Sweat poured down his body, as Volt, now at the tender age of thirteen, stood in the center of a stage, blindfolded, shirtless, and holding onto a single sword. Dozens of men dressed in heavily padded armor and equipped with wooden poles surrounded him.

If someone unrelated to the situation happened to walk by at this moment they would be horrified, for this group was made up of the kingdom's most powerful guards. Almost everyone in the group was at least a peak Tier Two, and they were led by one powerful mid Tier Three existence.

His body was bruised and battered, with new scars all over his body that he'd gained with the passing of time. He was currently breathing heavily, seemingly lost in thought.

“Do you wish to quit, Volt? We have been going at this for hours, and I believe it would be better for you to allow your body to rest.” A somewhat tired middle aged man commented.

Volt merely shook his head as he responded. “No. I can feel the step. Let's go one more time before stopping.”

“You said that last time, young Volt.” The middle aged man frowned.

“I know, I know. But I’m sure this is the moment. Go all out.”

“Fine then. We will knock you out if we need to in order to stop you from damaging your body.”

Volt smiled madly and prepared for the rush.

Almost instantaneously dozens of powerful auras filled with killing intent washed over him.

Volt inhaled a breath of air and exhaled a mist made of lightning as he strained his ears and focused upon the bloodlust aimed at him, trying to locate the impatient figure that would make the first move.

Three o'clock, going for a stab at the neck.

Volt accurately timed his dodge without any wasted movements, allowing his attacker to pass by him with less than an inch of clearance.

Twelve o’clock, smashing at the head; six o’clock, going for a leg sweep.

Waiting for the right moment, Volt jumped over the leg sweep and dodged to the right, allowing the wooden staffs to pass harmlessly by.

Like this more and more of the group attacked with various methods while the Tier Three watched on and waited for the perfect moment to strike.

It was only when Volt had overextended his body and jumped to dodge a fourway attack that the big man moved.

He dashed forth and raised his staff into the air, ready to smash down and make Volt a pancake.

It was in the moment of a would-be fatal attack that Volt felt it.

That last little step to reach the next stage.

Lightning sparked and crackled off of his body, controlling his nervous system to make him twist in the air in an unnatural fashion in order to block the middle-aged man's attack.

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A loud crash was heard as Volt smashed into the ground.

Although he managed to block the attack, Volt didn’t have the weight needed to negate the force.

Though he was embedded into the stone platform, Volt seemed to be mostly unharmed. In fact, he was laughing his ass off.

“Haha, I did it! I fucking did it!”

The middle-aged man rolled his eyes and smiled at the freak of nature.

To think he’d use lightning to mitigate the damage by shutting down his nerves and loosening his muscles upon impact. He even went as far as making a last-moment lightning cushion to protect his vital organs. The princess really did bring home a freak of nature.

Volt’s smile soon faded back into a neutral expression.

I’m so close Master. Soon I’ll be powerful enough to avenge you.

“Volt, are you okay?!”

As he climbed out of the crater in the shape of his body, Volt took off his blindfold and looked over towards the voice.

Twisting golden hair that shone in the light and twirled in the wind, ice blue eyes that held a fondness for the world around her, and a beauty mark on her right cheek that made her appearance all the more breathtaking.

Although she was a princess, she wore full plate armor and was swift and sure in her movements. Volt stared at her in a daze as she ran over to him with concern written all over her face.

Kneeling down in front of him, the princess caressed his face with her right hand.

Being only a foot away from each other, Volt was able to see the princess in all her glory.

God she’s hot.

“Are you alright, Sir Volt? When I saw you take such an attack I could not help but fear for your life.”

Shaking himself from his thoughts, Volt tried to play off his dazed expression.

“I’m fine, Princess Victoria. In fact, I just broke through.”

Victoria grabbed Volt by the shoulders and started shaking him. “That does not allow you to keep pushing the limits of what your body can handle! Geez! If only I had known you were going to cause me such heartache when I rescued you from the river!”

“I’m sorry for making you worry, Princess Victoria. But I’ve told you before that this was the training regimen my Master left behind. It’s the only way for me to get stronger!”

“Humph. I know but you never let your body rest, not even a little! If you won’t stop to take a break on your own then I order you to take a break for a week or I will be forced to kick you out of the castle for your own good!”

“But princes—”

“No buts!”

“Now go wash up and get dressed in some formal attire. We’re going to visit Father. Maybe hearing how far you’ve advanced will do him some good. It amazes me someone at his level could still fall ill.”

“Wha? Wait, I can walk by myself!”

The guards waited for the two to leave the room before chuckling to themselves.

***

Within a nearby tower, an older blond haired boy chewed his thumb.

This monster is throwing all my plans into the fire. Why can that filthy peasant improve so quickly? I’ll have to risk increasing the dosage to stop him from growing too strong to stop me. Piece of shit sister, where did you find a pawn like that?

“Shadow.”

He turned his head and awaited for the shadowy figure to appear.

A cloaked man with his face hidden behind a twisting black fog slowly formed out of the shadows.

“What do you need, Prince Llum?” The shadow's age voice filled with snark rang out.

“Send my message to Yordam. The plan is being accelerated. I need more… elixir.”

“Your will shall be realized, Prince.”

The shadowy figure faded back into the shadows with a bow towards the Prince.

When the figure vanished the Prince returned to looking at Volt’s fading figure.

“To kill or not kill is the question...”