1 V1. C1. Did you hear?!

"Did you hear George?! The kingdom of Stoneheart was attacked and thousands are dead!" yelled the man across the shabby bar to his seemingly close friend.

George questioned with a face of surprise, "What did you say Kent?! I thought they were invincible! Especially with their mysterious King Neon to hold the fort, who did it? A nearby kingdom?"

"No idea, rumors say it happened from within, almost like a coup, but no one knows who did it. Enemies just appeared out of nowhere with surprisingly high cultivation and a thirst for blood so vicious, mere commoners would faint or die of a heart attack from just the fear alone. Scary stuff, glad I had some missions to do for the guild or I'd be a part of the carnage myself! ...Woah!" responded Kent, suddenly feeling a chill down his spine from an unknown origin.

Looking around he sees a hooded man, with a gaze of pure hatred and anger, one would think a devil possessed him. Confused, Kent asks with a stutter, "D-d-did I do something to offend you sir?"

The man stood up asking Kent, while discreetly exuding an aura of anger, "Tell me. Where did you hear these rumors?"

Kent scurried backwards, knocking down a chair in the process saying "All over! N-n-no one knows exactly where the rumor started. I swear!"

"I see. Sorry... for scaring you. You could not imagine the carnage that really ensued from the attack. It wasn't just thousands, but tens of thousands. A kingdom of 200,000 lost at least 60,000 of its inhabitants due to the immediate surprise attack alone, and even more perished after the continued attack. Something that horrible, is hard to relive." said the mysterious man who was now looking at the ground hiding his face.

Kent, now understanding the situation and probably the face of sadness the man might be showing, he asks, "Sir, if you were there that means you were strong enough to survive it. I won't ask what you saw, nor will I pry on how you got here, a man's business is his own. How about a drink?"

The man looked up, with a single tear noticed from the glimmer it gave in the dimly lit bar, said, "Thank you, I'll take you up on that drink. I don't mind explaining my story but I'll only share if you guys tell me a little about where you are from, a man's story is at least worth that haha."

"OK! It's a deal, I am Kent and my friend behind me is George, I'm from the Northern Kingdom, Hulan, but was residing in Stoneheart until recently due to going broke, that's why I was involved in some missions and now I'm here in the Western Kingdom Pracan. I'd might as well give more details on my missions to liven up the introduction as well, I'm a C+ ranked adventurer and have a cultivation of Initial Divine Bronze Perfection so I'm definitely not the strongest but I can get by through hunt missions on level 3 and 4 monsters. I got back at noon, which was a couple hours ago, but was asking around about the event that took place in Stoneheart which is why I left my friend George hanging for a bit."

"Thanks for that by the way Kent! I thought you were gonna ditch me for some random market lady again!"

"That was one time George, one time!" exclaimed Kent.

George looked over to the cloaked man and then said, "I'm George if you haven't noticed yet, unlike Kent I've always lived here in Pracan but enjoy the quietness of this small town in between Pracan and Stoneheart which is how I know Kent, since his missions are issued here at the guild nearby. Since cultivation is a topic I'm on the more relaxed side and only made it to Initial Divine Bronze Tempering, one realm below Kent, but only cause I can work my way around a farm and make a living off that here in town. Probably would make me C ranked adventure if I actually tried. So how about you mysterious man, what's your story? We haven't even gotten your name yet haha."

The man chuckled, noticing the two bar buddies were trying to lighten the mood and drank a big gulp of beer and took a deep breath, removed his hood revealing a man in his mid twenties with piercing black eyes and long umber colored hair with dark brown roots held back in a ponytail, he could be portrayed as a really handsome man however his eyes and cheeks were sunken, making his once handsome face seem aged to the point where one would think he's tens of years older…"You two can call me Neo, that's what friends call me, my story is quite interesting in my opinion, to kill some time I don't mind starting from the beginning my life truly began, it's a pretty interesting story if you guys are interested." Neo said with a raised eyebrow towards the two.

Very intrigued by the name Neo, as it was an uncommon name to hear, they believed what Neo said when his story would be quite interesting and both exclaimed quickly, "Of course we're interested!"

"Ok, ok, ok, don't jump out of your seats you two, my childhood was a blessing, wonderful parents both loving and strong in cultivation, I had everything, so my life was pretty dull until I made it to Starlit Academy-"

"Starlit Academy?!? That's like the most prestigious cultivation academy this planet can offer! Who are you really?" Kent yelled desperately almost salivating from the bomb that Neo just dropped.

"Hahah...patience Kent. You'll find out soon enough, but yes, I went to Starlit Academy once I turned 16. That's where I met the person who truly started my life." said Neo with a nostalgic look and a small smile appeared.