Morning passed like a minute as Alex balanced on a tree, doing handstand push-ups. If he wanted to improve his body fast, consistency was key. And for that, he needed a peaceful place—far from his screeching sister and the noisy villagers.
The village he lived in, along with his sister, was called Wrenholt. Small, quiet, but surprisingly busy—merchants came from miles around to trade rice and goods, because the village took care of its produce better than most.
"That woman…" Alex grunted, pushing himself up with one hand.
How could a sister beat her brother on his first day awake, when he practically came back from the dead after being turned into deep-fried chicken?
He shook his head, trying to focus.
And yet… despite the frustration, despite the chaos, Alex couldn't hide the feeling stirring inside him. Was this what family felt like? Or what having a family felt like? He didn't know.
One thing was clear—he couldn't reject it, even if he wanted to.
After pushing himself past every limit—100 handstand push-ups, one-handed push-ups, and every other grueling exercise he could think of—Alex finally dropped to the ground, sweat dripping from his brow. His body screamed, but he welcomed it.
It wasn't just the outside that needed work. Now it was time to strengthen the inside. Time to train his mana.
He inhaled sharply, then exhaled, feeling the rhythm of his body sync with his mind.
My mana is tied to my body, he thought. The stronger my muscles, the more mana I can handle. If I want my magic to grow, I can't just sit here. I have to push my body past its limits, over and over, and force my mana to follow.
Repeating, refining, overworking—he knew this was the only way. Strengthen the body, train the flow, expand the magic. The cycle was simple, brutal, and unavoidable.
After overdoing it for a whole hour, Alex finally stopped.
"Haaa… haa… haha…"
"This is harder than I thought… but damn, getting stronger feels good," he muttered, a grin spreading across his face.
"Gravity Field, dispel," he said, and the spell shattered from his body like cracking glass. Gravity Field—doubling your body weight—was not something you used lightly. Painful? Hell yes. Effective? Absolutely.
Then a voice rang out, slicing through the quiet. Three kids appeared in front of him.
"Hey, Alex!" one sneered. "So… getting zapped by lightning—feels good, huh? How's it taste?"
"Why?" Alex replied deadpan, eyes narrowing. "You want to try it too?"
"Woah… did he just grow a backbone?" whispered one kid to the other.
"Boss," another said, "this guy needs a lesson. He needs to be knocked back in line."
"Yeah, he can't fight back anyway," the leader added, smirking.
Alex's gaze swept over them sharply. Memories stabbed his mind like lightning.
To the left—Gain. Tall, brown-haired, and smug enough to make a cat hunch in fear. He carried himself like height alone gave him the right to boss the world. Probably thinks he can punch someone into next week just because his legs reach further than most.
To the right—Dannylle. Fat, sluggish, but blessed with earth magic. Son of a merchant. The kind of brat who assumes wealth automatically makes you untouchable. His confidence was as bloated as his belly, and Alex could smell the entitlement like it was perfume.
And then there was the leader, Krai. His Father owned half the rice fields in Wrenholt. Crossing him wouldn't just get you a beating; it would cost you your future. Krai didn't even try to hide the arrogance in his grin—like the world owed him respect because of the size of his inheritance.
"Is that so," Alex muttered under his breath.
Even so, he didn't want to waste his energy on a kid's quarrel. Fighting children is beneath him, and that's the last thing he'd do… normally.
But Krai leaned closer to his friends, grinning like a spoiled brat.
"Your sister, right?" he said, voice dripping with malice.
What about my sister? Alex glared.
"My father and his men are going to give her… a 'pleasant surprise.' Make sure she knows her place." He added with a disgusting laugh. "My dad always said… that little butt of hers is… inspiring."
"Huh?"
Alex couldn't believe that such words were pouring out of a kid who didn't even know how the world works yet. The worst of all was saying those words about the one person Alex cared about most.
Should I just kill them? Alex thought. He couldn't think rationally. Ruthless, merciless thoughts ran through his mind—even skinning them alive wouldn't feel like enough.
Normally, he wouldn't be like this. It had only been a day since he met Jein, but in that short time, he had felt what it was like to be cared for, to be argued with by someone close, to feel family.
Insulting him was fine; he could bear it. Bullying him was okay too; he could withstand half-baked, sissy punches. But disrespecting his sister—the one who treated him so carefully—that was crossing the line.
"Maybe right now my dad and his men are pleasuring themselves on your sis—"
Alex's hands shot out and grabbed Krai's jaw in an instant, leaving only a gust of wind where he had been standing.
Before the two kids could even register what had happened, they were slammed flat to the ground by an enormous force, like the air around them had suddenly grown thick and heavy, pressing down on them from all directions.
Alex's eyes locked onto Krai, murderous intent burning in every glance. Krai tried to utter words, but his mouth wouldn't form them, his voice caught somewhere between thought and reality, impossible to understand.
"Having bestowed blessings on a kid like you… is a waste," Alex said, pulling Krai's face closer, his glare sharp, unrelenting, bloodlust radiating off him in waves. "That blessing you're so proud of… I'll erase it. I'll make you wish you were dead."
And then it began.
Krai's body convulsed violently. Veins popped and twisted across his face, his skin flushed red, and his eyes rolled white. Muscles spasmed uncontrollably, jerking as if his entire body had been set on fire from the inside.
It was Alex. He poured his mana into Krai's body, striking his pathways directly and destroying them, leaving him unable to channel his own power and forcing his body to convulse in unbearable pain.
So even when this was over, even after Alex had stopped, Krai would never be able to gather mana and flow it through his body properly again. Any attempt would be instantly rejected, forcing every muscle and fiber into violent convulsions, making him feel as though he were being hugged by a thousand thorns, piercing him from the inside, burning, twisting, unrelenting. A memory he would never escape, one that would haunt him every time he tried to summon spells.
"Next is you two," Alex muttered, glaring at Dannylle like he just smelled something rotten.
"What the fuck did you just say? You wanna beat me up?" Alex barked, grabbing Dannylle by the hair and hoisting him off the ground like a ragdoll.
"Forgive me…!" Dannylle squeaked, eyes wide like he just realized he picked the wrong day to be a dick. He was three times Alex's weight, but apparently lifting screaming children was Alex's new hobby. One wrong word, one tiny squeak out of place, and—well… Dannylle's imagination was about to meet reality.
"You know," Alex said, "you had fucking talent. Too bad your personality is rotten. Truly, a masterpiece of failure."
His fist shot into Dannylle's stomach. Brutal. Efficient. Painfully educational.
---
The three kids lay there, crying silently, broken, scattered far enough from the village that not even a nosy neighbor could save their sorry asses.
"Be fucking grateful I'm stopping here," Alex said, wiping his hands off like he'd just cleaned a table. "If I wanted to, I'd tear you apart limb by fucking limb. But hey… let's not get greedy."
Then he bolted toward their small house like a tornado with attitude.
"SISTER!!!!" Alex roared, slamming the door open.
Silence. Not even a cat dared to meow.
"Alexxx!!" an elderly woman screeched, sprinting toward him like her life depended on it.
"What the fuck do you want, old hag?!" Alex snapped.
"Old hag!!??" the woman gasped, shaking her head, worry carved into every wrinkle. "Your sister… did she… piss someone off? Krai's father and his men… they took her. And I think… I might be seeing things… but they might've taken the mayor's daughter too."
"Shittt!!!" Alex yelled, teeth gritted, sprinting like his life—or more importantly, his sister—depended on it.
"If… if I'm too late, you all better pray," he thought, every muscle taut, every nerve screaming. "Because when I'm done… I won't be fucking gentle."
"The old hag said they dragged her toward the forest."
Tsk.
Alex clicked his tongue, annoyance and rage mixing into something sharp and ugly.
Without wasting another second, mana flooded out of him and wrapped around his entire body like a second skin. Muscles tightened. Bones felt lighter. His heartbeat steadied—not calm, but focused.
The enhancement kicked in.
The ground cracked beneath his feet as he sprinted forward, his speed exploding far beyond what it was before. Trees blurred past him. Wind screamed against his ears. At this point, he wasn't running through the forest—
He was tearing through it.
Elsewhere.
"Kekeke… look at that body," one man snickered, eyes crawling over Jein's unconscious form as she lay tied on the ground.
"She really put up a fight," another replied, rubbing his bruised arm. "Crazy bitch nearly broke my wrist."
"I like women with fire," a third man sneered. "Makes it more fun when they scream."
"Enough."
A single word shut them all up.
Stop. A guy walked past them, the way he radiated his aura made it clear—he was the second-in-command of Krai's father and a personal bodyguard, and no one in that clearing dared mess with him.
"Yes, Captain Bergius!" all the men shouted actively, snapping straight like they'd been pulled on strings.
"Guard these women while the boss prepares himself," Bergius said, grabbing a cigarette and lighting it. "I'll just smoke for a bit." And with that, he walked away into the forest, completely calm, as if nothing could touch him.
"Who is that?" one man whispered, clearly a newbie.
"Oii, you don't know our captain?" another man replied with a smirk. "He's one of the knights that serve the Obsidian Kingdom. Not just any knight—he serves under high command, the ones assigned to guard the king himself."
"Wait… you mean the two monsters that serve as the right and left swords of the king? Those two… beauties!?" the newbie replied, eyes wide.
The other man nodded slowly. "Hmm, that's right. So you better not get on his bad side, or he'll cleave you in two before you even realize it."
"I-I won't, sirrr!!!" the newbie shouted, snapping straight like his spine had turned to iron.
With all that ruckus, a man stepped out of the tent—it was Krai's father, Rykard Westfall.
"Sir… what about the mayor's daughter?" one man asked nervously.
"What? You're not a fan of… doing it on kids?" Rykard grinned, clearly amused by the awkward silence.
"What?" the man replied, blinking, clearly not ready for Rykard's response.
"And Bergius?" Rykard asked, lighting a cigarette.
"He just went for a smoke, sir!" one man replied.
"Is that so? Guess he can't contain himself either," Rykard chuckled. "Don't be scared of the mayor's bodyguards, men. I don't even think they could handle us. How could they ever handle Bergius?"
"T-That's right, sir," one man stammered.
"So, let's just enjoy ourselves today, eii!" Rykard said, hyping the men, his grin growing wider.
Then he walked toward the unconscious Jein.
"Now then," Rykard said as he slowly began unbuttoning her shirt, "shall we get started?"