"Master, can I ask you something?" Silver seemed to be struggling with a question.

"Hmm, let me guess. You want to ask why I never taught you magic.... right?".

"How did...".

"I could see it in your eyes, hahaha. I'm surprised at how patient you've been," replied the old man as he stroked his beard.

Silver and his master had traveled a lot as they trained. In their time together, Silver had seen his master use magic countless times to kill magic beasts that threatened them or to kill bandits after their lives. However, in the past eighteen years, his master had never taught him the slightest hint of magic.

"Hmm," began the old man.

"It's partly because I believe one first needs to have a solid foundation so that they can learn magic more efficiently."

"And the other part," asked Silver curiously.

"Magic is the strength that everyone has," replied his master, pausing for a second.

"In a world where strength is everything, wouldn't it be better to have a strength others don't?".

"I don't fully understand, master. Are you saying my knowledge of the arts of blacksmithing is a strength on par with magic?".

"Of course it is, boy! A good magician is easy to find, but a good blacksmith capable of making battle armor and weapons that can be enhanced by magic, such as yourself, is rare. So rare in fact that some may be willing to kill to acquire your services".

"Really?" asked Silver with excitement in his eyes.

"Yes, and it is the same story with most of your other skills such as alchemy and medicine. I doubt there is a single man besides myself who is better in treating ails than you".

"Hmm."

"There's nothing to think about. It's the truth. This brings me to my next point. Don't ever reveal your full capabilities to those you don't trust," lectured the old man as he examined the boy in front of him.

Though in his heart, he knew his warning was unnecessary as this youth happened to be cautious by nature and could adapt to new situations at an alarming rate.

"It's time." the old master said as he looked up at the sun in the sky.

"I'm sure you will see me again sooner than you think, so make sure that you can beat me in something at that stage Hohoho" he teased while rubbing the boy's hair.

"I will do as you say, master, and go to the Academy," Silver started as he looked determinedly at his master's eyes. "And when I'm strong enough. I will come to find you in Star City".

"Good boy, you have my permission to take off your training weights now. Go out there and wreak some havoc. I'll be waiting for you. Also, throw away that damned training sword, and make yourself a real blade when you get the chance," the old master replied as he turned and whistled into the distant sky.

At age four, Silver began learning his first combat skill, which was swordsmanship. However, this was the first time his master had permitted him to use another sword which secretly filled him with joy.

Shortly after, a massive, black eagle came from the distance and landed next to the pair.

The old man gave his student one final farewell and rode off into the distance. If one looked closely at the flying figure in the sky, one could observe a few teardrops. He was not heartless after all. He would not have left the boy, who had become a son to him, all alone had it been his choice.

There was a slight commotion by the waterfall as dust and debris rose into the sky. Now feeling much lighter, Silver quickly gathered the few items he owned and walked off into the distance with newfound resolve.

[Where do I go first?] Silver wondered. He had a few matters to take care of before the trials, so he needed to devise an efficient plan to complete his preparations on time.

A few hours later, Silver was heading through the small forest, stopping to look at a branch or a few leaves on the ground every few minutes. While traveling with his master, Silver had never once needed to worry about money, food, or accommodation.

However, now that he was all alone, he had already started to think about how he would fend for himself. The solution he came up with was money. He could solve all his immediate problems if he had enough money. The only issue was that he did not even own a single copper coin.

In the blue-sky continent, the currency used was copper, silver, and gold coins. One hundred copper coins could be transferred to 1 silver coin, and 100 silver coins could be transferred to 1 gold coin. A sum of 20 gold coins would be enough to sustain the necessities of a minor commoner family for one year.

Silver's plan to earn money was a simple and effective one. He would kill a few E-class magic beasts before leaving the small forest.

Magic beasts in the blue sky continent rank F to A, going from the weakest to the strongest. A-class magic beasts included dangerous high-level monsters such as dragons. Whereas, F-class magic beasts were common animals such as rabbits that weren't usually aggressive to humans.

All magic beasts ranking E and higher had magic cores located somewhere inside their bodies. These magic cores were essential to magicians as they could be used to enhance weapons, increase the potency of magic elixirs and even increase the strength of magic spells.

For these reasons, magic cores would fetch a high price in any market as they were always in high demand.

With his goal in mind, Silver was currently tracking a pack of feral wolves. He had become an avid tracker under his master's tutelage and could identify a wide range of magic beasts from their tracks. This helped him avoid the more dangerous beasts while also being able to hunt his intended prey.

"AWOOOOOOOOOOO. "

At this point, Silver heard a loud howl just a few hundred meters away and quickly jumped on the tallest nearby tree to get a better look. Silver could identify around 12 wolves and four other wolves surrounding a much more giant wolf from the treetop.

The 16 regular wolves were all E-class beasts and would be no threat to Silver; however, the Alpha wolf was a D-class beast, and if it could attack in unison with the rest of the pack, Silver was not confident he would be able to come out of the battle unscathed.

Silver's main advantage at this point was that the enemy had not sighted him. If he was to capitalize on this advantage, he knew it was best for him to pick the wolves off one at a time from the shadows.

With a general plan in mind, he set off for a wolf that happened to be wandering the furthest from the pack. It was around 3 meters long and 2 meters tall.

Jumping from tree top to tree top, Silver quickly closed the distance between him and his prey. When he was just above the wolf, he withdrew a small knife attached to his belt from its sheath and jumped down from the tree, landing on top of the wolf and plunging the blade into the wolf's head. The wolf didn't even make a sound as its eyes rolled back, and it dropped to the floor, dead.

Silver quickly jumped back to the treetops and set off for his next target without glancing at the dead wolf. Like this, He continued with his planned route killing off one wolf after the other, making sure that he only went for the isolated targets.

After about 20 minutes of silent assassinations, Silver was back on a treetop watching his final targets.

The alpha wolf was still alive, looking anxious as it had noticed there was a dangerous foe nearby by the pungent smell of its brethren's blood wafting through the air. According to Silver's deductions, there were also two other wolves by its side, which would not be separating from their leader anytime soon.

However, he was confident in his ability to face all three at once. And so, he jumped down from the tree once more, eliminating one of his targets immediately.

"AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"

The Alpha wolf let out a loud howl and jumped into the air, attempting to bite Silver's head. This was a very plausible feat as the alpha wolf was double the size of the other wolves.

Unfortunately, Silver was much too fast. He dodged effortlessly to the left and stabbed at the other wolf, which had been too slow to react. In a matter of seconds, the Alpha wolf was now the only foe remaining. Facing the giant wolf that had pure hatred in its eyes, he took a deep breath and disappeared. When he reappeared again, he was behind the wolf, slashing at it with his dagger.

"AWOOOOO," the wolf howled painfully.

[Incredible, master's intense training was worth it, my speed has increased to this level] Silver thought to himself with a surprised expression. Removing the training weights had made him feel like a new person.

His master had ensured that he honed his physical strength and speed, focusing more on speed. His philosophy had been 'the one who strikes first has the upper hand.' Silver had a movement ability known as 'wind walk' in his arsenal, which allowed him to move at an incredibly high speed.

At his current level, his wind walk ability meant that D class beasts and below would be unable to keep up with him.

Just as the wolf had tried to return a blow to his opponent, Silver used wind walk again and disappeared, slashing at the open wound of the wolf as he reappeared. Agonizing howls of wolves were heard throughout the forest, and the battle was over shortly after.

Silver used his incredible speed to defeat the Alpha wolf easily. A lone wolf, without its pack, was not as impressive after all.

Silver quickly gathered all the magic cores from the wolves and fled the scene before any other wolves arrived.

All in all, he had gathered 16 E-class magic cores and 1 D-class magic core. The E-class magic cores would go for a few gold coins each, and the D-class magic core would go for a few dozen gold coins depending on where he chose to sell them.

Once Silver had escaped the scene, he quickly went to a familiar river, washed his clothes, and took a shower. He also washed his knife and continued his journey to Blue City.