Their group arrived back at Mysthaven in the evening a day later, and he watched as Nox and the other mounts were set free to roam the nearby mountains before heading further into the village.

It wasn't long before the caravan broke up, and he found himself at home having a warm meal at the table.

"Father, can I look at the cultivation book tonight?" He asked as they ate, getting an odd look from his mother.

"Not tonight. It's your first training session tomorrow, so you're going straight to bed after this meal. You can look at it tomorrow night if you put in enough effort during the workout."

"Okay." He replied, trying not to sound too disheartened. His attempts must have failed as his mother spoke up.

"Don't look so dejected. Looking at your face, you would have thought we sent you to bed without food. What is it with you and books?" She said with an exasperated laugh.

"I just find them interesting." He said as he spooned in another mouthful.

It didn't take long for him to finish his food and head to bed. He had worked out that he should be able to undergo body rejuvenation a couple of times tonight so he would be refreshed by morning even after spending the night training.

He currently had no way of measuring time and had just been using a rough five-hour timeframe for when the reset occurred. What had been bothering him was that it didn't seem to be five hours on the dot, and there seemed to be some variance. This meant that whilst he could get a rough sense of when it would happen, it wouldn't be like clockwork.

At first, he reviewed all he had learned about cultivation to ensure the details were stored in his memory. He then spent the rest of the night working on his essence control and using the willpower ring. Proper cultivation was off the table until he gathered more information, but that didn't stop him from developing the areas he could.

Getting up when he heard his parents moving around, he rolled out of his little bed that replaced his cot and got washed and dressed. There were no showers, so getting washed usually meant using a rag and a small tub of cold water to clean.

What I wouldn't give for a hot shower.

Before long, they were all dressed in hardy outdoor clothing and heading to the training fields for the morning.

***

"Ughh." A blonde-haired boy cried out as he was put onto his backside by the taller girl he was sparing with.

They had spent most of the morning training and doing workouts, making his arms and legs cry in pain. Thankfully, he rejuvenated near the end, grateful that muscle growth was included in the new baseline.

With his consumption of that essence beast meat recently, he had noticed his body was already much more potent than it should be for his age. This fact left him feeling quite amused when he was curling weights that a child his age should have no right lifting for so long.

Now it was time for sparring matches. He had yet to have his turn but wasn't looking forward to being the smallest kid here.

"Thales, Thanos. In the middle." Kouris barked as she strode around with her hands behind her back.

She was still training the children, and he knew she was a hard ass when it came to it, so he quickly moved to the centre of the group, not wanting to provoke her.

Standing across from him was a young boy a few years older than he was, and it wasn't until he started training that he realised a problem. Every other child in the group was at least a couple of years older than him. This was because he had formed his core early, whilst all the other villagers usually did this around age five.

It also meant he was probably about to have his arse kicked by a five-year-old.

Dropping his posture slightly, he pulled his fists up and got into a rough fighting stance. Back on Earth, he had taken some kickboxing lessons for a time, but he never stuck at it for long. This at least gave him the bare basics of how to fight, although he had never really put it into practical use.

"Begin." Kouris barked, and the pair moved closer, sizing each other up.

Thales was an early bloomer for the children, awakening his will and forming a core before most others in the village did at his age. This meant he had been training and sparring for a while now. His father was also a very strict legion member, so the boy was bound to be well-trained.

*Smack*

Thales hit him with a left jab that he managed to catch on his right arm and block. The boy threw a few more lefts and met the same result as they circled around each other.

Feeling emboldened, he returned a punch of his own and was surprised to find it land cleanly on the boy's face, causing him to stagger back. The hit didn't stun Thales, but it did stun him.

The entire situation of beating up a child went through his mind, causing him to miss the right hook that smashed into his cheek, dropping him to the ground.

This fight wasn't boxing, and the match didn't stop until Kouris said, so he knew it wasn't over yet. He pushed up, aiming to get back on his feet, but the youth didn't intend to let him do so as he dived on top, shoving him back into the dirt.

Stolen story; please report.

He raised his arms instinctually, fending off a rain of incoming blows aimed at his face as he protected his head. This attack seemed to trigger something as the image of Thales superimposed against a bearded man straddling him, holding a brick aloft, sending his mind into a spiral.

Just as he felt he was suffocating under the pressure of the person on top, something seemed to awaken inside. It was that feeling of vengeance he had encountered when he was younger, which was now rising again.

It called him to destroy, to make right his previous defeat and to make his enemy pay. Thales was there no longer as the bearded man sat above him with fists crashing down.

With a guttural scream, he grabbed the man's hands at the wrists and pulled them to the sides as his head shot up into a waiting nose, and blood exploded onto his face.

The man fell back with a whimper as he held his nose with a shocked expression. Without thinking, he launched himself at his attacker, the pair rolling around on the ground.

He came out on top and began pummeling the man, screaming with rage. Voices shouted in the distance somewhere, but he didn't care as hands wrapped around the man's neck and he squeezed.

"I said enough. Learn some self-control," Kouris shouted as he flew backwards, landing on his back and knocking the air out.

He looked on, confused, seeing Thales staring at him with fear as he held his nose and rubbed a swollen cheek. Realising what had happened, he couldn't help but feel embarrassed as he got to his feet.

So, it seems I might have some issues to work through.

Reaching out a hand, the boy eventually took it, and he got a slight nod from their instructor at the gesture.

"Not bad for a first attempt. Sloppy, but that's to be expected, along with my orders getting obeyed. Understand?" She said in a tone that invited no argument as he nodded and gave a verbal confirmation.

She then walked through their match, giving pointers and advice to the pair before they got sent to the side as the bouts continued. Thanos didn't pay attention to any of it as his mind wandered through what happened before someone broke his drifting thoughts.

"Little baby, you're not going to cry, are you?" Rhea said as she slid in next to him and looked down.

He just glanced at his childhood 'friend' and ignored her. She still hadn't grown out of her obsession with tormenting him, and it had been like this since they had first met.

"Rhea, since you like to run your mouth off, go run your legs instead. Ten laps around the area as punishment." Kouris snapped at the girl, causing her to flinch as she ran off with her head down.

The rest of the training was over before long, which he was thankful for.

***

It was later in the evening, and Marcus was out setting up the Lightstones whilst teaching him how to do it now that he was deemed old enough.

He couldn't help but think about the strange crystals he held during this time.

They were quite a common material, he had found out, and their actual value was in their property to store light essence with the correct inscriptions carved into them.

Similar crystals existed, like Coldstones that let out stored water essence. Even though it was more apt to say the temperatures they gave off were closer to ice than water, ice still got classed as water essence.

He also saw similar crystals in the shops throughout the city, with the alchemy shop having some green ones set up by the herb stands, sending out essence to the plants.

This made him realise he didn't know much about crafting with essence and the new professions in this world. He got so focused on his cultivation that he'd forgotten there was more than just that to learn.

"Father, how're these crystals created?" He asked as they attached the last one to the nearby pole before walking to the house.

"The crystals get mined from under the earth and sold to a crafter who does the inscription part." His father matter-of-factly replied as he looked down.

"Do those crafters go by a certain name?" He asked again, clarifying that he was more interested in the crafting side than the generic information.

"They do. Inscription masters are the ones who usually make these, but formation masters and the more advanced enchanters can also do the same." Marcus said as they reached the front of the house.

"What is the difference between them? He curiously asked.

"You should ask your mother. She knows more about this subject than me."

"Is mother an inscription master?" He asked, wondering if she was the one who had carved all these crystals.

He had never seen her do such, but anything was possible.

"No, her father was," Marcus answered as they walked inside, directing his mother to take over and narrating his questions to her.

"Come sit down. I'll explain over a cup of warm milk." She said as she grabbed a heating pan off the fireplace.

"So an inscription master can use their essences and soul to inscribe certain runes on an item that allows it to interact with essence, much like a Lightstone." She said as she poured him a cup and sat across from him at the table.

"An inscription master can be considered a starting point for various other trades and the first step in many. For example, an inscription master might become an engineer, building great devices like the skyship we saw the other day. They could also go into formations, craft arrays, and robust defensive barriers. One might even become an enchanter and imbue powerful weapons or armour with unique properties."

"To do all those things, a person needs to learn the basics, which is what an inscription master is." She finished as she lifted her wooden cup and drank some milk.

"Is it hard to become an inscription master?" He asked curiously.

It sounded like a powerful profession, so it must have some drawbacks, or everyone would do it.

"A person needs to have a powerful soul with talent in forming inscriptions. They would then require a teacher and the money to fund the training. it's costly." She answered with a sigh as if imagining what could have been.

"Is that why you didn't learn from your father, because it was expensive?"

He wondered why his mother had never become one if her old man was.

"I didn't have the talent required, and then father and mother died, so I guess it just didn't happen." She said with a sad smile, and he instantly regretted asking such an insensitive question, even if he didn't know beforehand.

They sat silently, enjoying each other's company before Valeria spoke up.

"I do have all his old books and notes about the profession. Perhaps you'd like to read them one day?" She said, causing his head that had been staring down into his cup to snap up suddenly, much to her amusement.

"You and your books. We'll have to teach you how to read sooner rather than later." She laughed at him, and he rubbed the back of his neck, wondering if he had given himself whiplash at looking up so fast.

Oh well, nothing Body Rejuvenation won't fix.

"I promised if you did well in training today, I would let you look at my clan's cultivation technique book, so here it is," Marcus said as he produced a thick leather tome from a storage device that looked like a ring.

Passing it over, he took it eagerly and ran his fingers across the expensive-looking front cover, finding it made from some light metal similar to aluminium.

The cover matched the image on the Darklight medallion he had seen a few days ago. The only difference was one side was dark with a moon, and the other was coloured white with a beaming sun.

His parents left the table to do other chores around the house, leaving him alone to flick through the thick book as he slowly opened it, leafing through the first few pages.

It's empty?