More than a week had passed since Exitus became Renes’s disciple. In a small forest not far from Seabloom Academy, a peaceful forest with sunlight piercing through the leaves like a silver ribbon, and the sound of a waterfall flowing “gush gush” softly and deeply. Immersed under the flowing water was a young boy, his eyes tightly closed, sitting in a meditative posture, motionless, letting the cold water wash away his mind.

  Not far away lay a sloppy middle-aged man on a stretch of lush green grass. From his body emanated a strong smell of alcohol, a scent that seemed to have become his body’s own smell. He lay there with half-closed eyes, gazing lazily at the figure training under the waterfall. A faint smile curved upon his face. He could see a unique, rhythmic mana flow gradually forming inside the boy’s body.

  “A genius! The boy is about to reach enlightenment.”

  Exitus recalled Renes’s teachings. He controlled the mana flows within his body while avoiding the interference of the waterfall, which helped him train concentration and enhance his senses. Exitus felt the connection between his body and mana through a particular, strange pattern, like a unique rune of his own.

  “The human body and soul are different for each person, with their own characteristics and shades. An Ultimate Skill is like a protocol between mana and the body. A fitting Ultimate Skill can bring out the body’s full potential. Feel it! Don’t try to control mana, let it flow through your body like water. Then you’ll understand.”

  Every second that passed, Exitus could feel his body gradually changing, growing a bit stronger. The mana was like a small, curious, mischievous snake exploring every nook and cranny inside him. It kept running, and running, until it formed a cycle. It was a special loop.

  “Boom!”

  Exitus opened his eyes wide, the aura bursting from his body repelled the surrounding water. He lightly leapt onto the riverbank and bowed deeply before Renes.

  “Teacher, I’ve comprehended it.”

  “Good! Good! Good!” Renes laughed loudly. The three “goods” expressed immense satisfaction. In just one week, Exitus had grasped the technique of Ultimate Skill. Back in his day, Renes himself had taken a whole month to do so. He looked at Exitus with pride. If nothing went wrong, this boy might reach a realm he himself had never attained.

  “An Ultimate Skill is basically similar to a spell. It has destructive power as well as effects. Some possess Ultimate Skills with low destructive force but extremely powerful special effects. For example, my move ‘Shadow Slash’ causes blindness on the target. A very troublesome effect in combat. Some Ultimate Skills are purely supportive or enhancing, for instance, greatly increasing physical strength, defense, speed, or attack power, things like that…” Renes explained.

  “In that case, wouldn’t mages be much stronger than warriors, since they can use various spells with different effects?” Exitus asked.

  “That’s not necessarily true! Each warrior can only use one Ultimate Skill, so in essence, this technique is much stronger than an ordinary spell and doesn’t require the time to draw sigils like mages do. For mages to use ‘instant spells,’ they must inscribe the spell’s mark into their magic core. However, once they do that, it can’t be replaced.”

  To help Exitus better understand the concept of “effects,” Renes condensed a small black blade on his fingertip, then flicked it toward Exitus. The boy didn’t dodge, he caught it with his hand. “Slash.” The blade tore open the skin on his palm before disappearing.

  “Oh.” Exitus finally understood what “Effect” meant.

  His eyes widened. He could hear the gentle trickle of the waterfall nearby, the rustling of leaves in the wind, proof that he was still in the same place. Yet the “Blind” effect made his vision seem shrouded by a mysterious black veil. Everything around him turned pitch-dark. The effect didn’t last long. After a few seconds, his vision returned to normal. But in those few seconds, Renes could have killed him countless times.

  “It felt terrifying,” Exitus said, drenched in sweat.

  “That’s why you need to train more in your "senses". High-level mages possess an ability called "Will". This effect is useless against them but it’s more than enough to bully the weak. Hahaha!” Renes laughed mockingly.

  “So, what’s your Ultimate Skill?” Renes asked curiously while drinking.

  Exitus stayed silent. He directed the mana flow inside his body according to the special pattern. Energy filled his body, converging into his eyes. Exitus’s eyes heated up, glowing with a flickering red light, eerie and frightening.

  “Look straight into my eyes and relax your mind,” Exitus said with a smile.

  The middle-aged man seemed a bit disappointed. He’d hoped for an offensive skill rather than a supportive one. It didn’t seem very strong.

  “All right, let’s see what you’ve got!”

  Renes gazed into Exitus’s eyes absentmindedly. At first, nothing seemed to happen. Suddenly, the boy’s pupils twisted into an endless vortex, dragging Renes into a dark abyss. He struggled desperately, channeling his power to break free, but it was futile. Countless black hands reached out from within the vortex, clutching at him, pulling him deeper into the darkness.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “Damn it! What is this!?”

  Renes woke up inside a small house. Shock flooded the mind of the mighty Battle King. The scene before him was so familiar, a simple room with modest furnishings. Renes looked around with nostalgia. He touched a soft old blanket, then ran his hand across a rough wooden table, such familiar sensations.

  “It’s some kind of illusion skill… Everything feels so real! I underestimated this boy’s ability.” While he was still debating whether to break the illusion, a gentle woman’s voice called out:

  “Renes! What are you doing there? Hey, don’t you dare slack off again!”

  “E–Elisa! Is that you?” Renes trembled at the sight before him.

  Standing there was a beautiful woman with large, sparkling eyes like gems, her hair neatly braided. She stood with her hands on her hips, pouting in mock anger at Renes.

  “Hey! Hey! Hey! Why are you standing there like a statue?” Elisa asked in confusion.

  Renes didn’t answer. He slowly approached her, his expression softening. The once mighty Battle King now had tears streaming down his face. Before him stood the figure engraved deepest in his heart, buried under years of drunken haze. He reached out, touching her cheek, feeling the warmth he had longed for. The young woman seemed to sense something, her anger fading into worry as she grabbed his hand tightly.

  “What’s wrong, Renes? What happened to you?” Elisa asked tenderly.

  Renes remained silent, his face shifting from shock, to hesitation, then finally to determination. He smiled at the young woman, his voice trembling with emotion.

  “Elisa… you’re still as beautiful as the day I lost you.”

  “Clang!”

  The sound shattered the illusion. The images were torn apart and swallowed back into darkness, including Elisa’s figure.

  Exitus looked at his master standing motionless there; he waved his hand in front of the man but Renes did not react. Exitus seemed to sense an opportunity, he had longed to grab the wine gourd from the man for a long time, but had always been refused. Exitus reached out to snatch the wine gourd hanging from the man’s waist when an arm caught him. Renes looked at him with anger and delivered a loud kick to the boy’s buttocks; the impulse sent him flying into the pond.

  “Kids aren’t allowed to drink alcohol.”

  Exitus was soaking wet like a drowned rat, splashing up onto the shore. He looked at Renes with confusion and asked him.

  “Why does it take so long! According to your will, breaking that illusion should be very simple.”

  Exitus had only used a small amount of mana to cast the technique; for a master of perception and with a will as firm as Renes’s, breaking out should have been instantaneous.

  Renes fell into thought, then sighed.

  “This is not an ordinary illusion! You possess a very nasty skill.”

  “I call it ‘The Eyes of Nightmare,’” Exitus answered with a smile.

  “Nightmare, huh? Indeed, if I had escaped more slowly maybe I would have had to watch it one more time.” Renes clicked his tongue.

  From mastering the Ultimate Skill, Exitus had reached the standard of a warlord. What he needed next was to channel mana through the body’s unique cycle to enhance his physique. The body would gradually transform and at some point form a “Ability”. That was the criterion for the next rank, “Battle King”. Exitus devoted much time to training and researching information about famous monsters in Seabloom’s library.

  “The second floor's hidden monster must be her, Medusa,” Exitus whispered while his eyes were glued to the thick book.

  The book Emerald Monster by scholar Horta described Medusa hiding deep within the Emerald ranges, guardian of the green snakes and a half-human, half-snake monster, lower body a serpent’s tail, upper body a beautiful, seductive woman. She had eyes that could turn anyone into stone. Those turned to stone were trapped within the outer rock and died slowly in despair. She only appeared when the amount of Venom in an area was severely slaughtered.

  “A terrifying monster but any man will still look back, even knowing the outcome is death. It is not the monster’s gaze that kills them , they die because of their own curiosity and lust.” — Da Horta

  Exitus closed the book. He couldn't help but remember the thin man in Dead Cell number 7 in Allblack, a wise man who had guided him away from becoming a monster. If he had not met that man before, standing before Vorshade’s latent power, he might have killed very, very many people simply to collect their souls.

  “Don’t lose yourself, boy.”

  Exitus smiled and whispered under his breath,

  “That’s hard, my friend.”

  Later on, Exitus concentrated wholeheartedly on training and increasing his physical level. Day by day, Exitus could feel himself growing stronger. Strength, defense, explosiveness… all met the warlord standards. Moreover, his pace combined with the “Silver Fang's badge" allowed him to surpass almost all others of the same rank. His Ultimate Skill could deliver surprise assassination strikes, yet he had not fully tapped the power of his eyes.

  While Exitus trained to consolidate his warlord rank, the special class also risked their lives training to quickly raise their abilities before the Great-Mornet entrance exam. Great-Mornet Academy was the highest academy in Hesmor, built during the era Astor held power; the academy signified the link between the two nations. Great-Mornet’s admission standards were extremely high; however, its benefits were immense and it was the only academy in Hesmor with quota access to Great-Will.

  Vogar was a genius youth of Hesmor’s royal lineage, but he was not the only one nor the best. For a long time Vogar believed that only nobles were true geniuses; they soaked in the best medicinal baths from childhood, studied and absorbed the most practical knowledge from their family libraries. Especially, they also possessed unique family “Ability”. Hesmor being a royal family, of course they had “extremely strong” ability. Geniuses were those who had not yet reached “Battle King” but whose bodies had already formed “Ability” early.

  In the luxurious training room with thick walls and glossy marble flooring, weapon racks hung on both sides, and in the center stood wooden posts full of slash marks. A respectful steward stood nearby, silent, staring at the young noble practicing swordsmanship with an old master inside the training circle. The young man struck fiercely; his sharp sword strokes repeatedly pushed back his old warlord master, and “Clang”, the master’s sword was knocked away.

  “Congratulations, young master, you are officially a warlord.” The old master said flatteringly.

  “All criteria for power, defense, and offense have been met; moreover, combined with your Ability, you stand out at the warlord rank.” He added another remark.

  Vogar smiled in satisfaction. Though he could not compare to Aster, at least inside this family he was not inferior. Vogar had never been lazy; on the contrary he was extremely hardworking. Suddenly remembering something, he smiled with a forced tone and said.

  “This time Seabloom will host an all-school tournament to select the inter-academy competition team. I don’t believe that brat will not participate. I will defeat him in front of the whole school to show Mira that I am the one worthy of her.”