A Month Later
Jun Wu stood shirtless inside the workshop, each swing of his hammer echoing with power.
His once frail body was now a sculpted frame of firm muscle and lean strength—transformed through sweat, fire, and relentless discipline.
On the anvil lay a small dagger, glowing faintly from the forge's heat.
Each strike of his hammer knocked away impurities, refining it to perfection.
Focused with laser precision, he didn't notice the man standing a few feet behind him.
Uncle Kai watched silently, a complex mix of shock and pride in his eyes.
In just a month, the young scholar apprentice had become a blacksmith in form and function.
But what truly left him speechless was Jun Wu's rate of improvement.
Skills that took others months or even years to master, the boy had picked up in a matter of days.
He couldn't help but sigh inwardly. If only this boy were my son... Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.
Lately, Jun Wu had grown distant and cold. He rarely spoke to anyone in the village except Uncle Kai.
Rage simmered beneath his quiet surface—raw and untamed. Uncle Kai knew it was only a matter of time before it boiled over.
"Ah... there's no helping it," he muttered with a sigh.
"Uncle Kai," Jun Wu said suddenly, turning with a blank expression, "please take a look."
"Ah—yes!" Uncle Kai stepped forward to inspect the dagger.
"This is well-made, but you rush during the folding," he said calmly. "When forging, you must be patient. Every step needs to be deliberate—one mistake and the whole weapon could be flawed."
"I understand." Jun Wu nodded firmly.
"Good. You've been working all day—take a rest. Go for a walk around the village."
Jun Wu frowned, clearly wanting to object.
But Uncle Kai added in a quieter voice, "Even if you're going to avenge your parents, you still need to rest. Use this time to think—not just about revenge, but about yourself, and your future."
"…Alright." Jun Wu finally nodded, grabbed his shirt, and left the forge.
Outside, he stood in silence, unsure where to go.
He had no real destination in mind.
After a brief moment of hesitation, he picked a random direction. He would walk for a bit, then think about his training.
As he walked, a translucent panel floated before his vision, its faint glow reflected in his eyes.
┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓
┃ 🛠️ Innate Weapon: Hammer
┃ Level: 2 ( 120 / 1000 EXP )
┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛
┏━━━━━━━ Stats ━━━━━━━┓
┃ 🧱 Endurance : 10
┃ ⚡ Stamina : 11
┃ 💪 Strength : 14
┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛
┏━━━━━━ Skills ━━━━━━━━┓
┃ 🔨 Heavy Swing : Lv 5
┃ ✋ One-Handed Wield : Lv 8
┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛
"Why isn't it increasing?" he murmured.
At the beginning, everything had surged—his level, stats, and skills. When he reached level one, his stats had jumped.
Reaching level two had brought another wave of progress.
But now, the speed has slowed to a crawl. In the past three days, he had only gained 20 EXP.
Despite trying countless ways to grow stronger, nothing seemed to work.
Still, he wasn't discouraged.
He knew he was stronger than before. He could feel it in his bones, in the rhythm of his breath, in the power of his swings.
It was only a matter of time now before he could avenge his parents.
Every time he closed his eyes, their killers haunted him—faces carved into his memory like scars on flesh.
At first, he'd managed to suppress the rage. But each passing day made it harder. The thirst for vengeance gnawed at him from the inside out.
More than once, he'd considered leaving the village to hunt them down. But reason, or perhaps discipline, always held him back.
"I need to do something," he muttered under his breath.
Uncle Kai's training had its limits. He needed more—something else to break through.
Lost in thought, Jun Wu didn't realize where his feet had taken him until he neared the village entrance. There, laughter and cheers erupted.
Children rushed ahead excitedly.
Jun Wu halted and furrowed his brow, observing the source of the noise.
A hunting party was returning.
A group of sturdy men marched into the village, proudly carrying a massive animal. Its antlers were broad, its fur still fresh with dew. A giant deer—clearly a successful hunt.
Their faces beamed with satisfaction and pride, while the children jumped around them joyfully.
"Wow! What a big deer!"
"I've never seen one that huge before!"
"Ah! There will be a lot of meat to eat today."
Watching the joyous children and the prideful smile on the hunter team's face, Jun Wu creased his brow. His focus was different.
His gaze locked on the firm muscle of the hunters and was secretly comparing to his.
"I need to know how strong I am. I can't keep hitting metal. I need to go out to test my strength."
"This is what I should do!" A sharp glint appeared on his face. "My enemies are human and they are strong. I need to prepare."
With that, he turned and left for his house.
Early in the next morning, Jun Wu woke up and left the village for the nearby forest with his heavy hammer in hand.
Determined to test his strength, he set out with purpose, ready to go hunting.
This was the first time he left the village alone since they moved into the village.
Even though this was his first, he was not scared. He was no longer the weak apprentice scholar.
The nearest forest to the village was the Hearthgroove Forest which was 2km away. Without hesitating, he jogged toward the forest.
One hour later, he reached the foot of the Hearthgroove Forest.
Gazing at the towering trees and tangled, overgrown shrubs, he drew a deep breath, steeled himself for what was to come.
"Compared to my enemies, what a little forest," he muttered, fearless resolve in his voice.
He walked through the forest, his eyes wandering back and forth with vigilance. He was not a hunter and was only trying to test strength.
Although reckless, he did not care.
He needed strength and he didn't care what it takes.
He slowly ventured deeper into the forest, the eerie growls of the hidden beasts resonating through the shadows.
The chirping crickets created a haunted symphony of unsettling life.
His heart hammered fiercely in his chest, yet he refused to retreat.
Gripping his hammer with resolve, he pushed onward into the shadowed depths despite the rising danger.
Suddenly, a beast appeared before him, eyes blazing with feral intent.
They locked gazes, silence thickening, the air crackling with unspoken challenge and rising tension.