Snowflakes

The sky gave out a bluish hue; paired with the blue moon and the twinkling stars, it was truly a magnificent sight that only an artist could appreciate. Under the starry sky, two figures could be seen clashing together.

Clad in a tattered robe, a silver mask could be vaguely seen under the hood. From his height alone, one could tell that he was no less a ten year old boy. His ragged breathing showed that he was tired, but determination could be seen in his silver eyes.

Huff ~

Huff~

Huff~

"Tired already, Jul?" A coarse yet gentle voice said. It was from the man who clashed against the boy. Like the boy, the man was similarly clad in a black robe, but unlike the boy, his wasn't in poor condition

"No," Julius replied, trying hard to steady his breathing.

"Then we will continue,"

They fought non-stop for days until the boy dropped to the ground, fatigued. At that point, his body was full of battle-scars and his previously black robe was drenched in crimson blood. Of course, since he's our protagonist, he wouldn't die that easily. He still has a mission, after all — to shock the whole world with his terrifying face- erhm, I mean strength.

The old man stared at the boy who laid motionlessly on the ground. Shivers ran down his spine as he did so, "What a scary child... In another eight years or so, he will make his era. Meanwhile, I as his mentor and father will be the one who guides the new era."

The more he dreamed about the future, the more his smile grew. He laughed boisterously for a couple seconds before reality struck him and he quieted down.

"However... his face..." Worry started to appear from his wrinkly face when he looked at his son with a face so terrifying that even gods would shudder from the sight of him, "Nevermind that. I doubt that he will take off his mask until he dies. Besides, no one can take it off anyway."

Finishing those words, the old man crouched down and threw the boy's body over his shoulder. In the next moment, the two vanished, leaving only a thin black mist in its wake.

============================

Julius opened his eyes, excitement could be seen from his eye under the mask.

He recalled the scene last night where he fought his father; there was nothing but admiration in his eyes.

"Someday... I'll defeat him!" he said out loud full of determination in his childish voice.

At that moment, he heard a chuckle resound in his room.

"Think about healing your body first before you try and defeat me,"

The old man beside him said with a warm smile.

"Hmm," Julius nodded in obedience. There was neither a change in his reaction nor his emotion.

"Now tell me what you think of the proposal I said to you," With a gentle voice, the old man said.

"I think I'll do it," he said with the same emotionless face

"Are you sure? For the next eight years, your training will be rougher than ever. It will be like hell on earth!" The old man warned.

"I'm sure." Julius reassured.

The old man smiled in satisfaction, "Okay then. For now, you should go to the medical room and bathe your body. Remember to meditate while your at it."

Julius sprung out of his bed and headed towards the so-called medical room. As of now, his body was probably fifty percent healed.

A few moments then he arrives at the destination.

The room was just like any normal medic area. The only difference he could see about this is that it's bigger and it has a bath situated at the side that was half covered with a curtain.

When he was in front of the bath tub, he closed the curtains and started to undress everything except his mask. The moment he thought about his mask,

he suddenly remembered what the old man said in the past, "No matter where you are or what situation you are in, don't take off your silver mask, understand?"

He shook his head in an effort to clear his mind then he went inside the bathtub. In truth, this bathtub isn't just for medication, it was also for torturing one's self. On the bright side, the result of the 'torture' could be said as miraculous. It will refine one's body and make it many times stronger.

When his muscular body which was riddled with scars half-submerged in the tub, he could feel a searing pain that was reminiscent to that of a blazing fire. He couldn't help but groan in pain. Not long later, he became used to the pain and started to practice his meditation arts.

In the world called Mortalis, everything was possible; from magic, flight, and even controlling weather itself. However, not all beings can use magic. The race most famed of using magic are the Elven Race.

Since they are more favored by mother nature, they are innately adept at using magic that is close to nature. Moreover, there was a rumour regarding one of the ancestors of the Elven Race. It was said that their ancestors broke the restraint of Mortals and ascended to become an Immortal.

There weren't any more information regarding the ancestor besides him presumably going to the Upper Realms. However, humans didn't have the privilege of using magic.

Instead, they use battle arts that every generation praised.

It took them quite a long time to develop their arts, but there came a time when they have finally made a perfect formula. At that time, they made many arts, and the cause of all that was the first king of humans, Alexander, who is known as the forefather of arts and also known as the strongest human recorded in the history of humans.

Arts have many categories. There are Battle Arts, Elemental Arts,

Weapon Arts, Creative Arts, and Forbidden Arts.

Battle Arts are known as the founder of all arts. It is an art that pushes the human body to the limits, resulting in the person gaining superhuman strength.

Meanwhile, Elemental Arts, as its name implies, is an art that uses the elements. It doesn't use the mana from the surroundings like the Elven Race, instead, it requires runes that will be drawn on the person's body.

Runes vary and the creators of said runes needed to study the elements carefully in order for the user to not incur injuries. However, injuries are inevitable and their studies were still clearly lacking because whenever one trains using Elemental Arts, one will sustain heavy injuries. It will not be permanent, however, it will disappear after using the arts for a long time.

Weapon Arts on the other hand is pretty self-explanatory. It will require the user to train one's weapon of choice to perfection.

Creative Arts, unlike any previously aforementioned arts, is an art that most, if not all of the races know. Like it's name implies, Creative Arts uses the creativity of one's mind to guide the aforementioned arts.

However, not all arts are use for the good. Take for example the last art, Forbidden Arts. Forbidden Arts are deemed as a taboo and is widely hated. It is all due to the unorthodox way of cultivating it.

Some Forbidden Arts requires the users to trick restless spirits to become their subordinates, and some requires the user to plant Gu into another lifeform in order to suck their vitality, making one gain strength without even putting effort.