I refuse to be anything but strong

"I'll see the rest of you tomorrow then?".

Arthur smiled for a moment, looking towards the large group of newly awakened Fae Masters in front of him.

"Yeah! I don't know how useful martial arts are during actual fights, but seeing you and the next Clan Leader fight, I realised how powerful martial arts can be!".

"The way that Arthur somehow moved behind Young Master Dominic was really cool! Imagine doing that in an actual battle, and then killing an enemy Fae Master!".

Arthur waved off his fellow "classmates", walking in the opposite direction towards the entrance to Parachenko Village.

Agreeing to teach these newly awakened Fae Masters martial arts was something Arthur definitely wouldn't do, without having some sort of benefits to gain from.

Origin essence stones was one thing, but having a stable relationship with the other people in his generation allowed him to grasp everything they possessed more easily.

Fae Masters would always seek benefits for themselves first, and others last.

These newly awakened Fae Masters haven't even tasted the vast and wide world of Fae outside Parachenko Village, and have no idea about anything else than what the Kovacs Clan has instilled in them.

Trust between those sharing the last name was paramount, while anyone else was either an enemy, or someone they had an alliance with.

In the event that one of these Fae Masters finds something, or gets in Arthur's way in the future, it would be all the more easy to carefully push them to the side, while reaping all the benefits that they would've originally gained.

Arthur grinned internally.

"Other than the Winter Solstice Salamander, I also have the rank 1 Water Leaf Tree Fae and the Rank 1 Moonsword Fae. Once I head to the Crimson Seed Maple Tree, I should gain some sort of Leaf Attribute Fae. A defensive Fae would be best, but I don't like my chances".

His smile faltered a little as he noticed a faint breeze in the leaves.

Arthur's brows furrowed a little before he immediately started sprinting, heading in the direction towards the Crimson Seed Maple.

He wasn't heading there directly, but so long as he could hide in one of the crevices in Winter Rain Mountain, or a hollowed out tree, he would be able to avoid whatever was coming his way.

'A Fae Master? No.... Perhaps it's a spirit beast!'.

Arthur's frown lessened but he bit his lip as he headed straight towards the Crimson Seed Maple.

Spirit beasts were similar to Humans in that they were or

Originally born without any connection to the Heavens and the Earth. They were just normal creatures, with normal abilities and a completely average lifespan.

However, some beasts eventually come into contact with Hatred Fae, even a tiny Rank 1 Hatred Fae, and eventually awaken an origin essence sea.

Once this occurs, the beast becomes a spirit beast, one with an enhanced intelligence an a slightly longer lifespan.

Their talents paled in comparison to the average human, but their innate strength and longer lifespan made them a force to be reckoned with, if given the chance.

Arthur's unfathomable gaze shined as he slowly approached the spirit beast.

If it was a bear or some sort of wolf, he might have to retreat. Their aggressive nature made it practically impossible to tame, or reason with without some sort of specialised Fae.

However, if it was something manageable, like a deer spirit beast, or a rabbit spirit beast, he would be able to do something about it.

Arthur's breath hitched as he turned the corner, a single eye gazing towards the large spirit beast before him.

It was huge, for the species that it belonged to.

Eight massive limbs, the length of human limbs sprouted out of its massive, round, lower body. It's colour black, with a green tint at the edge of its legs. The huge spirit beast was probably only half of Arthur's height, but still, the huge gaping fangs eagerly sucking at the flesh of a human caused Arthur to sigh for a moment before summoning the Moonsword Fae.

"It's only a venom spider spirit beast. Given how it has managed to kill a human, it probably has been a spirit beast for at least a month".

There were no wounds on the beast, meaning that the human it was currently eating was probably a mortal. Someone without a Fae Master talent.

If it was a Fae Master that it defeated, there would be at least a sign of some sort of battle in the vicinity, as well as injuries on both parties.

If it was at night, perhaps the Fae Master couldn't been ambushed from behind, and killed instantly. But in broad daylight, there was no way a Fae Master would be caught dead in such a situation.

Arthur guided some of his vapour quartz origin essence into the Moonsword Fae, letting it expand rapidly, as it glowed a vibrant silver colour.

Arthur saw a thin leaf fall from a tree, and held up the Moonsword Fae, letting the leaf be sliced in two, without any sought of resistance from the Fae.

Arthur's smile grew as he stepped out from behind the large tree, immediately sprinting towards the venom spider spirit beast!

The reincarnated Fae Immortal flourished the sword in his hand, swiping the thinly hidden web that surrounded the venom spider spirit beast, immediately notifying it, that someone had found it!

Spider spirit beasts were all extremely cunning, seeing as though they lacked the strength of some of spirit beasts like lions or bears or wolves.

Whenever they ate their food, they usually either brought it back to their lair and devoured it under the protection of their web, or set up a hidden web formation, hoping that something else would wonder into it, seeing that its guard had been completely dropped!

But how could that fool someone like Arthur? With a millennia worth of knowledge within him, how could he fall for something so primitive? So easy!?

Arthur's smile grew further and further towards the corners of his face. His once elegant and graceful form of swordsmanship grew rough, as the strength of his blows increased time and time again.

My God!

How long had it been since he felt this way!?

How long had it been, since he felt such danger in the world around him!?

With his knowledge, and his current strength, everything in the world was a threat to Arthur!

Enemies and weaknesses that normal Fae Masters didn't have to worry about, were all threats to the current Arthur!

There was nothing he could rely on, other than himself!

The Kovacs Clan was a respectable Clan within Winter Rain Mountain, and taught that family was the most important thing above all else.

They coddled their younger generations, trying their best to shield them from the dangers of the outside world, while slowly accumulating a foundation with lasted the past several hundred years.

Arthur dodged a massive ball of venom that the venom spider spirit beast spat at him. The insanity within him, was now reflected all over his face!

How boring!

How stupid!

The Kovacs Clan was destined from the get go to be a Clan which faded into the annals of time. It would never achieve anything, and would never gain anything important over the entirety of its existence.

They thought themselves lions in this small isolated region, believing that their strength was enough to survive in this world!

However-.

Lions push their cubs off a cliff weeding out the weak and lame from their pride. Only the strong, the ones who crawled up the cliff, paws bleeding and heart aflame, were the ones who made it in this world.

Arthur took a deep breath, raising up the Moonsword Fae in his hands, directly above the head of the venom spider spirit beast.

His gaze still, and his heart burning.

"And I refuse.... refuse to be anything but strong".

Bringing down this silver coloured blade, Arthur cut a brightly moon coloured slash downwards, on the venom spiders neck.

The Moonsword Fae's origin essence expenditure was by the minute, and drained about 10% of Arthur's maximum in the time it took to kill the venom spider.

He saw the venom spider's eyes turn dim, before collapsing onto the bloodied grass, its head cleanly separated from its body.

He let out a shallow breath, sword in hand, Arthur looked up towards the azure firmament.

His entire world silent, without even a single breeze to comfort him.