At the Ignis Capital, Fiera.

A certain young lad was standing before a restaurant as his stomach growled like a mad tiger. He tried to hold it in but this stomach of his was quite persistent and rumbled like thunder.

The young lad had a striking look and his hair was spiky. He sported a extremely rare type of clothe which was probably not made in the Ignis Kingdom. On his back, a great sword was attached to his back as the sight of it increased his charm.

The great sword, though, had a particular peculiar feature. A chain was attached on it’s pommel and at the end of the chain, which was a foot long, hanged a rusty old key. The lad didn’t dare to tamper too much on this great sword and because of this the rusty old key still remained.

“Sigh. Adventuring the world sure is hard. This is only the 2nd Kingdom that I have explored... Okay! After this, I’ll have to head towards the Terra Kingdom!”

The lad pumped up his fist with determination as the claw like mark on his forehead shone with a white light. He was about to enter the restaurant when...

“Out of the way, fool!”

“Hey dude! Don’t push!”

“Uwah, Let me out! Trouble is brewing!”

Those who bumped on this young lad felt that they had hit a solid wall and suffered pain. They simply glared at him for a while before speeding off in many directions. The young lad watched them leave in panic with a bewildered expression.

Soon, the management of the restaurant themselves came out running. The lad quickly grabbed a passing waiter as soon as this waiter bumped into him.

At first, the waiter wanted to escape from this youth’s grip but he soon found that this guy’s strength was too monstrous as his strength could even rival a Casket Armor.

The waiter looked at the young man with fear visible in his eyes as cold sweat drenched his back. “What do you want?! Let me go!”

The lad looked at the man and then smiled amiably. He then loosened his titanium-like grip as he opened his mouth. “Why is everyone panicking? Is there a fight?”

His eyebrows raised in surprise as the waiters voice quivered a little. “Y-yeah. A fight broke out, but not just any fight! It’s a fight between Practitioners! Normal people like me will included in the ‘collateral damage’ for sure!”

Hearing the man’s nagging, the young lad immediately let go of his arms as he positioned himself in front of the door. He tightly gripped the handle of his great sword and a smile slowly crept up his face.

“A fight with Ignis Practitioners! I have been thirsting for one ever since I arrived in this city. Hopefully, their barrier could actually withstand my strength so that I could enjoy a good fight.”

Unlike those rash heroes in stories, the young did not kick the door open like a mighty hero would. He opened it leisurely and found out an interesting scene.

Sha! Sha! Sha!

Black snakes whistled throughout the air as they bound the barrier of An Ignis Practitioner. These snakes packed gripping strength a level or two beneath this lad’s fingers, but he knew that with that quantity it could directly pulverize a human body into nothingness.

Sss!

The snakes, who the lad knew that is a product of magic, flicked out their forked tongues. The man inside the group of black snakes was forced to throw away his offensive in order to barely defend himself against this snakes.

The young lad watched for a while and determined that this black clothed woman was absurdly strong. His eyes began shining as he imagined fighting with her. His right hand slowly went to his back as he stealthily drew his great sword form it’s sheath.

!!

Hilroy, who was quite familiar towards the sound of sword drawing, noticed a guy drawing his great sword. This guy was young but not as young as the 6th stage Practitioner brat. Hilroy threw a sidelong glance at Herebia and then looked at the bound enemy.

Only then after reassuring that he could leave Yassi to Herebia, Hilroy focused his attention towards this interloper. He readies his sword using his left hand (Hilroy is left handed).

Great sword in hand, the young lad pounced towards the direction of Hilroy. Hilroy knew that a clash between a heavy sword like a great sword and a light sword like his sword would eventually end up him losing, so he decided to sidestep this one and dodge.

Shua!

While the young lad was half-way through his slash, his hands jerked as the blade was completely stopped. Hilroy’s eyes widened as he saw his enemy stopping the mad momentum of an overhead great sword chop with his bare strength alone.

The sword, who stopped in mid-slash, traveled clockwise around the young lad as it’s pommel threatened to smash Hilroy’s head into a pulp!

During this time, Hilroy’s senses kicked back on. He used his sword and placed it at the back of his head! His non-dominant arm, the left one, was holding the sword’s blade as drops of blood could be seen dripping out.

Hilroy had used his sword as a shield!

He had hoped that, with this metal sword blocking the pommel, the impact would actually be lessened. At least even if he will be knocked out, Hilroy wanted to survive!

Dang!

A low resonant sound was heard as Hilroy’s sword bended like tofu. The impact shook his senses as his hair swayed forward. His vision immediately blacked out, like the sun was covered in eternal darkness. His sense of touch was still there as he felt liquid staining his face.

This was blood...

The young lad looked slightly surprised as his blow didn’t end in death. He looked at this ‘lowly grunt’ and nodded in appreciation. ‘This grunt is more skilled than the rest. His ability to survive rivals that of a cockroach.’

After praising the grunt, the young lad noticed the woman’s gaze. She was gazing directly to him. This guy knew that the most powerful one of this particular group is this woman. Plus, this black clothed woman was performing a magic which he has never seen before.

“Stop Yassi. You can train later... For now, This young lad here is much more important.”

The woman tightened her arm as the snakes doubled in size. Constricting and biting, the snakes easily crushed the man’s barrier. As the crowd of snakes rushed upon him, the man’s face was filled with despair.

"Aaaah!..."

That was the man's last shout of agony as the snakes devoured even his bones. The black snakes disintegrated into motes of light as the woman focused her gaze towards this young lad.

Yassi, the 6th stage Practitioner, suddenly noticed that her guard was missing and saw that he was already in the verge of death. She gasped slightly as fear appeared in her eyes as she hurriedly hid behind the black clothed woman.

Staring coldly at her new and unexpected opponent, the black clothed woman’s face turned incomparably serious as her mouth slowly curved into a grin.

"War God... Let's see if you could actually compare to that guy... Prepare you fool!"

The young lad’s eyes constricted for a moment and then returned to normal. He was surprised that this woman knew about the title ‘War God’... After a slight moment of hesitation, his eyes shone brightly as they exuded battle lust.

“War God? I am still not worthy of that title... Call me Oliver if you may.”

“Oliver, huh... Call me Requa then. You are the first enemy that is worthy of my power.”

Wasting no more time in talking, Requa made countless hand seals as her fingers produced after-images. Chaos was evident in the air as two corporeal black swords materialized besides Requa. She grabbed the left one and threw it towards Oliver while she kept hold of the black sword on her right.

Swoosh!

Oliver held up his great sword as he prepared to deflect the incoming black sword. Requa, who was approaching him, had her mouth perked up into a grin as her hand made countless hand seals.

When the black sword was about to hit Oliver’s great sword, the expected deflection didn’t happen. Upon impact, the sword stayed the same way. It’s tip was touching Oliver’s great sword and it’s body floated in mid-air.

!!

‘Trap!’ Oliver was about to step back but was indeed too late.

Bang!

The black sword exploded as countless black shrapnel flew off! The initial explosion knocked off Oliver’s sword in mid-air, while coming out after the explosion was sword fragments! Strangely enough, the sword fragments only flew off a single foot and then...

All of them sped off towards Oliver’s direction only!

Originally, shrapnel based spells were dual-edged swords as the explosion would encompass all directions available. This type of spells were generally used in long range and was used in war.

But... this spell had all the shrapnel fly towards a single target! This does not only make sure that all shrapnel hit the opponent, it also made the spell effective in close range combat!

Pu! Pu! Pu!

Countless black fragments impaled Oliver’s body as he experienced pain. In the fights that he fought while exploring the Aero Kingdom, he had not faced an opponent this cunning and strong. His battles lust increased as his muscles tightened, which made the shrapnel that was stuck on his body fly off towards the floor.

Requa was not surprised of what was happening as she threw the second sword toward’s Oliver. While the second sword was flying forward, Requa’s hands continued to form hand seals.

Oliver’s face turned serious as the Mark of Strength on his forehead shone with a white light. His foot stepped madly in the floor, causing spider web-like cracks to form.

Boom!

Oliver’s body turned into an after-image as he used his monstrous strength to step back and catch his flying great sword. After firmly gripping the great sword... Requa’s black sword was already near him and was aiming for his chest!

His lips curved into a smile as his great sword was raised with it’s blade pointing down. Requa, who was about to explode another sword, had her eyes shine as she recognized this gesture.

“Breaker!! [World Quake]!!”

Oliver bellowed out a war cry as he used his strength to plunge down his great sword, which was named Breaker. The sword plunged down on the restaurant’s floor like tofu as a strange energy bursted out of the great sword!

‘Damn! This guy possesses the Breaker! Need to flee!...’

Bang!

The air bursted out in all directions as the black sword Requa threw was disintegrated into nothingness. All the seats and ornaments of the restaurant was blown off and flew out of the window. Requa, Yassi, and the grunt was strangely not blown away, but they felt that a huge stone was weigheing down on them. They were immobilized.

The power of gravitational pull.

Requa squinted her eyes as she underestimated her opponent. Having the Mark of Strength was still acceptable but also possessing one of the Nine Seraphic Swords? She would have big problems.

Her mind raced as she computed her chances, but the variable of Yassi and the grunt, named Hilroy, was holding her back. She needed this two to be alive.

So now what?

Escape. She needed to escape.

Why? Because this gravitational pull was not the deadliest effect of the Breaker. This was only the initial effect while it’s most deadliest ability will be shown after 30 seconds or so. This gravitational pull was only something that would make opponent’s immobile for thatt time in order for them to taste the real power of the [World Quake].

While Requa could still move herself in this situation, the brat Yassi and of course the seriously injured Hilroy wouldn’t be able to do so. Requa needed to evacuate this two out of here.

Requa’s hand seals finished forming as she cried out the name of the spell.

“[Zera : Decelerate]!”

While the first time she used this, she had cast the spell around her, making her body the epicenter of the spell. Now though, Herebia cast the spell on Oliver as the center making his speed drastically fall.

While speeding down the opponent was her first goal, Requa’s hand seals still continued to form. Speedily, she had formed her second spell, which she had cast only on herself.

“[Zera : Accelerate]!”

Due to the two spells being cast simultaneously, their time limit was reduced only to 3 seconds. Requa used these short three seconds to do three things and that was to grab Yassi, grab Hilroy, and run out of the window.

Although Requa could win this battle with that spell, she didn't use it because of the need to evacuate this two. This was her priority. Is she had used it, even someone with a Nine Seraphic Sword, she could still kill them easily. If she had used it though, the collision of power would definitely kill off Yassi and Hilroy.

Oliver only saw his opponent speeding up, almost teleporting, and running off. After 3 seconds, he had discovered that his opponent has already fled, leaving him alone in the restaurant. Oliver slowly shook his head as he pulled out his Breaker, canceling the [World Quake].

Staggering backwards, Oliver sat on the floor as he looked at the direction that Requa had fled from. His grip on his Breaker tightened incomparably for a moment and then it slowly relaxed. He sheathed his sword at his back as he sat their quietly while his mind became absent minded.

He looked at the countless dents on the floor which once had black fragments stuck to them. Then he looked at his clothes and found that they were in tatters. He slowly shook his head while he jumped off from his sitting posture.

Oliver had no intention to chase after that trio as he knew that they had already made it far, and he could not really cause a big ruckus in this kingdom. After all, even if his body possessed the Mark of Strength, he would still have to be careful around here because of their king.

He ran towards a window in the opposite direction as he jumped out of it and wandered the streets. Oliver found people looking at him weirdly because of his torn clothes. He looked like a beggar wearing a noble’s torn clothes.

Due to the gazes, Oliver decided to look for a clothe shop first. He found one and bought one that was extravagant looking and was colored gray.

Fixing his demeanor, no one was looking at him like that anymore. Then, his stomach rumbled as he remembered why he was looking for a restaurant in the first place. Oliver was hungry.

He subconsciously went back to the district where he wrecked a restaurant and had once again saw the wreckage. His eyes slowly glazed as he remembered something that was once mentioned by that guy.

“Chaos Tome...”

After looking at the wreckage for a while, Oliver proceeded towards the direction of another restaurant as he finally filled his stomach.