A long time ago… There was a small village. Name long forgotten for it had happened far too long.
A boy lived there, walking by the creek, living his life. His father and mother worked on the farm.
"Arthur, don't go too far. I am making your favorite food today." His mother smiled at him.
"Okay, mom." Arthur kept on walking as the neighbors greeted him.
"Look at you, looking so handsome and bright. Take this sweet potato with you."
Arthur smiled sweetly. "Thanks, auntie."
"Oh my." The auntie put her hand on her chest due to how adorable he was. "Be safe and listen to your mother, okay."
"Okay, auntie." Arthur made his way to the grassland where he usually played. But then he saw something.
A large group of men marched, thumping the earth, and they broke into a jog before they screamed and dashed.
"Destroy the village! Leave no one alive!"
Arthur panicked and ran home only to see a man stabbing a sword through his mother's heart.
Arthur closed his mouth and hid in the closet. A small hole let him see his mother falling to the floor alongside his father. Blood pooled under them.
His mother weakly looked at him and smiled. Tears fell from his eyes. He closed them. It was all a dream. A dream. Just a dream. A bad dream. A terrible dream because he was a naughty boy.
'I will wake up. Wake up with mother still cooking in the kitchen and dad lifting a basket of wheat on his back.'
And he did wake up.
The door of the closet opened, and a bright light came to his eyes. He squinted and that was when he met an angel. With beautiful green eyes and graceful golden hair, she smiled and patted his head.
"Can you tell me your name?" the beautiful lady asked.
"A—Arthur."
"Nice to meet you, Arthur. My name is Mira."
…
Aldred looked at the swarm of monsters that came from the distance. He flicked his fingers, and a thin arc of water shot forward, cutting all the monsters it passed through.
Aldred raised his hand and clenched as a sword made out of water materialized. The water spun like a chainsaw at a high speed to help with the cutting. The boy smiled and rushed at the monsters. When the water sword touched the skin of the creatures, it spurted out blood before completely cutting off its neck.
Aldred flicked his fingers again, sending a bunch of water arcs, cutting the monsters to pieces.
Aldred kept using this ability, so much so that it leveled up by itself without him using the skill points.
[Water Razor: Lv. 2]
When he flicked his fingers, two arcs of water cut the monsters. So instead of one arc, it now released two arcs of water at once.
"This is awesome," Aldred said.
As Aldred killed monsters with his new spell, he was oblivious to the fact that what he did was simply amazing. Mira and Sophia were staring at him in shock. How could he learn a spell so easily? Mira knew Aldred was talented and could learn so fast, but this was too much.
Maverick who was in the know of how magicians worked was looking at him with mouth wide agape. Calling the boy talented and a prodigy was an understatement. The boy was a literal child of a god right now. How could one person be blessed by such incredible talent?
They continued to walk. The wall was to their left, and monsters kept swarming down with Aldred slashing them non stop.
At first, Maverick thought it was normal, but hours later, Aldred was still cutting down monsters with his magic.
"Just how vast is his mana capacity? Does he have a limit in the first place?"
Eventually, they reached a wide platform with the ground covered in thick snow. Aldred combusted the place with flames to shoo the cold away. At the west side of the platform, a pair of tall statues stood with both hands on the handle of a sword that stabbed to the ground.
Like a pair of knights waiting for something.
"The fact that there is a statute here means that someone lives here," Aldred said.
"There's also that village and their villagers," Bartrem said.
"They're not people."
Unexpectedly, Bartrem simply nodded instead of acting shocked. "It's no surprise. I don't think people can live in this place. These statues are probably made to mark that they had climbed this far."
"It could be." Aldred approached the pair of statues. He felt his hands around the smooth marble. It was beautifully made with intricate details.
The sword seemed to be made out of real steel as it gleamed under the light of the three moons. Between the statues, there was a cylinder shaped rock protruding out of the ground. On that rock was a golden key.
Suddenly, the dices in their hand opened a keyhole.
Everyone understood what they must do at that point.
Aldred approached the cylinder-shaped stand and was about to take the key before both statues rotated their heads to look at him.
Aldred and the others were shocked.
"Uhh…"
Aldred pulled his hand back, and the statues moved their heads to look forward. He then reached out his hand again, and the statue immediately looked at him.
He repeated this a bunch of times while the neck of the statues made a creaking sound.
"Aldred, stop playing," Mareona scolded."
Aldred smiled and stopped. He looked at the statues. Clearly, they had to defeat both of them to take the key. He checked their status, but nothing appeared. Maybe it was because they were made out of rocks. Using his godly eyes, Aldred could tell there was some sort of mysterious energy within the statues.
He wondered if he could win against them.
A lot of people started appearing from behind. It seemed they had solved the riddle and quickly climbed up here. But there was someone that Aldred had never seen before. A handsome tall man with magical clothes followed by a dozen powerful retinue. The other people gave way and slightly bent their heads when he passed.
The people whispered under their breath, wondering who the man was.
"Who is that?"
"Hmmm. I don't blame you for not knowing. He's the eldest son of a count from Thignia."
"So he's a vampire?"
"Not just any vampire. But a powerful one. Some say he can control the blood of his enemy, killing them from the inside."
"What a terrible power."
"What's his name?"
"I think it was Byron Hajheletmik."
"Bro, you know a lot."
"Of course, how else could I info dump it to you."
The man who they talked about walked with confidence and an overbearing aura. He looked around like he owned the place and everyone there was his servant.
"Get out of the way," he said arrogantly to Aldred.
But shockingly, Aldred and the others did not budge.
Byron frowned. "Men, kill them all," he said without the slightest hesitation like he was used to this.
"Byron." Maverick stepped ahead of Bartrem.
Byron raised an eyebrow before sneering in mockery. "Maverick? The man who got scared by his own brothers finally put on some courage?"
"Say that again and I will kill you."
Byron smiled, not caring about the threat. "I will gladly kill you for your brothers. And I heard you have a little sister as well. I am sure if I remove you, your brother will approve my wedding with your sister. Hahaha."
Maverick gritted his teeth in anger.
"Imagine, Maverick. Me and your sister in bed. I am going to have a lot of fun with her. I will impregnate her, and then kill her. Just for a good laugh. I am sure your brother won't mind that. Your father won't mind that as long as I gave him a son to unite both Chanterre and Hajheletmik."
Byron made a gesture of holding his sister's ass and then pushed his hip back and forth as he laughed.
"What a degenerate."
Everyone was silent and turned to the person who spoke that word. It was Aldred.
They stared at him in wonder. Although Aldred was powerful, both Maverick and Byron were the sons of a count. A count had numerous Diamond Rank under their armpits!
"Maybe the boy has a powerful background."
"There's no way. Maverick, the son of a count, acts so polite and nice to him without a background. Talent alone isn't enough."
"He might be the secret son of an Adamantite Rank, otherwise there is no way he is so powerful at an early age."
Everyone looked at Aldred in awe. The envy and jealousy in their heart disappeared as Aldred's back was too far to reach. Now, they admired him for his power, talent, and background.
"And who are you?" Byron stared at him.
