Prince of The Abyss

Kade clenched his wooden blade, looking around, prepared to be attacked. His face was a mess, with many scars and bites from the lizards, of course, not lethal, but that was only because he didn’t give the monsters time to really harm the boy; if he let them, he would have died a long time ago.

Aether watched Kade, sitting on a rock not too far away, yet not too close. If he had to help him, he could get there in time.

Seeing the boy struggle, Aether rested his chin in his palm, moving his other hand to a rock

next to him, and petting the lizard that was hiding on it.

Truth be told, while they weren’t strong, these creatures were quite smart. After all, this one had first wanted to run; he knew this because he had seen its feet twitch, but then he started petting its scales, and it knew he had no intention of killing it. And because he could see it, he knew it had no chance of fighting him, so he just let it.

Intelligent creatures... it made him wonder if they could be tamed.

He smiled, picking up the lizard and putting it into his arms, petting it as if it were a pet.

And truly, it wasn’t that different from a normal lizard of its size; it wasn’t stronger than one, maybe just by a little when it came to clinging onto things, but when it came to doing harm, it was hardly a monster.

The only difference between it and a normal lizard was that it had essence traveling through its essence threads. And its ability to camouflage, without those two things, it was just a fast lizard that knew how to cling to things really well.

’The weakest of the weakest, yet, one that can punish those who take things too lightly... a monster that lives not to be seen, to be underestimeted...’

It reminded him of himself in Frozen Crown... actually of his in general.

Being looked down upon was one of the biggest blessings you can have in a fight. He was surprised to see a monster use the same tactic as him.

”Maybe we should take one home.”

Kade quickly turned to him. ”No!”...

”And why aren’t they attacking you at all?” The boy said, clearly annoyed by the training he was put under... he didn’t blame him, he knew his potential, that burning will inside his eyes... but it made him wonder if it really burned that bright.

Plus, the boy didn’t seem that talented, and neither did he seem to really want to put in the hard work.

And he knew that the beginning is really hard, and demotivating, after all, when he had fought his first Reader Fragment, he almost lost, he had to retreat, and not to mention that he did have Voidpiercer, and a good Path. Since he had to say, Promise Child was definitely a nice path to have; it made him wonder what abilities he would have gotten with it.

Was the monster he had fought stronger... yes, and the difference was there.

But there was also a big difference between him at the time and Kade right now.

The boy was fighting multiple enemies, keeping in mind he couldn’t even see them; he hadn’t been able to see them at first himself, so they weren’t an easy enemy if you couldn’t see where they were.

And he didn’t have Voidpiercer; he had a wooden blade to fight with, not a Seeker blade.

But... the thing that was influencing his training most was probably... him, and not in a good way.

When he learned to fight for the first time, he fought with his life on the line; he had to figure things out as he went, without anyone to help him and save him if anything went wrong, while the boy had him. To protect him.

...

”Alright, that’s enough.”

The boy looked back at him, sighing in relief as he quickly let his arms fall.

”But I didn’t say to let your guard down,” Aether said, massaging his scalp, knowing what was going to come next.

Kade had tried to react, but even now he couldn’t match the speed of the little monster... and it latched onto its face. He tried to take it off, but he couldn’t.

His words came out muffled, but he could still understand what he was trying to say.

”Help me!”

Aether sighed, putting the lizard he was petting back on its rock, and getting up to help the boy.

...

But as he reached him, and was about to kill the beast... he stopped.

”I think... I’ll pass.”

...

...

...

”What?!” The boy screamed while the lizard scratched and bit his face, even eating some small chunks of his skin.

Aether kneeled down, watching the sky.

”You’re going to have to do it yourself... You said you wanted to get stronger, so consider this your second lesson. The essence of combat is survival, killing your opponent, and surviving, being the last one alive. You have to fight with every part of your soul to survive, don’t think that just because someone is here to help you, you don’t have to try and get out yourself... maybe time will come when I can’t save you... So come on. Show me that you really want to live... to get stronger.”

The boy didn’t respond; he seemed frozen for a good ten seconds before his hand tightly gripped the lizard. He could see how much he tensed the muscles in his arms. He tried lifting the beast, but it continued to cling to him like glue. He also didn’t stop.

His arms turned bright red as he continued to push the monster until it finally started to let go.

Kade was pushing himself to his limits, using every drop of his energy and strength... not to impress him, not to prove himself... but rather to survive.

Aether smiled, seeing this... it had been exactly what he wanted to see.

...

This was a survival instinct being born. It was easier for Readers, since their instinct was already developed by the Knowledge system, so when you awaken your instincts also awaken.

The hunger to survive, the fierce fire inside the eyes, he could see it.

Kade continued to push until his arms almost gave out..., but in the end, the beast gave out first. Yet... Kade didn’t stop after getting it off him.

With a bloodied face, he quickly turned to where the lizard was and stepped on its tail, slashing his blade over and over. It wasn’t doing a lot of damage, after all, it was wood, and was meant for sparring, not killing, but from the sheer force and the power of the impact that came from each cut.

The monster died.

Kade had not only managed to push through the pain and get the monster off his face, but also kill it.

...

’Impressive... truly impressive.’

He clapped, making the boy step out of his trance.

Kade seemed confused, like he didn’t know what he had just done, but looking at his hands and around him, he could make out what had happened.

...

”Did I do it?”

Aether chuckled, standing close to the point, so no other lizard would attack him.

”You did... a good job... I... am proud of you.”

He had never truly meant for Kade to kill his first monster today. It was more to train his awareness and reflexes... but it seems as if he had done something better than that... awakening his instinct, the thing that will drive him forward into his next fight. Even if it’s not that good at the beginning, if he continues, he will grow well.

Aether walked over to the lizard, and cut its skin off... well, some of it, after all, he wasn’t good at skinning monsters, it was the first time he did it.

It had to be worth something, though... since if it wasn’t... he might have to sell something in a few days.

After getting the skin, he glanced at Kade, who still couldn’t comprehend that he had actually killed a monster, for the first time in his life... and maybe the first time in his family history.

”Come on, let’s go back and sell all the skin we got, then we’ll go home. You need the rest.”

Kade nodded, quickly following Aether as they headed back towards the city.

...

There was a lot to do, but at least training Kade wasn’t going to be as bad as he had thought it was going to be at first. He might actually catch on quickly, as he had done just now; he just needed the right mindset, that if he wanted something, he had to get it himself. If he wanted to survive, he had to help himself survive, not beg others.

And with his training going better than expected...

The time to try and get the shard might come sooner than he expected.