Kane entered the room before sunrise, his heavy footsteps shattering the morning's silence. He flung the door open so violently that the curtains trembled, then boomed in a loud voice:
—"Goooood morning!"
Lloyd leaped from his bed as if his heart had stopped, shouting back:
—"What's wrong with you, you madman? Have you finally lost it?!"
Kane smirked crookedly, his eyes glinting with mockery:
—"Don't worry about me… If I were you, I'd be worried about myself."
Lloyd faltered at the response, furrowing his brows and stammering:
—"W-what do you mean?"
Kane slowly approached, placing his hands behind his back, his tone shifting to seriousness:
—"Today, you'll face your first real test. Now that you understand the basics of Qi, it's time to master it. I'm sending you to a mid-tier forest. You'll stay there for four full days. And you won't return until you can land a single punch on me using Qi."
Lloyd's jaw dropped in disbelief. He replied with hollow confidence at first, then suddenly exclaimed:
—"Sure… I'll do it… Wait! Whaaaat? Are you joking?!"
But Kane's expression remained unmoved, his voice hardening like iron:
—"I never joke. If you want to avenge your parents, if you want to prove to the world you're not 'defective,' this training is the first step. If you truly desire change… this is where the path begins. So, will you give your all to achieve your goal?"
Lloyd fell silent for a moment. Images of his burned parents flickered before his eyes, and he recalled the whispers of people labeling him as inadequate. Then, he raised his head with resolve:
—"Yes. I'll do everything I can to make it happen."
A fleeting look of pride crossed Kane's face, quickly replaced by a mocking smile:
—"Good… You have ten minutes to get ready, shorty."
Lloyd yelled angrily, throwing the covers aside:
—"Damn you, old man!"
A low chuckle escaped Kane before he closed the door behind him. As for Lloyd, he realized that this time… it wasn't just ordinary training. It was the beginning of a trial that would determine his destiny.
Lloyd dressed quickly, his heart pounding with anticipation and anxiety. He tried to hide the trembling in his hands as he fastened his belt, almost as if he knew what awaited him was far more than just "training."
Minutes later, he stepped out to find Kane waiting outside, holding a small bag as if he'd expected Lloyd to be on time.
He tossed the bag to him without ceremony.
—"Inside: some dried food, a waterskin, and a rope. Nothing more."
Lloyd caught it grumpily and said:
—"That's it?! Four days in a mid-danger forest and you give me breadcrumbs?!"
Kane laughed scornfully:
—"If you survive with less than what you have… then I might actually believe you deserve the title 'defective.'"
Lloyd seethed with anger but swallowed his words. He didn't want to give him the pleasure of seeing him weak.
The two moved together along the dirt path. The sun had begun rising slowly behind the trees, casting an orange glow across the distant forest. A long silence settled between them, broken only by the sound of their footsteps.
Finally, they reached the forest entrance. Its trees loomed tall, their branches intertwining to blot out most of the sunlight. The wind whistling through them carried strange sounds, like the groans of lurking creatures.
Kane stopped at the edge, raising a hand to prevent Lloyd from advancing.
—"Remember… this forest is no playground. Those who enter either emerge stronger… or never come out."
Lloyd froze for a moment, but inside, he boiled with determination. He gripped the wooden sword he'd been given earlier and said confidently:
—"Then I'll emerge stronger."
Kane smiled faintly, as if his smile hid something.
—"Four days, boy. When you return… I'll see if you can take me down with one punch."
Then he pushed him forward with a step.
The leaves shuddered as Lloyd stepped into the shadows, as if the entire forest had taken notice of his arrival.
In that moment, he felt that this trial wasn't just about mastering Qi… but a confrontation with himself, his fears, and the past he'd been trying to escape.
No sooner had Lloyd's footsteps sunk into the forest floor than he felt the air grow heavier, every sound carrying a threat.
The orange sunlight couldn't penetrate the thick canopy, plunging the ground into near darkness.
Strange echoes drifted from afar—the howl of an animal, the flap of wings, or perhaps just the wind's whisper—but with every step, his heart beat faster.
He sat for a moment beneath a massive log, pulling out some dried food from the bag, but he could barely swallow it. His mind was too preoccupied with fear of what lay ahead.
As the sun set, the forest changed even more. Darkness crept in slowly, and cold seeped into his bones.
The chirping of insects grew loud, and the air filled with damp, suffocating smells.
He realized the first night would be harder than any training with Kane.
He prepared a small resting spot among the rocks, but he wasn't given much time…
From the shadows came the rapid rustling of leaves.
Two gleaming yellow eyes appeared in the dark, accompanied by a low growl.
—"A wolf…!" he whispered to himself, raising his sword.
But before he could ready himself, two more wolves emerged from the trees, flanking him on both sides.
He swallowed hard, sweat dripping from his forehead.
Kane's voice echoed in his mind: "Qi isn't power… It's control."
Lloyd closed his eyes for a moment, trying to recall what he'd learned.
He breathed slowly, attempting to calm his heart like a still sea.
And indeed… for a brief moment, he felt something different: the movements of the air around him grew clearer, the wolves' steps seemed slower.
He opened his eyes quickly, thrusting his sword forward, barely dodging the first lunge—so close that the claws only grazed his shoulder instead of tearing into it.
He shouted at the top of his lungs as he struck the second wolf on the head. It wasn't a fatal blow, but it forced the beast to retreat.
—"Haaah… Haaah…!" His breaths came in gasps, but his heart felt on the verge of understanding something…
Qi wasn't just "sharpened senses"—it was complete harmony with the moment.
Yet his focus shattered quickly, and he fell to the ground as the third wolf attacked from behind.
Its fangs nearly clamped onto his arm, but he frantically blocked it, throwing dirt into its eyes to escape.
Lloyd dashed between the trees, panting, dragging a trail of blood behind him like a red thread betraying his location. He pressed a trembling hand to his wound, but the forest showed no mercy—the sound of his breathing alone was enough to announce his presence.
From the shadows, a sudden leap shattered the silence. A hungry wolf, eyes burning like embers, lunged at him like a tearing gust of wind. For one moment, time compressed. Lloyd saw only the flash of claws and the angle of its jaw. But… deep inside, a sensation he'd never known trembled; as if the air itself whispered to him: Now.
He tightened his grip on the sword and pivoted with the beast's momentum. In a fleeting instant, a sharp sound pierced the silence: the blade sliced through the air, then struck flesh. The wolf's body collapsed, its head rolling across the grass as the smell of warm blood rose like a suffocating cloud.
Fate granted him no time to rest. Two more howls shook the forest. The pair charged like a whirlwind of fangs. Lloyd smiled bitterly and whispered:
—"Can't believe… I got rid of one of you."
The first attacked like lightning. Lloyd dodged with a sharp slide, but as he turned, the second was waiting. The wolf leaped directly into his path, jaws wide open to kill. Unconsciously, Lloyd moved his body like a flowing stream, driving his blade into its leg. A撕裂 cry erupted from the animal as it fell, writhing.
He didn't hesitate. He pounced on the first, thrusting his sword into its belly with a savage force, feeling the heat of blood burst onto his hand. He turned swiftly, as if following a hidden rhythm, and severed the second wolf's head with a strike as sharp as dawn.
Silence fell. Three motionless bodies on the ground, and Lloyd standing over them, swaying, his wounds burning like embers beneath his skin as he screamed, "Finally, I won... Heh heh heh… Hahahahaha!"
He crawled to a great tree and climbed into its tangled branches. There he sat, pressing a torn piece of his clothes to his wound, his breaths racing with the beat of his heart. Under the moonlight washing the forest in silver, he looked up at the sky, his eyes gleaming with dark promises.
—"I can do this… Since I survived tonight, I can do this. I will avenge my parents. Just wait, you demons… I'll tear you all apart."
His voice was faint, but it carried the weight of a coming storm, as if the entire forest had listened to his vow.
| End of Chapter Four |