They talked for a bit until Tibaut decided to address the elephant in the room.

"Oh yeah, now that I think about it, what happened to that woman we saved?"

With an absolutely resolute face, Ezekiel responded "Oh she went back to her village, apparently decided to explore it after she heard about it from an elder in her village."

"Huh, that so (Man, in a world without the internet people would do anything when faced with boredom. Like who the hell explores a place like that if they're not an archaeologist?)"

Ezekiel decided enough time had passed and decided it was time to be on his back to his own guild.

"Oh yeah, I'll stop by here sometime to bring you to my guild."

"Huh, now that I think about it, this place is the only guild I've actually seen."

"You serious? I'm beginning to think more and more that Elizabeth grew you on a farm somewhere. How the hell did she of all people scout you?"

A hint of discomfort showed on Tibaut's face and turned his face away. "Well, you could say I left somewhat of an impact on her when we first met." He said timidly.

"Damn, was it like one of those fateful encounters?"

"sure." Tibaut responded, trying to forget their first meeting.

Eventually, Ezekiel left and Tibaut was left alone in his room. He sighed and decided to do something he wasn't much of a fan of. Reading.

("I know I'm going to have to get revenge eventually but surely I'm halfway there for the strength needed for it right? I don't want to undersell my old man but I don't think they killed him head-on. I don't know if they poisoned him or what, but it didn't seem like he put up much of a fight when he went down. Even back then I was able to defeat one of them when I was running away. The main thing that's actually gonna be a pain in the ass is finding out who's responsible. It did seem like maybe some higher in the country, since a bounty for my head was circulated, however the sole survivor of a noble house that was destroyed overnight with his whereabouts unknown is pretty suspicious even if I was only twelve.") He gave a sigh and then picked up the martial arts manual he mostly gleamed through. ("Well I suppose it's no use thinking about stuff like that. I have a year till I can start kicking down doors in the homeland and ask some questions. For now, I better gain what I can for when I return.)

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

He then in earnest began reading the martial arts he received from a strange man.

("Now that I think about it, I was way too willing to accept this book when it was offered to me.")

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It was back when Tibaut was living in the wild and his hair was more of a muddy brown than the shining crimson it was now. He didn't know where he currently was and he didn't even know if it was winter or if he had entered a cold region of the world but nonetheless, it was snowing. And hard.

However, it wasn't enough to be considered a blizzard so Tibaut had not yet considered building an igloo. He was surrounded by a forest devoid of colour and stood over something that was vibrant in colour compared to the rest of the scenery. It was mostly red with a few pale purples and yellow mixed.

He was gutting a forest animal he had managed to kill. It looked a bit like a kangaroo except that it had fur as white as a polar bear and it had two small horns on its head. There was an odd part on its back that was scorched black but that was an addition made by our hero.

"Tch, no matter what I do to these things, the meat always tastes kinda shit." He complained while he removed the guts of the animal. While one may think he was complaining about the animal before him, it was actually the way he killed it that caused him annoyance.

It seems using fireballs to kill his prey caused the rupture of various organs in the animal that somewhat tainted the meat by the time he finished cleaning the carcass.

He soon blew down a nearby tree and eventually forced it ablaze for some nearby warmth in this stinging cold.

He then ripped a piece of meat off of the carcass in his bare hands and proceeded to cook it with his magic (while still in his hands).

He had gotten tired of using cure when he undercooked meat so decided to err on the side of caution this time and cook it to the point of being overdone and dry. His eyes had dark circles under them. Whether from improper sleep, stress or a mineral deficiency your guess is as good as mine.

As he ate the dry meat near the fire of the burning tree only one thought was going through his head.

("I'll kill them. The bastards that killed my family. The bastards who forced me to live like this. I'll gut them like the pig bastards they are. Heh heh maybe I'll roast them with my own flames while rotating them with a spit.") His face showed a deep pleasure imagining this. He continued to eat the dry meat until he noticed munching sounds beside him.

"You were right, this meat does taste kinda shit."

Behind him was a shirtless man with rags for pants with each of his limbs chained to a weight larger than Tibaut's head. He was chewing on a raw piece of meat that belonged to the beast that Tibaut killed.