When he morphed his hand into a three-taloned claw exactly as the inscription detailed, the young boy felt a deep sense of shame at his own appearance. He could not even fathom inflicting any actual damage upon the surrounding training dummies with it, but the pent-up energy surging within him urged him to attempt the feat.
Mel slowly began executing the instructions. The moment he regulated his breathing, he felt the energy that had been evenly distributed throughout his body steadily converge toward his right hand.
It felt natural. The energy circulated serenely through his form, as though it had been flowing through his veins since the day he drew his first breath.
When the sheer volume of energy in his hand began to test his limits, he lashed out like a wild beast swiping its claws. His target was the most fragile-looking wooden dummy. He was so overcome with trepidation that he squeezed his eyes shut, barely managing to strike his mark.
"I did it!"
As the wooden dummy's severed arm slammed against the wall, Mel—who had just attacked something for the very first time in his life—shouted in elation. Having taken his first step upon the path of a warrior, the frail boy had no intention of leaving this sanctuary until he had forged his confidence. For two entire days, he relentlessly assaulted the dummies.
"I'm getting better every minute, but these dummies just stand there waiting for me to hit them. If I stay locked up in here forever, how am I supposed to defend myself against the beasts outside?"
With that question weighing heavily upon his mind, he waded back into the stream flowing through the heart of the cave. Even though it would not replenish his spent energy, this was the perfect sanctuary to cleanse the weariness pooling within his body.
In the meantime, the little boy attempted to draw energy from the flora, but he proceeded with caution this time. The moment he realized the plants were not submitting to him of their own volition, he did not force the issue, opting instead to bide his time.
"I guess they need time to gather enough energy first, otherwise I'd end up draining their life force completely!"
Caught between the thoughts flooding his mind and the wave of relaxation washing over his form, he drifted into slumber. His frail body resembled a leaf floating upon the surface of the stream; had he not anchored himself to the soil with his spindly arms, he would have undoubtedly been swept away by the current.
When he opened his eyes, the exhaustion from two days of arduous training had vanished. His mind was at peace, his thoughts clearer than they had ever been.
"In the letter he left behind, Grandpa talked about the Energy Palace inside me. I really want to see what kind of place it is, but I have to go back to the ritual altar for that."
The legacy he inherited had first elevated Mel's state of consciousness. The aura of the little boy, who had been stumbling about in bewilderment just a few days ago, had undergone a profound transformation.
When he dried off and dressed, he donned a green robe. Cinched tightly at the waist with a belt, this attire made Mel appear as a true prince of a royal bloodline.
Sitting calmly upon the ritual altar, the scrawny boy had no choice but to passively observe the thoughts racing through his mind for a time. It took him a considerable while to calm his spirit and enter a deep trance.
Fortunately, he was no longer the Mel of the past. Even if he had not fully absorbed his grandfather's power, the energy he had attained from the ritual rendered him as proficient at this as a full-grown adult.
After a while, when he finally crossed into a deep trance, he found himself standing at the very center of a ruined landscape. The sight of crumbled walls and decimated arches left him astounded.
"What is this?"
Clearly, this was not how he had envisioned his Energy Palace; especially after hearing the word "palace," his expectations had reached the heavens.
"What was I even expecting? I haven't even claimed half of Grandpa's legacy yet, so how could a majestic palace just pop up inside me?"
Turning around and noticing that a few sections of the outer walls enclosing the palace still stood tall and sturdy, he realized his deduction was correct. This place truly was his Energy Palace, and in its current state, he could only sustain a few meters of the outer wall.
"Judging by all this rubble, my Energy Palace is going to look amazing once it's finished. I have everything I need right in the palm of my hand; all I have to do is get stronger and rebuild this place from the ground up!"
When he emerged from his trance, his spirits were high, despite facing the exact opposite of his expectations. He harbored a colossal structure within him, and as long as he dedicated himself to cultivation, the possibilities seemed truly boundless.
"I wonder what my Energy Palace will look like when it's totally finished?"
Brimming with the unbridled excitement of a child who had discovered a hidden treasure, Mel dashed back to the training hall where the dummies stood.
This time, he relied solely upon the inherited power surging through his body. Without discriminating between metal or wood, every single dummy became a target for the little boy.
"If I use up all my power, will my Energy Palace collapse?"
This question gnawed at his mind, and he knew he would not find peace until he uncovered the answer. The very moment his energy was depleted, he found himself back at the ritual altar.
Opening his eyes amidst the ruins once more, he exhaled a heavy sigh of relief. The walls, sustained strictly by his own personal energies, still stood strong exactly where he had left them.
If a section of his palace were to crumble every time he exhausted his energy, it would have been a catastrophic flaw. Now, he was left with only one obstacle: discovering the method to assimilate his predecessors' energies into his own.
"Now is the time to explore yourself and your surroundings. Go forth and live!"
In that moment, his grandfather's words echoed in his mind. Even though it sounded like a mere wish, Mel felt in his very soul that this was the truest path for him.
Dragging his battered body over to the flowing stream, he resolved that he needed to establish a regimen. If he simply spent his days secluded within this cave, he would never learn a single truth about the outside world.
Once he had recovered his vigor, he decided his first task would be scouting the area surrounding the cave. Donning the old garments he had always worn back in the village, he soon arrived at the mouth of the cave. The moment he stepped outside, it did not feel like a mere step; it felt as though he were crossing into an entirely different realm.
Turning around in a sudden panic, he saw a tall hill exactly where the cave's entrance used to be; there was not a single trace of the sanctuary he had just exited.
The frail boy desperately wished to turn back, a simple matter since he had taken but a single step. A moment later, squeezing his eyes shut and stepping onto the rocky wall directly in front of him, he suddenly found himself back inside the cave entrance.
"I get it now. Grandpa must have set this up to keep uninvited guests away!"
With his heart set at ease, the frail boy stepped back outside. Knowing he could comfortably focus on exploring, he gladly observed the dense forest that began just beyond the small clearing before him.
"Today's my first time seeing a place outside the village. Just like Grandpa warned, I shouldn't go too far!"
Muttering to himself, Mel ventured into the forest. The sun beat down fiercely from the sky, but thanks to the thick canopy of the towering trees blocking out the light, it was remarkably cool within the woods.
Shivering as the cold air brushed against his warm skin, goosebumps rippled across the little boy's flesh. Since he had not fully explored the ring his grandfather had left behind, he had simply donned his old garments, and they did not seem suited for this kind of environment in the slightest.