Whoosh!
A soft sound was heard, followed by an arrow shooting through the air, drawing a graceful arc before breaking off a thumb-thick branch from the locust tree in the distance.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
As the branch fell, three more soft sounds followed, with three arrows arriving almost simultaneously, intercepting the falling branch and precisely splitting it into four.
"Seventy meters away, comparable to Olympic athletes in my past life, but unfortunately..."
The speaker was a teenager dressed in plain black pants and a t-shirt, looking about twelve or thirteen years old, with slightly brown skin, a lean build, thick eyebrows, sharp eyes, and a well-defined jawline, giving off an honest and cute feeling. Yet, if you looked closely into his eyes, there was a striking sense of deep wisdom, way older than his age.
The young man held an aged-looking horn bow, which was well-maintained, with the bow's body glistening. His right arm was still trembling, clearly indicating that the four arrows just fired had put quite a strain on him.
The young man looked at the guard behind him, and seeing his expression of joy, he heaved a sigh of relief,' He didn't seem to notice the fake tremble of my hands.'
The young man was none other than Shen!
Over the past three days, he had diligently practiced the bersekrer cultivation technique, refining both his skin and bones simultaneously. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say his speed was so terrifying that if anyone knew about it, they would call him a prodigy.
But Shen wasn't interested in such futile titles; he had a deep sense of crisis as the feeling of unease kept rising in his heart. He had lived for so long, and he knew when the environment was off...And this was one of those situations!
'The space element is indeed terrifying, I'm so glad I didn't disregard it and integrated it into the berserker path instead.' He thought with a smile before Eno cut him off.
"Young master, u gonna take some rest soon or?" He paused for a moment, his eyes darting into Shen's trembling hands and sweaty lean body, before a sigh escaped his lips.
"You have been training your aim to prepare for your future spells since dawn, pushing yourself isn't always good."
"Mhm," Shen nodded but didn't say anything.
As for the aiming practice? That was merely a cover to test his newfound strength; he would never show that his path differed from theirs. He didn't lose his mind yet.
The birds chirped loudly in a beautiful rhythm with each other like a well-composed song, leaves fell from the enormous trees of the deep, dark forest, and a fresh breeze of air brushed past Shen's face.
He was currently training outside of the family's pocket dimension with permission from his father, and although he knew nothing about his spot, he could tell that this dark jungle he was currently in was extremely dangerous.
'Such feeling,' Each time he gazed at the dark spots that the rays of the sun could never hope to reach at the distance, a chill ran down his spine.
"What's wrong, young master?"
"Ah, nothing, nothing. Was just curious about what's out there, what kind of world was this?" His eyes sparkled as he said these words, his body shuddering with excitement. Inwardly, however, he almost vomited from such actions.
Eno was a bit confused, and his white beard slightly trembled before realization dawned upon him,' Young master has lost his memory, and since then, no one told him about your continent. No wonder...'
Giving a slight glance at Eno, Shen was pleased that he could get a general idea about the world without having to waste more time and go to another library. He set his priorities, and getting stronger is at the top for now.
As for why he was out in the dark jungle showing his aiming skill?
Hehe...
"Young master, let's first rest and then I'll tell you a bit about our surroundings, deal?" Eno looked concerned as he looked at Shen's state and suggested.
Shen nodded before he rested on the spot, continually massaging his right arm to relieve the 'fatigue'. It took almost half an hour for his arm to regain some strength.
He stood up and retrieved the four iron arrows; there were only five iron arrows in the quiver, which were all that he got from the training ground, and he didn't like to lose them, so he didn't have to shift his focus to other problems.
After another half-day of rest, once his arm had nearly fully recovered, Shen picked up the hunted prey and nodded at Eno, who was resting in a tree across from him.
A slightly chubby bird, two wild rabbits, and a deer.
Seeing that his young master was all good and everything was set, Eno began talking.
"We are currently in the hidden continent, from all its different directions, only a terrifying sea borders it, and no one since the dawn of time has been able to explore it, given how dangerous it is."
"The hidden continent was ruled by a singular entity that none could disobey, the Imperial family!" Eno's voice slightly trembled as he said the last two words, and his eyes even showed a bit of fear for a split second.
'Interesting,' Shen picked up such a detail, he mused secretly, but remained quiet.
"The Imperial family wasn't merely your regular families of history that ruled over 4 regions, each ruled by a duke. That existed, yes, but what's a bit different was that the Imperial family didn't only rule over four dukes and four regions from the north to the south.
They instead ruled over the entirety of the hidden continent, including all the neighboring kingdoms and their regions."
Hiss!
Even Shen sucked in a breath of cold air, hearing these words.
He had first thought this Imperial family ruled over the majority of the continent, and Eno was merely exaggerating, or the continent was too small. But, he didn't know that other kingdoms also existed and were even ruled by the same entity...
'How powerful is this family?' Shen's body slightly trembled as he asked such a question to himself.
'Is this fear? Or, excitement?'