In a dark cave, lit only by torches left at the edge, five men were fighting a creature. This creature looked like a worm, but with a long tail and two sharp, dagger-like needles at its ends.

"Cut off its tail!" shouted the youngest of the men.

The man with the long black hair in a bun was closest to the creature's tail. He swung his scratched sword at the creature's tail, shouting with all his might. The tail missed his face by an inch, but the man's sword did not.

The creature screamed in pain as its tail was cut off. It didn't sound like a normal creature. It had no ears or nose, except for a mouth the size of a bucket and four eyes. It could make a high-pitched sound.

"Ziiiiiiiiiii"

The five people surrounding him covered their ears.

After getting used to the creature's voice, the boy who had first shouted gently stroked his sword with his hand. The sword began to burn. Then he gathered all his strength in his feet and jumped. He brought his sword down on the head of the still-screaming creature.

The creature did not die immediately as it struggled to free its head from the sword, but the boy also struggled to keep the sword in place. The flames in the sword began to burn in the creature's brain. The creature struggled, but no matter what it did, it couldn't do anything because it couldn't open its mouth and it had no claws.

After a few minutes of the boy's patience, the creature stopped moving.

After confirming that the creature was dead, the boy slowly drew his sword and slumped his shoulders as if tired. He took a deep breath.

This boy was William. He was twelve this year, but he still looked like a newly grown teenager.

His body was not as muscular and gigantic as the others, but he was not behind the others in strength. His muscles shone like perfect armor from a blacksmith's hand, they weren't too big to stand out. He was about 170 cm tall. His black hair was cut short. It ended an inch or two above his eyebrows. He was already beginning to look like a new adult.

Every once in a while, he would look at himself in the mirror and say, "I'm glad I stopped drinking that blood." Even when he was very young, he didn't want to look like a big man. It was good to look strong, but he didn't want to lose any of his charisma. He was sure that he was a thousand times more handsome now than he was in the old world.

The team had become very strong over the past four years. Except for William, they had all reached the iron level. William, on the other hand, deliberately did not take the final step. He was still stubbornly trying not to open the Death Meridian. This was because his father had said, "If you want to reach higher, you have to build a good foundation."

Of course, he had not been idle in this process. He was considered to have completely learned the Iron Body Technique. All he had to do was to enter the Iron Level and meditate one more time. Then the Iron Body would be complete. Since the sharpness was a side technique, he could already use all of his strength.

According to their plan, he would enter the iron level tomorrow. Tomorrow was the opening day of the ore chamber again. He felt that the ratio would help him level up, thanks to the abundant elements and spiritual energy.

He was a little afraid of the Death Meridian. After all, it was the biggest obstacle to becoming a warrior!

It was called the Death Meridian for a reason. If you failed at this stage, the only result would be death. Since William had only existed in this world for a short time, he was somewhat afraid of death. He knew that he had not yet enjoyed the blessings of this world. He still wanted to travel and explore every inch of this world. He even began to keep a journal.

"What is the name of this creature? What parts should we take? Is it edible?" Mura asked while cutting off its tail.

"No, absolutely inedible. But its tail is used as a weapon and its eyes are used for magic. We have to get them, let's leave the body." Since William came underground, he realized that the creatures here were very different from those on the surface. He hardly knew any creature. They all looked very strange. The most familiar ones were insects like scorpions and bats. That's why he always bought books with the money he earned. He had already finished almost fifty books.

After cutting off the creature's tail and removing its eyes, they returned to the castle. In those four years, they realized how big the underground could be. Even after hunting in the caves for nearly a hundred kilometers, they still had not seen another elven city.

Even if they did, they would most likely be taken prisoner. For Theo's deal was only with Elgaar, the head of the 'Earth' outpost.

When they returned home, they found that Pierce had brought three people with him, who were sitting in the great hall.

The newly arrived juniors looked at them with admiration and a little fear.

William stepped forward immediately. " Trainer Pierce! Welcome!" he said and hugged him.

Pierce replied with a smile.

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"How is it up there? Any news from ours and little Wilson?" he asked.

Pierce was tired, so he sat down in the chair and slowly began to describe the situation on the surface.

In the past four years, William's brother had been born and had even grown up a bit. William still hadn't seen him because he hadn't been on the surface for four years. During that time, he was sure that if the sunballs did not imitate the sun on Earth, his skin would certainly fade and weaken.

Pierce told him that his family was doing well and that Wilson was growing up healthy. His older sister, Valynn, wrote a letter home to say that she was finally an advanced apprentice. The whole family was very excited for her. If she became a rank 1 mage, her family's prestige would increase exponentially.

William was not interested in nobility and petty matters. He was selfish, even though he had a family since he was born into this world. Because he had dreams. Having lived two lives, he knew that this place would make him feel very small in the future. He was already beginning to feel that way. He knew that if he didn't die tomorrow, this feeling would only increase.

The team was very tired after the creatures they had hunted today. They said a few words of motivation to the newcomers and said goodbye to Pierce.

...

The next day, they came to that cave again. This time, he was the highest level of the team. Everyone else had either not reached the Death Meridian or were soldiers who had just arrived underground.

Godo and the others should have left by now, but they sent a letter to Theo with the returnees, telling him that they would wait for William. Theo had agreed to their request. Besides, it was in his interest to be his son's bodyguards.

The usual procedure was repeated. The manager of the Earth outpost came and opened the door. This time there were fewer. Even the elves had sent ten. There were eighteen in all, including themselves.

This time William sat next to the largest crystal. Most of the elves recognized him and did not care. Besides, they did not have many men to defeat him in a major conflict.

He began to meditate. After about half an hour, he felt that the already maximum qi and metal element in him began to boil. 'It's time now.' He began to slowly and carefully direct his qi to the Death Meridian in his heart.

When his qi reached the death meridian, the meridian opened without difficulty. He knew from Godo and the others that their experience was not in that direction. They had been forced to open as usual.

He felt that it had to do with the fact that he had waited a long time.

When the death meridian opened, dark thoughts began to appear in his mind. Even with his eyes closed, he could sense the people sitting next to him and behind him. The urge to kill them began to form in him. He knew that he had to endure it, and he passed this stage easily. Because he didn't want to kill unnecessarily, and he had never killed anyone before.

This stage came very easily to him, both because killing was forbidden and evil in his old world, and because he only wanted to realize his dreams in this world.

After overcoming these feelings, the urge to kill himself gradually tried to take over his mind.

This was the second and final stage of breaking through the Death Meridian.

Thoughts appeared in his mind that he had never experienced before, and they drove him to despair. A constant voice, "Why are you still alive?"

"You've already died once!"

"What's the point of living again?"

William did not give up. This time he shouted to himself. "Because I have dreams!" "Because I died for no reason!"

"Because there are things I haven't tasted yet!"

"I... I... I don't want to die before my dreams come true!" he said. The emotions that gave him these thoughts in his mind must have heard him because they started to disappear quickly.

When everything was gone, William recovered. He had successfully opened the gate of death. (Death meridian) The surrounding spiritual energy and metal elements rushed into his body.

When he looked at his own qi pool, he saw that it was beginning to expand. Previously, the qi pool that was the size of a baby's hand had grown to the size of his fist.

Then the qi inside him began to circulate along his meridians. As he walked, his meridians also expanded. Now more qi could circulate in him. When all of his meridians had expanded, he opened his eyes. They were now brighter. Even though the cave he was in was a bit dark, he could see everything. He also felt that his field of vision had expanded. He couldn't wait to test his explosive power as he stared at his hand and clenched his fists.

Not wanting to attack anyone here, he decided to try the Iron Body. When he used the technique, his body was transformed into an all-metal sculpture. He was sure that he was just as powerful as his grandfather right now. Because with the current final step, the iron body was 'complete'.

He didn't think he was very intelligent, but these techniques seemed to be easy to understand. He hadn't thought about it at all, because if he was a genius in techniques, he was 'weak' in potential.

From the time of his childhood test, he had been told that his talent was at most gold level.

Having a gold-level talent did not necessarily mean that he would rise to the gold level. If he worked hard, and if he was lucky and did have the resources for some things, he might rise to the gold level. So again, it was all up to him.

After examining his own body, he was very satisfied. Then he began to meditate again. While he had the chance, he wanted to replenish the almost empty qi pool. Besides, the metal element was dominant here, so he did not want to waste it.

A week later, they happily left the ore chamber. All four of the team, including himself, had become Iron-Level Warriors.

Pierce greeted them as they returned home. He said that William and the crew of four should return. The others would continue to train here until they got used to their new powers.

William was already extremely energetic, so he didn't want to waste any more time, so they said goodbye to Pierce and left.

They encountered no danger on the way. They even had the opportunity to hunt some creatures for food. They did not stop at the volcano camp because they did not need for food, they took the horses directly from the outpost just outside the Black Forest and returned to the Barony.

William continued to the castle. Others went to their designated living quarters. When William returned, he found his mother waiting at the door with his younger brother in her arms. Theo was standing next to his mother, smiling at him.

William immediately ran and hugged his mother tightly. Wilson was so shocked that he didn't know William and started to cry. Theo took Wilson from Sophia's lap to calm him down. Then he patted William on the shoulder and said, "Well done, you've worked hard."

"Whose son am I after all?" William smiled.

"Wilson, don't be afraid. Look, this is your big brother." Theo said, trying to calm him down.

"My brother?" he said. Maybe the unfamiliarity had diminished a little more, but it would take some time for it to disappear completely.

William went inside and took a hot shower. He had been bathed the last time they left the Underground. After his bath, he slept until dawn the next day. At dawn, he awoke to a sound that made him happy.

"William, why are you still in bed? Get your ass up!"

It was his grandfather's voice. He didn't care now that he was used to his attitude. But he was still happy when he heard the voice of his grandfather, whom he had not seen for a few years.

"Grandpa, still morning, what happened?" he said.

"What happened? Get off your ass and let me see how strong you are!"

"As you wish, but can't we eat first?"

"Impossible! I have to beat you first!" he said.

"As you wish, Grandpa."

Together they went to the usual training ground. His grandfather took off his shirt to show off his strong body. This time, William took it off his shirt in return for his Grandfathers move.

His grandfather smiled. "Well done, a man should be like that!" he said.

They both used the iron body and were thrown at each other. His grandfather held back as usual. Thanks to the iron body, William felt almost no pain. It sounded like a drum when their punches and kicks collided.

After a while, they both stopped. They looked at each other. His grandfather was extremely satisfied. Until now, he had only fought with the strength of a mid-Iron level Warrior. He thought that the advanced level of the Iron Warrior wouldn't be able to hurt him either.

"Brat, get ready. Don't die in one blow!" he said.

William knew that his grandfather was getting serious. Looking at him, he saw him coming at him like a truck with a broken brake. He would start his attack with a straight fist from the front.

So William crossed his arms over his chest.

As his grandfather's iron fist hit his arm, 'BOOOM!!!' William began to fly with a voice. He had fallen at least twenty meters.

He opened his eyes and his arms. He could barely feel his arms. He thought he could die with that one blow.

Thedo withdrew his iron body technique. He put on his shirt and walked over to William.

"Boys these days can't take a punch! Tch!" he spat and walked away.

William was both cursing and unable to hide his surprise. "Damn old man! He's bronze level now!" he cursed again.

...

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