Same Day — Year 110 of the Mortal Calendar
"What a shitty town this is…"
A man in peculiar, dark clothing lazily stepped around the pile of rubble that had formed from the gate being forcibly flung open. The man was wearing a dark vest and had multiple knives strapped to his waist.
Even just judging by his strength, it was clear he was not a local.
The gate was six inches thick and made of solid steel. When the examiner arrived, it was true that he had managed to open the gate himself as well, but it must be noted that he had strained himself a fairly decent amount doing so.
This new man had flung the gate completely open like it was nothing, to the point that there was a dent in the gate where the man's fist had made contact with it.
The examiner's eyes widened with shock as he laid eyes on the dark-clothed man.
"A high-tier mortal…" he whimpered to himself.
As a mid-tier mortal, he had extremely keen instincts. Even though he was only an examiner now, he was once a soldier in his younger days. He had been through a fair amount of battles himself, and he knew when someone was significantly stronger than him.
Even so, he knew that he was a representative of the Capital and therefore could not let his authority slip.
The examiner quickly regained his composure and stood up. He faced the dark-clothed man and addressed him.
"You there—what are you doing in this town? And how dare you barge in like that? Don't you know that I am here on official business from the Capital? Did the Capital send you here as well? Look at me when I'm speaking to you!"
The dark-clothed man ignored him and continued casually strutting toward the center of the village, observing both its contents and its inhabitants.
"I guess this shitty town isn't too bad… You have some cute girls here, at least…"
The examiner furrowed his brow in anger at being ignored.
"Now you listen he—"
Before he could even finish his sentence, blood was spraying from his neck like a fountain, and he dropped to the ground.
Lifeless.
The dark-clothed man was also suddenly standing beside him.
"It's always the weakest dog that has the loudest bark… So annoying," the dark-clothed man exclaimed as he sighed.
He took a deep breath and commanded in a seemingly bored tone:
"Now that the dog has been put down, I want you all to gather your ten most beautiful women, as well as whatever you have in the village coffer. I don't expect it to be a lot, but I imagine it would at least be enough to entertain me for a few hours."
The villagers stirred uneasily, most of them still frozen in fear.
"…And if you don't do it, naturally, I'll kill every last one of you."
The villagers' instincts took over upon being threatened. They came out of their shock and began looking around for the beautiful women among them…
Even the drillmaster and the soldiers in the village militia stood in their places, paralyzed with fear.
They were no fools. They knew if they got in the way of this man, they would only die a meaningless death.
The drillmaster gritted his teeth in frustration.
"Stand down, men…" he commanded.
The drillmaster just so happened to also be the leader of the village militia.
He knew that neither he nor his men would be of any use against the dark-clothed man. He also knew that none of his men wanted to die, but they would heed any command he gave them with absolute loyalty, even if it meant their deaths.
They were a simple village, not an army.
He gave the command to stand down so that none of his men would have to live with the shame of not fulfilling their duties and so they could return to their families. Instead, by commanding them to stand down, he himself shouldered all of the blame for whatever was to happen afterward…
He was a good leader and a good man.
"Well, you guys are certainly much more cooperative than the last village… I had already rolled a few heads by the time they started cooperating," chuckled the dark-clothed man.
The man grinned as he spoke in a chilling tone.
His eyes shifted around the group of villagers as he singled out one of them.
"You, with the blonde hair. Come. You'll keep me busy while I wait."
He pointed.
The three brothers' eyes widened in fear as they realized who he was pointing at.
It was their mother.
The crowd shifted uneasily. The three brothers' mother was a widely respected figure in the village. Everyone knew her name, and she was known for always putting the needs of others above her own.
They all knew what fate awaited her, and it saddened them deeply. Even so, nobody was willing to step up in the face of absolute power.
This was simply the true nature of this world.
The mother lifted her head and began walking forward with a stoic look on her face.
"Very nice, very nice… You're quite beautiful for your age, so you will do for a little whi—"
Before he could finish his sentence, the boys' mother pulled back her arm and slapped the dark-clothed man across his face.
The sound of the slap resounded across the whole village.
"You evil, disgusting pig of a man!" exclaimed the boys' mother.
The dark-clothed man remained straight-faced, as if he could not comprehend what had just happened.
Slowly, his expression morphed into rage.
She continued.
"You dare come into our village, murder the examiner, and have the audacity to make demands? The Capital will send an emissary to hunt you down and kill you after we report this to them. You'll never get awa—"
The dark-clothed man grabbed her by the neck and lifted her high into the air as she gasped for breath.
"You have some balls on you, for a woman… You truly surprised me there. I guess the people of this shitty village can be fairly interesting after all. I've changed my mind. I think I'll have fun with only you…"
The man threw her to the ground, got on top of her, and began mercilessly beating her.
Her face, her stomach, her arms, her thighs…
No part of her body was spared.
It was obvious that the man had adjusted his strength to that of a low-tier mortal, or else even one casual snap of his finger would have been enough to snap her in two.
Even with his strength reined in, every blow broke multiple bones in her body.
The boys' mother knew this was what would happen.
She was always the type who would put the needs of others above her own. In this case, she could not bear to see ten young women be brutally ravaged by this man as he had initially requested, so she chose to use herself as a sacrifice to save them.
She herself was moderately capable. She was still only a low-tier mortal, but her strength was only slightly below that of the drillmaster's. As a result, she assumed that whatever beating the man gave her, as long as he reined in his true strength, she would be able to survive.
She had, however, underestimated just how brutal this man truly was.
As he continued to beat her, his eyes became more and more maniacal. This was something he enjoyed doing, and with each blow he increased his strength ever so slightly.
He was slowly approaching the strength of a mid-tier mortal, which would easily kill her.
"Mom!" screamed Dylan, tears streaming down his face.
Matt and Robert watched on with rage quickly welling up inside of them as they both drew their swords.
Before they could make another move, an older man put his hand on their shoulders.
Their father.
He pushed them aside and walked forward, smiling at the boys.
"Sorry, boys. Looks like I'll be going along with your mother."
He knew his wife better than anybody. They had been married for almost 15 years now, and he knew exactly why she had stepped forward.
The boys' father was a quiet, reserved man. He was never quick to anger, but was also no pushover. He knew discipline very well, and he instilled the concept of respect in his children.
That being said, like the boys' mother, their father was also not one to stand idly by while others were being mistreated.
He would never stand by in front of his children as their mother—his wife—was being beaten.
Even if it meant an obvious death.
He was a righteous man.
Their father picked up a random piece of rock and chucked it at the dark-clothed man, hitting him square on the cheek.
The boys' father laughed out loud.
"Pathetic—picking on a low-tier mortal, AND a woman, at that?" chuckled the father.
"You… another one…" squealed the dark-clothed man through gritted teeth.
He was truly enraged now.
He was used to barging into villages and using fear to make people submit. Sometimes there were those who protested, but he quickly dealt with them, and the rest would usually follow along.
He was not used to people like this, which made his rage even more intense.
"I'M GOING TO SKIN YOU BOTH LIKE THE PIGS YOU ARE!" he roared as his rage reached its peak.
The man raised his strength back up to that of a high-tier mortal.
As the man freely let his true strength run rampant, the air in the village seemed to get a lot denser, which made it difficult for the ordinary villagers to breathe as they sank to their knees.
Only those with training were able to remain standing.
"You rats are going to die the most painful death imaginable!"
The man grabbed the boys' father by the neck, accidentally snapping it instantaneously.
"Tch… Used a bit too much strength. Since I'm still new to this realm, I'm not very good at controlling my strength without suppressing it," exclaimed the man with annoyance.
The boys' father's lifeless body slumped onto the ground, still with a smile on his face.
"NO!" wailed all three of the brothers in unison.
Their mother lay on the ground, battered and beaten. She was unable to move, but she had observed out of the corner of her eye her husband trying to come to her rescue.
Tears welled around her eyes.
She knew how this would end, and she was going to miss her children and her beloved husband.
Suddenly, a burst of energy erupted into the sky, which made even those still standing sink to their knees.
It was coming from Robert.
A brilliant ray of golden light surrounded his body and violently pulsed up through the clouds. The light continued beyond the clouds, through the sky, seemingly reaching endlessly into the stars…
Robert's eyes were pure white, with tears flowing down them. His skin began to burn black from the energy being emitted as his skin crackled and his bones creaked.
Matt and Dylan looked on in horror.
They were not sure what was happening, but it seemed like Robert was in intense pain.
"We have to do something!" yelled Matt.
They both instinctively reached into the light to grab Robert and pull him out, but once they did, they found that they were unable to pull their arms back out.
Their skin, too, began to burn as their blood boiled and their bones crunched.
But they felt no pain.
Instead, they felt an increasing warmth flow throughout their bodies.
It was a mild comfort, almost as if what was happening was completely natural and had belonged to their bodies all along.
After what felt like an eternity, the light stopped and the boys sank to the ground.
Their bodies steamed from the ordeal they had just gone through.
To them, it felt as if they had been cloaked in that warm, golden light for hours.
In reality, it had only been mere seconds.
The boys stood up, their skin glowing with a golden sheen.
To the villagers looking on, it seemed as if the boys were suddenly wearing majestic golden armor.
"Final… tier…" gasped the drillmaster.
The drillmaster was an experienced man. Although he himself was only at the pinnacle of low-tier and came from a remote village such as Hemp, he had taken a few trips throughout his life to the Capital.
Even though there were only two or three final-tier mortals even in the Capital, he had heard rumors that once one achieved this realm, their skin would develop into an armor that was harder than steel and would emit a golden glow.
Instinctively, he knew this was what he was now observing.
"Final tier? Ridiculous! That realm is just a myth…" exclaimed the dark-clothed man.
He had heard the drillmaster's comment, but he himself had never actually been to the Capital, nor had he ever heard of the rumor.
He was an arrogant man who thought that he was one of the strongest on Earth, and therefore he didn't believe that final-tier, or beyond, even existed.
He was a big fish who knew nothing of life beyond his extremely small pond.
The man formed an amalgamation of his energy in his hands and thrust it toward the boys at a speed faster than one could blink.
The energy ball made contact with Brother Matt and instantly evaporated, as if it were a droplet of water coming into contact with a hot stove.
"Wh-what… Impossible…"
The dark-clothed man's face shifted in fear.
He threw multiple energy balls again, one after the other.
Each one made contact with one of the brothers and evaporated into nothing.
It was as if they were absorbing the energy effortlessly.
"This is… This…" he panted.
He knew what he was seeing was real.
Although he was arrogant, he was no fool.
He knew he had found someone stronger than him.
His survival instincts kicked in, and he immediately turned around and fled, pushing his strength to the limit to run as fast as he could.
He quickly covered hundreds of yards in a matter of seconds.
He was safe.
But the brothers were no fools either.
Although this strength was new to them, it felt extremely natural, as if they had possessed it their entire lives.
It is rumored that a final-tier mortal will instantly master all of the techniques associated with the Mortal Realm, having reached the peak of mortal existence.
The boys stepped outside of the village, looking in the direction the man had fled.
Without saying a word and without moving from his current spot, Robert reached his hand out and grasped the air in front of him.
It was as if the very fabric of space was being torn apart.
Small bolts of lightning pierced the stretch of air that he had grasped, and suddenly the dark-clothed man felt a hand around his neck, pulling him backward at a speed that seemed to be faster than light.
His neck broke in place just from the force at which he was being pulled.
Fortunately for him, high-tier mortals could survive injuries such as that. Generally, as long as their heart was still beating or their head was still mounted, they would live.
Robert threw the man onto the ground in front of them.
The man lay shivering in fear before the three brothers.
The brothers looked down at the man.
There was no rage or anger displayed in their eyes. Their faces remained silent.
Regardless, they would not let the man live.
Although their eyes showed solace, there was still anger in their hearts.
Even with their newfound power, they were still only teenagers, having just witnessed the death of their father and the merciless ravaging of their mother.
Dylan bent down and placed his hand on the man's face.
"NO! PLEASE, NO! I'LL DO ANYTHING, PLEASE! NOO—"
…
The man cried out in horror as his skin slowly disintegrated into dust, eventually leaving nothing.
The whole process must have taken at least 15 minutes.
It was obviously an extremely painful death.
An ironic way for the brutal man to have met his end.
…
The boys looked at each other with sadness in their eyes.
It was as if they had been reborn.
It was as if they were starting a new life at this very moment, but this sad realization also meant they would have to leave their old life behind.
The boys instinctively knew that they could not stay in the village any longer.
Confirming their suspicions, the villagers who had observed the entire interaction backed away slowly in horror.
This was a village where even a mid-tier mortal was a god-like being.
For them to witness the birth of three final-tier mortals and the power that they possessed was simply too much for them.
It was as if they had seen an existence above even that of the Gods, which made them deathly afraid.
The boys rushed to their mother, who was lying motionless on the ground.
The drillmaster was kneeling next to her.
"She's gone…" he whispered.
The boys all nodded with this realization.
Tears poured down their faces.
The drillmaster stared intently at the boys, who were still glowing gold.
"I've trained you boys since you were little, and I consider you, just like the rest of the village, to be my own children. I would protect you all with my life if I could… but it seems you no longer need my protection or training.
"In this endlessly vast world, there are many cities with final-tier mortals, and likely even those who have attained much higher, legendary realms…" whispered the drillmaster.
"You must go… The people in this village don't understand. In this world, strength reigns supreme, and people are afraid of that supreme strength.
"No matter how just or righteous you are, people will always be afraid of what you're capable of, even if you have no intention of acting on your capabilities.
"You boys must find your own path now.
"The world is large, vast beyond measure… Turn your own stones and live your lives together.
"For even if, one day, you find yourselves with the entire world against you…
"Remember that you will always be three brothers."
And with that, the boys left the village of Hemp and never returned.
And so began the legend of the Brothers Three.
PROLOGUE END