The next morning, Nero woke up to the unpleasant sensation of something hitting his face.
SMACK!
He shot upright.
"What the—"
Another object struck him.
This time he caught it.
A wooden sword.
Nero blinked.
Then he looked outside.
Kitsune stood in the clearing with his arms folded.
Fortis was already there.
The four Crimson Fangs sat nearby watching.
Somehow, Fortis looked even more miserable than Nero felt.
"Why do you look like that?" Nero asked.
Fortis pointed toward Kitsune.
"He woke me up before sunrise."
Kitsune smiled.
"Good. You're both awake."
Nero immediately became suspicious.
That smile never meant anything good.
"What's today's training?"
Kitsune tossed another wooden sword toward Fortis.
"Fight."
Nero frowned.
"That's it?"
"Without Manarai Energy."
The frown deepened.
"That's still it?"
Kitsune's smile widened.
"No."
Before Nero could react, Kitsune vanished.
A moment later—
BAM!
Nero found himself face-first in the dirt.
"What was that for?!"
"Too slow."
Fortis burst out laughing.
Then Kitsune appeared beside him.
BAM!
Fortis joined Nero on the ground.
The wolves howled.
They were clearly enjoying this.
Kitsune looked down at them.
"You both rely too much on power."
He pointed at Nero.
"You use overwhelming force whenever possible."
Then at Fortis.
"You rely on your natural instincts."
The fox humanoid walked toward the center of the clearing.
"An Ability isn't born from strength."
Nero stood up.
"Then what is it born from?"
Kitsune looked toward the sky.
"Understanding."
Neither Nero nor Fortis looked convinced.
Kitsune sighed.
"Fine."
He snapped his fingers.
Instantly, dozens of illusionary foxes appeared throughout the clearing.
They ran between trees.
Jumped through bushes.
Climbed branches.
Each one looked identical.
Nero couldn't tell which were real and which weren't.
"Find the original."
Nero frowned.
"That's easy."
He immediately ran toward one.
His hand passed through it.
An illusion.
Another.
An illusion.
Another.
Still wrong.
Meanwhile, Fortis was experiencing the same problem.
No matter how many foxes they chased, they couldn't find the real Kitsune.
Minutes passed.
Then hours.
The wolves eventually joined in.
Even with their enhanced senses, they couldn't locate him.
Finally, Nero collapsed onto the grass.
"This is impossible."
A voice suddenly came from behind him.
"No."
Nero turned.
Kitsune was sitting on a tree branch.
The same branch he had occupied from the beginning.
Neither Nero nor Fortis had looked there once.
"You failed because you were searching with your eyes."
Fortis frowned.
"What else are we supposed to use?"
Kitsune tapped his chest.
"Your instincts."
The clearing fell silent.
Kitsune jumped down.
"Most people misunderstand Abilities."
He began walking around them.
"They believe an Ability is a technique."
"It isn't."
"They believe an Ability is a weapon."
"It isn't."
Nero crossed his arms.
"Then what is it?"
Kitsune stopped.
"A reflection."
The fox humanoid pointed toward Nero.
"Your Ability already exists."
Nero froze.
"What?"
"You simply haven't discovered it yet."
Fortis looked surprised.
"Abilities can exist before awakening?"
"Of course."
Kitsune nodded.
"Every person's Ability is tied to their nature."
He looked directly into Nero's eyes.
"Your Ability is already sleeping inside you."
Nero felt his heart skip a beat.
For years he had wondered what his Ability would be.
Now Kitsune was saying it already existed.
It simply hadn't awakened.
"How do I find it?"
Kitsune smiled.
"By surviving."
Nero immediately regretted asking.
"What does that mean?"
The fox humanoid pointed toward the forest.
A grin slowly spread across his face.
"The next stage of your training begins today."
Fortis suddenly had a bad feeling.
The wolves seemed to have the same feeling.
Kitsune's smile widened.
"For the next seven days..."
Nobody liked where this was going.
"...you'll be living in the Wild Zone."
Silence.
Nero blinked.
Fortis blinked.
The wolves tilted their heads.
Then realization struck.
"WAIT WHAT?!"
Kitsune ignored the protests.
"No Manarai Energy."
"No help from me."
"No returning to the cabin."
Nero's jaw dropped.
"You're throwing us out?!"
"I'm educating you."
"That's not education!"
Kitsune pointed toward the distant forest.
A forest known for housing powerful beasts.
Dangerous beasts.
The kind that enjoyed eating careless travelers.
"Your Ability won't awaken in comfort."
His golden eyes narrowed.
"It awakens under pressure."
The smile disappeared from his face.
"And if you wish to survive the King's Selection..."
For the first time, Kitsune sounded serious.
"You need to become much stronger than you are now."
Neither Nero nor Fortis argued.
Because deep down...
They knew he was right.
An hour later, Nero found himself standing at the edge of the Wild Zone.
Fortis stood beside him.
The four Crimson Fangs waited behind them.
None of them looked happy.
Especially Nero.
"I still think he's trying to kill us."
Fortis nodded.
"I agree."
The wolves growled in approval.
Far behind them, Kitsune sat on a tree branch, lazily waving goodbye.
"Try not to die!"
Nero clenched his fist.
"One day I'm going to hit him."
"Get in line," Fortis replied.
Without another word, the group entered the Wild Zone.
The atmosphere changed instantly.
The trees were darker.
The forest was denser.
The Manarai Energy in the area felt far more aggressive.
Even the Crimson Fangs became alert.
Hours passed.
The group carefully moved through the forest.
Whenever they sensed danger, they avoided it.
Whenever they heard powerful beasts nearby, they changed direction.
By sunset, they still hadn't fought anything.
Nero sighed.
"This isn't so bad."
The moment those words left his mouth, Fortis stopped walking.
The wolves froze.
Nero immediately knew something was wrong.
"What?"
One of the wolves growled.
Another lowered its body.
Fortis slowly turned toward the trees.
"Nero..."
A low rumble echoed through the forest.
Then another.
The ground began trembling.
Branches snapped.
Something massive was approaching.
Nero drew his weapon.
The group formed up immediately.
Then it emerged.
A gigantic boar-like beast.
Its body was covered in dark stone armor.
Two enormous tusks extended from its mouth.
Every step shook the earth.
Fortis cursed.
"B-Rank."
Nero's eyes widened.
"B-Rank?!"
The boar snorted.
Steam erupted from its nostrils.
The beast immediately charged.
BOOM!
The ground exploded beneath its feet.
"SCATTER!"
The group dove in different directions.
The boar crashed through several trees before turning around.
Its red eyes locked onto Nero.
"Why me?!"
The beast charged again.
Nero sprinted.
The boar followed.
Behind him, Fortis transformed both arms into beast claws.
The Crimson Fangs attacked from different directions.
Their attacks landed.
But barely penetrated the beast's stone armor.
One wolf was sent flying.
Another barely escaped being trampled.
"This thing is ridiculous!"
Fortis leapt onto the beast's back.
His claws dug into the armor.
The boar roared and slammed itself into a tree.
Fortis was thrown off instantly.
Nero gritted his teeth.
Without Manarai Energy, they couldn't rely on overwhelming power.
They had to think.
Then he noticed something.
The beast's armor wasn't covering everything.
Its eyes.
Its joints.
The area beneath its neck.
Weak points.
"Kitsune..."
Nero muttered.
A smile slowly appeared on his face.
"So this is what you wanted."
For the first time, he wasn't thinking about strength.
He was observing.
Analyzing.
Understanding.
"Fortis!"
The humanoid beast immediately looked over.
"I have an idea."
Several minutes later...
The boar was furious.
The Crimson Fangs constantly harassed it.
Never staying in one place.
Never committing to a direct attack.
Each time the beast turned toward one wolf, another attacked from behind.
The strategy was working.
Slowly.
Painfully.
But it was working.
Finally, the opportunity appeared.
The boar charged directly at Nero.
Exactly as planned.
Nero waited.
Ten meters.
Five meters.
Three.
Then he moved.
At the last possible moment, he dodged.
The boar couldn't stop.
It slammed directly into a massive boulder.
CRASH!
The impact stunned it.
"NOW!"
Fortis lunged.
The wolves followed.
Their attacks struck the exposed joints beneath the armor.
The beast roared in pain.
Nero jumped onto its back.
With all his strength, he drove his blade into the vulnerable spot beneath its neck.
The boar staggered.
Then collapsed.
Silence filled the forest.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then—
"We won."
Nero fell onto the ground.
Fortis collapsed beside him.
The wolves dropped wherever they stood.
Everyone was exhausted.
Nobody celebrated.
Nobody cheered.
They simply lay there.
Breathing heavily.
After a while, Fortis laughed.
Nero looked over.
"What?"
Fortis pointed toward the sky.
"For the first time..."
A grin appeared on his face.
"...you defeated something stronger than yourself without relying on power."
Nero stared at the darkening sky.
For the first time, he understood what Kitsune had been trying to teach him.
Strength wasn't everything.
The beast that was killed wasn't revived like the previous ones.
"Weird"Nero thought."Why wasn't it revived?"
He decided to make a mental note of that on his journey in the wild zone
A few hundred meters away, hidden among the trees, Kitsune watched silently.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"They're learning."
Then his expression became serious.
His gaze shifted deeper into the Wild Zone.
Toward a region even he rarely visited.
A region where ancient beasts slumbered.
"The King's Selection is getting closer."
His tails swayed behind him.
"And they're still not ready."