Late Childhood

At the age of six, Isaac had to start attending elementary school, just like all the other kids in town. To be honest, it was a blatant waste of time, even his parents could see that. After all, their son hadn't been slacking these past few years. The educational materials he had consumed had already eclipsed the vast majority of university students, while he was fluent in twelve different languages.

When Isaac's parents had wanted to discuss letting Isaac skip a few grades with the authorities in charge, so he wouldn't have to waste his precious, limited time, they hadn't expected him to stop them. But after he had explained how he wanted to stick out as little as possible and begged them to never tell anyone about his capabilities, they relented. It would be a lie to say they weren't worried or sad for the kind of life their son had chosen, but this was his choice - they didn't have the right to interfere, they could only support him to the best of their abilities.

It hadn't been the first time they had had such a discussion. After all, Isaac had already pleaded with them to not brag about him to their friends and other family members before. Therefore, this wasn't something completely unexpected. Still, it almost made Isaac's mother break down into tears.

Over the next year, Isaac never got any special results in his various exams and tests. He was always just about at the right spot to not be thought of as anyone out of the ordinary. Even his behaviour was just like all the other kids, as he often hung out with his 'friends' on various afternoons. While the worries of his parents about this being just a massive waste of time were partially true, it enabled Isaac to observe the behaviour of kids his age and their lives. True, he could have just gained a very thorough understanding of it from books, but the authors of these works weren't omniscient, they could easily miss details. Only by living through this part of life himself could Isaac truly understand it.

When he finally got time for himself, Isaac used it to finish off the last remnants of educational materials and scientific notes he could get his hands on. Of course, by now, he had learned about the internet and already used it on a computer his father had given him as a present on his last birthday. At first, his parents had been worried about him possibly getting misled by strangers, but by now, they really didn't have to worry about such things. His father was sure that if anyone even attempted to harm Isaac, they would end up in a very bad condition. Anyway, the internet gave Isaac access to a vast amount of information, enough that he would be able to spend most of his life just absorbing it. Thankfully, he had already developed a method by which he could read tens of times faster than an average human… and that pace was only increasing.

By the time of his seventh birthday, Isaac had become fully convinced that most of the information he had consumed over his life was most likely false. In most cases, this wasn't because people wanted to mislead others, rather, they just didn't have a very thorough understanding of all of these topics either. Especially the perceived human history seemed to be riddled with more holes and blatantly wrong theories than anything Isaac could have even imagined. Still, he was sure that all other sciences were in a similar state and he just wasn't knowledgeable enough to realize this yet. Because of all of this, Isaac started to read more and more novels, as his goal to gain insight and knowledge obviously couldn't solely be fulfilled via study of scientific materials.

Little had Isaac expected that reading novels would open up a completely new world to him. Fantastical battles, heroes saving damsels in distress, unimaginably strong characters... it all seemed like a dream to the young boy. Besides the seed of loneliness, that had grown stronger and stronger in his heart over the past three years, a small seed of interest sprouted. Was it possible to achieve such feats himself? What if he could train his body to become practically superhuman?

This perfectly coincided with another plan of Isaac's - travelling the world. He had noticed the deeply rooted problems in societies all over the world via the internet a long time ago. But he couldn't be sure of the truth if he didn't see it for himself. There were only two things that he needed: money and the strength to protect himself. Money wasn't much of a problem. After he had gotten a little bit of money on his seventh birthday, he had started to invest in some promising companies on the stock market. Although the entire concept of having a stock market was deeply flawed, Isaac didn't feel bad for taking advantage of it to make his life easier. And now, he might have also found a way to become strong enough to be able to protect himself, no matter where he went.

As he wanted to increase his basic fitness and foundation first, Isaac decided to start with martial arts training. But after he studied most martial arts from all over the world in detail, he soon found that they all had many, many flaws! The oldest ones were mostly focussed on their specific style. While they all had their own strengths and were definitely a powerful boon if learned, a lot of the moves were simply suboptimal or even just a total waste of movement, simply introduced to look the part. Some of the newer martial arts tried to amend that by focusing only on practicality, but they couldn't really achieve too much success either. With no other option, Isaac created his own martial art from scratch. A few moves from some martial arts were usable, so he wasn't adverse to adding them to his repertoire, but most were his own creations. He refused to name any of his moves, though, as he felt that it was just incredibly lame to do so. Not to mention that it was a waste of resources to have one's brain inadvertently think about the name of a move when one executes it.

While it was easy for young Isaac to create this martial art of his in his head, training his body to actually be able to perform it was ridiculously hard. Even with his advantage of always being able to recognize what mistakes he had made in his execution, there was only one thing that could help him improve: nigh endless repetition. So for at least eight hours almost every day, Ais observed the young boy slave away at his brutal training regime, straining himself way beyond his limits time and time again.

A few months before Isaac's eighth birthday, he finally had a breakthrough. While he had been able to perfectly execute all of the moves of his martial art even before then, he had always felt like there was something missing… something he could improve on. So he had never stopped refining himself and his moves. Now… he finally felt as if he had just… understood something. Like a shackle had been broken. Suddenly, he could perfectly control all of his body's movements. There were no errors anymore, all of his mental commands were flawlessly executed.

Previously, he had always felt like he had to force his body to conform to what he was thinking. Now, however, it felt like his body had truly become a part of himself. This fascinating feeling distracted Isaac and, while he was observing his own body with interest, he didn't even notice that more than an hour had passed since his breakthrough.

When he finally came to, he was somewhat baffled at first, then he got extremely excited. He felt like he had just taken his first step on the path of cultivation! It was finally time to step upon this path and follow it to its end.

Well, that is what young Isaac tried to do. He attempted the vast majority of cultivation techniques described in novels and old manuscripts… none of them had any effect. In fact, the more he researched about the people who had claimed to be able to use some sort of unseen energy, the more he got convinced they were simply delusional or con artists. His excitement… got quenched quite a bit.

Still, he felt like he had been on the right track when he became able to perfectly control his body before, so Isaac decided to pursue this path further… as far as he could. It had to lead somewhere, after all. Right?

Even though young Isaac was trying to cheer himself up and keep positive, Ais felt the painful pangs of realization in his chest, so she let out a sad sigh. She was well aware that Isaac already theorized that this breakthrough… had already been the path's end.

Over the next few months, while never stopping to educate himself and gather knowledge, Isaac didn't give up on trying to improve further. Sadly, while he had finally begun to fully grasp his new abilities, he couldn't find any way to do so. Sure, he was now able to even focus on every single cell of his body individually. He could even command them, in a way. And while this opened up more possibilities than any other human would likely ever have access to, if they only relied on their mind... there was no way to rise to further heights.

Although Isaac's heart was heavy and the seed of interest within it extinguished fully, he didn't let this drag him down for long. So what if he couldn't progress further? Wasn't him reaching the peak of human body control and fighting techniques helpful for his future endeavours? It wasn't a waste of time, he even had new insights. One of them being that fiction was ultimately just that… fiction. Before now, there had always been a naive hope within him, craving for these fantastical things to be real. That was now gone.

On his eighth birthday, after he had munched away at his birthday cake with a smile, Isaac's expression turned serious.

"Mama, Papa. I have something I need to talk to you about."

As he only rarely addressed them with such a resolute look on his face, Isaac's parents soon reined in their festive mood and looked at their son with worry on their faces. His mother was just concerned about whether he had gotten himself into some kind of trouble, while his father already mentally prepared himself for the worst. Every time Isaac behaved in this way, he would usually challenge their world view or announce something they couldn't easily accept.

"What is it?"

With concern on his face, Isaac's father asked him to continue.

"After I finish elementary school, I will be dropping out of the education system. I have already gained all I wanted from there, staying in such an environment further won't help me."

So far, so good. As Isaac's father had already expected this, he just nodded his head.

"As I've already earned millions via stock trading and cryptocurrencies, I'll also refrain from working in the future. It would be a waste of time."

In response to Isaac's outrageous words, his parents had stupefied expressions on their faces. His mother even dropped her glass and stared at her son in disbelief. Sure, they had known their son was earning a little bit of money, but as they didn't have access to his various accounts anymore, they hadn't been aware of just how filthy rich Isaac was. His father could only smile awkwardly. He could understand that his son didn't want to work if he could easily live the rest of his life without doing so. After all, a lot of people would choose to not work if they had the opportunity. He had expected his son to obtain such wealth in the future with ease, but not this early. Yeah, that was truly a bombshell. At least it had been a good bombshell this ti---

"I will also travel the world over the next few years to study different countries, societies and historical sites in person. No need to worry, I already created all the necessary legal documents to do so. I can hire people to accompany me, so you can continue your lives here. I'll stop by whenever I can, don't worry."

With an expression of disbelief, Isaac's father spat out the water he was currently in the process of drinking.

"What?!"

His mother immediately bolted to Isaac's side and frantically grabbed his shoulders, while her face paled noticeably.

"That's too dangerous! I'm not letting you do that!"

With a mostly expressionless face, Isaac shook his head in response.

"It's not dangerous. I can hack whichever systems there are so I won't get flagged as suspicious. I can also hire as many bodyguards as I want, should they be necessary. The only danger would be someone specifically hiring a professional assassin to take me out from a distance… but who would do that for a random child on the street?"

Because his parents were already used to arguments of this kind, his words didn't fall on deaf ears. Nonetheless, his mother still didn't reduce the strength she put into grabbing his shoulders, so Isaac knew he had to placate her worries even more.

"Mama, I can easily buy any kind of weapon for self-protection. Besides that, my skills in martial arts have reached the pinnacle. No matter how strong an opponent I meet, I can't lose. Pair that with a firearm and there really is nothing to worry about."

While his mother was still shaking her head in frantic denial, not wanting to let her baby boy leave the nest, especially for such an atypical journey, Isaac's father released an exasperated sigh. He was well aware that there really was nothing they could say to make Isaac change his mind… as there was no reason why he shouldn't explore the world and travel. Just because he was a child? Wasn't he already mentally superior to adults and more dangerous than a seasoned warrior? Besides that, most countries weren't even that perilous, otherwise, going on vacation there wouldn't be such a widely spread trend.

"Can we come along?"

His father's question resulted in Isaac showing a conflicted expression for a short while, before finally shaking his head.

"Not for all my travel goals, it would be way too dangerous to take you along. It would be too hard to guarantee your safety. But for most of my travels, you can come along. We'll have some nice holidays."

Not just Isaac's father, even his mother almost couldn't believe her ears. They were the ones that had to be protected?! As ridiculous as it sounded… that really was the case. While their son's physical strength might not be on par with a well-trained adult, from what they had observed, his skill was so unimaginably superior that they couldn't even imagine him getting hurt. But what if they were with him? They would just drag him down…

His parents felt conflicted. On the one hand, they were proud that their son was as outstanding as he was. On the other hand, to have their young child tell them that they would drag them down really wounded their pride.

The observing Ais wasn't sure whether she should be laughing about the ridiculousness of the situation or feel sorry for the parents' predicament. From all she had observed in the past few years, she thought that none of this world's humans could pose a threat to young Isaac. After all, those humans… were simply too incredibly weak. Only their advanced weaponry could pose even the slightest amount of danger. Well, if it was a weapon of mass destruction… Isaac would be a goner with no way to resist. Even she herself, in her peak form, wouldn't be able to endure such an attack. But there really was no point thinking about this anway, as if Isaac encountered such a danger, it didn't matter whether he was with his parents or not - everyone would die.

When the time came for Isaac to start his travels, his parents had more or less accepted his decision. As there were still many months until he would embark on his solo adventures, they would keep him safe before then and just hope for the best. Even if they warned authorities and begged them to keep their son from leaving, he would most likely just find a way to bypass them anyway… so why even bother? Others might have branded them as irresponsible if they knew about all of this, but thanks to their abnormal son, they were simply powerless.

Over the next few months, the three visited a lot of relatively safe countries and took in many impressive sights. While they were just tourists, this didn't keep them from observing the lives of the locals, as they only had to deviate from the standard tourism routes to do so.

If Ais had to sum this time period up in one word, it would be this: fun. The entire family really enjoyed their time and didn't come across too many dangerous or disturbing situations. Sure, they encountered some small-time criminals and came across disgruntled natives more times than they could count, but that was the extent of it. Or at least it was the extent of what Isaac's parents observed. Isaac... he studied the political situation of each country and paid attention to the living conditions of different kinds of people. Often times, while his parents were sleeping, he was staring at the ceiling unhappily while reminiscing about what they had encountered today. Still, he did enjoy his parents' company, even though they slowed him down somewhat.

A month before his ninth birthday, Isaac and his family returned back home. This wasn't so they could celebrate together, though. Rather, it was finally time for Isaac to set out on his own. After a tearful farewell, once he had promised to stop by every few months or so and call them nearly every day, Isaac packed his bags, hired a taxi and arrived at the airport. There, he soon found a middle-aged woman waiting for him.

"Mr. Blackshaw! It's nice to finally meet you in person."

Nodding approvingly at the respectfully bowing woman, Isaac reciprocated the greeting with a bright smile.

"Likewise, Mrs. Hopkins. Thanks for all your hard work."

More than a year ago, after an extended period of searching, Isaac had finally found himself a trustworthy secretary - Emily Hopkins. She was a true professional, who didn't care about his age whatsoever. Of course, Isaac wouldn't trust her with his life, but some of the more menial tasks of his various money-making avenues were competently handled by her. As for why she had met him here, that was to handle the air-travel related matters for his future travels and to procure various items that he requested over their course.

"It's my pleasure. Now, please let me lead the way."

It didn't take long for both of them to be seated within Isaac's private jet. He had vastly understated the amount of money he had amassed by now when he had told his parents about his future plans. Thankfully, it was nearly impossible to track or steal any of his wealth, as Isaac was leagues ahead of anyone else in those regards. If someone found out that a child owned more money than most of the people touted to be the richest men alive, all hell would break loose, after all.

When the jet set down on foreign soil more than ten hours later, Isaac glanced at the five hardened men hired for its protection. While all of them were mercenaries and those usually had a very bad reputation, the men Isaac had selected seemed to be of upright moral character, so he didn't worry too much about them stabbing him in the back. And even if they did, he was prepared. In either case, there was nothing that was truly risk-free.

"I'll see all of you in about a week. When I'm about to return, I'll let you know."

With these words, he left Emily and the security detail behind, setting foot in the civil war-ridden third world country.

To be fair, the first day wasn't anything out of the ordinary. The capital city, whose airport he had arrived at, was still in the tight grasp of the government and military, which kept the area relatively safe. Thanks to Isaac being able to speak the country's language, he also didn't have much of a problem with blending in. A lone kid might seem out of place if it stuck out too much, but Isaac expertly kept to the masses. While someone with his skin colour might be a rare sight here, in today's globally connected age, most people didn't pay too much attention to those things.

On the second day, Isaac had reached the outskirts of the government-controlled territory. By now, the people he encountered always seemed to be on edge, while a lot of the usual smiles were lost. He couldn't blame them for their behaviour, as it was perfectly reasonable. Who knew how long the military could keep the rebel forces at bay or when they would break through and attack these towns? Of course, Isaac was very much aware that neither side of this conflict was necessarily 'correct'.

Contrary to what Ais was somewhat worried about, Isaac didn't venture further towards the frontlines. Rather, he stayed within this area for three days, observing the daily lives of the people, occasionally talking to some of the friendlier individuals. It was all too easy to get them to talk about all of their frustrations, without giving them a chance to think about why a child was wandering around all alone. After all, Isaac's acting skills had already reached a monstrous level.

Then, on the fourth day, when Isaac had planned to make his way back to the capital to observe the contrast in the people's lives some more, he encountered a certain tragic scene for the first time in his life.

Within an alley, Isaac was observing one of the many brawls he had borne witness to over the past few days. This time… one of the participants had a large knife. Needless to say, the fight got out of hand and ended with two people heavily injured and one person having their throat slit.

It wasn't the first time he had seen someone get killed or a dead body, far from it. He had encountered a lot of these things via the internet before, after all. But now, in person, the whole experience was entirely different.

Even though he didn't know these people, the observing young Isaac still instinctively felt a shiver run down his spine. An irrational fear was trying to take over his mind, so he defiantly balled his hands into fists and clenched his teeth. But rather than mourning the death of a fellow human being, Isaac was annoyed at how his subconscious tried to dictate what he should feel. So what if someone just died? He had known he would encounter such a scene sooner or later and actively sought it out. Why did the death of a stranger impact him? It just didn't make sense!

The observing Ais didn't even have more than a few minutes to feel pity for what Isaac was currently going through, before the young boy's perturbed state came to an end. Isaac's facial muscles relaxed and a small smile played across his lips, before he silently distanced himself even further from the scene of the crime.

"As expected. Seems like there are still some mental weaknesses I have to work on."

Right after these words were spoken, a familiar bright light enveloped Ais, which caused her to hastily close her eyes. When thinking about how she would most likely feel like after she opened them again, she released a resigned sigh inwardly.