In a faraway place

[3rd person view]

The stench of blood filled the dense air, a red mist covering everything in its path. On the red sky there was no sun, no moon and no stars. Only emptiness, fitting for the desolate wasteland that a once thriving city has turned into. What were once skyscrapers and huge buildings, now became ruined, unrecognizable rubble, destroyed by an uknown force.

In that forsaken place, two figures could be seen.

The first one was a young, athletic boy, whose hair, once golden, was now covered with dust and pebble, with blood splattered on his face, cuts and bruises scattered across his body. His crimson eyes were filled with fear, anger and desperation as he was running away from something.

Besides him was his younger sister, who was crying, terrified, yet still moving forward. Her body was in terrible shape, even worse than her brother. Her vision was blurry , her legs were shaking, and her head was throbbing with intense pain. Despite her deplorable condition, fear was etched on her face as she continued to run.

Suddenly, the girl lost her balance and crashed into the ground. The boy, even more terrified, rushed to her, trying to help her stand. Yet it was too late. A humanoid figure exuding a thick veil of darkness appeared in front of them. Taking the form of a middle aged-man, the figure spoke:

"Terrible luck. If you have left her behind and kept running, I may have thought about sparing you. But now, I will kill you both. How does it feel knowing that you will both die today? Or even better, how does it feel to die because of your sister?"

The man taunted the blond teenager, immediately slashing the girl's neck.

"No,no,no,no,NO! I WILL KILL YOU! I WILL MURDER YOU ENTIRE KIN! YOU FILTHY DEMON! I WILL MURDER YOU!" the boy shouted, enraged.

The demon laughed heartily, as if hearing a very funny joke. It seemed to feast on the boy's negative emotions.

"And how exactly are you going to do that? Well, maybe you need some help. How about asking your parents? Oh, wait, I killed them. Haha , my mistake. What about your sister then?" The man kept taunting, his voice dripping with malice.

Anger continued to accumulate in the boy's mind. It turned into pure hatred after that. He knew his powerlessness, which further amplified the hatred. Suddenly, he heard numerous voices.

[POTENTIAL VESSEL DETECTED

CHECKING COMPATIBILITY

1%...

5%...

13%...

28%...

50%...

67%...

89%...

99%...

100%

COMPATIBLE VESSEL DETECTED

TYPE: BETA]

[ANALYSING VESSEL PERSONALITY

ABILITY CHOSEN]

[ABILITY: VENGEFUL SPIRIT][EX]

[THE MORE NEGATIVE FEELINGS YOU HARBOR TOWARDS SOMETHING, THE STRONGER YOU BECOME]

[CURRENT SCALING: BASE X 100]

Suddenly, the boy felt a surge of power enter his body. He felt the strongest he had ever been, like he could do anything. In less than 10 miliseconds, he threw a jab at the man's face, which exploded on the spot. Although it regenerated, the demon was now cautious, his previous insulting nature nowhere to be seen. He was now only focused on eliminating the threat in front of him. However, he was utterly outmatched. It was a total beatdown. Every time the blond boy's attacks connected to the demon's body, it exploded. The destructive power they carried was immeasurable. Unfortunately for the boy, the body of the man was only a clone, and therefore expendable. The demon fled , disintegrating the clone, leaving the boy alone with his thoughts.

'My sister... she was everything to me. The only family I had left in this world. And now she's gone. Gone, because I was too weak to protect her. Because I let that FILTHY DEMON kill her! I swear on my life, I will eliminate every single one of them. Every. Single. One. That's the very least I can do to avenge her. And to do that, I have to become strong. I have to escape this hellish place and find a way to train. I need a strong mentor, to help me control my powers. Let's go to the First continent. I'm sure I will get my necessary training there. It's the only habitable place in this world, after all. All of humanity is there, including the strongest people in the present'

[First continent, training center]

"I think we should stop for today. We overworked ourselves yesterday. Taking breaks is equally important" , you know?"

Oliver said, noticing how lifeless William looked.

"How about we rest tomorrow? We still have plenty of time to train, we don't have to rush it."

I asked, as every muscle in my body ached. I saw considerable progress in my stats, but my main focus is getting to know Oliver. After he told me that he doesn't have any plans for the next day, I asked him if he wanted to show me around the city, as I wasn't from around here. Thankfully, he accepted. I am sure that, by the end of the next day, I will figure out if he displays a facade or if he really is genuine. After we decided the time and place where we will be meeting, I headed home and went to sleep, as the last 3 days were extremely eventful and tiring.