Within the wild's plains outside Winfrey's protection zone, many different battles were occurring between various novices and nearby monsters; some of these monsters seemed no different from mindless goblins and strange wolves and other lifeforms.
Currently, the day was in full bloom, and most of the already powerful novices had already traveled towards farther and more substantial leveling grounds. Those who remained here were none other than the weakest of the newbies, even within their distinctive backgrounds.
Suddenly, an individual fighting against a goblin barely claimed a win by smashing its head in with an iron ax. He then slumped over on his feet and wiped the sweat from his forehead while speaking to a nearby friend, "Whew! I shouldn't have skipped those combat classes; it's taking me too long to kill these things."
"Pssh! You think! If I were you, I'd just give up; the society had a reason why it didn't give you any resources. Maybe you're just not suited for this life," The person nearby said in mock.
"Hmph! Like hell I'd do that, I awakened for a reason, it can only mean that I was destined for great things!" The other person yapped back as he jumped up with a fierce expression.
The friend of this individual merely shook his head before staring in a different direction. There, the sounds of a fierce fight between two foes echoed, as if one looked beyond the verdant fields, they would see the figure of a young silver-haired boy fighting with his life on the line against two goblins.
"Hmm, who's that guy over there?" The guy said while looking at the battle with a bit of surprise.
"Oh, that guy, I've heard rumors about him since yesterday, he is the handsome newbie on that female list. They are even calling him the Silver Boy, he is quite popular, but it's a pity that his strength is so weak. Not even comparable to..." The other party was about to say something, but as he looked at the battle more in-depth, his eyes couldn't help but widen in shock.
"He's taking on two goblins by himself, has he gone mad? "The person said in alarm.
The other person shook his head and spoke, "There are all kinds of strange people in this world, it would seem that he's one of those rumored fast-growing types. Who knows, he might just grow comparable to that Gold Spear Boy, or Grass-Root Sword Kid, let us see how he holds his own."
"Hmm, this should be interesting..." The other person said with flashing eyes, as he watched intently.
At this moment, the two goblins that were fighting against the silver-haired youth had been separated by a fair amount of distance.
They each had green skin and were less than a meter tall, each with large hard and savage red eyes with warts all over their face. They wore shabby cloth with different items strapped onto their bodies as a rusty and chipped sword was in their hands.
As for the silver-haired youth, he wore beginner combat robes, and had a Common Iron Sword in his arms, he had pulled one of the goblin's apart from the other as he fought against it with all of his might, but it seemed his battle wasn't an easy one.
Every time he leaned his body forward and pressed his front-most foot against the grassy ground. His surroundings gave off a strange illusion as if he was standing at the edge of a diamond shape. His figure would then accelerate at a reasonably fast speed as if he was a standard car driving on a highway at a rate of over 60 km/h.
The goblins were only a fraction slower, as one of them which held its chipped sword jumped forward with a mean look on its face, it opened its mouth and made a battle cry before chopping its sword at an angle.
With a hum, the sword cut through the wind, leaving behind an arc of light that trailed towards Nero's head. However, right before it arrived, Nero's eyes, which were staring forward, shifted towards its blade, his red pupils flashing with a sharp glint as he skillfully raised the Common Iron Sword and parried it from the side.
Ping! Sparks then scattered about as the goblin's sword hit Nero's blade edge, the force pushed Nero to the side a bit as the goblin which had jumped to perform its sword swing was momentarily suspended in the air.
Nero seeing this shifted his eyes to the right, noticing the other goblin was still a little distance away from reaching him. When he saw this, he once again looked at the suspended goblin whose sword was clashing with his own before he made a spin pushing the sword of the goblin towards the side.
The goblin's eyes went wide due to the change, but as it was a creature of sharp combat senses, it promptly reacted in this position by twirling its body, using the rotation force to swing its sword again towards Nero's neck.
"Darn!" Nero cursed as he was a bit stunned by its sudden maneuver, he was prepared to chop it apart with his advantage, but now he found that these goblins were more experienced than him in combat.
Not even wasting time, Nero once more utilized his [Four Point Unity Steps] standing at the opposite end of the imaginary diamond shape. His body then began to retreat as if he were sliding backward at the same speed as before.
Shing! The goblin's sword narrowly missed his neck, as it quickly did a flip and landed on the ground with one arm holding the soil as it glared at Nero with its head facing him. Soon, this goblin sneered, as it didn't charge after Nero but picked itself up and readied itself for combat once more.
Nero, who had fallen back by a three-meter distance, halted his retreat while firmly holding his sword with both arms as he stared at the goblin's face with a dark look as he thought, 'What's its sneering about? I am not in its range... and neither is its partner.'
As Nero pondered here, he noticed that the other goblin had only now arrived at his friend's position; the two of them looked at Nero as if they were staring at a fool.
While Nero was confused, Adult Nero's voice sounded in his mind, "In battle, one must never let loose of their senses, let this be a lesson..."
When Nero heard those words, his complexion turned pale as he suddenly felt a dangerous intent from behind him, coming at a rapid speed.
One of the guys who were watching couldn't help but exclaim, "He's finished!"
The other guy shook his head while adding, "Truly a pity; he shouldn't have gone so overboard. Even one of these things is enough of a hassle for normal beginners."
Feeling the incoming threat, Nero couldn't help but curse, "Oh shit! How did they get behind me?"
He was flustered, but it didn't stop him from turning around and placing his sword in front of him to block. It was a good reaction, but it was already too late.
Bang! Following a gut-wrenching sound, and the sound of bones cracking, one of the goblins that held a club struck Nero's underbelly with full force, easily avoiding the sword. The blow was so heavy that it sent Nero hurling into the air as he left behind a blood trail that sprayed from his mouth.
"Son of a..." Nero was about to curse but couldn't stop himself from spitting blood.
[You have suffered a critical blow; your HP has fallen sharply by 70 points!]
He wanted to try and move but found that his ribs were aching too much as if they shattered. Yet, even in this circumstance, his luck only turned for the worse.
Right below Nero, the two goblins that were patiently waiting at the three-meter mark looked up at his falling figure in excitement. It seemed that the other goblin had deliberately struck him towards his comrades for the finishing blow.
'This training is madness, how am I supposed to fight three of these things at the same time?' Nero cursed in his mind as his body was in too much pain to move or talk.
Nero felt a tinge of despair, but right at this time, Adult Nero spoke coldly, "Hmph! Prodigies from the DU's various societies and families are more than capable of annihilating these monsters easily. If you seek to be the strongest and accomplish your desire, you must take the harshest roads to strength possible. Now, enough yapping and focus on your breathing. You don't have time to sit down practicing like anyone else; you must refine your body while in battle, honing your senses at the same time as you try to push each of your skills to mastery. This is what it means to limit training."
Nero wanted to complain when he heard Adult Nero's words; he felt it was a bit too harsh, but he also knew that what he said was right.
Not daring to waste another second, Nero closed his eyes and sharpened his senses by his maximum degree. Soon, the world around him had begun to slow down as even the threatening images of the goblins below him seemed to have started to move in slow motion in his mind.
Nero then took a deep breath, drawing on the Magic Power from the surroundings, which regularly entered his body. These powers began working on his body, trying their hardest to refine it while slowly fixing his wounds.
While Nero's HP didn't increase, in but three seconds, he felt that he could move slightly. Nero didn't even hinder a moment as he thought that the slow-motion effect was fading, he promptly took out a potion from his item box and gulped it down, and by the time he tossed the bottle away his sharpened sense dulled to the point where time returned to normal.
Ding! [50 HP restored!]
Nero hearing that notification felt his body recovered by a great deal, he could feel that he was descending at a rapid pace as by now, the two sword-wielding goblins that stood below him had already taken action. The air once more changing as if it knew that the end of this battle was nearing...