second chance. The wound on my back stopped bleeding, and the wound seemed to have closed up. I guess this is the mana imbued in my flesh working its magic. I can still feel the pain slightly, but I don''t think it will affect me much.


    Me and the pack leader are at a standoff, we are both observing each other. I throw a couple of feigns, and he does the same thing. I guess the dog is smarter that it looks. I got irritated and motioned to charge towards the pack leader.


    "If you won''t attack, then I guess I will!"


    With my sword unsheathed, I tried to dash towards the wolf, but before I could, the wold pounced at me with one claw high up in the air. The claw came down at me. I raised my sword and tried to block it. That was a bad idea. The force of the impact pushed me a couple feet away. And the fierceness of the wolfs attack managed to wound me. I guess that was some sort of move that required mana.


    I now have to be extra careful, I underestimated this giant wolf. I put up my sword once more and started the initiative. I dashed towards the wolf, but this time, I wasn''t aiming in front of him. The wolf saw what I was trying to do, the moment I was in front of him, I jumped and landed behind him.


    The wolf was quick on his feet though, the instant I jumped, it immediately turned around. But I wasn''t aiming directly right behind him, I was aiming for the tree that was now in front of me. Just before my head was about to crash on to the tree trunk, I flipped my body around. My feet now had now touched the tree trunk, in that moment, I used the tree to propel forward towards the wolf. With one swing, I was sure it was over. But I was dead wrong. I only managed to deal a huge scar on the wolf''s face.


    I end up right were I first stood. I look at the wolf, and he looks pissed. His eyes were filled with rage even more, which made me shiver and more sweat ran down from my forehead. Now, my only option is to try and fight a losing battle, or run away and never look back.


    I decided to run away, I slightly lowered my sword, which was another stupid mistake. The wolf understood my intentions and jumped at me. At that moment, with the adrenaline pumping, and the fear of dying, something inside of me started to flow out. It was my mana pool!


    The mana ran across my entire body, healing my wounds and washed the fatigue away. I feel refreshed, and thats not all, I feel stronger. I can sense the mana surrounding my body. I also felt my mana surround my katana. The wolf was in midair, and now I feel confident that I could take on this monster.


    The wolf noticed the change in me, and while midair, it flinched. I took that chance, it slightly lowered its paws. In a quick second, I dashed underneath him and I jumped with my katana pointing upwards. The katana pierced entered its neck and exited his head. The wolf dropped to the ground lifeless. I made sure that it was dead. So I cut off its head, and grabbed the core. I can feel the mana coming out from the core, I felt that it was different, it was better, it was more concentrated than the normal ones.


    A few seconds after I stashed the wolf pack core away, my body felt really tired, all the fatigue came back, and my body was sore all over. I guess that this was the effect of the surge of power earlier. I was quite deep in the jungle, and the sun had already set. I slowly walked back to the village with a big smile on my face.


    That big smile on my face suddenly disappeared, I finally saw the village from a distance, the village was very bright, the village was burning! I tried to run towards the village as fast as I could, but the fatigue made it difficult to run, I stumbled and I fell, but I got back up every time. The fatigue, the pain, none of that was in my head, the only thing I was thinking of were my parents. My beloved parents!


    I ran for what seemed like forever. I finally got to the outskirts of the village. From where I was standing, I could see the silhouettes of people. With that sight, a small part of me was happy, that there are people alive, theres a chance that my parents are alive too. With the thought of seeing my parents again. I ran once more towards the silhouettes.


    My smile immediately turned to a frown. The faces that I saw were ones that I don''t recognize. I walked a little bit closer, and I could see, they hold swords covered in blood, there shirts and armors all covered in blood. Im confused, I don''t understand whats happening right now. I walk a little bit closer, enough for them to see me.


    "Hahahaha! To think we found a small village like this to have fun with!"


    "Heh, can''t believe there were no guards, I was expecting a fight."


    "Yeah, that was pretty boring, no one could put up a decent fight."


    "Well, finish these 2 off and lets be gone before any trouble comes our way."


    As I hear those last few words, I realize, there were 2 people kneeling before the people that did this to the village. I get a little closer and I see my parents right there kneeling. Then I see a person with a big sword raising his sword. He was going to kill my parents! I let out a shout.


    "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"


    But I was too late, the moment I shouted, the sword came down on their heads, and their heads fell of their body. Tears started to roll down my face. Anger was taking over me. I run towards the guy that killed my parents. The people that were responsible were laughing at me.


    "HA! Look at that little kid trying to be a hero!"


    "I bet he doesnt even know what pain feels like!"


    "Alright alright, kill him and be done with it, we gotta go now."


    As they were saying those words, I already got close enough to dash towards the man that killed my parents. I dashed forward, and in an instant I was right beside him, he was surprised, but it was too late for him, I quickly took my katana out of its sheath, and while I was pulling it out, I aimed towards the man''s neck. I couldn''t reach far enough to cut of his head, but it was enough to kill the guy.


    As the man drop dead, the other people finally realized what happened. They had a shocked expression on them, but in an instant, they drew their swords and slowly came to me. I was still angry, So I immediately dashed towards the closest bastard that I could see. Once more, the person had a shocked expression, I slashed my katana, but he immediately blocked, I slashed again and again and again. Until finally as I slashed my sword, the other persons sword flew off and left him defenseless.


    I could see the fear in his eyes, but I don''t care, these people murdered my parents, and my entire village. I ran forward, and with one horizontal swing, I split the guys stomach open. I turn around to see him kneeling on the ground, and then he dropped dead.


    "Kill him!"


    Now 4 people were coming at me altogether, I don''t know how many of them are left, but it doesnt matter for me now, all that matters is that I''m taking as many of this people with me. Im already exhausted from the fight from the wolf earlier, but right now, I''m mustering up all of my strength to kill these people in front of me.


    I don''t know how much time has passed, it feels like forever, I managed to kill 4 more people before I reached my absolute limit. All I could do now is just stand there while they kill me, possibly even torture me. But I feel too tired, I wasn''t strong enough to avenge my parents, my village. Anger started to boil up inside me again, but it was a fruitless effort, fatigue was taking over, I could barely keep my sword up. I see the bastards charging towards me with swords. I tried to do something, but it was useless. I guess its over, I guess I''m dying once more. I felt a cool breeze fly through me, I fell over and passed out.


    ________________________


    *Stranger''s PoV*


    (Note, Ill try not to do too much other people point of view, I''m just doing this to progress story)


    *Sigh*"The sun is already setting and theres no village in sight" I mumbled to myself as I tread this stupid forest. I keep walking in the hope of finding at least a village to sleep in. Im tired of sleeping in the forest. It makes my back ache. As I kept complaining to myself, I smell the stench of monster blood. I go towards the direction of the smell in hopes to see if there are people here. If there are people here, theres a good chance that theres a village or a settlement nearby.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    As I grew closer, I saw some wolf monsters dead, pretty low class, pretty easy to deal with. As I checked once more, I saw a big wolf laying there lifeless. It seemed like a wolf pack leader. These things are High C class monsters, they''re pretty easy to deal with, a few adventurers should be able to deal with it. But for a remote place like this, I doubt adventurers will even come here. I guess there are some decently strong adults here.


    I checked the body of the wolf pack, and theres only one distinct weapon mark, a sword. I checked the other wolf''s body, and they all have sword marks, its a rough mark, but if you inspect it really clearly, you will see only 1 sword did all of this. Must be some kind of amateur, but the amateur took down a wolf pack all by himself it seems. Not bad, then I saw something else that surprised me, a footmark, it was small, looks like it belonged to a kid.


    "Pfffffft! Hahahahahaha!"


    I laughed to myself thinking that a kid could do this. I laughed so hard that tears began to form on my eyes. I wiped the tears away, I guess an adult was showing this kid the harshness of this world. I follow the footmarks on the ground. I walked for about 15 minutes and finally I was out of the forest. As I walked out, I could see a village burning. Great, my only chance of having a peaceful rest goes goodbye.


    I stride closer and closer to the village. The moment I got to the outskirts of the village, I could hear something. I could hear metals clashing together, it was quite faint, but I could clearly tell it was two metals clashing together, it was a fight! Theres still a survivor! I immediately rush towards the noise.


    As I got closer, I could see a bunch of bandits ganging up on someone. I got closer a little bit more and that someone was a kid, I looked around and saw that there were some bandit bodies laying on the ground. The kid was fighting back! I saw him jump and cut off a bandits head in an instant.


    As I saw that spectacle, the kid looked like he was tired, he was now only defending. Im still far off, I guess it couldn''t be helped. I utilized the wind, and it made me run faster, I finally got within range to dash. I dashed forward, I was now right beside the kid. Just as I got there, he fell over. Im not sure if he is dead or he just passed out. But right now, I got to deal with some low class bandits. I immediately drew my sword and in an instant, 2 of the guys in front of me dropped dead. In the next moment, I leaped backwards, I was now behind 2 bandits, A quick slash to a guy''s back, and a stab to the heart for the next one. 2 more dropped dead.


    The rest of the bandits stopped on their tracks. I decided to speak.


    "Pillaging an entire village, some tough guys you are. Even ganging up on a kid, before I kill you all, tell me something, how many of you did the kid kill?"


    They started to get angry.


    "You bastard!"


    "Screw you old man!"


    "Kill him!"


    "Chop him to pieces!"


    *Sigh* I sigh to myself and decided to end this quickly as possible, I harnessed the wind once more, and in 5 seconds, I jumped from bandit to bandit, splitting them cleanly in half. 7 bandits went down in an instant, 2 remained, as they saw what I did to their comrades, possibly even their boss, in just 5 seconds, they decided to turn tail and run.


    "Did you guys really think you could run away that easily?"


    As I said those words, I dashed towards the guy that was behind and I immediately sliced of his legs. He fell to the ground and I slashed his head off. The other guy saw this and fear instantly covered his face, I could see the tears starting to form.


    "Please! Please spare me! I don''t want to die"  He started screaming, he pleaded and pleaded.


    "Well, I can let you off if you answer my previously asked question" I said to him while sheathing my sword.


    "He killed 6 of us" He said while crying.


    "I see, thats good." As I said those words, I was right beside the guy in his knees, and in an instant his head flew off.


    I wiped my sword with a piece of cloth that I found. As I was cleaning the sword, I started walking towards where the little kid was. I sure hope he wasn''t dead. As I got closer I saw his sword, and it looked like the sword that was used to kill the wolf pack leader. I was shocked, I guess it was him that killed that wolf leader. I guess I shouldn''t be surprised, he did take on an entire bandit gang all by himself.


    I checked the kid if he was alive. I checked his pulse, it seems he''s fine, he just passed out, I guess he fought the wolf pack and got tired. Im sure he would have been able to kill all those bandits if he hadn''t fight the wolf leader. I tend to his wounds, his body covered in cuts and bruises. And his back looks like theres a claw mark, must be from one of the wolves. I finally notice that right behind the kid were 2 bodies, and heads right beside them. They closely resemble the boy, I guess they''re his parents. I see that theres a locket on the ground, I picked it up and placed it on my storage ring.


    The village was burning pretty intensely, I pick up the kid from the ground, we had to leave this place if we don''t want to burn along side this village. I take him to an open grassland just outside the village. I make camp here, I clean the kids wounds and dress them up nicely. He is sleeping like a log, I haven''t seen what this kid is capable of, but for a kid like him, he is plenty strong. I promised myself to not pass on my skills to anyone, but I think he should be perfect to inherit my skills and my legacy. I have decided, this kid will be my one and only disciple.


    _____________________


    (We are now back to Faust''s PoV)


    I wake up and saw right in front of me, a guy that looks pretty old, but he looks healthy. He is about 6 feet tall. His hair is a mess, its pretty much grey with streaks of white. He wears some ragged clothes, and his eyes are grey. I guess this is the bandit leader, I guess he wants retribution. I stand up immediately and put up a defensive stance, I try to reach for my waist, but I realized that I don''t have my katana with me.


    "Calm down kid, I''m not here to hurt you" He said with a smile on his face.


    I don''t believe him, he wants me to lower my guard, I feel my strength is back, I immediately dashed towards him. He was shocked, just like those other bandits, i felt a pain in my neck, and in an instant, I saw nothing but black, I passed out once more.


    I wake up again, in the same room, and I see the old man again right in front of me, it looks like he didnt move from his original spot. I wonder if he''s dead? I got up once more, I wanted to fight, but I realized what happened before, what I saw was the old man disappear and I passed out. Was it he that knocked me out? I still pay attention to my surroundings though, I can''t be too sure if he was a friend or a foe.


    "Looks like you have calmed down, don''t make me knock you out again" The old man said


    "What do you want from me? You here to torture me?! Might as well kill me right here and right now!" I screamed at him


    "Calm down, sheesh, I decided to make you my disciple!" He said while he tossed something in the air. It looks pretty familiar.


    I caught it, it was a locket, and inside, there was an engraving on it, it was a hand holding a hammer. I finally realized what it was, it was the Godhand symbol, and the locket was a family heirloom. It finally dawned on me that my parents are dead. I started to fall on the bed and I started to cry. I don''t know how long I griefed, but the old guy stood up and said.


    "Well kid, I know its a lot to take up, but theres a big world out there, and I can help you take on this big world. So, will you be my disciple?"


    I stood up wiping my tears from my face. I have nowhere to go, and this guy infront me is my benefactor and savior, I have nothing else to do but to grow strong. I simply nodded at him.


    "Good! My name is Kaiser, just Kaiser." As he said those words, he pulled one of his hands from his pocket and offered me a handshake.


    I accepted the handshake and said.


    "My name is Faust, Faust Godhand."


    A new journey now awaits me.


    __________________________________________________


    Hey guys! Thanks for reading! Sorry if its a little bit shorter, I wanted to post a chapter as soon as possible, cause I''m not sure when I can post another chapter, as I said, Im gonna be busy this whole week, possibly even next week.


    If you have any questions please comment below.


    Any typos, grammatical errors please comment below and ill change them.


    Any loopholes, please point them out so I can provide an explanation, and possible even change them


    Once more, enjoy! and thanks for reading!

 Chapter 4

    I accepted Kaiser''s proposal on me being his one and only apprentice. We were still in the room where I first woke up. I gather up my things and prepare to leave the room. I still have no idea where we are. I decided to ask Kaiser.


    "So Kaiser, where are we?"


    As I asked that question, I saw Kaiser''s hand blur, and in an instant something had smacked me in the back of my head.


    "Im your master now, and you will call me as such, kids these days so rude." He said with a grin.


    "I think I regret my decision" I say in a whisper.


    "What''d you say?" my master asked in a calm yet upset voice. I was sure I didnt say it out loud, this old guy is sharper than he looks.


    "Nothing master, I''m sorry, so master, where are we?" I ask again in a polite voice, I don''t wanna piss of this old monster.


    "We are in the town of Jagsen, it was the closest town to your village."


    I was shocked, Jagsen town was at least 2 days worth of travel, plus theres monsters and possibly bandits.


    "How long was I exactly out?" I asked while I sat down back on the bed.


    "Almost a week, 6 days to be exact" He said while putting himself on a nearby chair.


    "How is that possible?"


    "Well, you passed out cause you drained all of the mana inside of you. I was sure that you were going to wake up in a day or two. After 2 days pass, I checked your mana again, and I was pretty shocked, only almost 1/4th of your entire mana was recovered, it is something you wouldn''t expect from a kid like you, how old are you exactly?" Master asked with a face of shock and disbelief at the same time.


    "Im only 6 years old." As I said those words, master''s face even became more distorted.


    "6 years old?! Can you already gather and sense mana?!" He stood up while slamming his hand on the table.


    I almost jumped back from the bed. But I just simply answered


    "Yes"


    "Well, I guess its understandable, but how long have you been able to sense and absorb mana?" He asked as he grew closer towards me.


    I hesitate, I really don''t know this old guy, even though he is my master from now on, but I really don''t know for sure if he is someone trustworthy. I kept thinking about what to do, or what to say. But suddenly Kaiser sat back down and said.


    "Well you don''t have to answer me, I was just a little bit excited, never met a young genius like you . . . genius isn''t the right word, monster I would guess. Anyways, many greedy people would want you in their grasp, I can protect you, and I can teach you to become strong enough to protect yourself."


    I thought for a second, he doesnt seem to be a bad guy, and his intentions are clear, he just wants to train someone like me. I simply just nodded and said.


    "Thank you master"


    Master stood up and said.


    "Well, lets get going now"


    I stood up and asked.


    "Where are we going?"


    Master looked at me and said.


    "I don''t know where we are going, but I''m sure that we will be moving from place to place, but you don''t have to worry about that, all you need to do is follow me wherever."


    Im a bit skeptical, but I simply nodded. Master opened the door and he stepped out, as I stepped out the door, the sunlight immediately covered my face making it hard for me to see. I help my hand up to my face to block the sunlight, and there I could see clearly. It was something that I have never seen ever since I got to this world, a town!


    In my old world, I was mainly stationed in a city, but everything was modernized, metal buildings, metal skyscrapers, almost everything was made out of metal. But in this world, Almost everything is built with wood or rock. It is really amazing.


    The streets were crowded with people. Up until today, I have only seen humans, but right now, I''m seeing different kinds of races. Im seeing a human that has features of a cat, I assume they''re beastmen. I think I just saw an elf pass by. Im not sure if I just saw a really short person, or if it was just a dwarf. Nonetheless, for me, that moment I stepped out of that door, it was breathtaking.


    I stood there for a few minutes to take in the beauty of this world.


    "What are you standing around there for? We have places to be, let''s go"


    I snap out of my daze and looked at my master, I nodded and followed him. We walked for about 5 minutes till we got to a tavern looking building, just above the doors of the building said "Adventurers Guild". My master was about to go in when he immediately stopped and looked at me.


    "Raise your hand and open your fist"


    Even though I don''t know why he asks me this, but I immediately comply to his request. As I opened my fist, he hovered his hand over mine and I hear a *CLANKING* sound, I checked my hand and 5 gold coins were there! I was amazed! Taken back! I knew there was magic in this world, but seeing it for the first time is just another breathtaking moment.


    "Master! What kind of magic was that?! Will you teach me that too?!" I almost let out a childish scream fitting for my 6 year old age.


    Immediately, my master hit me again in the back of my head


    "What was that for master?!" I almost let out a cry


    "Its not magic you dumbass! Its my dimensional ring, ill get you one before we leave."


    "A dimensional ring? Whats that?"


    "I forgot that you grew up in a small village *sigh* you ever wonder where I keep my stuff?"


    I nod


    "Well I keep them in this ring here" my master raised his hand and showed me a ring on his finger.


    "There are different kinds of dimensional items, mine is a ring cause its easier to carry and its wearable. Theres also pouches and bags. Rings can only contain so much items. Wherein bags and punches can carry so much more. Since I don''t have that much personal things, I just use a dimensional ring."


    "I see" I nod in satisfaction


    "So what is the 5 gold coin pieces for?" I asked while placing the 5 gold coins in my pocket.


    "Go buy and do whatever you want for about an hour, this will probably the last chance you will have for a long time to do whatever. Meet me back here in about 2 hours, I have to prepare some things."


    After saying those things, my master disappeared into the Adventurers Guild.


    With 5 gold in my pocket, and my katana in my waist. I walk around town, making sure I know where I am at all times, I don''t want to get lost and make my master look for me. I walk around and end up in a food area. There were so many things I have never had the chance to eat. Since my family was poor, we were eating mostly bread, rice and vegetables. The only meat I was able to eat was rabbit, chicken and wolf meat, which I just hunted on my own and brought home to my family.


    After spending almost 1 gold on food, I decided to just wander around town, see if there was anything that would catch my eye. I walked and I walked until I finally saw something interesting, in my world it was called a samurai traveling hat. (I tried googling what its actually called, but just google that and you will get the idea) I don''t know what they call it here, but I''ve always been interested in samurais. Maybe when I grow older ill be a Ronin.


    There were plenty in stock and everything was pretty much an exact copy of the other, it only cost me 1 silver coin. I put on my new hat, there is a string that is attached to the hat, and its adjustable, I adjust it to hit my head. (Im bad at description, but its the thingy that fastens the hat to your head, Once again if you google the hat, you should see examples.)


    I was happy with my purchase, I still had plenty of money left, at least for a country hick like me, I assume that 4 gold is a lot. So I wander some more around the town, and I stumbled upon a weapon store, I was curious what was inside, So I decided to go in. Inside was pretty overwhelming, there were different kinds of weapons, apart from swords, there were axes, spears, some throwing daggers and other weapons that I don''t recognize.


    "Whatcha doing here kid?" A grumpy voice rang out from the counter. I didnt notice him cause I was busy fascinating over weapons.


    "Im just looking around, maybe buy a katana" I said while still looking over the different kinds of weapons.


    "HA! You?! buy a weapon?! You make me laugh kid! maybe you mean buy a weapon for your father?"


    As he said those words, something inside of me was trying to get out, it wasn''t anger, it was more of sadness. I almost tear up, but I held back.


    "No, its for me." I said once more calmly.


    "Huh, well I don''t really care as long as you got coins, feel free to look around and call me if you need any assistance" The man said with a bored expression, I guess he saw my face turning bit sad when he mentioned my dad.


    "Okay, thank you" I said and continued looking at the different kinds of weapons.


    About 30 minutes have passed and I was finished inspecting almost all of the unique weapons in the store. It was finally time to look at the katanas, So I decided to call the store keeper, to my surprise he was just right there staring at me.


    "You need something kid?" He asked with an emotionless expression.


    "Yes, where are your katanas?"


    "Well the best ones that we have are the ones on display right behind me. I doubt you''ll be able to afford them them though, cheapest one in display is 20 gold coins."


    As he said those words, my expression turned sour, I didnt expect for them to be expensive.


    "The cheaper ones are in that barrel over there, they range from 1 gold coin to 5 gold coins." He pointed at a barrel in the corner of the store.


    "If you still can''t afford them, I got some cheap ones at the back if you wanna see them."


    "Ill check the barrels for anything decent."


    I started walking over the barrels, there were about 100 swords all inside the barrels. I inspected almost each and every one of the swords, they all felt different. Until I inspected a sword that felt familiar with me. For some reason, me and the sword kind of connected. I pull the sword out of the barrel. I slightly unsheathe the katana and the familiarity of the katana increases. I inspect the blade and near the hilt, theres a carving that said "GH". The only explanation would be that the sword was made by a Godhand. I know it wasn''t my fathers cause he engraved his swords differently but the same way. I immediately slide the sword back into its sheath and go to the counter.


    "Ill take this one please!" I said to the storekeeper whilst placing the katana in front of him.


    "Oho, why this sword?" He asked in a curious manner


    "I don''t know, but it feels familiar to me."


    "Oh really now?" He asked with an amusing expression, his face is a face of disbelief, not that he was shocked, more of that he thinks I''m lying or something.


    Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    "Yes, so how much is the sword?"


    "4 gold coins"


    *Sigh* A sigh of relief came out of my mouth, I just have enough money. At the same time, I felt sad because I won''t have money to spend anything else on. I gave the storekeeper all my money, 4 gold coins.


    "Thank you very much" I said


    "Thanks, come again soon" He replied.


    I put my new sword on my waist, just above my old one, its something I cannot throw away, it was made by my father after all. I now walk out the door and started to head towards back to the adventurers guild. As I was walking back, I realized that I lost track of time, 2 hours had already gone by since I left. I started to run, I easily dodged and slid past the people in the crowded streets. Until I bumped into someone.


    Before I bumped into him, he clearly looked at me and intentionally stepped in my way. I bumped into him and I immediately fall to the ground. The guy still stood tall however. I take a good look at him, he looked rugged, a street thug type, a troublemaker.


    "Ouch ouch ouch! I think I broke my arm."  The rugged looking man said


    As he said those words, 2 other rugged men stood beside him.


    "Well well well, you just broke my friend''s arm, I hope you have gold to pay for the healing fee." The guy said while snickering


    "Im sorry, I don''t have any money." I said while bowing


    "Do you think an apology is gonna heal my friend''s broken arm?" The other guy said while laughing


    "I know, you are going to be our lackey now." The guy with the supposedly broken arm said.


    "Sorry, but I really have to go" I said once more as I picked myself up.


    "Trying to run away now are you?" One of the men said while he was patting the sword on his waist.


    "Why don''t we take this up to that alley over there?" The other guy said while pointing to a deserted alley.


    They shove me slowly to the alley, they pushed me in further where no one could see. They pushed me to the ground. At that point my patience has reached its limits.


    "Even though I saw you intentionally stand in my way, I still apologize, what else do you want from me?" I ask while placing my right hand on my newly acquired katana.


    "What''d you say?! You cocky bastard!" One of the guy pulled out his sword and ran towards me.


    I immediately dash towards him, in an instant I am right in front of him, just as I was about to unsheathe my sword and kill the guy, he immediately fall over to the ground with foam forming on his mouth. I look up and see his companions are in the same condition, unconscious on the cold hard ground. I get a hit to the back of my head.


    "What do you think you are doing?! Picking fights when I told you to enjoy yourself!" It was my master, and he looks pretty mad!


    "But master! they started it!" I said while trying to soothe the pain on the back of my head.


    "I don''t care! Don''t go around killing people in town you dumbass!" He hit me again with lightning speed as always


    "OUCH! But I didnt kill them, and besides, it seemed like you killed them!" As I said those last few words, I got hit again!


    "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" I cry out


    "Don''t go around and say that I''m killing people! Whats wrong with you?!" He hit me once more!


    "And you were about to kill them! If i hadn''t stepped in these guys would have been dead!" My master shouted


    "You don''t know that!" I screamed out, that was a bad choice, I got hit again! God dammit!


    "Yes I do, I felt the killing intent, you think I''m stupid?! Its even a surprise that a 6 year old like you could emit killing intent, that will be dangerous, ill teach you how to control and hide it."


    "Yes master! and I''m sorry master!" I said while bowing to him.


    "Good good, well, lets go before these idiots wake up and cause some trouble." My master said while leaving the alley.


    I quickly followed him, I was now trailing his back after a few minutes of following him, he finally stopped, and I realized we were at the exit of the town. Master looked at me, grabbed something from his pocket and tossed it to me. I catch the item and realized what it was, it was a plain looking silver ring.


    "What is this?" I ask while looking at the ring


    "Its a dimensional ring, its very basic, but its still expensive, you can keep your simple items there, it won''t fit much, but you won''t be needing that many things in there anyways."


    "Wow! Thank you master!" I said while bowing, after I bowed I put the ring on my right hand index finger.


    "Wait, how does this work?"


    "Its simple, you mark the ring with your blood, making it bound to you and only you, after that its a matter of thinking and using your brain."


    I grabbed my newly acquired sword and used it to wound my finger, I let the blood drip on the silver ring and it immediately absorbed it. Something then appeared in my brain, its like a hidden part of my brain that has been unlocked, it was weird yet at the same time familiar. I immediately know how to use the rings, what its limitations are, how big of an object the limit is, and many other knowledge just about the ring. How to take it off, which is pretty simple, either the ring owner dies, or the ring owner willfully unbinds the ring to himself.


    I grab my old sword and store it inside my ring, after that a new knowledge entered my mind once more, it was the knowledge of knowing what is inside the ring.


    "This is amazing!" I shouted out


    "Yeah, I had the same exact reaction, now then, lets go."


    "Where are we going?"


    "To a smaller town, we are going to start training once we get there."


    ------------------------------------------------


    The trip took us about 3 weeks, we didnt stop by any other village or town, or at least there were no other villages or towns on the way. We slept on the side of the dirt road, sometimes in forests or jungles that we passed by. We ate what we could hunt and find. Master told me it was part of training. It was more of me hunting and foraging food in the dark while master was just sleeping like a lazy old bum. He would only wake up once I got food in my hands.


    Along the way we faced some bandits, master always let me handle them while he watches, but there are times where he intervened just before I even began fighting. He told me that they were out of my calibre, but he seemed to have dealt with them pretty easily.


    We also faced some monsters, some were dealt pretty easily by me, while others I had struggled with, but not enough for master to intervene. The cores, I happily absorbed after my daily meditation. Master taught me several things about monsters, about how they are ranked. They are ranked F, E, D, C, B, A, S, SS and SSS. F being the weakest. S monsters were hard to find, SS even more so, while SSS is reserved for godly beings, mostly dragons.


    That 3 week trip was close to hell even for me, life and death battles with monsters and bandits, even battles with hunger and fatigue, for me it was a hell trip, for my master that did mostly nothing and slept and only intervened when needed, was like a pretty ordinary trip. Some carriages passed by us, but master always declined, he said it was part of training stamina.


    In just those 3 weeks, I feel that I have grown stronger, both physically and mentally. Fighting bandits and monster were great experience for me.


    I can now finally see with my own eyes, a village. I thought master was just dragging me around wherever. Im sorry for doubting you master! Now that we are here, I can''t wait to take a good long rest.


    "Master, what village is that?" I ask, since he never really told me where we were going.


    "That is Housen village, a remote place, and further up north of the village is a forest, that forest contains different kinds of monsters, good place for hunting cores, but its a dangerous place. Monsters there are only C rank and up."


    "Is that where you are going to train me? Sounds like a dangerous place."


    Master showed a grin on his face and then said.


    "Not only are you going to train there, We are also going to live there"


    Tears of despair came out my eyes. I have died once, escaped death another time, and now I''m going to die for sure.


    "But master. . ." Before I could finish, I got hit in the back of the head.


    "No buts!" He yelled at me


    "I don''t want to die!" I cry


    He hits me again!


    "You won''t die, now lets go!" As he said those words, he raised his hand once more ready to hit me. Before he could do so, I shouted


    "Yes master! I''m going!"


    I reach the village ahead of master, I ran as fast as I could to avoid being hit, now that we are in the village, I can finally have a long days rest. We got here pretty early in the morning, so the village wasn''t so lively. I stop and regain breath after running away from my master, soon enough he caught up and went by me. I quickly followed him, we might be going to an inn for something. As I followed him, I notice that we were getting farther and farther from the village center, and I''m sure we just passed by an inn of some sorts. We finally reach the opposite side of the village from where we entered and I finally asked him.


    "Uhm. . . Ma-master?"


    He stops, turns around and said.


    "Hmmm?"


    "Aren''t we going to rest in the village?" I ask with a sad face, trying to win him over


    "Nope"


    "Then where are we going?" I ask, even though I could already guess where we are going to go.


    "Training!" He says with a grin, an evil look!


    I try to run away, but master saw through my intentions, he hit me in the back of the head and I pass out.


    _________________________________


    I woke up in the middle of a forest, I sat up and there I saw my master.


    "Wh-where are we?" I ask in a scared tone.


    "Welcome to training in hell!"


    _________________________


    Ive always wondered what the difference between a ronin and a samurai, a ronin is basically a samurai that doesnt serve any lord or noble, this is for those who wonder as well.


    Thanks for reading guys, I''m gonna work on the next chapter tomorrow.


    Please rate and leave a review if you guys want, it will help me try to better my story.


    Also if you find loopholes, any spelling and or grammatical errors, please comment below. I f you have questions, Please comment below.


    Once more, thanks for reading, also sorry for slow chapters, really just busy and don''t have that much time to write.

 Chapter 5

    "Welcome to training in hell!"


    Tears almost came out of my eyes, but there is nothing I could do. I picked myself up from the ground and looked around. Everywhere I look, trees, some small, some are big. My only chance of survival now is to stick with master, after all, he should be strong enough to handle monsters here. I guess we are going to live here from now on, but I look around, theres no house or even at least a shelter whatsoever.


    "Master. . .?"


    "Hmmm?"


    "Where are we going to live?"


    "Here"


    "Here? But theres nothing here"


    "If theres nothing here, then you better start making something" As master said those words, an axe came out of thin air, probably from his storage ring.


    "You want me to build a house here? But Ive never built anything before." I ask while picking the axe of the ground.


    "Well, consider it part of your training, I won''t be here forever, and you will have to learn how to live by yourself one day, also better make a shelter fast, because the earlier you get the shelter done, the faster we can start training."


    I looked at my master, and it looked like he built a hammock in a very short time using vines. He slowly crept into it and began napping. I was dumbfounded, I was too work and make a shelter while he sleeps. I was about to cry!


    I had no other choice but to start chopping down some small trees, surprisingly it doesnt wake up my master, he just sleeps and sleeps.


    _______________________________


    It took me about 3 months to make the "house" it was pretty troublesome, even though I haven''t built anything in my life, I do know the basic concept of making a wooden house.


    In those 3 months, I fought countless life and death battles. Monsters would show up while I''m chopping down wood, or when gathering food and water, or when I''m just plainly sitting down and taking a breather. The monsters were pretty tough, one single monster was pretty much a monster, really hard to kill. I was pretty happy when I took down one monster.


    To my disappointment, my master told me that the monsters that I have been killing have all been low C class monster. To me, they felt like SSS class, even though I couldn''t fathom how strong SSS monsters are.


    Eventually in those 3 months, I was able to handle C class monsters, then C class monsters came in packs, which made me turn tail and run, taking one down was hard enough, but a whole pack? I don''t have a death wish, so my natural instinct to live kicked in. I just hide behind my master who just sleeps in his hammock. He just wakes up and after a few swings of his sword, almost the entire pack is half beaten to death. Eventually they stop coming near our location.


    Three months passed and the house is complete, its a 1 story house with 2  bedrooms, 1 for me and 1 for my master. Other than the 2 rooms integrated within the house, everything else is pretty much the kitchen / living room area. I am proud of my work, I finally decided to wake up my master, who is still sleeping in the hammock, sometimes I even think he is dead, so I sometimes go near him to see if he was still alive. In return, I always get a hit on the back of my head.


    With the house complete, its time to wake up my master.


    "Master, the house is complete!!" I shake his hammock.


    "Hmmmm? What? Oh, the house is done, good! now you need to furnish it!." He says while slowly getting out of his hammock.


    Upon hearing those words, I slightly frown, the house was completely empty and there was literally nothing inside.


    "Im just joking, lighten up a bit, good work on the house." Master slow walked to the house and entered it. After a few seconds of going in, I hear this weird sounds coming from the house.


    I scream in my head! I think he is taking my 3 months of handwork apart! The only thing I can do is drop my master to the ground to stop him from taking it apart! Its an impossible task but the only thing I can do is try! I pull out my katana and charge inside. Once I got inside the only thing that dropped was my jaws. Im taken back, the house was entirely furnished. Tables, silverware, cooking utensils, I even check my room, theres a comfortable looking bed, theres even a bookshelf and some other things.


    "What are you doing with that sword?" My master asked, snapping me out of trance


    "Uhm . . . well, you see, I thought you were tearing the house do. . ." Before I could finish, a smack to the head hits me once more.


    "Sorry master!" I cry


    "Humph, well you worked hard, you can go sleep and take a rest now, ill handle the rest."


    I wasn''t sure what he meant by handling the rest, but I simply nodded and went to my room.


    After 3 months of hard work and life and death battles, I finally have the chance to rest. I went to my bed and lay down on my bed and think about all the stuff I have been through. Like how I was an orphan at my old world, how I died and got resurrected by God, how I finally got parents, but were simply taken away from me, how I met my crazy master, up to today. Many weird and crazy things happened to me, but I fear only weird and crazy things await me. I immediately fall asleep.


    I wake up, which I assume is early in the morning, because I fell asleep mid afternoon, and I look outside my window, the sun is about to come up. Its been a while since Ive slept like this. Now that I think about it, I have never slept like a baby before. Ive always worried about what would become of me in my old world. In this world, my family was poor, so I had to help, its not like I didnt want to help, because I do want to help, to help my family is the only thing in this world that I lived for. But now, things have changed, theres a whole world ahead of me, and hopefully once I am free from my master, I can do whatever I want to.


    I lay in my bed for a few more minutes. Embracing the comfort, because I know, the actual training will start pretty soon. I couldn''t take it any longer, the earlier I start training with master, the earlier I can be set free to the world!


    I get up and do a little morning stretch and exercise. I get out of my room and my jaws dropped once more. The entire house looks different from yesterday. It looks like theres a few different rooms added, also the floors and the walls look better, I don''t know what my master did but its amazing. Speaking of master, I don''t see him around, I guess he is still sleeping. Since he isn''t around yet, I decided to look around the new rooms.


    I walked towards a room just beside my master''s, I opened it and it was a bathroom! Im shocked, I expected to shower in rivers or waterfalls, but theres actually a full functioning shower in here, theres even a toilet! I guess I don''t have to worry about digging holes for poop anymore. Since I was here, I decided to take a shower. I undress and go in the shower, theres even a knob to change the temperature. (How this works is monster cores with fire element for heat and ice element for the cold water)


    I finish my shower in about 15 minutes, I took my time because it felt too relaxing, but alas good things must come to an end, but ill be back and enjoy this shower a little bit more, maybe even ask master to make a bath. I dry myself with a towel that seems to be made out of monster fur. I put on spare clothes, a gray shirt and brown shorts. I put on my sandals (or slippers, I really have no idea what the difference is) and get out of the room.


    My master is still asleep I think so I decided to check out the other room. It was a study room, there were books and writing materials, probably where my master will be spending most of his time cause I see a hammock in the corner of the room. The room doesnt interest me so I decided to leave.


    As I close the door to the room, another door opened, it was the door to my master''s room, and there he came out of.


    "Good morning master" I say and bow politely


    "Morning, get breakfast ready and we will start training once we have finished eating."


    I nod. I head over to the kitchen and see that theres something that closely resembles a refrigerator, i check inside and there was some different kinds of ingredients. I pick out some eggs, vegetables and some rice and bread. I quickly prepare breakfast. In about 20 minutes breakfast was served. Me and my master sit down at the table and start eating, in 10 minutes we were done.


    "Alright, lets head outside."


    I follow him and we are outside.


    "Alright, first things first, you''re weapon of choice is a katana? yes?" He says after looking at my waist


    "Yes master" I bow


    "Good, if you still haven''t noticed, I too use a katana. First part of training, I want you to pull out your sword with finesse, but still fast and strong enough to kill. You will be practicing quick draws. Do this 1000 times with your dominant hand first, and then move on to your other hand." After saying those, he went to his hammock and got ready to take a nap.


    "What does this teach me master?" I ask curiously


    "It will teach you discipline, it will help with precision, and it will build your endurance." He immediately fell asleep on the hammock.


    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    *Sigh* I sigh, but theres nothing for me to do but comply.


    I unsheathe and sheath my sword just as my master said, with finesse, but with speed and force that is enough to be fatal.


    "One, two, three, four, five . . . 68, 69, 70, 99. . .  200"


    At first I thought it was easy, with the pace I was going, I was gonna be finished in about 3 hours, but the moment I reached 200, my arm felt really heavy and it started to ache. I slow down my pace a little bit to decrease the burden on my arm. I was sweating so much that I had to take off my shirt. After 2 and a half hours, finally I was finished training with my dominant hand (right hand). I was quite tired, but I still had to finish training with my other hand. I transfer my sword from my left side to my right side.


    I started swinging with my left hand now, at first it felt weird, but after around 100 swings I got used to it, my pace is a little bit slower however. When I hit 200 with my left arm, the burden kicked in a little bit more, as a result slowed my paced even more. It took me about 3 and a half hours to finish with my left hand. In total was about 6 hours. There are clocks in this world to tell time, but alas, we don''t have one in our humble abode. To my guess its almost about 1 pm early afternoon.


    I knew I was sweating like crazy, but I didnt notice that I sweat enough to make the surrounding soil almost soaked. I was kinda weirded out by it. Since I was finished with training, I decided to wake up master and to see what else the day holds for me.


    I walk up to his hammock and gently shake it.


    "Master. . . "


    "Hmmmm? Yes? Tired already? You can take a rest if you want. . ." He said half asleep and he then feel asleep once more.


    "What a troublesome master" I think to myself.


    "Master . . ."


    "Stop disturbing my sleep, go finish training!" He let out a small yelp


    "Matster . . . I''m done."


    Master immediately woke up with an angry expression, I wonder why?


    "What do you mean you are done?! You just started training today! You can''t quit now! Here I thought you were strong!" My master yelled out


    *Sigh* He misunderstood me, he really is a troublesome master.


    "No master, I finished training." I said while looking up to him


    "Finished?! You got to be kidding?" He snorted out


    "Yes master, 1000 swings each hand."


    "Impossible, its still early afternoon, It should have taken you at least till early evening! You lying to me?!" He hit me after saying those words.


    "No master, why would I lie to you?" I say almost crying


    My master looked at me, and then looked at the spot from where I was training. His eyes turned from agitated to eyes of disbelief, he immediately run towards the wet spot which I was training on. He then looked at me.


    "You stood here right?"


    I nod


    "And you didnt grab a bucket of water or whatever?"


    I nod again


    "You don''t know of any water magic do you?" He asks again


    I stare at him confused, I don''t get why he keeps asking me weird questions.


    "I don''t think so? And why are you asking me all these weird questions?"


    "Theres something I wanna see, get a change of clothes, take a shower, and come to the study in 5 minutes!" He shouted and went back to the house.


    I comply to his words, I don''t know what he is planning but I have no choice but to follow. I take a shower, this time I took a quick one, I didnt want to keep my master waiting.


    I arrive to the study, and there master was waiting.


    "Good, now you already know how to absorb mana right?"


    "Yes?"


    "Okay, now come and sit down, take of your shirt and start absorbing mana."


    I only heard "sit down" and "take of your shirt" I give my master a weird look.


    "Its not like that you dumbass!" He yelled and hit me in the back of the head once more.


    "Ouch ouch ouch! Im sorry!" I take of my shirt


    I sit on the ground and start absorbing mana in the surrounding area. As I feel the mana go inside me, I feel master''s hand touching my back. I tried not to let it bother me, but then something interrupted me, a shout of surprise!


    "Aaaaaaah!" My master shouted


    "Whats wrong master?! I stop my absorbing and look at master, he wore a serious expression which turned calm after a few seconds.


    "You really are unique" He said with a grin, and Im sure he let out a small laugh


    "Hehehehe, nothing is wrong, in fact everything is great, go ahead and continue to absorb mana for an hour, it will help you recover your strength." He said


    "Absorbing mana helps recover strength?" I didnt know that so I had to confirm what I heard.


    "Yes, go ahead and absorb mana, I was planning to teach you general knowledge tomorrow, but since you''re quite unique, classes will be held this afternoon, absorb mana for about an hour, then prepare some food (lunch by the way) and call me, we will resume training then."


    Master left the room and I think he went to his bedroom to sleep, he acted like nothing even happened. I didnt let it bother me, by now I''m used to master just sleeping all the time. I did what he said, I absorbed mana for about an hour, and I actually felt my stress to go down. I never noticed this because before, I just absorbed mana before I slept. But now, I feel a little bit relieved. After absorbing mana for an hour, I left the study and went to the kitchen. I grabbed some ingredients from the cooler and started preparing lunch.


    I woke up master to eat lunch, we ate and talked for about 30 minutes. Master then took me to the study.


    "What are we doing here master?" I ask


    "Im going to teach you general knowledge and other stuff, in other words, you are going to study!" He said with a grin


    "But I thought you were going to train me to get stronger?" I ask


    "Im not going to let you dumbass! I can''t let my only disciple to be stupid!" He yelled, and he then hit me as always.


    The lesson went of pretty easy at first, he taught me basic math and basic language, which I understood pretty easily. Then he started teaching me about absorbing mana, the 2 typed of people in the world, the physical and the magical, which my dad already gave me a quick overview before.


    He then told me about how absorbing mana can help cure fatigue, but also how absorbing too much mana and going over a persons limit can be harmful. He also told me how to increase the mana you can take, you just have to keep absorbing mana each day. He also taught me about the different elemental affinities, how absorbing cores work too.


    Cores are separated to their elemental affinities too. It doesnt matter what kind of core you absorb as a physical person. But for a magical person that absorbs mana and feeds it to their core, they need to absorb neutral mana, or mana that is close to their affinities. Absorbing a neutral mana core will let you absorb almost all of its mana. Absorbing a mana core that is related to your elemental affinity will do the same thing. Absorbing mana that is not to your elemental affinity however is a different story. A person can still absorb it, but the body will "filter" it out, absorbing only a percentage of it. Depending on how good the person is, the person can absorb up to 80%.


    Master also taught me more about the adventurers guild, what the ranks are, what kinds of mission each ranks does etc etc. . . He also told me their are schools out there that help people get stronger. He also taught me survival guides and other stuff.


    After about 3 hours of lecture, we finally get to the important part, the part when he slightly freaked out earlier. I already knew that being both magical and physical type of person was amazing, even though I was mostly physical, it was still quite amazing for a 6 year old like me.


    The magical core inside of me can be used as an extra source of energy, a person can control the mana to supply the tired muscles, of course I can also use it to perform wind magic since it was my elemental affinity.


    My body transferred mana to my muscles on its own earlier during practice training, it explained the surreal amount of sweat, if I didnt have a magical core, I would have probably finished training around evening like my master said.


    Lecture ended in the evening. I prepared dinner, ate it and went to my bed. Today I learned many things, and Im sure I''m about to learn many more things under this master of mine. I go to sleep and prepare for a new day!


    ______________________________________


    Hey guys! sorry about the delay! the royalroadl server went down monday which didnt give me time to work on the chapter, I just finished, sorry if its a little bit short! I hope you guys enjoy!


    Any errors please leave a comment!


    Also any questions or loopholes also leave comment!


    Thanks for reading!


    <hr />


    Also, voting will end this friday when I start on the next chapter