Prologue: More Power

'Since I was a small boy, I've always wanted to be stronger.'

Swish!

The sound of wind being sliced echoed throughout a flourishing and vibrant forest landscape.

'I think it all started when I saw my first MMA match on television… I had just turned 5 years old...'

'It was a match that I watched with a strange smile on my face, a smile that wasn't natural for a 5-year-old boy to have... A crazed type of smile that craved more from life, a smile that yearned to feel the power that the professional fighters possessed.'

'So I began to train…'

'I started by doing just a few push-ups a day and a short run, which left me slightly fatigued after I reached my limit… But I quickly escalated the intensity of my workouts as I clung to my dreams of gaining more power.'

'My workouts transformed into running several miles in one sitting and doing enough push-ups and other exercises that my body would give out at the end of the day. I practically collapsed when the sun went down. In other words, as soon as the training concluded...'

'Yet, I persisted... I pushed myself to the absolute limits of mental and physical exhaustion every single day... all in pursuit of incrementally more strength.'

Swish!

The violent sound of air being sliced continued.

'So, I kept training like that every day for 12 years... I trained without respite, sacrificing my education, isolating myself from society.'

'I even stopped going to school at age 12 so I could have more time to train.'

'Oh, you might wonder how I was allowed to quit school?'

'Well, I wasn't. I've been an orphan since I understood the meaning of the word.'

'I was told by the orphanage caretakers at the orphanage where I stayed for the first 12 years of my life, that I was abandoned by a man and a woman when I was just a baby. Presumably, they were my parents.'

'I don't harbor hatred towards them for what they did... They must have left me because I was weak.'

'They say weakness is a sin, and while it took me a while to understand that, I finally grasped its meaning when I witnessed that MMA fight on the old box television at the orphanage.'

...

'Weakness is indeed a sin, a sin that no being in the universe should accept with content smiles on their faces. Smiles that indicate satisfaction with living a life of minimal significance, a life of weakness.'

'The caretakers and everyone else at the orphanage were like that, so I left the orphanage on my 12th birthday.'

'I spent my life among animals and the flourishing forest, continuing my training in the wild.'

'I persisted in my grueling routine until I reached a state of total exhaustion for another 7 years…'

'7 years after leaving the orphanage, the day day my 19th birthday came around, I realized something...'

'I wasn't becoming stronger fast enough.'

'I trained every day like a madman, engaging in every form of exercise I could think of, but it wasn't enough…'

'I was not enough…'

'I was nowhere near the level of strength I desired...'

'I reached a point where it felt like I hit a wall, a barrier no mortal human could surpass through sheer effort alone.'

'I had achieved strength that far surpassed the MMA fighters I saw on that day... but it was still not enough.'

...

'I hungered for more power, yearning to break free from any limitations obstructing my path.'

'So I tried everything I could think of... anything that might help me overcome that 'wall'.'

'One day, I sneaked into the nearest town and collected any material related to martial arts or gaining power that I could find.'

'I voraciously read everything I got my hands on, whether it was martial arts books or books on the laws of physics. I explored cultivation and classical arts. I even learned to play different instruments, with the piano becoming my favorite.'

Swish!

The echoes produced by something heavy ripping through the air relentlessly echoed out.

'I devoured all that knowledge in the hope that it would aid me in shattering that 'wall'.'

'And after 10 years of dedicating every waking minute to mastering any skill I encountered, I finally achieved it...'

'Today is the day I demolish that 'wall'.'

.....

A hulking man, towering over even the strongest of individuals, swung a gargantuan stone greatsword measuring 3 meters in length and half a meter in width.

Surrounded by grass and forests, the man appeared monstrous.

Even the animals fled in fear upon witnessing him arrive.

Furthermore, their fear only grew when they saw the giant swinging around his huge greatsword like a lunatic.

"I can feel it!"

The colossal man, with long black hair cascading down his waist and piercing light blue eyes, spoke aloud, wearing a disturbingly wide smile on his rugged face.

"The wall I have endeavored to break my entire life is on the verge of vanishing! Just a bit more, and I shall have it!" The massive man exclaimed, his expression exuding excitement that greatly contrasted with his weathered face.

"Just one more push!" He roared.

Swishh!!

The sound of air being slashed intensified as each swing produced an ear-splitting noise.

"Break, motherfucker!!!" The jumbo-sized man bellowed with fervor, delivering one final swing, summoning every ounce of his essence and purpose in life.

All his being was concentrated into that swing.

"BREAK!!!"

SLICE!!!

CRACK!

For a moment, time stood still as a sharp, shattering sound reverberated through the surroundings.

However, out of nowhere...

Honk! Honk!

A massive truck with blaring sirens and glaring lights suddenly emerged, hurtling directly towards the training man.

'Finally, I did it!!! Wait... What is that? Is that a truck-?'

The hulking man's thoughts were interrupted as the truck collided with him head-on, launching him into the air.

He soared uncontrollably until eventually crashing into a colossal boulder at meteoric speeds.

Booom!

An explosion sounded, followed by a crippled man limply falling off the side of a boulder…

His life was now hanging on by a very thin thread as the raging fire within his deep black eyes began to fade.

'So, this is how I die…?' The bloodied behemoth questioned with disbelief etched across his face.

'I finally shattered that damn 'wall'... and yet, here I lie, with every bone in my body broken...'

The man's thoughts trailed off as his half-dead gaze took on a look of defiance.

'Why..?'

'What did I do to deserve this fate? All I wished for was more power... to be the strongest.'

'Did I commit such a crime that I deserved to die for it…?'

The dying man meandered through self-deprecating thoughts, a bitter smile playing on his lips.

'NO!!!' The man's thoughts almost leaked through bloodied teeth.

'It's because I was weak... I lacked the strength to withstand the impact of the truck…'

'Just like I was weak enough that my parents felt the need to abandon me…'

'Weakness is a sin... The greatest sin of all…'

"..." That was when the man's resolve to pursue the thing he wished for as long as he could remember began to flare up…

'I want more power…'

'Enough power that even the gods up above would be forced to kneel before my might!'

'Gods who must be laughing their asses off at my fate right about now...'

Depressing thoughts swirled inside the dying man's mind as he began to yearn for something he had wanted since the beginning…

'I want more power…'

'GIVE ME MORE POWER!!!' The man's last thoughts echoed out in a flurry before the final flicker of light in his eyes faded away.