1 Breaking Free

Spirit Douluo forest is known for its danger, it is recommended to not venture into it without adequate preparation, lest you seek your own demise.

The dangers within the forest lurk everywhere, from the ground you step on to the treetops and the vast sky around the forest.

Once you enter, there is no telling what could get you killed, after all... everything within the forest is to some degree, capable of harming you.

There are however those who enter the forest seeking power and those who entered this dangerous forest can only be powerful spirit masters.

Deep within the forest, a clash between three territorial spirit beasts caused huge portions of the forest to dissappear or get torn apart.

These three spirit beasts were all over 100,000 years old and there were not many other beasts that could match their strength.

The fight raged on for the whole day before the three beasts came to a unwilling agreement to hold off the fight for another time.

Just like that, the once raging battle scene became an isolated and peaceful dead zone where any other spirit beast were to afraid to enter.

As the night slowly passed by a strange purple light started emanating from within the battle grounds before what seems to be cracks spread through the empty air.

However as fast as the cracks appeared, the speed at which it repaired itself was even faster but not before a small figure flew out of the purple light.

*BOOM!*

The figure crashed straight through multiple trees before he landed within a small hill, creating a wide crater on the surface of the hill.

After the figure flew out, the purple light completely vanished as if it were never there and left the night air in peace once again.

*Huff, huff, huff!*

Heavy breathing could be heard from the figure embedded in the hill but made no movements at all.

Even though the figure made no movements at all, it appeared that the iron cage around his head couldn't hold together anymore and broke into pieces.

The features of the figure could finally be made. He was a young teenager probably in his earlier teens like 13 or 14.

His hair was a fiery red along with his eyes that were a darker shade of red, a very bloodthirsty look could be seen from his eyes.

This look was further amplified by the two decapitated heads he held with his rough hands that were worn and torn by what looked like years of abuse and torture.

It didn't end there, If your eyes traveled towards the rest of the boys body you can see thick shackles that tightly hugged his four limbs.

The chains attached to the shackles were equally as thick, not to mention the huge iron balls that used to be attached to them but it seems that most of them broke off.

Only one iron ball remained attached to the chain on his left arm. Other than that, the rest of his body was adorned with scars and bruises but still maintained an impeccable physique.

At this moment, the boy had a devilish smile on his face as he brought the heads of his captors in his line of sight.

Seeing the looks of horror on the decapitated heads, the boy felt a sense of satisfaction but a bit of regret.

He wish he didn't have to give them such quick deaths, he wish he had more time... More time so he could inflict on to them what he had felt for years as a child.

Squeezing the heads with all the anger pent up within himself, the two heads exploded like watermelons, drenching him in blood.

"Tch, what a waste!" The boy muttered as he slowly pushed himself out of the crater.

He grunted as he fell out of the crater and rolled down the hill. He eventually came to a stop when he heavily crashed into the stump of a broken tree.

The fall didn't even seem to faze him though but the iron ball attached to him came flying towards him like a speeding bullet causing him to instinctively react to it and threw out a heavy punch.

*BOOM!*

It sounded as if a huge explosion went off causing tremendous shockwaves that decimated everything around including the huge iron ball.

"...Im finally free..." The boy muttered to himself as tears streamed down his cheeks.

Unfortunately he didn't have time to relax as a loud roar alerted him of the dangers approaching him.

Wiping his tears with a look of determination, the boy started running. He didn't know where he was but he felt many dangers around himself.

He didn't know what they were but the current him knew he couldn't face the coming danger. All he could do now was run, run as fast as he could.

His legs moved at incredible speeds as he agily sped through the rough terrain. He didn't know how long he ran but eventually the sense of danger started to fade.

Fortunately he ran in the right direction, towards the outer edges of the forest and not deeper into the dangerous forest.

Having no idea about his whereabouts, he started slowing down, there was no looming danger around for him to keep running from.

Although he was sprinting for a long period of time, he seemed barely winded and was only slightly panting.

Looking around, he realized he was in a dense forest. He could also feel that the forest was full of life and by that, it was literally because of the spirit beasts, he could also feel the life in the plants.

"Sentient plant life?" The boy questioned himself.

He approached a pitch black tree. As soon as he made contact with it, the boy was suddenly attacked from all sides by what seemed to be the tree's roots.

Immediately the boy jumped back to create some distance but immediately, right after, he jumped back in towards the tree.

The roots still chased after him but it was useless as he punched straight through the. before delivering a roundhouse kick directly to the trunk of the tree.

*CRACK*

Like a twig the tree snapped in two before the top half crashed into the ground with a heavy thud.

As soon as the tree fell the roots all froze and began to curl up and die. Looking at the dead tree the boy was more intrigued by a black ring the floated above the tree stump.

Curios, he reached out and touched it, there was no reaction. Repeatedly he tried over and over again to get some kind of reaction out of the ring but it was useless.

Eventually he gave up in frustration and turned his attention elsewhere. His ears had picked up some unusual chatter.

Closing his eyes, the boy touched the earth with both his hands. Footsteps. Two people... Chasing something... Snake?

Opening his eyes suddenly, the boy started running towards them but the closer he got the more danger he felt so once he was a good distance he kept it that way and observed from the shadows.

There were more people... Though he couldn't understand what the people were saying, he could make out that they weren't on good terms and were arguing.

Two of them felt especially dangerous to the boy. One being a tall and rugged looking man and the other was an old lady with a venomous look.

Watching on, the boy also took notice of a boy with the rugged looking man's group after he completely dominated a fight against the girl with the grandma.

"...He's strong..." He thought but a few seconds later muttered to himself, "But I'm stronger..."