Break[BONUS]

Kayden spent the next entire month to break through to the fourth rank, but that was still impressive. The speed at which he was growing was simply ridiculous. Not even the best in the country came close to advancing that quickly.

At the moment, the boy had stopped cultivating and was just fighting in the club like crazy. Typically, he had more than 50 fights a day. He still hadn't recovered the level to go into the life or death category.

Right now, he was facing people at the seventh rank in a completely even fight, and when he went against some at the eighth rank, he still had a chance of winning. But his focus at the moment was not on gaining experience but on learning to control his path.

He noticed that he became extremely sensitive to mana, even though it came from his enemies. Each time, he was closer to discovering something. He could feel it. Every fight took him a little further.

Each time he felt closer to finding out, he felt his power increase tremendously. His mana control increased, the speed at which he controlled it increased and, consequently, his body became stronger.

During this time, he also spoke to Astolfo and assured him that everything was fine. The boy had made a good friend who cared about him. Other than that, your month was nothing special.

His focus was to train all day, every possible hour of the day. He did not take a break during this time. He didn't have a leisure activity. Even his food breaks were timed.

*********

Another month passed and Kayden had been awake for two months. At that time, he had reached the fifth rank and could easily go head-to-head against people at the ninth rank. He advanced further on his path.

Now, he learned two ways to manipulate mana. The first consisted of just imposing his will and ordering whatever he wanted. This way was not very exhaustive and was the normal way he had been doing it.

The second was to subdue the mana, taking away any wills that were not his. This caused much greater mental strain and ridiculous pressure on his body. But, in compensation, his strength increased dozens of times.

Not even a peak rank nine apprentice could fight against him. Kayden finally understood the difference between a person with his path and one without. Probably, Apollo had also discovered his path quite early.

Transcendence was nothing more than utilizing his second way of manipulating mana now. Finally, he returned to fight in life and death fights and... lived up to his nickname. The boy simply killed more than 100 people in that month alone.

Most of those who were weak in spirit could not even move when faced with their bloodlust. And even the veterans were still harmed, if only slightly.

How could they compete after all the time Kayden spent just honing his will? And now, with the string of victims he has claimed, his bloodlust has reached extremely high levels.

Not to mention his experience, which was growing more and more. The amount of fights he was facing was not for everyone. The wealth the boy accumulated during this time easily amounted to a few thousand gold coins.

Who would have thought that the boy who didn't have a coin in his pocket to go to the gym with Ryan today would be one of the youngest millionaires in the kingdom? But... that didn't matter to Kayden.

 His objectives were clear.

 To train. 

 Get stronger.

 Advance.

 Train again.

 Nothing more than that, his life became a cycle of cultivation and fights to the death, sometimes he even came close to dying and continued, as these were the fights that most pushed him to his physical and mental limit.

 At these moments it seemed simpler to enter his second mana manipulation mode, the boy dubbed this state of enlightenment, it was the best way to write what he felt.

*******

"Kayden, do you know why I called you here?" Han was sitting in front of the boy with a cup of tea in his hands.

"No, dad," Kayden was curious as to what prompted the old man to suddenly summon him. Han let out a low sigh before starting to speak.

"You stink like death, boy," the old man looked strange when he said it. "You've always been mature for your age and I won't intrude, but...", the man hesitated to continue. "You're heading down a path of no return."

"I know, I always knew," Kayden no longer cared about taking lives, not even if they were millions. Han looked into the boy's eyes for a few seconds and seemed to be plunged into an endless abyss.

At that moment, he understood. Kayden had already lost any resemblance to the boy from years ago.

"I need you to leave the orphanage, son," for the first time the old man's tone was low. "Your aura is affecting the other children unconsciously. I will pay for room and board for you in the city."

Kayden felt in the tone of voice and when he was called son for the first time in his life by Han that the old man was sincere and wanted the best for him. His aura was very wild and violent and affected the surrounding mana automatically, causing damage to children's development.

"Don't worry, Dad, I can manage," Kayden said with a smile that represented peace. Han felt calmer when he saw that the boy understood the situation. For the next few minutes, the two just drank tea in silence.

Something that was implied between the two was the rupture of their current relationship. Kayden knew the old man wanted him to return to the "Light" side, but... that wasn't possible. Kayden would spend the rest of his life fighting and killing for his goal.

Han was probably obsessed with honor and ethics, his past made that clear. He couldn't accept Kayden with the boy's aura making it clear how many people he was killing.

Even more so the boy's aura shows that his victims involved all types, from innocent people to people who deserved to die.