Chapter 1

"Hah ... Hah ... Hah!" One could easily hear the moans of a young boy swinging a stick in the backyard of a small home.

The boy had no rhythm whatsoever to his strikes with the stick. He himself also knew he had no rhythm or any normal fashion in the strikes, but this did not keep him from going on.

He had been standing in the backyard, swinging his stick for many hours, which made his arms feel heavy, and his body covered in sweat. If one looked into the young boy's eyes, though, one would not be able to detect him feeling any of this, as all one could see was the will to get stronger.

The young boy did not look much older than 12 years old, with a height of 165 centimeters. His face looked quite ordinary, with some long black hair. The only thing one would take notice of was the sharp eyes on the boy, which did not fit a kid, barely even a teenager.

"Gary, son ... You have been out here for hours. Why don't you come in and relax a bit?" A big muscular man came out from the house, looked at the boy, and said with a loving gaze.

This man looked exactly like the young boy, except that his face had some more mature traits to them. He was standing at a height of around 185 centimeters, with massive bulging muscles. He might not be the most handsome man, but he had some sort of charm that would attract the attention of most people.

"I am sorry, father, I lost track of time ...!" The kid turned to look at the man and answered with a wry smile.

He had been immersed in his training. He felt like he was progressing at a decent speed, and even with the pain, he wanted to keep going at it.

"I know you want to get strong before the exam, but you will only damage your body if you keep going like this!" A few smart words came out from the father to his son.

"Thank you, father. I will go for a rest!" Gary said with a slight smile on his face.

He didn't go into the house, though. Instead, he just fell on the ground where he stood and lied down with some heavy breathing.

'Let's see how my stats are looking now!' As something popped up into his mind, showing lots of numbers.

***

Name: Gary Kingston

Age: 12

Occupation: None

Secondary occupation: None

Level: 1

Health: 15/15

Mana: 5/5

Energy: 40/40

Strength: 4

Agility: 8

Stamina: 8

Vitality: 3

Intelligence: 1

Willpower: 10

Charm: 3

Basic Spearmanship lvl: 1

Description: The most basic of basic martial arts created for the spear.

Passive Skills:

None

Active Skills:

None

***

'Oh wow, I didn't think my stamina stat would go up after only one training!' He thought with a happy smile. His Stamina stat had gone up by one, which he had never seen before after a singular training session.

He was quite happy with his stats, as he knew the average human at the age of 18, and an average of 5 in each stat. He was 12 and was almost at an average of 6, which is what most would consider talented.

Gary was also quite a lucky kid, as he had been born into a good family. His family was a noble family, not a big one, but a medium-sized one. His father was an earl, and his mother was the daughter of a duke in the capital.

The ranks for nobles went from lowest to highest, like Baron, Viscount, Earl, Marquise, Duke, and then finally, royalty.

This meant that both his father and mother had a lot of influence in the country, in turn making everything easier for their son. It was also quite unprecedented that a duke had married his daughter to a man with a lower title.

It happened because Gary's father once saved the duke in battle, which made the duke promise his daughter to Gary's father. Luckily for Gary's parents, they had already been in love long before that happened.

Gary also knew how lucky he had been, which was why he had trained so hard. He did not want to let his parents down in any way. What he wanted to do for his parents and for himself was to get into the royal academy to train his spearmanship and become much stronger.

He felt that all he could do to return the love of his parents was to show the strength and resolve they had fostered in him since he was a child.

As Gary was a 12-year-old kid, he was very close to being at the age where they could take the entrance exam to the royal academy. Most of the noble families send their children to take the exam when they turn 13, as it is better to train and learn from they are young.

Gary would not get to turn 13 before he would be sent, as he would not turn 13 before in a few months, but the test was already happening a week from now. His parents had, with their influence, made it so he could take the entrance exam even though he still was 12.

After a few minutes of lying down on the ground, thinking about everything, he felt a cold breeze washing over his body. This woke him up from all his thoughts as he stood up and started to practice once more.

"Gary! It is dinner time!" A woman's voice came out from inside the house, yelling for Gary.

"Coming mother!" Gary answered back with a happy smile. He had been too focused on his training, to have noticed how hungry he really was.

He ran inside to where the big dinner table was, still in his dirty clothes. They might be a family of nobles, but to be honest, none of them really cared about the manners of nobility. Only Gary's mother had the innate air of a noble, as she was constantly graceful in every action.

They proceeded to have a nice dinner, where they laughed and talked about all of the matters about Gary's preparations for the exam. In the end, there was not really a lot to prepare for the exam, as all they did, was test how strong you were.

The exam was going to start in a weeks time. The good thing for Gary, was that the way there was not too long. It would take him a day in carriage and three days by foot.

Gary had long since decided he would walk there, as he thought of it as a little more training before he would start at the academy.

Gary spend the next few days in the same way he had spent this one, train, eat and rest. It was simple, but Gary very much liked this kind of life style.

"Son, it is finally time for you to go to the capital ... Are you sure you don't want a carriage and some guards?" Gary's father asked as he looked at his son in a worried tone. He knew the road to the capital was rather safe, but in this world, bandits roamed everywhere.

"I will be going by foot alone, it is also a way to test myself!" Gary said with a serious face. He wanted to be strong and only rely on himself.

"If you weren't my son, I would not believe you were actually a 12 year old kid ..." Gary's father looked at Gary with a surprised and shocked face. This was most definitely not something a 12 year old like him should say.

All Gary could do in return was smile wryly at his father.

"Just ... take care of yourself!" Gary's mother suddenly interjected. "If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask us!" She continued while hugging Gary with a small tear in her eyes.

"Don't worry mother, father! I will take care of myself and make you proud!" He said with a serious face. A small tear was still forming in the corner of his eye, as he was also sad to say goodbye.

"Farewell, son!" Gary's father also started to tear up as he said these words, and seeing his son starting his own journey. He was both sad to see him leave but also incredibly proud at how his son was going to travel by himself and make lots of new acquintesses.