Chapter 2

"What year is it now?" Sero asked himself as he searched his memories.

After a while of skimming through 800 years of memories he finally found his answer.

It was year 609 of the Hetan calendar day 1 of April.

"Tomorrow, will be the start of the academy. All children over the age of 12 must attend and awaken their own innate soul. Soul? If my innate soul in my previous life was the Blade, will it be different now?" He asked himself.

Innate soul, a mysterious power thought to be provided by Kabunyan, supreme god of everything. Though it was only a speculation from the Igorots, a tribe who associated themselves to foreigners, they now live everywhere. But a portion of them still chose to seclude themselves in the mountains of the Cordilleras.

This power manifests in everything and is everywhere. Sero's Blade innate soul manifests in the form of a sword. It's specialized in attack and can amplify the users own powers. Blade soul is classified as Sword type. Other innate soul can be, Fire soul, also specialized in attack but low in defense. Another example is the Dark Earth soul, classified under control type, it can harness both darkness and earth to both attack and defend, it is well balanced and can be used to restrict enemies by turning the soil into a form of mud that has varying effects.

As he thought about innate soul, he remembered one girl who awakened the Phoenix soul, she once grew up a strong woman and was summoned to the Imperial court. She never again walked out of the palace, who knows what her fate came to be. Others say she was turned to a slave, others say she became a pot to nurture a possible heir, but others strongly believe she was turned to the latter.

"No use thinking about it now. All I know, I'll awaken my innate soul once again tomorrow and see if I can get a headstart over everyone. Once I do, I will leave." He said as he went to sleep.

At a nameless mountain range

"Have the plan succeeded?" One man in a dark robe asked.

Another nodded and pointed out to a map.

"Good, now, how shall things okay out?" The robed man thought.

The next day, Sero woke up early at three in the morning and wrapped himself up in a dark robe. He walked down and saw his parents who also just woke up. They were Lu Ba and Ke'er, he also had an older sister who has moved out of the house. She was Astena.

Lu Ba was an easy going person he had a few white hair here and there amidst his packed body whilst Ke'er was very gentle, she had long black hair and despite her age was still as beautiful as a flower. And Astena was an intelligent and shy girl, evidently she inherited her mother's beauty.

Sero's family was like this, they'd wake up early in the morning to set up their restaurant business and begin cooking meals. They were neither too poor nor too rich.

He walked down.

"Good morning, mother, father." He said as he received his blessings.

"Oh Sero, today is the day isn't it? For you to awaken your soul." Ke'er said in a tired voice, clearly she was still tired from their late night fight.

"Lil Sero, I hope you can awaken a useful soul and help us here in the resto hahaha!" His father laughed.

"Father, as much as I want to help, I also have my dreams. I hope I can awaken a useful soul that will help me chase my dreams." Sero replied to his father.

"You dud. Why must you shatter the fun before everything even starts!" Ke'er swatted Lu Ba

Lu Ba laughed.

"Mother, can I ask for money? I thought of buying a new robe. My old ones are very tattered and I don't want to be judjed for it." Sero requested. This was true, his old robes were tattered, but his true goal was to buy some worm.

This worm isn't anything fancy or such, it was just a normal earthworm.

"Sure, you can get some at the counter before you leave. Just leave the coins alone for now since it's still early." Ke'er agreed with a kind tone.

He drank some water and began wentheloing out to cook, he then went to chop firewood and heated up the bath.

As he cleaned himself he was thinking of his future plans. Although he liked fighting, he also knew how to think.

In general, his plan was to stay in the capital until 8 years later, when the Southern barbarians would migrate and begin to invade the empire. He wanted to use the war and gain merits and access the imperial library and gain a few references towards his goal and as well as think of his plans by then. After which, leave the capital and roam the lands.

Before everything even began, he was already cooking up a plan.

He finished his bath and went to prepare. He let his hair hang down to his waist as he changed. He then went down and ate, taking some money as he left for the academy.

"Take care!" Ke'er sent him off with a few tears by her eyes.

"Oh don't be so emotional. He'll be fine out there. He can fight." Lu Ba said jokingly.

"Hmph! You still haven't chopped up the legs!"

"Ah crap! The legs! Right!"

By now Sero has already left.