"What the-!" Ralph soon awoke in his bed in a gasping manner, breathless from what he just witnessed.

"A dream...?" He dropped his book to look at his hands, feeling nauseous as everything was swirling around him. After collecting himself, Raph noticed something was different about the surroundings, as if everything was brighter and he was full of strength and energy.

He immediately took a shower, put on his long sleeved black shirt and black shorts and found his glasses by the table near his bed. He then placed his book under his pillow and made his way out of his room where he quickly encountered his grandfather.

"Good morning grandpa!" Ralph smiled brightly.

"Hoho? Feeling better already? Hmm? A level one student, but how?" The Duke was amused at first but surprised at the sudden change in the boy as he inadvertently spoke his thoughts aloud

"I woke up like this? Ralph said quietly.

"No matter, let's see what the lass has made for dinner." The Duke just waved the matter off although he wore a small smile, obviously in a good mood. Ralph quietly sat down and ate his breakfast, eating quickly before getting up and running out the house while yelling at them his whereabouts.

"I'm going to the book store, the old lady there told me she was receiving a new supply of good books, be right back, see you all later!" As if forgetting about what happened yesterday, Ralph quickly headed outside.

"Is he going to be alright?" The madam asked worriedly.

"Do not worry over the boy, this small hurdle Is something he must cross if he ever hopes to inherit the Reinhardt name and glory." Said the Duke as he harrumphed. After a ten minute casual walk, Ralph found the store and browsed the directories for around thirty minutes before settling on a light novel this time. He stayed in there for another hour before deciding to return home after finishing up.

As he left and made his way home, he noticed that one of the bullies he met yesterday was just screaming at a man setting up shop, witnessing as the man paid him twenty silvers just to get the bully to stop bothering him. Just then, Ralph and the bully, Charlie, made eye contact, with the bully forming a ferocious grin that seemed especially terrifying along with his massive scar that seemed to move.

Ralph was trembling now as he saw the boy more than double his age make his way over to him.

"Well well, I assume you have money this time to pay your over dues for hurting me and my friend? It will be about thirty silver, this entire week's debt." The man snarled in pleasure as he stared down at the meek little boy who couldn't maintain eye contact.

"I-i already paid the shopkeeper t-to keep some books?" Ralph stutteringly tried to explain as he raised a small book to show Charlie.

"You idiot! Looks like I need to teach you manners huh snotty brat!" With that, Charlie summoned a steel rod 1.5 meters long and  with a cube at its tip, seemingly carrying a heavy weight.

"Your left hand will be proper payment!" Charlie grasped the rod tightly as he roared at the kid, slapping the book out of his hands.

He then lunged at the scared witless Ralph and kicked him in the stomach, hurling him forward quite a bit, causing screams to echo among the bystanders.

"Young man, let the boy go-heurk!" When a middle aged shopkeeper tried defusing the situation, the rod greeted his waist with a painful cracking sound, sending the man flying into another's stand. With one last groan, the man slowly fainted, silencing the scared public.

"Everyone shut the hell up when I do business! I'm just collecting the debts you all needed to pay my father and I'm just dishing out punishment to someone who refused. Who else wants a piece of me!" Charlie intimidated the crowd into silence with many feeling pity for the completely defenseless, crying child who seemed to be the sole target of that hooligan who walked all over these streets knowing his father and friend had his back.

"S-s-someone..." Ralph mournfully cried before another kick to his stomach sent him flying once again into another's stand, causing a cry to echo out from the bystanders once again.

"Papa, mama, Hardin, Zephyr... Heurk!" Once again another heavy kick sent him flying from his previous fetal position and into the side of a wall.

"Its a shame Lee had somewhere to be or he would have roughed you up a bit more , eh, means more fun for me. Stick out your hand obediently, you nor nobody in this poor area is a match for me and my ROD, take this!" Near the end of his sentence he struck down on Ralph's left hand with great strength, causing a grotesque sound to echo out and cause the elderly present to look away in sadness as some of the weaker willed ones broke out into tears. A mournful scream came from Ralphs mouth as tears and snot completely flew unobstructed as he rolled around in pain, grasping his hand in pure agony.

The wailing of the small child seemed to grasp the hearts of the elderly bystanders and some terrified civilians but what could they do?

He was a nobleman who had special privileges they were not privy too and that made him have the ability to walk around unabashed and let him do whatever. The guards in this area would always somehow disappear from this part of the town whenever he and his buddy appeared. 

"Why does this keep happening to me?" Ralph thought in his mind as the pain kept him awake through the suffering. He was tired, very tired, his eyes couldn't even focus on the figure slowly approaching him while constantly swinging his weapon while humming. All he could do was turn his body so he was lying on his back and stare at the sky in indignation while waiting for the next rounds of beating.

Now, what else should I take from you boy, your other hand, your legs, or should I just put you out of your misery? Keekekek." Charlie looked to the sky and gave off a wicked laughter which resounded across the street which sounded quite sadistic.

While he was enjoying himself, two birds soundlessly flew out from Ralph and started gliding high above in the sky beautifully. With that, two voices echoed within Ralph's head, drowning out his loathing of himself.

"All shall be revealed in due time, the truth is never shrouded for long." A booming echo shook Ralph from his tired state.

"If something is too hideous to be seen by others, HIDE IT, DESTROY IT, throw it in the fog of mirage and never let it be seen again."

"Hide...it?" Ralph slowly muttered to the sky. With that, a bolstering fog rapidly descended into the crowd and caused surprised and fearful cries.

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"What is this!?"

"Keuk, Fog!?"

"Ahhhh!"

Charlie was also among the shocked and stopped laughing, looking around in fear as he held up his rod in preparation.

"Who's there?" He yelled In a bid to hide his fear. With that the fog slowly made way for a figure to walk past, someone that surprised Charlie.

"What are you doing here Lee? You scared me! And I thought your summoning was a red hedgehog? what'cya doing in the fog? I was dealing with busin-keuk!"

A crated box fell on top of his head and knocked him to the ground. When he looked up, he still saw his motionless friend staring at him without any action before a boot covered the rest of his vision, repeatedly stomping on his face. He tried to block it and roll away before getting back up but another crate crashed down on him soon after, making him fall back down defenseless. It was then followed by ten quick stomps. After that, Charlie fell into unconsciousness while muttering,

"Why...Lee?" After a few more moments, the haze cleared up alongside the sounds of Ralph's screams.

What surprised the confused crowd was that there were now two downed bodies, the aggressor and the victim with a few smashed boxes being the only evidence as to what happened alongside boot marks.

"What...happened?" A confused peddler asked his peers.

"That doesn't matter, for now, someone rush the boy to a hospital!" An elderly woman screamed once seeing the boy holding his hand in extreme agony. After the adrenaline wore off, Ralph felt the full pain of a broken hand and quickly screamed at the top of his lungs in extreme agony.

Two aged men came and carried him, rushing him down the street and ran down an alleyway in a bid to get to the hospital faster. All of a sudden amidst their rush they dropped the boy and slowly fell unconscious.

These events even led to distracting Ralph of his pain for a few seconds when he saw that a strangely dressed man appear before him. He wore black and purple silk robes with a long cloak covering most of his tall body. He had long billowing black hair and a calm demeanor, his eyes were a glowing yellow and he had a clean face with no facial hair covering his pale skin whilst having pale lips. His eyebrows were curved and looked slender and long. He looked middle aged yet fair and imposing.

His first words helped Ralph ease off his pain and his voice had a magnetic attraction and allowed him to identify this man as the voice he heard yesterday.

"How did your first victory alone taste?" He said while sporting a small smile.

"Um.." Ralph trailed off as he didnt know what to say as he cradled his hand.

"This was you alone, no one came to your rescue, you had no one to rely on at your time of need, only yourself. Strength is taking care of yourself in those moments, do you still lack the will to gain power even after seeing all that? Those bugs will not leave you alone no matter what. They are bugs, prey to all, if they know someone is lower than them on the food chain, they will continuously pester that prey to feel big, do you still wish to be prey to those inherently weak?" The man slowly preached to the quiet Ralph.

"I..I do not want power nor strength." Ralph spoke while shaking his head and resting his left hand.

"Hmm?" The man seemed confused as he raised an eyebrow and waited for more.

"Heurk, I know it seems weak, but I want peace and quiet. Being with my family and reading books is all I want, I do not want to fight like my other brothers, I just want my mom and dad to be fine and always be with me." Ralph spoke his heartfelt words as tears started streaming again as the pain came back in droves.

"What if someone tried to hurt your mom and dad?" The man once again questioned while throwing a dark wind at Ralph's hand discreetly.

"No! My dads the strongest in the world, he would never lose!" His blind belief in the strength of his father amused the man.

"What will you do when your unparalleled father is away and all that is left is you and your mother? If you are too weak, who would you rely on to protect her young one?" The man once again tested Ralph.

This inwardly scared Ralph as he never thought of this.

"Um..." He once again became flustered and did not know how to speak. With that the man's eyes glowed and Ralph found himself alone looking ahead to see his mother smiling in front of him with her arms out, waiting for him.

"Mom!" He happily replied as he reached for her.

When he was running to her, a massive steel rod came and struck the side of her head with immense force, causing a bloody scene which froze Ralph dead in his tracks. He stared at the bloody figure on the ground in front of him which still had their arms out ready for an embrace.

"M-mother?" Ralph trembled as he spoke.

"What will you do when this happens, all because you let those weaker than you take advantage of you, they killed your mother as well." Another voice seemed to echo from everywhere, each word striking at Ralph's heart soundlessly, yet broke it into pieces.

"I-I" it seemed he was too overwhelmed by the scene and couldn't process anything else. With a snap the scene disappeared and the area once again became the alley where the man and Ralph stood and sat respectively with two unconcious men by the side near some garbage.

"That was fake young one. However, Do you naively believe your father would be around forever? To protect your beloved mother. Sure right now he is around but what happens when something happens when it is just the two of you. Can you guarantee everything will be alright?" The man once again tried convincing the peaceful Ralph

"What do I do then?" Ralph seemed convinced by the man's words and vacantly repeated the words, still overwhelmed.

"You still lack the necessary power. I have already achieved my goal of fixing your mindset, I will be back after I settle business which may take some time. I only took an interest to you as your talent is similar to mine yet your inherent talent is beyond mine. Remember my words boy! Only the strong can speak, reason belongs only to those similar, when there is a disparity in strength, the strong takes everything with no mercy!" With that the man slowly disappeared from where he was standing beside Ralph, leaving him alone to think.

"Power.. Mother... Mother!" Ralph came to his senses and ran from the alley way, leaving two unconcious dudes randomly lying there. It seemed as if they regained their consciousness soon after Ralph left, but the mysterioisness of it all left them staring at each other for a long while.

 Once he found a familiar road, he ran straight back home. He found his house and hurriedly entered, blowing by the maids and butlers of the Duke and ran all the way to his mother's room. There he saw something that allowed for a massive boulder to descend from his heart.

There laying there was his beautiful mother reading a book with a gentle smile with a ferret laying on her lap.

"Mother... Mother!" Tears flew from Ralph's eyes as he hugged her with all his might.

"Now, now Ralph, what's made you like this, tell mother." Aaly had a gentle smile as she wiped her sons eyes amidst his crazy sobbing.

Even she had to admit, her closest child was the one in front of her. Siegmund was cheerful and always adventurous, running around and playing everywhere before he left at a young age.

Hardin was quiet and kind, yet he adored his father and followed him everywhere to learn combat despite his kindhearted nature.

Zephyr also liked to fight and would also follow their father to learn to fight. However he was unlike Hardin who did it only to improve himself, he would be quick to show his results and would fight everywhere and start pranks so he was a headache as well for both her and Renault.

Only this boy in front of her was timid and meek, choosing to always hover beside her, holding her hand. He also adored books with a passion and was very knowledgeable and had high intellect and although shy, always kept his emotions in. Yet here he was, crying and bawling his eyes out with no way to get his voice out. This tore Aaly's heart as he tried calming her child down.

"Mom..mom was hurt... By bullies." Ralph was barely able to muster up a sentence.

"What do you mean, can't you see that mother is alright." Aaly tried comforting her child by making faces and tickling Ralph, yet to no avail. Thus she sighed and brought him in for a hug to slowly let him calm down. After roughly five minutes, the sobbing came to a slow stop as Ralph collected himself.

"Now Ralph, would you explain to your confused mother, your making me cry watching you." Aaly tried getting her son to speak finally.

"There were bullies, they came and attacked the elderly and even me, they got my hand.. My hand!" Ralph was amazed to see his left hand was alright and there was no pain whatsoever. Even the bruises on his stomach seemed to have just disappeared.