"Ha... ha... ha..." Grey panted heavily as he stood firmly on his feet, knees slightly bent. His premature body couldn't simply keep up with his dad's pace after he barely evaded every swing of his wooden sword. It was something he couldn't help after being reincarnated in a small and seemingly weak body. Although it annoys him, his dad is always eager to spar with him every day and has been pestering him for awhile ever since their first spar years ago.

"You're doing well, son." His dad proudly looked at him with a blissful smile. 'Honestly, he's surprisingly fast.' As proud as he seems, Edward couldn't help but commend his son's incredible agility and reaction time.

'As if I was..' Grey whispered in his head, 'I couldn't even fully swing this wooden sword. And more importantly, what kind of father would give his son a very heavy wooden sword? What am I, an adult?' He thought, still panting from exhaustion as he whispered his complaints in his head. "You're going at a faster pace, dad." He spoke between his pants, hastily gasping for air as his body was soaked in sweat.

"Haha, sorry. I got carried away." Edward chuckled before letting his back kiss the green grass below him, resting his already-tired body onto it.

Almost five years have passed since Edward started training with Grey. From basic sword stance to swinging a sword, Edward taught his son all of them. Without being aware of Grey's real identity, both of them always water their backyard with their sweat every day. However, something has been bothering him lately.

'This kid... he's emitting that kind of pressure of someone who had fought millions of battles for his own survivability.' Edward thought, staring at his son with suspicious eyes. 'Is it experience, or perhaps just pure battle instinct.'

In reality, Edward wasn't really holding back. In fact, he's at his best whenever he fights his son. Even so, it seems like Grey was the one pushing him back to his limits by forcing him to extend his swing and then evading it right away.

On the other hand, Grey wasn't aware of what he was doing. He simply moves by instinct to dodge every attack while he thinks of a way to counter it. Spending his life fighting demons might have trained his senses to an extent where he doesn't even need to think before moving accordingly.

"You're getting better at dodging, Grey." Edward spoke, rubbing his son's head.

Grey smiled back and said, "You think so?" while shifting his gaze to his father.

Suddenly, another figure appeared in their private training ground. A black-haired woman carrying a basket full of fruits and bread "You two should take a rest first." She yelled from a distance, causing both father and son to turn their heads in that direction.

"Ohh, mom!" Grey quickly recognized the figure and ran towards her.

"Ow, be careful, you cheeky brat." She said, lowering herself to level their heights, and gave her son a warm hug, letting out a slight giggle.

"You don't have to come here, dear." Edward suddenly interrupted the heartwarming scene, getting up from the grass.

"You two left early and still trained until noon. It got me all worried." Emily uttered, letting out a sharp sigh, "It's a relief to see you both looking fine." She added.

Do I look fine? Grey whispered in his thoughts with a disappointed expression.

"Oh, by the way, here's your food." Emily handed over a basket full of food, which Grey gladly accepted. "You should eat some, dear." She said, shifting his gaze to Edward who's seemingly tired.

Edward quickly walked towards them, rubbing his head, and said, "All right. All right. ", with a noticeable smile painted across his face.

"You're smiling more than usual, dad." Grey said as he grabbed a long loaf from the basket, "It's creeping me out." He said it bluntly with a straight face.

"Yesterday, you were as—"

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Before Grey could even finish his statement, his overjoyed father grabbed and peeled a banana, then stuffed it into his open mouth.

"Ummmbb!"

Grey mumbled as he struggled to gobble down the final piece while holding his neck. "Ahhh... haaaa... haaa..." After managing to somehow swallowing it, he panted heavily, his wild eyes darting toward his father.

"I know you're hungry... but take it easy." Edward uttered it with an innocent, close-eyed smile.

Grey just let out a long sigh. 'These guys are really annoying...' He looked up at his dad and then right back at his mom. 'Well, it's not that I can complain. I can't compare them to anyone because I never had parents in my past life.' The thought made his heart warm and put a wide smile on his face.

"Oh, and I almost forgot..." Emily suddenly uttered, causing both Edward and Grey to look at her with curious eyes. She then took a piece of folded paper from her left sleeve and handed it to Edward. "That came to the house... sent through an owl earlier this morning after you two left." She added.

Edward widened his eyes with obvious surprise, "An owl, you don't mean... " He quickly spread the folded paper, and as expected, a letter was written on it.

"To my dearest, beloved daughter and son-in-law, husband and wife, and to your son, my cute grandson...

Edward was just halfway through the letter, but with that weird introduction, he already guessed who was the sender of this letter. He then proceeded to continue reading the rest of the letter.

"I heard that my grandson turned five this year, and honestly, I feel bad for you guys not inviting me to his birthday party."

Edward stopped reading once again: "He's still holding a grudge about it. He said that he doesn't want to see Grey until he's at the right age to be trained by him." He commented before continuing...

"However, my pure heart still refused not to see my wonderful grandson. One month from now, I have a proposal to make. I'm hoping to see you guys and bring Grey with you. You're almighty and beloved father, Jurgen Grandfield."

Grey let out a sigh, "So it really was him after all...." He said it with an unsurprised expression before he stood up and left his parents alone. "I better not slack off on training my soul." He whispered before walking into the deeper side of the forest.

"That old man sent an invitation one month ahead. He's probably having a hard time holding back his excitement to see him. Edward said, gazing at his son, Grey, as he left, "Be careful, son!" He yelled before gazing back at his wife.

"My old man is excited? Hehe." Emily uttered and chuckled before burying her face into her palm. "That sounds exactly like him." She said.

"Yeah, his hands are probably itching to write this message." Edward commented while holding back his laughter. "Your dad is really something else, Emily." He added.

"Well..." Emily uttered, shrugging her shoulders...

On the meantime, Grey reached the area of the forest where bamboo normally grows. This place has been his favorite resting spot after training swordsmanship with his dad. He often meditates in this place to completely awaken his magic using Zect. After a few years, he's been making progress in gathering mana particles, and he feels like his soul will awaken anytime soon.

Upon reaching the forest, Grey quickly sat down and got into a meditating position. After closing his eyes, he started breathing in and out in a stable rhythm, slowly entering the "extreme focus zone".

Soon, mana started pouring inside his pure soul, filling every gap in it. 'I think I can manage to do this.' A fleeting thought crossed his mind before he went deeper into the emptiness within his consciousness.

...

Meanwhile, as Grey was busy meditating, his parents were still not done talking about his grandfather and some recent happenings.

"Do you think he'll be fine?" ..." Edward had such a worried look on his face. "Grey, I mean." He added.

"Dueling my father?" Emily displayed a puzzled expression, tilting her head.

Her husband nodded in response.

"Well, he did mention something about a duel with Grey." "But I don't think he's someone who would give his all in a fight against a kid." Emily replied, a smile curving on her face.

"A child, huh?" Edward said, slightly shaking his head, "I don't think I can call him that." He added.

"Eh? Why–"

Emily's reaction was interrupted when suddenly... a dense pulse of mana radiating through the air reached her senses. Such an enormous and overwhelming power that they'd never experienced before was coming from the forest. The one that could send shivers down their spine.

Emily almost collapsed on her knees with the pressure alone. "What is this?!" She uttered, before activating her spirit mark on her right neck and used it to conjure a wind barrier to protect herself from the violent mana surging from the forest.

On the other hand, Edward immediately ran into the forest, calling his son's name with a worried face. "Grey!..."

'He's probably in danger!' That's the only thought that crossed his mind.

Seeing her husband running to aid their son, although trembling, Emily followed her husband into the forest. 'What... is this overwhelming presence? It's like a... strong magical creature?!' She couldn't get the thought out of her mind as she ran closer to the bamboo forest.

She arrived at the bamboo forest and saw her husband standing and fixedly gazing at something. "What's wrong, dear?" She asked, almost yelling, before she found out the answer herself. Right in front of them, they're witnessing a power they've never encountered before.

"Is that... grey?" The only words that escaped her mouth as she gazed at the human figure glowing with a golden aura