A silhouette could be seen running down a dimly lit street. Despite the lightning-fast speed, it didn't make any noise; the rare passers-by could only see its faint afterimage. The figure jumped onto a building and disappeared into the night.
Kirk kept jumping from one roof to another and soon reached the outskirts of the city. After checking the surroundings, he climbed on top of the nearest wall, tens of meters tall.
He raised his hand and looked at the pendant that hung from his wrist, inside of which was a portrait of a woman, definitely a looker.
They've known each other since childhood. Their first meeting took place at a tournament that was specially organized for kids of their age. He defeated her in just two moves, leaving everyone in shock at that time, including the young Kathryn Evergreen herself—a promising young mistress of an ancient noble house.
She was a clingy, cheeky brat all those years ago, always following him wherever he went. The elders didn't oppose it since both of them were extremely talented and well-versed in the ways of martial arts. They would often spar with each other, gathering huge crowds of onlookers. Even though she lost every time, it didn't discourage her. The mentors praised and even admired her strong will and determination.
At the end of their third year in the academy, the teachers organized a huge competition, the main prize of which was the Royal Moondew flower that bloomed only once every ten years. It had a beneficial effect on the body's constitution, allowing those who ingested it to locate and open new chakra points quickly and effortlessly.
The thirteen-year-old Kirk, obviously, won the competition. But who would have thought that he would hand the flower to his long-established opponent? Over the past three years, he and Kate had fought each other countless times, with Kirk showing no particular interest in her other than being highly competitive by nature.
Everyone started to call him a battle maniac, for he was the focal point and instigator of almost all major battles and duels in the academy.
He swung his claymore with incredible speed and precision; very few could match him in this regard. Even those from the previous generation were eventually beaten to submission by him.
His peers even speculated that he would soon be able to fight on par with some of the weakest teachers. And, half a year later, the first teacher to prove those claims was single-handedly killed by Kirk in front of the shocked audience. A huge scandal followed, resulting in Kirk being proven right while the teacher was found guilty of some of the most heinous acts.
Time passed, and it was already graduation day. Ten years at the academy transformed everyone beyond recognition, but Kirk stood out like the sun on a cloudless day, with Kathryn being ranked second. But just a week after his graduation, bad news came knocking at his door.
His father, whom he always considered a role model, disappeared without anyone knowing what happened to him. That was the most difficult day in his life. It took a lot of self-control for him not to succumb to his emotions and charge right into the Forbidden Territories.
***
As images of his past flashed through his mind, the elemental energy began to gather in huge amounts around him. The guards on the walls were first startled until one of them finally realized.
"Someone is making a breakthrough near the wall!"
The rest started looking around and eventually found a lone figure standing on top of the wall near the city gates. His white robes were fluttering as he slowly sat on the ground, crossing his legs and entering a meditative state.
"Do you recognize him?" one of the guards shouted.
"It's too dark; I can't see his face," one of his friends said. "But judging by the energy fluctuations, it is someone from the older generation."
Before entering meditation, Kirk took out an unremarkable ball from his spatial ring, which quickly enveloped him in a translucent sphere; no one seemed to notice it. The sphere would act as a medium between the world and the body, making his breakthrough as smooth and flawless as possible – a rare treasure that he received from his master.
"I didn't think I would establish the Profound Core so quickly." Kirk was brimming with excitement as he sat in the middle of an enormous energy storm. "At the age of four, I embarked on my cultivation path, reaching the first stage and opening my first chakra point. Back then, I felt as though I was reborn, but this time, the feeling is thousands of times more... profound?"
He clenched his fists, feeling the dormant strength within them. His eyes flashed with a sharp light. "I can control at least half of the energy, which should be just fine. My chances just increased by quite a lot. Father..."
As his thoughts reached this point, the excitement vanished and gave way to determination. He quickly gathered his thoughts and continued guiding the energy inside his body, right into the newly-formed Profound Core.
The guards on the walls were sweating bullets as they watched the scene unfold in front of them. "He should be one of those old monsters, right? Maybe someone from the Imperial Court?"
The Imperial Court was the right hand of the emperor. They were the envoys, the executioners, the butchers—the backbone of the empire.
"Should we inform the higher-ups?" asked one of the guards.
"I think they already know."
"I agree."
***
After a full hour, the surroundings calmed down as Kirk finally stood up and immediately turned around. "Greetings, elders," he said calmly.
Five green-robed old men just stood there, not sure what to say. After an awkward silence, one of them finally returned the courtesy.
"Young noble, the carriage and coachman are outside the city gates, awaiting your orders."
"Good. Then let's hit the road as soon as possible."
Not waiting for them, he jumped off the wall.
***
Inside Kirk's bedroom, Kathryn slowly opened her eyes as the first rays of dawn found their way through the open window.
She immediately noticed that something—or rather someone—was missing. After jumping out of bed, she rushed headlong to the door. But just before pulling the handle, she realized that something was horribly amiss.
Covering her private parts, she jumped back into Kirk's bed just in time before someone opened the door from the other side. A maid in her mid-teens, with two long pigtails, entered the room and her eyes immediately became as round as apples.
"Miss, I-I didn't know. I will come later then—"
She excused herself and immediately ran out of the room.
Coming out of her momentary stupor, Kathryn didn't think long before putting on her clothes. On the way down, she almost ran into the pigtailed girl from before. "Stay away from that room!" she shouted in her direction when she was already at the other end of the corridor.
Kirk lived in an unreasonably spacious mansion, she thought. After finally locating the exit, she chose a direction and exploded with speed, leaving clouds of dust behind.
On the streets, people watched as a white-haired beauty made her way through the city with unstoppable momentum. Half an hour later, she was already at the gates of the Evergreen family mansion.
"Let me in!" She threw a medallion that represented her identity at the two flabbergasted guards. She charged in without any care for her public image. No one would believe that she and the crying lady from the last night were the same person.
"I cried so much for you last night, but you didn't even say goodbye! Don't you dare die there, or I will let Gigi piss on your grave!" Of course, she didn't say these words out loud, and Gigi—the little cat Kirk found on the streets—was very likely to remain in the dark until that fateful day.
"Prepare the carriage! I'm going on a trip!"
Her voice traveled all the way from inside the mansion, waking up the two guards from their dazed state.
"Yes, young lady!"
After entering her bedchambers, she looked at the stuffed animals that were all over the place. Moments later, she started tearing the innocent-looking toys to pieces. Some of them had small shiny objects inside, which she meticulously collected.
After finishing the massacre, she finally left the mansion. On the way outside, she secretly cursed her younger self for coming up with such an idiotic method of hiding her treasures. Didn't her family have spatial rings in abundance?
The two guards stood at the gate, waiting for her to return. "My lady, the carriage is..."
"I'm not blind!" She jumped inside it and gave an order, "Off we go!"
They exchanged a few glances. What was their young lady up to this time? They both sat at the front, then one of them picked up the reins and shouted, "Ha!"
***
Four fortified towers were erected between two green hills. Together with multiple layers of walls, they formed a small military settlement. A lonely carriage silently entered its perimeter after finding its way out of the dark forest. It immediately got surrounded by a dozen powerful auras.
"State your name!"
A shout came from an unknown direction.
"Kirk Brighthawk. The five seniors and I belong to the same squad." Kirk replied, unperturbed by their auras.
"Did you see an eagle in the sky?"
"Yes. Its hunt ended in nothing."
"Good. Now you may enter. The carriage will stay here."
An elder with a three-pointed star embroidered on his grey robes, and who seemingly appeared out of nowhere, came to greet Kirk and his team.
Kirk nodded and placed the carriage into one of his spatial rings. The elder smiled at the sight.
They started walking toward the first wall. At some point, the emissary disappeared just as silently and mysteriously.
"Papers, please."
Clad in dark leather armor, the guard appeared to be in his early twenties, which put him in the same age bracket as Kirk.
Kirk took out a small scroll and gave it to the young guard. The latter immediately bowed after confirming its authenticity and let them in through the first gates.
"I will accompany you to the headquarters; this will shorten the time needed to get through all the other guards," the young guard said as he started walking in front of them.
"What's your name?" Kirk asked him on the way to the second checkpoint.
"Derek, sir," he replied hastily. "I come from a humble background, so I don't have a family name, at least not yet."
"That's not a problem at all," Kirk said smilingly. "All you have to do is hand this scroll to a young lady who will visit this place during the next three days. She's a lively type; you will definitely notice when she arrives. But just in case, here is a picture of her."
"She looks a bit familiar..." Derek said while looking at the picture.
Kirk only smiled in response.
They didn't talk too much as they went through one checkpoint after another.