E-Rantel was a fortress city standing at the border between the Empire and the New Kingdom.
As the morning sun began to rise, its gentle rays spread across every corner of the city.
Although a trace of the morning chill still lingered in the air, the residents of E-Rantel were already busy with their daily routines.
From the streets and alleys to the shops and markets, everyone had begun the day's work in an orderly fashion.
Even children as young as six or seven had climbed out of their warm beds and stepped into the morning light for their traditional exercises.
On a broad clearing east of E-Rantel, the warm morning sunlight filtered through the tall, dense trees along its edge, scattering mottled patches of light across the ground.
From a distance, a large crowd of children could be seen gathered there.
At a rough estimate, there were somewhere between one and two hundred of them.
The children had naturally divided into three separate groups.
Each group stood in several neat rows, the children holding themselves straight and remaining silent, their expressions solemn and serious.
The northernmost group consisted of children between five and seven years old.
The group in the middle was made up of children around eight or nine.
The southernmost group consisted entirely of youngsters aged ten or eleven.
Standing before the assembled children was a burly, powerfully built middle-aged man.
"Talent won't give you chiseled muscles. Talent is only a shortcut on the road to becoming strong. If you want to become strong, you have to train hard from an early age."
The middle-aged man stood with his hands behind his back and his head held high as he spoke in a cold voice.
His sharp, blood-red gaze swept across the group. The six- and seven-year-olds pressed their lips together one after another, their dark eyes fixed on him, none daring to make a sound.
Brain Unglaus. That was the middle-aged man's name.
His hair was unkempt, his chin covered in stubble, and he wore a simple chainmail shirt. At first glance, he looked somewhat scruffy, but no one would underestimate him because of it.
In the children's eyes, perhaps this was simply the privilege of the strong, being able to do as they pleased.
"Most of you come from ordinary families. You can't receive specialized training from childhood like children from wealthy households. If you want to rise above the rest and avoid being looked down on in the future, you'll have to work even harder."
"If there's no tomorrow, burn everything you have today. If tomorrow still comes, then keep throwing your fists with everything you've got. Stray dogs don't need gravestones. Just keep running until you rot. That's the first lesson I'm teaching you, and the most important one."
Brain's gaze swept across the children.
Although he had come here because of a mission, and these children were merely something he was handling along the way, he was still a Warrior. As such, he remained committed to teaching everyone here to the best of his ability.
After all, he himself had once been the son of a farmer, so he understood the hardships faced by those at the bottom of society better than most.
"Understood!"
The youngsters shouted in unison.
"Mm. Good."
Some of the children still looked confused and uncertain, clearly too young to fully understand what he meant.
Others, however, had remarkably firm and determined looks in their eyes, as though they had already grasped the deeper meaning behind Brain's words.
As the saying went, "Children of the poor grow up early." At that moment, the truth of those words was plain to see.
Over the past several years, the Kingdom had been annexed by the powerful Empire, while the Sorcerer Kingdom's series of policies had brought sweeping changes of their own. Together, these developments had significantly altered the prevailing attitudes across the continent.
By now, the belief that "the strong reign supreme" had become deeply rooted in people's minds.
In the past, the clearest indicator of a person's status had been whether they were a noble.
Now, what truly represented a person's standing was their own strength.
If you wanted to make your parents proud, earn the admiration of others, change your fate, and live a glorious life in the future, then work hard and become strong!
"Morning is when all living things are at their most vigorous. It's the best time to improve our physical potential. If you want to build a solid foundation, you need to focus, keep your mind calm, and maintain steady breathing."
"Whether you go on to study Martial Arts or become a Magic Caster, those three things will be crucial."
"Twelve years old. That's the enrollment age for the Empire's Magic Academy, the Dragon Kingdom's Magic Academy, and even the Sorcerer Kingdom's Magic Academy. It will also be the most important turning point in your lives."
Brain explained everything in an orderly manner.
The educational environment these children enjoyed was far better than anything he'd had growing up. When Brain was young, none of these resources had existed. He had been forced to figure almost everything out on his own.
He did not expect any true powerhouses to emerge from this group. Without innate Talent or natural aptitude, a person's upper limit was largely determined from the start.
He estimated that most of these children would eventually become soldiers of the Empire, while a smaller number might become adventurers or take up similar independent professions.
For ordinary people, that was already a decent future.
Of course, there was one exception.
After all, that child was destined to become someone on the level of Cocytus-sama.
Brain moved among the children, occasionally stopping to correct someone's posture.
When he reached the group of five- to seven-year-olds, most of them were standing awkwardly due to their young age.
Brain said nothing about it. Training at that age was already somewhat premature, little different from trying to force a plant to grow faster by pulling on it.
If not for the temples within the city, which used Divine System magic every day to ease the strain on their bodies, these young children would eventually have broken down under the burden.
In terms of basic physical ability, humans were far inferior to Demihumans and Heteromorphic Races. They could be called the most ordinary of all races.
Yet precisely because they were so ordinary, they also possessed many different possibilities.
They were like sheets of pure white paper, waiting to be filled with all manner of colors.
[But colors still need pigment, and pigments come in different grades.]
Brain's gaze settled on the little boy before him.
The boy strongly resembled his mother, with bright red hair and the same brown eyes as his father.
He looked about seven years old, but in reality, he was the youngest child present. He was only three.
[Yachen... or perhaps I should call him Samirth-sama. A friend of the Three Supreme Beings, and someone destined to become a great powerhouse in the future.]
Surnames had once been a privilege reserved for the nobility. Commoners generally had no surname and possessed only a given name.
As a result, there was usually little connection between the names of ordinary children and those of their parents.
The child before him, however, was anything but ordinary.
Despite his young age, he was already beginning to show extraordinary promise.
Brain's main reason for coming to E-Rantel was to teach him the fundamentals, essentially serving as his first mentor.
"How does it feel?"
Brain tried to make himself look as friendly as possible. He certainly couldn't afford to offend the young master standing before him.
"Not much of anything. I can learn almost everything as soon as I'm shown. Maybe it's because I'm exceptionally gifted."
Yachen grinned.
He had been unusual from the moment he was born. He spoke after only three days, walked on his own within a week, and mastered writing after half a month...
In an ordinary world, he would probably have been treated like some kind of monster.
But this was a world of magic, so he had naturally become a widely known Genius instead.
According to his father, it might have had something to do with his three godfathers. Apparently, when they blessed him at birth, they had fed him some kind of golden bead.
"Haha, you'll definitely become someone important someday."
Personally teaching someone destined to become a powerhouse had little to do with Brain's own achievements, but it was still something he could take pride in.
He reached out to pat the boy's head, but his Vampire instincts made his hand freeze halfway up.
From the forest nearby, a gaze had locked directly onto him.
[Fine, I won't touch him. Is that really worth such a strong reaction...?]
Brain smoothly changed the motion into running a hand through his short blue hair and sighed inwardly.
Hamsuke's father really was petty.
His own standing was as low as ever.
Still, as long as he could continue growing stronger and improving his swordsmanship, that was good enough.
[I'll go have a drink with Gazef once this is over.]
Brain didn't have many friends. If he had to name someone he was genuinely close to, Gazef would count.
Gazef was now a member of the Empire, albeit under duress, but at least his strength was still improving. He was just barely capable of discussing Martial Arts with Brain on equal footing.
Brain had never forgotten his defeat at Gazef's hands during the Kingdom's Grand Martial Tournament.
...
Within the vast, boundless, and unfathomable Soul River lay a mysterious blind spot concealed among the countless souls carried along by its flow.
"His messenger is about to descend. I can clearly feel that presence drawing closer."
"The location is probably... the Roble Holy Kingdom."
At the center of the altar, the Dragon Emperor stood motionless.
As the chains around him shifted and rattled, he slowly raised his head and spoke in a low, solemn voice.
His mismatched dragon eyes gleamed with a strange light, as though they could pierce the heavy barrier of the Soul River, cross the endless starry expanse, and reach the unknown realm beyond the world itself.
"Then should we act immediately?"
At the Dragon Emperor's words, the five giant dragons beside him raised their noble heads and spoke in unison.
"There is no need. Others will naturally deal with it in our place."
"Besides, that Player has already noticed the anomaly in the Soul River. If we act rashly now, there is a high chance our existence will be exposed."
"I do not fear being discovered, but the time is not yet ripe."
The Dragon Emperor shook his head slightly and continued in a quiet voice.
"For now, we need only wait patiently for this conflict to reach its conclusion. When that time comes, we will choose the proper moment and reap the fruits of victory..."
"That is also the pact between me and my other self."
The Dragon Emperor's gaze was deep and distant, as though he had already seen where everything would ultimately lead.