Monsters are beings born from an aggregation of mana in one place. Most monsters are not intelligent. They usually gather into groups based on their outside appearance.

When killed, the mana that makes up their bodies gets crystallized. This crystallized mana is known as a monster core. If you are lucky, and there is excess mana after the core creation, the mana may create a random item for you. Different types of monsters have different items they usually leave behind.

Monsters would leave their natural habitat in groups in search of food when they outgrow their food source in number. The Xerxi on Planet Ko and the other intelligent beings call this a monster outbreak.

*******

Abre was born to a poor farmers' household in a village in the Sairitz domain of the country of Delle.

On one sunny day when Abre was but only five Great Cycles old, there was a monster outbreak in his village. Spider-like monsters came into his village and started eating whatever their chelicerae(jaws) could chew. Abre as the child he was, was supposed to evacuate but he charged towards the monsters in an effort to save his friend who was caught by one of the monsters when she was trying to escape.

He gained the title [The Brave] when he was face to face with the monster which had bitten off two of his friend's limbs. He got the skill [Overcomer] from the title and with the help of the new skill he successfully defeated the monster saving his friend. Remi Sairitz, the Second Noble who rules over the village had sent some soldiers to save the village from the monsters. Shortly after Abre saved his friend, the soldiers came around and eradicated the monsters. After hearing about Abre's achievement, they invited him to come meet the Second Noble. He agreed to go with them if they would take his friend, Emoiselle to the capital as well for proper treatment.

Not even the best healers around could heal that which was no longer. Since they couldn't retreat her legs, she lost her two eaten legs for good. Luckily she still had two more legs that aid her in walking though not perfectly.

While Abre became a knight, Emoiselle became a maidservant in the Sairitz castle. This happened after Abre met Remi Sairitz.

As time went on, Abre kept growing in strength and saving a lot more people as part of the Sairitz Army. Because of how talented he was as a knight Remi in time asked him to join the knight group which directly protects the Sairitz Family. Abre complied and was assigned to Etit's personal guards.

Abre is now thirteen Big Cycles old which is equivalent to seventeen years on Earth. He was recently asked to accompany his mistress back to their domain from the Noble Capital. On their way home, they were ambushed and chased by The First Noble's special core and he lost a lot of his comrades. When it seemed all was lost, A mysterious entity with glowing hair who he now serves saved him, his mistress and his mistress' handmaiden.

When he became the mysterious man's subordinate, he was given a higher-tier system which changed his view of the world. His Tier-one System never spoke to him. It displayed tests that he could understand even before he learnt how to read. And it never talked back. He was in the middle of exploring his new system when he found out that he now had a divine form that he could take temporarily.

Because of how weak he currently is, he can only take that form for three seconds maximum. After taking this form, his body will ache based on how long he stayed in that form since that form puts a lot of stress on his currently weak body. The good side is that that form will grant him an exponential increase in power.

When it was his time to spar with his new lord, he decided to go all out and used his newly found form that was bestowed on him by his new lord. This was because, in his mind, his new lord was so powerful that regardless how powerful he gets in his new form, he thought his new lord would be able to handle him.

When his new lord told him he had reduced his strength to his level, he thought it was his best chance to show how adept he was in combat to his new lord.

The battle was spectacular and Abre experienced the longest second in his life so far. His new lord after seeing his instant increase in power also increased his power making his [Overcomer] skill activate. Abre was so proud he was able to overwhelm his new lord for an instant. None of the others were able to even let him get serious but he was able to let him bleed while attacking him with a flurry of punches that he could barely dodge or block.

Unfortunately, his lead didn't last long as his new lord was able to find out how his [Overcomer] skill works and turn the tables on him.

He gave up when a second was reached and started suffering the pain he knew was awaiting him. His muscles kept twitching as his fellows kept on praising him. Not even The Brave could withstand the pain and Abre screamed and screamed and screamed. Healing magic could barely help him forcing his new lord to use a mid-potion on him.

Abre is five feet ten inches tall. He has a lean and athletic body with broad shoulders and a strong physique honed on the battlefield. His short spiky brown hair coupled with his sharp blue eyes make him seem unruly.

He had a scar on his right cheek which he had kept from his childhood to remember the first time he killed a monster. Regardless, his face looked attractive enough to be considered above average. Unfortunately, the mid-potion Rox gave him erased the scar making him look even more handsome.

*******

"You surprised me, Abre. Well done. I will grant you one wish as long as what you wish for is within my power but before that, tell me your story." Rox congratulated Abre after he was healed.

Abre told Rox an abridged story of his past and wished that Rox would grant his childhood friend her missing legs. Rox has high potions that can heal missing limbs and even if that doesn't work, he has a better method hidden in his spacial ring so he said; "In the near future, I will visit your country. If I do, I will do my best to heal your friend.".

After he was done talking to Abre, he told all of his Lower Divine Xerxi subordinates that they all have the form Abre took but they shouldn't use it unless their lives are in danger. It would be best if they only used it when there is another around who can carry them to safety after their transformation wears off. He also told the remaining ones to not use the form in the remaining sparring matches as it would leave them in the same state Abre found himself in.

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In the Lower Divine Xerxi form, Abre turned more handsome and his whole body started glowing golden. A sign of a divine being. Then, a halo appeared behind his head indicating he was only a lower divine being. This state boosts the divine being's power as it is the being's true form.

When Aicis and Baartu visited Rox, they took their weakest form as their true forms would have annihilated every living being on the planet.

Baartu's true form would burn everything near him as he is the incarnation of heat that can burn even stars.

Aicis' true form would emit an icy mist of destruction as she is the embodiment of destruction through ice. Her nickname, Ice Queen Of Destruction isn't for show.

*******

After talking to his subordinates, Rox invited Ache outside the barrier for their sparring match.

Ache is fifteen Big Cycles old which is equivalent to 19 years on Earth. He has a well-built muscular physique and a handsome face. His short vibrant red hair creates a nice contrast with his green eyes making him look more handsome although he doesn't really take time to groom himself. His six feet two inches height makes him a man who is sought after by many women.

Ache's father was a woodcutter. As he grew, he also learnt how to cut trees. Using his great axe, he could cut down great trees with just a swing. One day while in a forest cutting down trees a member of The First Noble's special corps saw him.

The girl who saw him fell for him as he was quite handsome in his own right. But, the main thing that attracted her was his tomato (red) hair and his manly figure as he chopped down the trees effortlessly. The girl, Ubrique, wanted a way to connect with him so she gathered up her courage and approached him.

"You" Ubrique pointed at Ache and commanded; "Join The First Noble's Special Corps".

Ache looked at her puzzled and replied; "There is no reason for me to join The Special Corps. I am content with what I have and I earn enough to feed my old lady."

"But... But, you will get more money." Ubrique thought her plan wouldn't fail so the moment Ache refused she didn't know what to say.

"I don't need more money. I said I am content with what I have."

Looking at Ache's resolute face as he spat out those words, Ubrique's already red face turned redder. "I... I... I'll put in a good word for you." Ubrique immediately ran away after saying so."

The moment she returned to The First Noble's castle, she told her immediate captain about the boy she met in the forest and the captain forwarded it to The First Noble. This was at the time that The First Noble had lost public opinion and wanted to increase his forces.

The First Noble Summoned Ache to his castle and forced him to join his forces. Ache initially wanted to refuse but The First Noble threatened him taking his family hostage. His family would be cared for as long as he keeps working for The First Noble. If he stops, his family would be taken care of.

Thus, Ache joined The First Noble's special corps. He was trained for a few small cycles in the ropes of being a special corps member. During this time, Ubrique wanted to get close to him but he avoided her like a plague. Even when Ubrique was the one instructing him, he made sure to distance himself as much as he could.

In no time, it was time for his first mission which he came into contact with Rox, his new lord.

*******

As usual, before Rox started sparring with Ache, he checked his stats first;

Name: Ache.

Race: Lower Divine Xerxi.

Level: 17.

Health Points(HP) = 106800.

Mana Points (MP) = 20800.

Strength (ST) = 11200.

Speed (S) = 176.

Durability (D) = 2608.

Stamina (E) = 28800.

Skills: [Intermediate Chopper], [Intermediate Brute Strength], [Intermediate Axemanship], [Basic Area Awareness], [Basic Physical Reinforcement], [Basic Blade Arts].

Resistances: [Intermediate Fear Resistance], [Intermediate Intimidation Resistance]

Titles: [Intermediate Woodcutter], [Rox's Subordinate]

And compared them with Ache's Tier-one stats;

Name: Ache.

Race: Xerxi.

Level: 17.

Health Points(HP) = 42720.

Mana Points (MP) = 8320.

Strength (ST) = 4480.

Speed (S) = 70.4.

Durability (D) = 1040.

Stamina (E) = 11520.

Ache's [Chopper] skill increases the power behind his chops especially when he is cutting trees. His [Brute Strength] skill increases his strength when it comes to his lifting capabilities whilst his [Axemanship] skill is similar to the [Swordsmanship] skill in the fact that they both refer to the proficiency of the user of the weapon to use that weapon in combat. His [Physical Reinforcement] boosts all of his physical stats. For the [Area Awareness] and [Blade Arts], well, you already know.

Rox's assessment of Ache was that Ache seems to not have optimized his skills for combat. Rox was confident Abre would wipe the floor with Ache if they ever entered into a one-on-one battle. Abre may even beat Au in battle as long as it is one-on-one.

"I have brought my stats down to your level. Do your best. I don't have an axe so what do you think about me using a sword?"

"Milord, a sword isn't strong enough to execute [Axemanship] skills. If you are going to use only my skills, you will be at a disadvantage."

"It doesn't matter. As long as you can perform as well as Abre, you win. Now, let's begin." Rox said, initiating the battle and stretched his right hand diagonally sideways. A projection of a sword appeared in his hands and a sword appeared in his hand.

The battle began with Ache attacking Rox with a Basic slash attack from the [Blade Arts] skill. Rox had to use two slash attacks to cancel it. Rox then rushed at Ache and pretended he was going to slash at him and stopped.

Ache tried to guard against the attack which left him open. Rox gave him a nice kick in the stomach which pushed him backward.

"An axe is potent when it comes to heavy attacks but the fact that you have to use two hands to hold it gives you a disadvantage against nimble opponents. You should do your best to read your opponent's movements so that you will not fall for obvious faints". Rox slashed at Ache vertically.

Ache dodged the attack by jumping to the side. "Thank you for the advice, Milord.". Rox's slash made a thirty-centimetres deep vertical line in a tree behind Ache. Ache used his Technique, [Chopping Slash] to counterattack Rox. The [Chopping Slash] technique is a technique that combines the powerful chopping ability of the [Chopper] skill and the projected slash attack of the [Blade Arts] skill creating a powerful slash attack powerful enough to cut many great oak trees down with just one slash.

Rox recognized the power behind the attack and jumped to avoid it. To prevent Ache from attacking him while he was in the air, he sent two slash attacks at him.

The slash cut clean through two trees before reaching the area above the crater Rox created. Rox had to run into the crater to avoid the two trees that were falling his way.

As Rox was standing in the crater, he saw one of the cut trees flying his way. He copied the technique he saw Ache just used and bisected the tree. Ache had used his [Brute Strength] to lift and throw one of the cut trees his way.

Ansah asked Rox how he'd name his new technique and Rox decided he'd name it the same as Ache named his.

The battle went on for a while. The two trees had been cut into many pieces in the crater. Ache had some cuts on his body. He had removed his shirt showing off his manly figure.

"I could have ended the battle right after we started. I was considering how Abre would defeat you and I must say; he would instantly have defeated you.". What Rox said was true. In a hypothetical fight, Abre would boost his speed which is already above Ache's and use it to disarm Ache. After that, Ache will simply turn into Abre's punching bag.

Rox started sending many slash attacks Ache's way. Ache's axe was heavy and it was also a two-handed weapon so he found it hard blocking the many attacks coming his way. If he was still in the woods, he would have tried to hide behind the trees but he couldn't do so now that he was in the crater.

Trying to run into the trees will mean him turning his back to the enemy. After taking some more cuts, Ache surrendered.