When Nero had awakened, he had found himself in a corner separate from his previous location. His nose twitched as the scent of meat wafted towards his nose, and the sound of a burning fire was heard from nearby, Nero shifted his eyes towards the source seeing a small firepit with a large piece of meat being barbequed on a piece of stick.
Growl~ Nero's stomach began to rumble as he only realized that he had to eat in this world as well. His stomach was growling off the charts, but Nero was a youth of pride, he will never ask anyone for help, he doesn't want to owe anyone favors.
"Oh, seems that you've awoken, how do you do? My name's Avollo," The dark brown-skinned youth said as he glanced at Nero from the corner of his eyes.
Looking at him now, he didn't seem to be much older than Nero himself. He sat by the firepit, holding the stick as he turned the meat over the flames, the fat from the meat dripping into the fire, making sizzling sounds.
Nero snorted and remained silent, not saying anything, Avollo merely smirked with so much of word, humming as he sheared the meat. Soon, the meat was ready, and he sprinkled some spices on it while he spoke out loud, "Ohhh yeah, this is what I'm talking about, the earth as my home, the sky as my sheet, cooking in nature is just so sweet..."
He was about to take a big chunk out of it, but he heard Nero's grumbling stomach once more. He peeked at him from the corner of his eyes and wrinkled his nose as he spoke, "Still not going to say hello?"
Nero gritted his teeth, seems to be struggling to hold onto his pride. However, as if he made up his mind, Nero spoke, "Why did you help me?"
Avollo hearing this was a bit surprised, he lifted his head staring at the blue sky as he spoke, "No reason, mother said help those in need, and father said a good man knows when to offer his aid. You looked like you needed it, pal..."
Nero hearing this paused for a bit, as his eyes became a bit lost when he spoke, "Mother and father, huh... you've got great parents,"
Avollo felt Nero's words to be a bit strange; he tilted his head and stared at him before asking, "Yes, I do, but don't we all?"
Nero shook his head, his eyes showed a trace of gentleness when he thought of his mother, but when he tried to recall his father, only hatred came in his eyes.
He rose to his feet and brushed off the dirt from his body before he looked at Avollo and spoke, "Not really, thank's for giving me a hand, I'll be heading off to training now."
When Nero said this, he walked off, not bothering to even say his name. Avollo looked at Nero's back with a curious gaze as he muttered, "Well, he really is a curious fellow."
As Avollo said this, he took up a piece of the meat and shouted, "Hey!"
Nero was a bit surprised by the shout, he turned around, but when he did, he saw an object whizzing towards him through the wind at high speeds. Normally, Nero wouldn't be able to avoid this, but as he now had Spiritual Awareness, his perception of the world had changed.
Nero was able to see that it was meat on a stick, he hurriedly grabbed it from the air, barely catching it as he wasn't used to doing these kinds of highspeed maneuvers.
"You..." Nero was about to question his purpose, but Avollo merely rose to his feet and walked towards the exit.
He spoke while leaving, "Consider it a gift from me, pal..."
Nero, hearing this, shouted, "What gift? We aren't even friends?"
Avollo paused his steps and laughed while speaking, "Haha, you're right, then how about we become friends."
As he said this, Avollo waved his hand, and a notification popped up before Nero's eyes.
Ding!
[Avollo would like to be your friend, do you wish to accept?]
When Nero heard Avollo's words and saw the word friend, his eyes changed as he fell into a momentary daze. He recalled his first time trying to get a friend, but that didn't turn out well, everyone ended up betraying him the moment he was forced to leave the Prominent Sector to the Gutter Zone.
Ever since then, Nero had hated the very word; he would usually react in a manner no different from someone provoking him and his mother if he heard it. Yet, for some reason, Nero felt strange around this person called Avollo, they never met before, but he couldn't help feeling connected.
Nero quickly regained his senses staring at the option before him as he gripped his fists, Avollo seeing this was worried as he thought, 'EH? What's he doing? Does he not know how to accept it? Odd, I felt that he was new, but that should be the simplest thing.'
Just as Avollo was about to explain how it works, Nero's hand moved as the confirmation popped up in Avollo's eyes.
[Nero has accepted your friend request!]
'Nero? So that's his name...' Avollo thought to himself, he then spoke with a smile, "Haha, Nero, thanks for accepting, let's meet up some other time! Bye!"
As Avollo said this, he once more continued on his way, leaving the area. Nero looked at him deeply before focused on his thoughts, 'A friend, huh... mother, I made a friend...'
Upon saying this, Nero took a bite of the fragrant meat, as he did this, the taste was rich that it caused his eyes to drip with small bits of tears. Currently, Nero felt slightly different, as if his world of gray had finally gotten another tinge of color.
Adult Nero, whose face was ever so cold and indifferent, made a slight smile as he saw this scene, he muttered to himself, 'Avollo... seems that you came here at the same time again... it's good that there aren't any changes.'
As Adult Nero said this, he closed his eyes no longer paying attention to anyone around Nero on the outside.
Not long after, Nero had finished his meal, his body felt fresh, and his HP was maxed. He felt as if he could take on the world, so he slapped his cheeks to build his fighting spirit as he shouted, "Let's do this!"
Luckily for him, no one else was around to mock his act of madness, so Nero could act as he pleased. He promptly cracked his joins as he stretched while thinking, 'The Foundation Body Refinement requires me to regulate my breath in a certain standard. In doing so, I can gather what is known as 'Qi' or 'Magic Power' from the environment and use it to empower my physical traits. Based on the memories I've seen of the practice; I should be able to perform it; I only need to figure out its rhythm.'
As Nero thought this, he sat in the remote corner, merging himself in the fields becoming one with nature. He slowly regulated his breath, breathing in and out a slow and drawn-out pace.
Soon, Nero had managed to find his state of serenity once again, during this state, the air around him changed as rather than taking in just oxygen, strands of semi-transparent blue energy began to seep within his pores.
Nero's mind then arrived at a location he saw in his memories of the manual, here there were five significant points to be activated, each cantering around his chest like a diagram of a star.
Nero pushed these energies into one of the edge most points, causing the bundle of blue power to travel through his meridians for these hidden acupoints. In an instant, this energy arrived and quickly surrounded one of them, following this the point began to glow bright and brighter until finally with a 'pinging' sound it lit up.
Adult Nero, who had his eyes closed, made a smile as he spoke once more to himself, 'If it is wealth, status, influence, luck, power, and all the other things in this world we've never had it. However, when it comes to natural talent, there are only a few who exist that can exceed us.'
Ding!
[Foundation Body Refinement 1st Meridian has been activated! Mastery has increased by 10, Combat Power and Body Tenacity has increased by +1]
At this time, Nero, who had finished his first session, opened his eyes, causing a bright light to flash before fading away. His shining silver hair danced about due to the winds as his lips curved into a smile as he spoke, "I believe I am ready..."
Upon saying this, Nero rose to his feet, staring at the Tyrant Slime; he knew that this was only the beginning the rest of the challenge would be trying to master his other skills in battle.
Nero took a bold step forward, cracking his fingers muscles as his red pupils gleamed in a sharp ray as he walked to rechallenge his first major enemy.