30 November Year 2367

*Whoosh*

Telfer awoke from his daze and looked around. The current view was pretty nice. Contary to Telfer's expectations, the Demon Kingdom was not living in the Stone Age. Tall silvery buildings stood throughout the land. Underneath them were countless pagodas that had flashy neon signs. Railway lines weaved in between the buildings. There were also numerous shuttles flying in the sky. Telfer admired the scene for a moment.

Wait, why is it all upside down?

The fighters on the stages seemed like tiny ants as he moved away from them.  

"I'M FALLING! HELP!"

Telfer flailed about widly as he body trembled in fear. Suddenly, a hand slapped his back followed by a voice.

"STOP SHOUTING DAMNIT! HOW AM I GOING TO SNEAK YOU AWAY?"

The slap stung like hell and Telfer sobbed silently in his heart. It seemed like he had been kidnapped yet again. Telfer looked up and saw a black cloud. Stretching out of the cloud was a hand that grasped onto Telfer's leg. 

No! I'm not getting tortured again!

Telfer shoved his other leg at the hand in an attempt to break free. The hand clenched around his leg even tighter. 

"LET ME GO! HELP, I'M GETTING KIDNAPPED!"

Telfer screamed at the top of his lungs as he punched and kicked at the hand. 

"I SAID STOP IT! THE MINUTE I LET GO OF MY HAND, THEY WILL DESCEND UPON YOU LIKE A PACK OF WOLVES!"

The voice came from the cloud again. Telfer rotated his head and looked at the ground below. A small crowd of demons were following them as they flew in the air. Telfer noticed that many of them were waving flyers at him.

"Timothy, please join my Martial House!"

"We will give you anything if you join our Martial House!"

The crowd shouted at Telfer non-stop while chasing after him. More and more demons dropped out of the crowd, either from the lack of interest or simply from being shoved back by others. 

*Gulp*

Telfer imagined himself falling prey to a group of insurance agents who pressured him to buy their insurance. He would lose everything to them. However, after a certain point, the crowd simply stopped chasing. Some of the demons shook their head and sighed. Telfer looked up at the cloud and thanked it silently. If not for this cloud, he would have been torn to pieces by the demons below. However, Telfer widened his eyes in shock as they about to slam into a stone wall. 

"LOOK OUT! WE ARE GOING TO CRASH!"

The cloud cackled and a passageway opened appeared in front of Telfer. The cloud put Telfer onto the ground and said, 

"Welcome to my Martial House, the Thunder Pavilion."

Telfer looked on as the cloud floated at its original position. For some reason, he felt as if someone was staring at him expectantly. 

"How are you not shocked? A passageway appeared in a cliff magically and nothing?"

The cloud rolled over as if it had a imaginary head that was currently cocked to the side. 

"What are you?"

Telfer stretched out his hand to poke the cloud. "Wait, why am I in this form?" The cloud suddenly compressed together and morphed into a human. It was an old man with a head full of silvery blue hair and a shaggy beard. A dark blue uniform that wrapped a massive body that was at least 2 metres tall. The body was nothing like that of an old man. Bulging biceps and tree trunks for legs. Black eyes and blue pupils. Blue sparks of electricity jumped all over his body.

The old man stepped to the side and pointed his arm at a red gate behind him. A sign which said, "Thunder Pavilion" hung above the gate. 

"Let me reintroduce myself. I am Daimon, the 8th level Storm Spirit and also master of the Thunder Pavilion. Welcome to my Martial House."

The old man grinned at Telfer and walked down the stone pathway that was lit up by countless light glyphs. Telfer trailed behind him as he glanced around. Who on earth had inscribed all these glyphs? They must have cost quite a bit of money. 

Wait. This is the Demon Kingdom. Why are there glyphs here?

"Oh, if you are wondering about the glyphs, I inscribed every single one of them. Be careful not to touch them, you might get shocked."

The old man held his arms behind his back and walked down the stairs without looking behind. A room appeared in front of them. The door slid open to reveal a young man who was dressed similarly to the old man. He had blue hair and black pupils as well. 

"Master, you are back! And who is this? Yellow hair, green pupils and stumps on his head. He's clearly a newborn Ghoul. What is he doing here?"

The young man stared warily at Telfer. Telfer grinned back at the young man and waved his hand. The old man shoved Telfer to the front and patted his head. 

"Oh, he will be your Junior Brother from now. I was afraid you would get bored so I brought him in. Make sure to take care of him. Introduce yourself."

"Hi, I'm Timothy."

The old man smiled and forced Telfer's head down to bow to the young man in front. 

"HUH? HE'S NOT EVEN A STORM SPIRIT, WHY ARE YOU TAKING HIM IN?"

The young man blurted out as he waved his hands up and down. 

"Oh don't worry. I'm teaching him martial arts not magic." The old man brushed the young man aside and walked into the centre of the room. 2 cushions and a table. A teapot and 2 cups laid on the table. The old man sat on one of the cushions and gestured for Telfer to sit down. The young man poured tea for Daimon and Telfer. 

"As you know, my name is Daimon. You are to call me Master Daimon. Your senior brother over here is Azur. You are to call him Senior Brother. As you might have guessed it, this Thunder Pavilion specialises in training Storm Spirits. Including you, there will now be 3 people in this Martial House. I have a very special reason for taking you on as my discple. But I must make sure that what I say now will not leak out."

Daimon eyed Telfer and Azur while sipping the tea before continuing. 

Stolen story; please report.

"When I was still active and fighting, I had a Ghoul friend who was a superb fighter. He used almost no magic and focused on his body. His regeneration was frightening beyond belief. He was able to regenerate even when he was cut down in tiny cubes. What was more frightening was his ability to control his cells. Ghouls are known for their ability to regenerate but normal ghouls don't have the ability to control the cells. On his deathbed, he cheated death and transformed himself into a sword. Although faint, I confirmed the existence of a will inside the sword. That last strike of yours, you controlled your cells to carry it out right? That friend of mine, he entrusted me to take in any ghoul that had that ability. You shall continue his legacy." 

The old man gazed at Telfer solemnly while sipping his tea. Telfer sat in silence as he absorbed the information. A successor of someone strong. He had the sword as well. It was as if the legacy was made for him. The old man put down the cup and took a black box out. Tears seemed to form in his eyes as he held it up. Telfer reached for the black box and held it in his palm. It was extremely light.  

A box? I thought it was a book or a memory scroll.

"Host's body is going out of control."

Suddenly, his hand exploded into a mass of ghoul cells and wrapped around the box. Telfer looked on in shock as his hand receded back to normal and the box was nowhere to be seen. A wave of memories entered his brain and Telfer clutched his head before blacking out.

"Dear friend, I have done all I can already. Azur bring him to his room."

Daimon stood up unhurriedly and walked out of the room, completely ignoring Telfer's unconscious body. Azur looked back and forth between Telfer and Daimon confusedly before walking off with Telfer's body and placing him in a room. 

Meanwhile, Telfer found himself in a white space. There were 3 objects in this white space. The first was a greenish-blue orb that was slightly larger than the silver orb beside it. The last object was a white sword with 7 holes. It was a minature Eternal Harmony. 

I guess the blue orb is Poison Magic, the silver Illusion Magic and the Eternal Harmony is just a representation of my Ghoul body. 

However, while the 2 orbs remained neutral, the Eternal Harmony kept vibrating. Telfer approached it curiously. Suddenly, the sword disappeared and a slender man stood in its place. The man had white hair and yellow pupils. The white robes draped over his slender body. The most eye-catching feature was the Eternal Harmony he wielded in his hand. 

"To think my successor would come with the Eternal Harmony. Too bad the Eternal Harmony is dead or I could have revived myself. Oh, are you my successor? Nice to meet you, my name is Agvak."

The man yawned and couch underneath. He lied on the couch and a fan appeared in his hand while he scanned Telfer.

"Interesting. So you are Telfer Berkley. A newborn Ghoul. Good self-created technique but lack of fighting experience. Lower body is under-utilised. Oh you met with Sheryl? She was a young girl when I met her. I wonder how she's doing now..." The man rambled on and on as he fanned himself. Telfer gazed at the man. 

How does he know all this?

"Oh you are thinking how I can read your memories? Because you allowed my soul to reside in your sea of consciousness." The man talked unhurriedly while looking at Telfer as if he was reading a book. 

"There's so many holes in your foundation. Even though Sheryl tried to patch the holes, it's not enough. You have to start over. How should I help you?" The man sat up and pondered. 

Sheryl? Holes in my foundation? 

Telfer was unable to comprehend Agvak's words and stared at him blankly. Agvak then pointed a finger at Telfer and a body refinement method called "Poison Body" in his mind. An unknown force started sucking Telfer out of his sea of consciousness. 

"Come back here after you have mastered the first 2 levels. Daimon should be waiting for you."

Agvak sent Telfer off before whipping out a book to read.

1 December Year 2367

Telfer woke up with a start. He was in a simple room with a table and a bed. He was also dressed in the same uniform as his Master and Senior Brother. Just then, Poison Body appeared in his mind. 

That actually happened? So there is another person residing in my sea of consciousness now?

Telfer took a deep breath and sighed. There was too much going on right now. First he had been picked up by a random stranger. Then another soul appeared within his body. Telfer shook his head and scanned Poison Body. An introduction letter came with the body refinement method. Apparently there were 2 different paths. The first path which was used more often was mana cultivation, which also strengthened the body. The second path was body refinement, where in addition to absorbing mana, body refiners would put themselves physical training to further enhance their bodies. Poison Body belonged to the second path. Poison Body not only enhanced the body's defenses but also slowly made the refiner's body poisonous. If trained to a high level, even the refiner's blood could become poisonous. There were a total of 3 levels to refinement. The first level involved the skin, followed by the muscles and bones, and finally the blood. 

First 2 levels...

It was too early for Telfer to dream about completing the first 2 levels. The method for training in Poison Body involved days of torture and physical training, something which caused Telfer to break out in a sweat. To start off, the user would have to take numerous blows and do physical exercises. Immediately after that, the user was to enter a bath filled with a poisonous concotion that would leave him half-dead. If the user could still move, the process was to be repeated. Being tortured by Sheryl had still led to an insufficient foundation. Telfer gritted his teeth in anticipation. 

*Knock knock*

Telfer looked up with a start. Azur stepped into his room and glared at him impatiently.

"Junior Brother, Master is waiting for you."

Telfer stood up and followed Azur to a room. The door to the room slid open and revealed a ring in the centre. There was a closed door at the other end of the room. Daimon was already standing in the ring. 

"We are going to start now. The first 2 levels of Poison Body are to be completed in one month. I don't care how we do it, but you are going to get there." 

Daimon looked down at Telfer coldly. Telfer gulped and stepped into the ring. Azur bowed and left the room. 

*Crack*

"0.01%. That is how low my power will be. Don't look down on it because even one hit will send you into a world of pain. Remember how Poison Body works? Greater pain, greater gain."

Daimon cracked his knuckles and sent a punch towards Telfer. 

Why is it so fucking fast?

Before Telfer could raise his arm to block it, the punch landed squarely on Telfer's cheek. Telfer crashed into the ground and a small crater appeared. His face immediately puffed up like a balloon. Daimon loomed over Telfer and spoke,

"Get up. We aren't done yet." 

The top. I need to get there.

"ARGHHH! COME AT ME THEN!"

Telfer struggled to stand up and held his fists up. He glared at Daimon as he paced around him. Daimon glanced at him and laughed.

"As expected of Agvak's successor. Thinking of fighting back huh? Let me show you how fast a Storm Spirit can be."

Daimon disappeared and sparks appeared where he was standing. A fist crackling with lightning flew towards Telfer's other cheek. A crater that was twice as deep as the first one formed on the ground. Telfer pulled himself out of the crater and took a pose again. His entire body was burnt and some parts were still regenerating. Daimon looked at Telfer's eyes which were filled with resolve and smiled. Another punch flew towards Telfer.  Just like that, 30 minutes passed. 

*Ding*

The clock sounded and Daimon picked up Telfer's body. He opened the door that was opposite the entrance and tossed Telfer inside. 

"Ah, almost forgot about this." 

Daimon locked the door and set it to open in an hour's time. He sniggered as he sat on a chair while observing the ring repair itself. 

"Anytime now."

Meanwhile, Telfer sat in the poison bath and looked around. 

Ah, this is pretty good.

The refinement method had described the poison bath to be extremely excruciating. The dark green bath that Telfer was in right now exhibited no sign of pain induction at all. Suddenly, an extremely itchy feeling started to emerge from his entire body. Telfer frowned as he started scratching himself. The itchiness soon became a sting followed by a searing pain. 

"ARGHHHH!"

Telfer jumped out of the bath but found that there was no floor outside the bath. The entire room was a pit filled with the poison concotion.

Oh no...

Telfer's entire body submerged under the surface and he frantically burst to the surface screaming in agony. 

The door! 

Telfer spun around and scrabbled at the door with his eyes closed. He could feel the steel-like surface was there was simply no rail or handle on the door. Telfer could only sink back into the bath disappontedly. 

What am I doing? The top. That's all I need.

Telfer gritted his teeth and sat in the bath in silence.

Daimon glanced at the door strangely. He had been expecting screams throughout the hour, but apart from the first 5 minutes, there were no more screams. 

*Ding*

The door to the bath slid open and Daimon hurried inside, just to find his disciple sitting quitely in the middle of the bath. Blood trickled down into the bath as he sank his teeth into his lips to stop himself from screaming. 

"Let's go again."

Daimon looked at Telfer with his arms crossed. Unexpectedly, there was no reaction from Telfer. Daimon sighed and fished Telfer out of the bath. 

"Good grief. Azur, come get your Junior Brother."

Azur appeared in a flash and picked up his Junior Brother's soaking wet body in a daze before sending Telfer to the room silently. 

The first session of training had already ended. 

End of Chapter