"|Fivefold Slash|" I called out, swinging my sword towards the Gigantic monster bear approaching me.
A beam of light arched from my blade as I swung it in the air before separating into five distinct lines of light that twisted around each other and converged onto the bear's midsection. The sound of tearing flesh sounded through the forest as it was cut into five pieces, all centered around where my previous cut had landed.
"*Huff Huff* Well, how was that?" I asked, trying to catch my breath.
My father looked at the bear with wide eyes before slowly shifting his eyes to me, still in shock. For a moment he stared in disbelief before he began to laugh heartily.
"Magnificent! Hahaha! It seems my son is a genius like his old man!" He laughed and enjoyed the moment.
"Congratulations, Alaster," Evelyn said as she walked up to me and gave me a small cloth to wipe my sweat.
Over the past five years, I had honed my martial arts to the level where I could be considered equal to a high-ranking knight from the empire and, when adding my magical talent to the mix, even top-ranking knights from the kingdom, such as the royal guard would have had trouble dealing with me.
"When you first started training I knew you were pretty good, but now I'm certain you'll be a champion when you grow up!" My father said with a wide smile as he pats me on the back. "You're stronger than I am in my prime and you're only 13 right now!"
"Thanks, Dad, but even I couldn't beat you," I said, remaining humble.
It was true. Despite what could be considered overall higher 'base stats' than my father, I still hadn't been able to defeat him in any of our spars without the use of magic. It all came down to a lack of experience on my part. In theory, I could defeat my father and anyone who viewed my level of magical power (i.e. power level/EV) would assume that I would win, but every time we fought, he'd pull out a new trick or technique I had never seen before and defeat me with a perfectly timed strike.
To be honest it was quite frustrating. I was reborn into this world for some reason, either by accident or the will of some higher being, however, I didn't receive any cheat abilities other than my knowledge of how the power system worked and the lore. Furthermore, I wasn't even able to make use of anything like 'hidden artifacts' or 'dungeons' like other protagonists in anime and manga due to the fact that nothing like that existed in the Tensura world. Thankfully, however, humans had the highest potential out of any of the normal races, (i.e. excluding the obvious True Dragons). Chloe as Chronoa and Rudra had proven that True Heroes were able to take on and possibly even defeat True Dragons and even Guy wasn't above them without thousands of years of experience and a broken as hell skill.
Most of the Knights of the Near Guard from the Eastern Empire in Canon were stronger than the average Awakened Demon Lord as well, especially the Single Digits 1-3. Even Leon Cromwell still had the 'slightest chance' to defeat Guy when he was at his strongest, though that chance was minuscule. This just proved that even though it was excessively difficult, it was entirely possible to reach the pinnacle of power in this world as a human, so that was the goal I was currently aiming for. Furthermore, this was before Guy even existed or Rudra was born, so I figure that there is enough time for me to reach the bullsh*t tear of strength before canon starts and I have to start dealing with someone like Rimuru casually coming in, enjoying his life with no particular struggles, and suddenly becoming one the pinnacles of the world in under five years.
I gnashed my teeth a bit thinking about it. It was fun to watch in the anime, but in real life, it felt like a total cheat. For example, even though I'm bragging about how strong I've become, I'm probably only still just barely stronger than when Rimuru first was named but would still lose if he used something like [Predator] on me to swallow me whole.
"Thanks, Evelyn, but I feel like it's not enough yet," I replied to her.
Evelyn's cheeks filled with air as she pouted cutely. "Mou~. Why do you have to train all the time? Aren't you strong enough?"
"I don't want to hear that from you miss, 'strongest majin in the empire'" I fired back at her. It was true. Evelyn had somehow become so good at magic that I couldn't match her strength even at full power. She had long since surpassed Nolla, our magic instructor, and was considered one of the greatest magic prodigies of all time according to Nolla. I, on the other hand, was only just barely at Nolla's level.
"Alaster you shouldn't compare yourself to Evelyn. She is a monster in her own right." My father tried to cheer me us with his words but only made me feel more dissatisfied.
'It's like she is the main character of the story, not me damnit!' I yelled in my mind before giving up.
"Hehe. Don't worry! If there is ever a danger, I'll protect you!" Evelyn said with a cute enthusiasm.
My father chuckled and put his hand on her shoulder. "Evelyn, saying something like that hurts a man's pride. Look." He said as he pointed to my shriveled-up pale form with my soul slowly leaking out of my mouth.
"Yup, I've become the side-character love interest... it's hopeless." I said to myself as I swayed lifelessly in the wind.
"Alaster!!!" Evelyn yelled, concerned for my well-being.
...
"If you really want to get stronger, I can teach you how to summon spirits if you'd like," Nolla said to me as she sat in her large chair in the study reading.
"I'd be grateful but Evelyn said she would teach me. I think she wants to do it as a bonding experience with me." I replied while stiring a concoction inside a vile with a metal tube.
I was currently making a batch of low potions to help me recover from fatigue whenever I trained myself into the ground. I had recently been using this method as a way to increase my training efficiency.
"Nice wife there," Nolla said offhandedly with a teasing tone.
"We are not married," I replied sternly
"I know. You're going to marry your sensei after all!" She said in a teasingly high voice.
"You've been stuck on that shtick since I was eight and mentioned having a harem. Shouldn't you give it a rest?" I replied.
"Oh? I was being serious though. I knew you'd grow up to be a stud since you were young. Nothing wrong with trying to secure a spot for myself. Especially since Evelyn was obviously going to be your first pick."
"Huh? Thanks, I guess..." I said, a bit embarrassed. "Where does this conversation even go from here?" I asked aloud, a bit awkwardly.
"The bedroom?" Nolla said curiously.
"Like hell!" I snapped back.
"You're letting her get to you again aren't you?" Evelyn chirped from another room.
"Am not!" I yelled back.
Nolla laughed to herself but covered her mouth with her hand before speaking. "I like that immaturity of yours." She quipped.
"Well sorry for being only thirteen," I replied under my breath as I finished the low potion phile and showed it to Nolla. "How is it?" I asked.
Nolla looked it over for a while before smiling gently. "Well, you've failed at making a low potion." She started.
"Dam-" I started but was shocked into silence by her next words.
"You've managed to make yourself a high potion using only low potion ingredients." She said with a genuine smile full of earth. She felt happy for her student's accomplishment which was something only master alchemists could accomplish after years of study. Even she wasn't capable of such a feat.
I looked at the phile in my hands with wide-open eyes before looking back to Nolla, "Congratulations, Alaster. You've finally surpassed me in every field and graduated from being my student to being a fellow Majin." Nolla said with pride in her voice.
"Congrats," Evelyn said from the doorway of the room. It appears she heard what Nolla had said before.
My eyes moistened a bit before I gave them a quick rub and smiled widely at them both. "Thanks, girls!"
...
(3rd POV)
"That the place? Such a small hamlet." A man asked.
"Yes sir. Our scouts have confirmed that they are there." A woman said, bowing to the tall man sitting on a large throne.
He was a man with a large build, standing nearly two meters tall with short, dark blue hair and grey eyes. He sprouted a goatee on his face that made him seem to be in his late twenties to early thirties. His body was excessively muscular and radiated strength. He wore tight-fitting blue and silver robes with armored plates covering his chest, forearms, shins, and shoulder plates. A large staff rested against his shoulder.
It was a fine piece, made from highly purified magisteel and topped with a rare gemstone core that helped him channel magic. Simply looking at the man made many believe him to be more of a beast than even real monsters.
"Good. Our Lord wants us to capture the brat. They'll be useful as a tool in the upcoming invasion of the surrounding countries." The man muttered, mostly to himself.
"I-is that so?" the bowing woman asked, shaking with a hint of fear in her voice.
The large man smirked as he looked down at the woman in front of him. He leered at her for a moment before deciding that now wasn't the time. He closed his eyes and thought for a moment on the orders he had received from his lordship.
"Bring them back alive huh? There's nothing in that that says I can't have my way with the village though... Alright! Prepare the rest of the unit! We will attack at twilight tomorrow night!" His voice boomed as he gave the command.
"Yes, Lord Dagon!" The woman confirmed in fear before quickly retreating from that place.
She wouldn't admit it, but she was glad he was a man who put his mission before pleasure, as she had heard horror stories about what he did to the women he found attractive. She even gave a silent prayer for the souls of the poor villagers whose lives he would reap, just for the fun of it.