The sun was not up yet, but the sound of a sword hitting wood could be heard near the house. For one month, this was Zephyr's life.
His father was now a very tough teacher. The training was so hard it would break most men.
But because Zephyr had the legacy of the War God inside him, he learned everything very fast. He was like a dry desert soaking up water.
Seres made Zephyr do very hard work. Zephyr had to run through the mud carrying heavy weights.
He swung his sword thousands of times until his hands hurt. When they practiced fighting, his father did not go easy on him.
"Fighting is not just about swinging sword hard!" Seres would yell as he blocked Zephyr's hit.
"You must listen to your heart and watch where you put your feet. A real warrior knows what is happening before the sword even moves!"
Beyond the physical, Seres began to pour the knowledge of the world into Zephyr's mind. He spoke of the Great Empires, the hierarchy of Mana, and the terrifying existence of tier 10 beasts. He explained how the world was governed by ranks—from the lowly Novice to the legendary sovereign stages.
By the end of the month, the transformation was undeniable.
One morning, as the steam rose from his sweating shoulders, Zephyr closed his eyes and whispered, "System."A translucent red screen flickered into existence, visible only to him.
Host name: Zephyr Silvaris
Age: 5
Gender: male
Race: human
Class: God of War Heir
Rank: Novice (mid)
Potential: EX
Attributes
Strength: 27
Agility: 29
Endurance: 37
Intelligence: 16
Will: 10
Mana: 1500/1500
My attributes pretty much increased thanks to hellish traning Dad has put me on.
Zephyr's heart hammered against his ribs—not from exhaustion, but from pure, unadulterated joy. In just one month, he had breached the Novice mid rank.
Most talented children took a year to achieve what he had done in weeks. His Endurance had seen the highest jump, a testament to the "hellish" nature of Seres' traning.
Standing on the porch of their home, Seres watched his son with a mixture of pride and genuine terror.
He had seen prodigies in his time—knights who could slay ogres before their twentieth birthday—but Zephyr was something else entirely.
The boy's comprehension was supernatural. If Seres showed him a footwork pattern once, Zephyr performed it perfectly by the third try. By the tenth, he was already finding ways to counter it.
Is this the power of a God's blessing?
Seres wondered, his hand tightening on the hilt of his own blade. It doesn't just make him stronger, it makes him a predator.
Lina stood beside her father, her knuckles white as she gripped the railing.
She saw the way Zephyr moved—the fluid, predatory grace that shouldn't belong to a five-year-old. A cold lump formed in her throat. For years, she had been the "genius" of the family. She was the big sister, the protector.
"Dad," Lina said, her voice small but trembling with a new intensity. "Increase my training too. I want to become stronger. Much stronger."
Seres looked down at his daughter. "Lina, you are already far beyond your peers. Your mana control is exceptional for your age."
"It's not enough!" she snapped, her eyes brimming with tears of frustration.
"If Zephyr keeps going like this... he'll be the one protecting me. My pride as his big sister... I won't let it happen."
Seres sighed, a long, weary sound. He knelt down and placed a heavy hand on her shoulder. "Lina, look at me.
You have to understand something. Do not compare your shadow to your brother's light. He has been blessed by a God. A blessing of that magnitude changes the very scale of a soul. To the world, Zephyr is... abnormal."He is a variable that shouldn't exist."
Lina looked away, her lip trembling.
"But," Seres added with a faint, encouraging smile, "I will not let you be left behind. If you are willing to endure the same hell he has, then tomorrow, your real training begins. You will not be his shadow, you will be the someone that stands beside him."
Lina's face brightened instantly, her tears drying. "Really, Dad? You mean it?"Really, Dad? You mean it? Double the weights? Double the sparring?"
"I mean it," Seres laughed. "But don't come crying to your mother when your muscles scream."
In the side Zephyr saw his sister and father talking and hearing he decided not to talk.
He knows that his sister wants to become strong so she could protect him.
He also wanted to become strong so he could protect her.
"Zephyr come here, a serer called
Zephyr come out of this thoughts.
"Ye— yes, Dad? You called?"
Seres' expression shifted instantly back to the stern Commander.
"Zephyr, the time for hitting wooden posts and sparring with a wooden sword is over. You have the power,You lack the understanding of what it means to take a life that wants to take yours. Your next task is simple. Enter deeper into and bring me the mana core of a Tier 2 (Peak) monster."
The air seemed to grow cold. A Tier 2 Peak beast was a death sentence for most adult village hunters.
"Dad!" Lina interjected, her eyes wide. "That's too dangerous! If he runs into a Tier 3 by mistake , he'll— let me go with him. I can stay in the trees and only help if things go wrong."
"No," Seres said firmly, his voice like iron.
"This is his path. If he cannot handle a Tier 2 beast with the blessings he carries, he will never survive what is coming in the future. He goes alone."
Lina looked at Zephyr, her eyes full of silent apologies. Zephyr gave her a small, confident nod. He strapped the Common Rank steel sword Seres had gifted him to his waist. The weight felt right.
"I'll be back before dinner," Zephyr said, turning toward the forest.