His friends looked at each other for a moment, not knowing what is in stall for them, then they quickly place their weapons in front of Kairos. The roughshod exterior of their weapons betrayed that they are not created from any expensive material, and likewise, the grade of their weapon is like their martial arts techniques. Non-existent.

Very soon in front of him are Alan Walker's Tonfas, Edward Alfonso's Bow, Jim Carry's daggers and Tommy Styrkur's studded leather gloves. For each weapon, Kairos held it gently by his hands and drew out the fire element residing within his Dantian. Focusing the energy one point on his finger, he touched the end of each item, then slowly drew a straight line across its length.

As his finger ran across the body of the object, a rune of fire engraved itself onto the surface, slowly spreading out with a bright orange glow.

When their equipment is completed and returned to their owners, the boys gingerly touched it with incredulity in their eyes. Their once familiar items now radiate with an air of fiery power. An intense fire seemed to burn from within as if they are holding a freshly baked potato.

"Try it out. Infuse your Ki into the weapon. Just… be careful and don't burn your eyebrows off" When Kairos previously tested his own weapon, the effect had surprised him, and he hoped to give his friends at least a little heads-up.

Hearing what Kairos said, the group finally came out of their shock and laughed. How could an engraved weapon of the cheapest, roughest, material create such flames that could burn one’s eyebrows off?

Each of them infused some Ki into their weapons, and a powerful yet strangely beautiful fire flickers to life. They stared at it in wonder for a moment, but before long the gentle embers turned into a roaring flame and the temperature in the room rapidly heated up.

A few of the boys jumped backwards in shock, and without any Ki infusion, their weapons fizzled down. The fire is definitely grades above what usual weapons could deliver, and the heat is unlike that of natural flames but one more akin to the sharp edge of a blade.

Almost everyone's faces are plastered with either shock or awe because although they have never owned an engrave weapon, they knew that these runes are different.

Almost.

Among the five, there was one guy that stood still, looking cluelessly at his tonfas. When everyone was studying their newly refined weapons, Alan said in a small voice and a sheepish smile, "Umm… How do I use my Ki?"

There was immediate silence in the room, then like a sudden storm, the quietness became a great uproar.

"Whaaaaatt? I can't believe our ex-leader can't use Ki!" Edward exclaims

"What's so surprising? I can use Ki if I try hard! Watch me!" Alan said with his face as red as an apple. He quickly squeezed his Tonfas' grip as a deep furrow appeared on his brow.

After a minute, still, nothing happened. Blushing embarrassedly, the boy finally admits defeat. In the past half year, he had been purely using brute force and wit in combat.

Although the group are teasing Alan about this, they collectively started feeling depressed by just how backwards they are compared to the other groups.

They share the almost hilarious fire palm manual among the five of them, as their only training material. Even the other students in their class recognise their precious skill book as a ‘coffee coaster’ because of the black stain in the middle.

Their possessions are so pathetic that just having a runic weapon was enough for them to become this elated, yet such items are common among the nobles and many of the wealthier commoners.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

However, that has changed today.

This once useless manual has now become the foundation for cultivating fire Ki using the powerful Starfire Rune, and all their weapons have been upgraded. But with just these improvements, it is still not enough to overturn their current situation.

Now that things started changing, and a long shot presented itself, the atmosphere turned heavy quite suddenly.

Before today, everyone was taking it easy because they had no chance to succeed in the upcoming mock battlefield examination even if they put their lives on the line. But while the others had turned gloomy, Kairos' eyes are only ones shining.

His family motto is never submitting to problems. After his mother had passed away, his father, Vouno knew that it is impossible for the boy to survive in such harsh times without a strong will.

Kairos quickly put his hand into his robe and pulled out several training manuals.

"Look guys at what these are!" he said while placing the internal and external manuals before his friends.

"Whoa!" the guys exclaimed excitedly, their eyes bulging wide as if they are looking at magnificent treasures.

"Where did you get those? Now I don't have to beg those snobbish teachers! Hahahaha" Alan with a loud laugh and a sense of relief in his voice.

"I borrowed them from Jones," Kairos said sheepishly.

Instantly their expressions turned solemn once again. Since the group of them are as close as real brothers, there is little wonder that they know about the history between Kairos and Jones.

It’s no secret that after Vouno claimed that Jones’ father died by his fault, Kairos always felt that it is his family that owes Jones. To ask for help even in this kind of situation, the group could imagine what their leader had put up for them.

"Guys take a look at this as well!" Kairos said with a smile on his face in his attempt to change the sombreness in the air. He pulled out the Origin manual and quickly flipped to the pages where the cultivation method is inscribed.

Though the guys realised what Kairos is doing and they tried to accommodate, they frowned the moment they placed their eyes on the manuscript. All of them recognised it immediately, but wasn’t it long decided that this is a useless tome?

They had even once speculated that it is simply a prank made by somebody bored, and the language within is mere gibberish.

However, they noticed a strange thing as they sportingly leant forward to take a closer look.

"Why has the book turned empty?" Alan says in shock with a loud gasp, as the others took in a deep breath as though the words had confirmed what they are thinking.

"Huh? Empty? It isn’t empty! Look, the pictograms are still there as before" Kairos replies with a very odd tone of voice, pointing at the words that are obviously visible in front of him.

"It looks empty to me too Captain," Tommy says in his deep rumbling voice as the rest nods in agreement. Maturing quicker than his brothers, he is the first of the five to break his voice.

His large physique makes him a head taller than most of the kids back in their village, and because their group are often bullied, it gave him a fierce sense of protectiveness over his tinier brothers forging this reliable and straightforward character he has.

Kairos instantly believed his words but continued marvelling at the manuscript.

“Though it appears empty to them, I can still see and touch the pictograms, how strange?”

He had believed that Alan was pulling his leg at first, after all, their Ex-Captain is famous as a mischief-maker.

As the previous leader of the group, Alan was the most protective towards Jim who is the youngest and the smallest of the group, and it created the playful nature of the latter unintentionally making him extremely compatible for his role as a Saboteur. Alan, on the other hand, gained little except picking up a hobby of making practical jokes from being with Jim.

"You guys honestly couldn't see any words?" Kairos asked once again with a voice thick with surprise.

"None at all. It has become smooth just like Luciette's bum" Jim says with a wide grin.

Among all the 12 years old girls, Luciette is no doubt the prettiest. But not only is her looks outstanding, she is from a great noble house and also the leader of one of the top squads of their year. Her group, "Pure Snow" is already very famous at the school with more than a few instructors paying close attention to them.

It is not strange that many students admire Luciette, even Kairos and the group are her fans.

The boys started teasing Jim again about him sneaking peeks at a girl's bum, but they quickly toned down because in their hearts burns with an intense desire to grow stronger.

Games and play suddenly seem unimportant, and they looked once more at Kairos, with hope in their eyes.

There is such a great opportunity before them, with the training manuals freely available unlike before.

Not only that, things Kairos said sounded as though secrets are hiding within that old smelly leather book of his. Especially how its pages suddenly smooth and empty had made it seem all the more mystical.

“The pictograms did not disappear. Look, here it says that prior to internal energy or body strength, there is something called the soul force." Kairos says while pointing at a part of the book.

The guys stared at the book first, then at Kairos. But, even though they could not see anything on it, they still chose to believe him.

Very quickly, Kairos briefed them on what he had gone through previously.

In the middle of his reiterations, the group started giving Kairos an increasingly amazed look. They immediately understood how dangerous the existence of Soul force is.

Particularly for those who lives in poverty like them, they know exactly how scary greed can turn a person into.

While saying how he had entered selfless cultivation, he instinctively withheld some of the details of what happened.

He knows that revealing his connection with not only the Earth herself but the very stars in the heavens, the potential crisis they’d face will threaten not only himself but all the people he loves.

“Is it true?” Edward asked with great interest. The existence of a cultivation technique and their leader entering selfless cultivation is a key towards their continual stay with the Saint Cadets Academy.

Alan who saw Kairos entering selfless cultivation obliviously said, “Oh yeah at that time, I entered the room and saw him lying there on the floor like a dried-up mummy after cultivation training!”

“And, what was your first thought?” Kairos asked with unveiled threat in his eyes.

“Hehe. I was quite worried you’ll make my room stink.” He replied without noticing the impending danger.

“If you guys smack him for me, I’ll teach you soul force!” Kairos declared with a smile.