The next year and a half passed in relentless training.

  Every day, Kael meditated for eight hours. The longer he meditated, the more power he felt flowing into him—steady, constant, like a hidden river beneath his skin.

  He woke at five in the morning.

  After meditation came physical training. Hours of it.

  He trained with dumbbells, performed endless repetitions, pushed his body past its limits. For now, he could curl 25 kilograms and bench press 70 kilograms. That might seem normal—if he weren't only nine and a half years old.

  His body wasn't bulky, but it was lean and sharply defined. Compact muscle wrapped tightly around his frame.

  Over time, the fear he once felt toward Darius disappeared. They had spent countless hours together. They joked. They ate together.

  "Training like this makes you eat like a pig," Darius would say.

  Kael laughed every time—but it was true.

  Because of the intensity of his training, his appetite was monstrous. He ate five kilograms of meat per day and three massive bowls of rice. The calories fueled his growth.

  Then one day, Darius called him.

  But this time, his voice was serious.

  "Come to the field."

  They sat together on the green grass where they had trained for months.

  "Kael," Darius began, "you have strengthened your body at an early age—and you have done it remarkably well. Now, you stand at a pivotal moment. Every hunter in this world must face it."

  Hunter.

  It was the first time Kael had heard that word.

  "Now," Darius continued, "you will see your power."

  "My power?" Kael asked, standing.

  "Yes. But first—you will see mine."

  Darius's golden gloves began to shine. The gold shifted into blue, then melted into a viscous liquid. It reshaped itself into a massive shuriken the size of his body.

  Then it compressed.

  It shrank into a palm-sized blade.

  As Darius held it, the shuriken began spinning—not normally, but violently. The air distorted. Ripples formed, and Kael felt a powerful wind pushing against him.

  Darius threw it.

  At first, it moved slowly—visible. Then it began circling the house, faster and faster. Soon it became nothing more than a glowing halo of light.

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  Then it vanished.

  A second later, a thunderous crack echoed from the forest.

  Three trees fell—cleanly sliced in half.

  Then dozens.

  Then hundreds.

  Kael stood speechless.

  "Can I do that too?" he finally asked.

  Darius laughed loudly.

  "Maybe. Maybe not. It depends on how much you train. This part is essential if you wish to do great things."

  He walked to the large metal box that had been stored away for months. It was one meter by one meter and extremely heavy.

  "Lift it above your head," Darius instructed. "But do not look inside."

  Kael obeyed.

  The box weighed 80 kilograms. His arms trembled as he held it overhead.

  "Relax," Darius said. "Meditate."

  Kael closed his eyes.

  At first, he saw only darkness.

  Then Darius spoke again.

  "Until now, you have only stared into the dark behind your eyelids. But today, you will see. You must place your body under continuous strain while receiving energy through meditation. This will increase your capacity—and allow you to visualize your power."

  The weight began to feel lighter.

  "Right now," Darius continued, "it should feel like a feather. That is the influx of power restoring your muscles."

  Then his tone shifted.

  "But now, it will grow heavier."

  He began pouring water into the box.

  Three liters per minute.

  Three kilograms added every minute.

  Ten minutes passed.

  Kael's vision changed.

  The darkness stared back.

  He saw his own eyes—filled with despair. They looked as though they wanted to cry, but they were made of rocky metal.

  Each second, they became clearer.

  More real.

  His skin turned red. Blood surged through his veins. He was completely immersed in the vision.

  Another ten minutes passed.

  Kael was now holding 140 kilograms above his head.

  His muscles trembled violently.

  "What kind of monster lasts this long?" Darius muttered. "Mine took only twelve minutes…"

  He poured another large jug of water.

  The box began to tremble.

  Inside, the water started to solidify.

  Kael felt an unbearable pain surge through his arms. Heat radiated downward. The metal burned.

  He dropped the box to the ground.

  It hit with a violent impact.

  A hissing sound filled the air as the box turned red-hot and emitted a blinding glow.

  Darius stared in shock.

  "You lasted twenty-one minutes," he said slowly. "I lasted eleven. My box only became hot. Yours… is glowing."

  He created a small spinning shuriken and placed it over the box to draw the heat away. Air rushed upward as the blade rotated faster, cooling the metal.

  The surroundings became noticeably hotter.

  Finally, they opened the box.

  Inside floated a massive eye—arm-sized, shaped like an almond, made of rock with a metallic sheen.

  Kael felt an immediate, piercing connection to it.

  "This," Darius said, "is the physical manifestation of your power. A treasure of immense strength. It can be used until its energy runs out. Eventually, you will surpass it—but for now, it measures your potential."

  The eye suddenly drifted toward Kael.

  Instinctively, he grabbed it and threw it upward.

  It stopped midair, one meter above him.

  Then it shattered into six smaller pieces.

  Each piece became a fist-sized eye. They formed a circle around him and began rotating.

  Faster.

  Faster.

  Until they blurred.

  The air around Kael stirred violently.

  Darius's expression shifted from excitement to shock.

  "Stand still," he said.

  From his five fingers, five tiny shurikens formed—coin-sized, dense, compacted with the force of a five-kilogram weight.

  They moved slowly toward Kael.

  When they reached one meter away—

  They vanished.

  A metallic clang echoed.

  Kael barely reacted.

  But Darius froze, he started mumbling something.

  "Fifty rotations per second… one hundred kilograms of force each… autonomous tracking…it prduced 5 Megajoules, if you multiply by six that is 1,2 units…even though this should just be a fraction of the power, the secondary and tertiary function are exponentially stronger"

  He looked at Kael in disbelief.

  "They intercepted my blades… and redirected them."

  As he said this, pieces of Darius's robe fell apart.

  For the first time, Kael clearly saw his master's body.

  Massive.

  Scarred.

  But—

  One arm was missing.

  And his lower torso looked partially collapsed, as if crushed long ago.

  Kael stared silently.

  Only one question formed in his mind.

  What could possibly have happened to his master?