From the very next day after awakening his Martial Element, Abhimanyu threw himself completely into cultivation.
He cared neither for day nor night.
At that moment, he stood deep inside the forest, facing a massive ancient tree.
His eyes were filled with intense focus.
Suddenly—
a surge of fire power erupted from his body, and with all his strength, he struck the tree.
Dhadadad—!
A few moments after the impact, flames burst out from the wound.
Within just two minutes, the entire tree was engulfed in blazing fire.
Abhimanyu stood there calmly, watching the scene unfold.
For the past fifteen days—ever since the day of his Martial Awakening—he had been training without rest.
His Martial Soul was—
🔥 Fire Dragon 🔥
On one hand, he already possessed Fire Magic,
and on the other, the Fire Dragon Martial Soul.
Together, these two forces had doubled his overall strength.
He could clearly feel it—
after learning magic, increasing his Martial Level had become far easier.
In just fifteen days, he had advanced directly from the Primary Level to Fourth Star.
Such speed was something he had never heard of in his entire life.
Looking at the burning tree, a faint smile appeared on his lips.
But then—
to shatter his happiness—
that same mysterious voice echoed once again:
"You are too slow, Abhimanyu… your level is increasing far too slowly."
Abhimanyu was startled.
"What…?"
he exclaimed in disbelief.
"I'm already extremely fast! I've never heard of anyone progressing this quickly!"
The mysterious voice let out a cold laugh.
"You've never heard of it because you live in a very small region.
In your city, warriors like those from the ancient era no longer exist."
Hearing this, anger surged within Abhimanyu.
For fifteen days straight, he had pushed himself to the brink—
and yet he was being called slow?
Then the voice spoke again:
"I possess a Level-2 Fire Martial Art.
If you use it, your progress will accelerate greatly."
Abhimanyu froze.
In Indore City, the strongest Martial Art was only Level-3,
and even that belonged to his father.
A similar art was possessed by the Solanki Family,
one of the two greatest families in Indore.
"If that's the case,"
Abhimanyu said,
"then tell me—what is this Fire Art?
And you were a great warrior of ancient times.
Surely you possess even higher-level techniques."
The voice grew slightly irritated.
"For you, a Level-2 art is more than sufficient.
I do possess stronger techniques, but you are not yet capable of learning them.
And remember one thing—
I was not a warrior. I was a mage.
This Fire Martial Art was something I obtained in exchange for helping a Martial Warrior."
Hearing this, Abhimanyu felt a trace of disappointment,
but he did not argue.
He accepted the art.
The moment he read through the Level-2 Fire Martial Art,
a sharp light flashed in his eyes.
He finally understood just how terrifyingly powerful this technique was.
Then the voice spoke once more:
"Although it is a Level-2 art, its power is no weaker than a Level-3 technique.
If you can comprehend its true Essence,
it can even evolve into a Level-3 art on its own."
Abhimanyu's heart pounded violently.
The very next moment, he plunged back into training—
this time venturing deeper into the forest.
After traveling some distance, he encountered a Black Snake.
It was a magical beast at Level-1, Mid-Stage.
(A Level-1 magical beast is divided into Low, Mid, and Advanced stages.)
Abhimanyu, however, was already at Level-4.
Still—he did not hesitate.
He immediately used the martial art he had mastered the most:
⚔️ Level-2 Martial Art — "Shattered Mountain" ⚔️
This was not a secret technique;
most members of his family knew it.
Yet its power was anything but weak.
As soon as he attacked, the snake retreated—
but Abhimanyu himself was forced back nearly ten steps.
Seeing the snake's strength, he was shocked.
Nevertheless, he clenched his teeth, steadied himself, and charged again.
Within moments, deep in the forest,
a man and a black snake clashed like blood-thirsty beasts.
The battle lasted nearly ten minutes.
Finally—
Abhimanyu found his chance.
With all his strength, he struck.
Crack—!
The snake's head separated from its body and fell lifelessly to the ground.
Abhimanyu smiled.
But then the voice spoke again:
"If you had attacked with magic,
this battle would have ended in a single second."
Abhimanyu replied calmly,
"I need to strengthen my Martial Arts.
There is a competition in three months—
and I intend to participate."
After that—
the voice fell silent.
Abhimanyu extracted the Soul Stone from the snake and kept it.
For the next four days, he remained in the forest.
He hunted several magical beasts and collected nine Soul Stones.
Among them, the most powerful was a Level-1 Advanced-Stage Soul Stone.
Seeing it, Abhimanyu smiled.
He had now reached Level-5—
which was why he could defeat an advanced Level-1 beast.
After that, he left the forest and headed straight toward the city's largest merchant house.
Upon reaching the reception, he asked:
"Where can Soul Stones be sold?"
The girl at the reception looked him over carefully.
This was the largest trading center in Indore.
"To the right, ahead,"
she replied, then lowered her gaze.
The girl felt that the boy looked somewhat familiar—but she did not give it much thought.
Abhimanyu turned around and walked in the direction she had indicated.
When he reached the chamber where Soul Stones were traded, he saw two guards stationed at the entrance.
One of them looked him up and down before asking,
"Sir, what have you come here to sell?"
Abhimanyu replied in a calm voice,
"I've come to sell Soul Stones."
The moment they heard his answer, both guards froze for a brief instant.
Clear surprise flashed in their eyes—Abhimanyu looked no older than fifteen.
A boy so young coming to sell Soul Stones was something they had never encountered before.
Still, despite their shock, they did not stop him.
Without asking further questions, they allowed him to enter.
Inside, a middle-aged man was seated behind a desk.
His expression was calm, yet his eyes carried the depth of long experience.
Gesturing toward a chair, he said,
"Please, have a seat, sir. Tell me—what would you like to sell?"
Abhimanyu sat down silently and, without hesitation, placed all the Soul Stones he had collected on the table.
The moment the merchant's gaze fell upon the stones, he lost his composure.
His expression hardened for a brief second.
It wasn't that he had never seen so many Soul Stones before.
What truly shocked him was Abhimanyu's age.
Soul Stones of such quality, brought by someone this young—
that was extraordinary.
After carefully examining them for a while, the merchant spoke,
"You have eight Level-1 Mid-Stage Soul Stones, and one Level-1 Advanced-Stage Soul Stone."
He paused briefly before continuing,
"The total value of these… comes to seven thousand coins."
Abhimanyu said nothing.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
The merchant immediately understood the meaning behind that smile.
Nodding, he turned to the maid standing nearby and said,
"Bring seven thousand coins for the young sir."
But Abhimanyu did not take the coins.
Instead, he took out a piece of paper from his pocket and placed it on the table.
"I need these items."
The five items listed on the paper were all essential for learning magic.
Though Abhimanyu walked the path of Martial Arts, he had no intention of abandoning magic.
To him, true strength meant embracing every possible path.
The merchant read through the list, then looked at Abhimanyu once again, carefully.
"Very well, sir," he said.
"We can provide all of this. However, the total cost will be eight thousand coins."
Abhimanyu only had seven thousand coins—he was short by one thousand.
The maid was signaled and left to gather the items, while Abhimanyu remained seated, quietly sipping his tea.
After some time, the maid returned and placed all the requested items on the table.
Abhimanyu spoke calmly,
"I currently have only seven thousand coins. I will pay the remaining thousand very soon."
Then, meeting the merchant's eyes, he added,
"If you trust me, then that will be fine.
And if not… please remove the yellow flower from the list. By my estimate, its value is roughly a thousand coins."
The merchant stared at him for a few moments.
Then a smile slowly spread across his face.
"You are our customer, sir. How could we allow you to leave without what you need?"
He continued,
"I'll give you a discount of one thousand coins.
All of this will be yours for seven thousand coins."
Abhimanyu fell silent for a moment.
He had not expected such a generous concession.
Yet a genuine sense of joy rose within him.
He expressed his thanks, collected the items, and left the trading chamber.
As soon as Abhimanyu departed, the middle-aged merchant stood up and walked into an inner room.
Someone was already waiting inside.
"I don't think we should have given that boy such a big discount," the merchant said.
"Our profit has decreased significantly."
The person standing opposite him replied calmly,
"Sometimes, business requires a gamble."
"That was Abhimanyu of the Saini Family," the merchant continued.
"I had heard that he failed to complete his Martial Awakening."
"But it hasn't even been three months since his Awakening," the other voice replied,
"and he brought a Level-1 Advanced-Stage Soul Stone."
"I suspect… the Saini Family is deliberately hiding his strength."
The merchant frowned.
"Or perhaps those stones belonged to someone else."
The other person responded with a faint smile,
"That's possible. But we didn't suffer any loss—only a slight reduction in profit."
"If my judgment is correct, the future returns will be many times greater."
"And even if I'm wrong," she added calmly,
"we'll simply consider it a deal made without profit."
As she smiled, her face came into the light.
She was a beautiful woman of around twenty-five years of age—
calm, confident, and shrouded in mystery.