One Year Later

Just like that, Minos and Okrum began a grueling training session. Minos spent pretty much dawn to dusk refining, pushing his basics to their absolute limits.

With Okrum on the side, his progress was phenomenal. Each day Minos made noticeable progress, pushing his already good weapon refining skills to an entirely new level.

Time passed under this intense training, and the days turned to weeks, which turned to months, and then into a year.

…

"I'm done." Minos said, as he exhaustively wiped the sweat from his forehead.

In his hands he was holding a longsword that glimmered as the light reflected off it. Just by looking at it, one could almost feel the sharpness of its edge.

"One year of progress, let's see what you've done with it." Okrum said as he took the sword from Minos's hand and inspected it.

"Miraculous, while it still isn't quite at the Four-Moon quality, it's only half a step away!" Okrum spoke as he marveled Minos's work.

"Is it really impossible to create a Four-Moon weapon without reaching the Inner Heaven Realm first?" Minos couldn't help but ask.

"At least I've never heard of anyone capable of doing such a thing. Only once you reach the Inner Heaven Realm and gain the ability to control Nux can you organically integrate it into your weapon, raising its quality."

"As long as you can't control Nux, I can't imagine a way to create a Four-Moon quality weapon. But you don't need to distress, as long as you reach the Inner Heaven Realm, you'll definitely be able to make them no problem."

"Even with your cultivation talent, as long as you are willing to bow down a little, there will certainly be those more than happy to fund your cultivation." Okrum answered.

"You know that's not possible." Minos said.

"Hahaha, Of course, which just means you're going to have to work a lot harder!" Okrum replied with a loud laugh, fully supporting Minos's beliefs.

"But now that our year of training is over, and you've reached your limit, what you want to do from here is up to you."

"If you'd like, I can send in a promotion application, which will definitely be accepted given your talent. After that you can head towards a town-ship, which will broaden your horizons." Okrum suggested.

"Can I give you an answer tomorrow, I still have to think things through." Minos said.

"Take your time, you know where to find me." Okrum said.

With that, Minos said one more goodbye to Okrum before leaving the refining chambers. After walking absentmindedly, Minos soon found himself back at the mansion Beetus had bought a year earlier.

The house was completely empty at the moment, leaving Minos to himself. He walked up the stairs, soon arriving at the empty room Beetus had made for him.

A large man-sized mirror stood directly across the room, directly reflecting Minos, though what he saw in the reflection was different from what he remembered.

Despite only a year having passed, Minos seemed to have changed completely. The originally slightly scrawny short young man was replaced by a much taller man, standing at 185 centimeters.

His thin shoulders had broadened, and the skinny arms had quadrupled in size, likely from all the hammering he had been doing the last year.

Most notably was his face, which was originally quite chubby and circular, a face fitting a little boy, but now it had sharpened.

His originally mediocre features had completely grown into themselves, revealing a stunningly handsome face, as if chiseled by the finest sculptor.

His pure white hair had also lengthened, reaching down to just below his shoulders, straight and flowing, as if a waterfall falling from his head.

Minos couldn't help but feel shocked for a moment, constantly touching his face as if to guarantee that the reflection was his.

The past year had been spent almost exclusively in the forge, and Minos hadn't even seen anyone since he began his training.

He was an obsessive person by nature, and without realizing it, he had been completely absorbed into refining. It was only after his skills reached their limit and Okrum had reminded him the year was up, did he finally leave.

He couldn't help but repeatedly blink his ink-black eyes, as if it would disperse the illusion, but he finally came to terms with his own massive change.

With acceptance, Minos also couldn't help but reflect on his life up until the present. The many years that had passed, and the adventures he had gone on.

It all seemed to culminate into the person he saw in the reflection, no longer a boy, but truly a man. Just as Minos had grown mentally, without realizing it, he had also grown physically.

Letting out a deep sigh, Minos turned away from the mirror, collapsing on the bed and contemplating his future.

Underwood City was ultimately a small place, and he had no plans on staying here, but where to go was the real question.

While he could listen to Okrum's suggestion and keep heading up the Weapon Refining Union ladder, he didn't feel like it fit his nature.

This past year was incredibly useful, but at the same time, it helped Minos realize that he loved adventure just as much as he did learning.

The route proposed to him by Okrum was steady, but quite frankly, it was also very boring. Besides all that, Minos knew that he could never rely on outsiders when it came to his own cultivation, so he couldn't foster a dependence on the Weapon Refining Union.

Ultimately though, Minos wanted freedom, and a life spent behind the hammer didn't suit him, so while he would never give up on weapon refining, it would never be his true calling either.

It was that realization that made his choice so tricky, not sure what decision to make, he jumped off the bed, deciding to let the rest of his day determine his fate.

With his mind made up, it was time to finally reunite with all the people he hadn't seen over the past year. He also planned to make a trip to the Salt Breathing Tribe after he made his choice.

Almost the same moment Minos made up his mind, he heard the door to the house opening, followed by the laughs of children and Beetus's booming voice.

Heading down the stairs, he soon came face to face with the group, who had all grown just like him, naturally their changes however were far smaller.

Unlike the children who had all grown a little, Beetus was still unchanged, still holding that same naive look on his face he always had.

But the moment he saw Minos, that naive face morphed into confusion, as if he both recognized Minos, but also had no idea who he was.

"Who are you? Do you know Minos?" Beetus couldn't help but ask.

"Yeah, you look like my master, but way more handsome! Are you his big brother or something?" Rubella added.

"It's me." Minos replied. What he didn't realize was his voice had also deepened significantly over the years, making not only his appearance foreign, but even his speech.

"What the heck, who's you? You better let my master go right now or we'll all beat you up!" Rubella shouted indignantly, as if ready to get up in arms.

"I am your master, it's me, Minos." Minos reiterated one more time as he firmly smacked Rubella's head, causing her to go dizzy.

"It really is you, master! I'll never forget your slaps!" Rubella said in joy, jumping into Minos's arms.

Rubella who's head could originally reach Minos's shoulders could now barely reach his chest, further evidence of his massive growth spurt.

"Did you miss me that much?" Minos asked with a smirk.

"N-no way, I was just confused for a second." Rubella said with embarrassment as she scrambled out of his arms.

"Boss, you're back!" Beetus said out with a cry as he also accepted the new Minos.

"Mister, we all missed you, you changed so much!" A little boy said.

"Yeah, you are so handsome now." One little girl whispered with a blush on her face.

"What handsome? He still can't compare to me!" Another boy added, as snot dripped down from his nose.

"Monkey head, you are the opposite of handsome." An older girl said as she mocked the little boy's large ears.

Minos laughed as he settled back into the childrens familiar bickering. With a smile, he turned towards Beetus, asking the question he had been saving from the start.

"Did anything happen while I was gone?"

"Umm, well nothing that interesting, but there was someone who said he was looking for you." Beetus said.

"Looking for me, do you remember his name?" Minos asked.

"Hold on, I wrote it down. Ahh, here it is. His name is Venix." Beetus answered.

"Venix? How long ago was this?" Minos asked with slight excitement.

"About a month or two ago. I told him you were busy, so he told me to give you this note when you were available." Beetus said, as he handed the small note that had Venix's name on it.

Flipping the note over, Minos found an address was jotted down. Having lived in Underwood City so long he had remembered the locations, hence he immediately remembered where the address was located.