Training Starts!

Kai who had just entered deep slumber was suddenly awoken by a loud alarm that jolted him out if his bed. He was still half asleep but quickly went to grab his black vest and cargo pants and shoes that they were all given.

Kain's words and what had happened yesterday kept playing in his mind as the boy carried on putting his clothes on and stumbled his way outside the building.

They were all given orders that if they arrived late it would result in them being whipped. Surely, 5 of them out of the original 85 were whipped 3 times before they were allowed to join the rest.

Following the orders, Kai and the rest were told to run along the pathway leading up to the peak of the mountain and making their way back. After running for about 20 kilometres the kids collapsed down trying to regain their breath.

Thanks to his dad and him fighting people pretty much every day, Kai was the 3rd person to make it back. He was still exhausted like the rest. This was his first time running such a long way without any rest.

After 5 mins of rest, they were told to work on their strength now. There were a bunch of heavy metal plates that weighed 6000 to 8000kg. Since most kids were level 6 body refiners, they were told to pick it up and do 100 squats, 100 pushups with the metal on their back and finally bench press them 100 times.

Even though most of the students were level 6 body refiners, it didn't mean they were strong enough to lift 6000kg. Most of the kids were either from the lower district of hope city or middle district.

Not all of them had strong foundations like Kai did and it was already good if they could lift 5000kg much less 6000kg. What the instructor wanted was to go push them to their limits. This was also a way to make their foundations stronger.

These brats had either consumed medicines or were helped by the elders of their family. Constantly lifting weights that were intended for their level was a good way to make their foundations stronger.

Seeing the kid's struggle and some even flat out giving up, the instructor gloated over this and readied his whip. Those who gave up completely we're dragged out while those who were struggling were whipped.

Everything seemed to be going as planned until the instructor's eyes laid on a child who was easily lifting the 6000kg weight like it was nothing. Although there was some sweat piling up, it didn't mean he was exhausted or struggling.

Kai didn't see any 5000kg metal for his level, so he had assumed that he would be picking up 6000kg like most of the rest, and carried on with his work, was suddenly stopped, as he saw the instructor coming towards him.

The boy looked to be a level 5 body refiner yet he was effortless picking up 6000kg. "What's your name, brat?" He stood in front of the boy.

Kai looked up "It's Kai, Sir!" He saluted him as was the protocol when they were asked a question from the instructor. "Seems like you can lift a 6000kg metal plate easily while being a level 5 body refiner. Go and start lifting the 7000kg one. Your foundations seem strong" the man ordered him.

Kai threw down the plate and ran towards the 7000kg one. This time the instructor kept an eye on him and became shocked as he saw the kid lift a 7000kg one easily without too much effort.

'He's only a peak level 5 body refiner yet he can easily lift 7000kg while the rest of them are struggling.' The man rubbed his chin and decided to bring it up a notch. "Oi kid, put that down and go lift those 8000kg ones"

Again without making any noise, Kai simply dropped the plate and moved to lift 8000kg. It was only then, did the instructor see him struggle to lift it. 'Good this shall be enough to force him to use all his strength' the man nodded.

Some of the kids who were lifting those heavily metal plates were shocked to see Kai, who was younger than them lift something so heavy. It wasn't as if the kids were only level 6 body refiners. There were some level 7 and 8 as well but they were already 13 and 14 years old. While some were good enough to lift a few kg above their level, it wasn't something as monstrous as Kai.

"What are you all looking at?! Do you all want to get whipped?!" Instructors voice made them shiver, as they went back to work.

An hour soon passed and anyone who couldn't complete the whole workout was in for a lashing. This included Kai as well. Even for him, 8000kg was too much work. He drew a cold breath as his shirt brushed at his whip wound.

Finally, it was time for breakfast and that was the only part of the training camp that they all liked. All kinds of meat were laid out in front of them. It was all you can eat buffet so it was a blessing for most kids. They had 30 minutes to eat as much as they want.

Seeing such a palatial meal, most of the students who were from the lower district where they weren't given such luxury, made sure to fill their stomachs to the brim.

Kai, however, was self-aware of how much he should eat. He was brought up in a household where his dad would usually go out hunting and would only eat in moderation when he was about to go hunting or training.

Soon as was feared, one of the kids started to choke and collapsed on the floor. No one came to him as he slowly stopped breathing. The instructors simply looked over and ignored the whole situation.

Seeing such a scene all the kids held back their urge to fill in their stomachs. After breakfast was training again. The whole day was dedicated to training. It was focused on endurance and strength.

Even for Kai who's body was really strong as a kid felt it was too much. He was after all an 11-year-old kid and wanted to just lie down when it was too much. Gritting his teeth as he thought about his dad and mum, gave him the strength to push through and carry on. Soon night came and they were allowed to head back to their beds.

Kai didn't know how he had made it through this whole day without giving up. Slowly, taking off his shirt he lied on his stomach as traces of 5 lashes was seen on his back. He had been whipped each time he failed to meet the instructor's expectations.

Kai soon passed out as in his bed, tired from all the exhaustion. His dreams weren't all that helpful as flashbacks of the day his parents died kept playing in his head causing him to suddenly wake up, all sweating as the death bell aka alarm went off again.

Again, he put on his shirt and drew in a cold breath as the shirt touched his wounds. Running out again and standing as straight a spear they repeated their training.

The metal whip in the instructor's hand was the most profound thing all the kids would come to remember. Again he was lashed for not being able to complete all the tasks.

Every single student had a different experience with the whip. Some who were strong suffered the least, while the weaker ones would get whipped multiple times in a day. It had become a norm and some even fell, completely giving up after the whipping. They were dragged out, never to be seen again.

For the third day, they were given medicine to apply to their wounds which were even more unbearable to bare than the whipping. However, it did heal those wounds after a painfully night.

Just like this, days flew by. Every single day Kai would get haunted by the whip in the morning and nightmares in the night. It truly was hell.

Finally, after a whole month, Kai was able to avoid being struck by a whip. It took him a month of work to get used to the whole training. It also helped that he had broken through to level 6 body refiner after all this struggle. During the night Kai before going to bed suddenly counted the number of people left and was surprised only about seventy were left. Thirty of them had been either killed or vanished completely.

After this what followed was endless training again.

Just like this, three months had passed away. Jack the head of the training camp no longer executed the kids for meaningless things. Only actions that violated prohibitions would be met with execution. Even with this, they had lost 10 more people and only sixty of the original 100 were remaining now.

What came to a surprise was Kai, who looked like a completely different person than he was 3 months ago. His body had strengthened a lot in three months and he grew 3 inches making him 4ft 10inches. Taller than most 12-year-olds. You could also see defined muscles on his arms and chest.

He had also reached at the peak of level 6 body refiner at this point.

For the first time after three months after their usual training, they were brought to another two-story building. Jack told them, they would be receiving a special class today.

Kai and his companions followed inside the building and took the stairs to the second floor where the class was meant to take place. These three months had taught the kids how to behave. Seeing no instructor there, they simply sat on the floor and waited for the instructor, without making any noise.

Surely enough, a lady soon walked in. Similar to other instructors she wore a vest which was short enough to expose half of her belly. He chest was pretty sizeable as well. Over her vest, she wore a small jacket that rested on her shoulders. While the rest was cargo pants and boots. She had blonde hair that was tied in a bun.

Seeing such beautiful instructor would've riled anyone up but after 3 months of intense training and knowing the consequences none of them dared to have any thoughts.

The woman soon walked up to a blackboard and wrote down in large words 'Yin-Yang'. Reading it aloud first, she then said "I know most if not all of you do not know what the term means, but that's okay. You will have a month of time to study; I will issue all the reading materials to you shortly after this session. Exams will take place in a months time. Now let me explain to you what Yin-Yang means.

Yin-Yang referred to Darkness and Light.

According to, Naomi, Darkness and light were the sources of power that drove this world. Just as Yin-Yang the world was divided into Yin which was Darkness and Yang which was Light

Yin was the source of all Darkness creatures while Yang was the sources of all the forces of light. All living creatures had to adhere to one side of the force.

Humans and elves were situated at the side of Yang, while the various dark races that enslaved or killed the humans belonged to the side of Yin. Their power, and even their lives all existed by adhering to Yin energy. The dark races used to be incomparably powerful and were composed of two races. Vampires and Hollows were the two mighty races whose names spread far and wide.

Humans and elves were however a strange race. Even though the vast majority were inclined toward the side of Yang energy, there were also many who affiliated with Hellstorm, so much so that there were those who devoted their entire lives for Hellstorm even after awakening Yang energy. This was unimaginable to the dark races, but it was not a rare occurrence for humans.

It was said that there was a legend about Balancing both Yin and Yang energy to create the purest form of energy. One that would have no rival but alas it was only a legend. None of the races had ever produced such a person. Yin and yang inherently were opposites that would destroy each other so it was inconceivable to think they could form a balance.

Yin-Yang and cultivation...

Kai who had been listening to all of this clenched his fist. Unbeknownst to him, a spark was ignited in his heart. It extinguished as soon as it ignited.

Naomi suddenly tapped at a device on the desk which opened up a 3D picture of the world.

The map showed them the world they lived in and how far the Yang races had explored this world. The world was divided into three realms.

The Hope realm where they resided which consisted of Elves and Humans. The land was filled with Light and greenery and Yang energy. The Hellstrom realm which was occupied by Dark races Which were Hollows and vampires. An unchanging night covers the sky, most of the land is covered with white sand but despite this, there are a lot of trees and ample amount of water. The endless white sand covers the majority of the realm.

Finally, the void realm which consists of all the runaways and criminals. It is considered the most dangerous place as you are not guaranteed safety. Both Yin and Yang forces live there either in harmony or killing each other. No one is safe in this realm hence it's considered a dead land by many. Many forces are operating there and some even strong enough to challenge the strongest in Hellstrom and Hope realm.

Naomi also explained that there are other worlds and realms out there. The world they occupy right now is called the Forgotten world and all of the three realms combined are considered as Forgotten Lands. No one knew where this term came from but it was told in their books that legends from centuries ago travelled outside the world and came to come across this name.

All this information was too much for the kids. They couldn't make head or tail of this. Only those kids who were from influential families were somewhat able to grasp this.

"Yin and Yang energy, differ from place to place. For example, the corners of each realm are known as the Weak Edges. They have the least amount of Yang or Yin energy hence the people living there are very slow to cultivate and some can't even cultivate." She carried on

Kai clenched his fist, this was where he came from. His town was at the boundary of Hope realm hence everyone in his town was weak at cultivating. This is why his father was so slow. If only they had lived somewhere else but there were no buts or ifs.

He knew ever since he came here, he was becoming, stronger way faster than back in his home town.

Unwittingly, the class had already reached its end.

Naomi tapped on the device again as it shut down. "Next lesson we will focus on the War of the Void realm and the Light forces, first victory. It was a war that founded our current Hope Empire."