Planet Rhine

In a field, at the edge of the Velzheim forest a young farmer was plowing while humming his favorite song.

'Kiss me,..out of the bearded barley. Nightly, beside the green,.. green grass'

As he was plowing, a winged creature lurked in the woods waiting for him to show his back to it.

Unbeknownst to him it slowly made its way to him. It kept getting closer and closer then it lunged at him while clawing at his back.

Roar!

Fortunately, he was able to roll forward just in time, escaping imminent death.

"Holy mother of god! a wyvern." Calix shouted in trepidation.

He then proceeded to madly run towards the thick woods hoping it could slow down the 3-foot-wide wyvern.

And the woods did slow down the wyvern, but it managed to decrease its size to chase him down.

"Oh no! It can minimize itself! A tier one beast at least. God! I do not deserve this"

As he ran nonstop his muscles started to hurt and his heart felt like bursting from exhaustion and his efforts were not for naught.

Luckily, he found a small burrow, which wiggled his body into.

Roar!

Scratch

The Wyvern kept scratching the stones surrounding the hollow opening with its terrifying claws.

As he looked around the mossy stone burrow, he found a narrow path leading further into it. As he

wiggled through the narrow space, he found various trinkets made of gold along the path.

"These rings and bits of gold look like they belong to a noble. How did these end up here, looks like there is something further in."

And moments later he came across a decaying skeleton donned in a hard black iron breastplate along with a shield and sword.

"It is like God himself wants me to fight that thing." Calix said before reluctantly equipping himself with the breastplate, sword, and shield with a bit of struggle since it was cramped.

He then waited for some time to see if the wyvern would leave but found it just lying there sleeping.

"Stubborn little bitch." He then continued to wait until he heard some indistinct sounds from outside.

"Calix…Calix…where are you son?" someone was shouting his name from outside waking up the wyvern in the process.

"Ahh! Why would she come now?"

Calix had no choice but to distract the wyvern to save his mother.

He then crawled out of the cranny with all the speed he could muster so that he could strike the wyvern before it could fully stand up.

Stab cling sparks

He stabbed it on its forehead but all it did was a mere dent and scratch. It was as if he tried to stab an iron wall.

He then warned his mother to run away before it's too late.

"Mother!! Don't come this way. There is a wyvern here."

Roar!

Wyvern was angrier than ever as it tried to smash Calix to the ground with its large arms that are akin to mini pillars.

Calix held his shield high and dodge to the right striking the wyvern along its neck. Now that he successfully attracted its aggro he ran further into the forest.

If before it was just hunting its prey, now it has become personal.

It rushed at Calix, fuelled by anger it kept spewing flames here and there to burn him to crisp.

Calix, very much exhausted, fell to the ground. Wyvern went in for the meal with its mouth wide open flashing its thick, conical, and serrated teeth.

'Sigh, Is this it? Is this how my life ends, eaten by a beast."

But Goddess destiny had other plans for him.

Slap.

At this moment, a slipper flew into its mouth, choking it and making it stop to see who the culprit was.

Looking to the side it found an adult human. It rushed at her intent on killing her no matter what.

"Mom!! Don't you dare touch her!" Calix sprinted towards the wyvern while shouting in distress.

But the monster was faster than him as it went after his mother. It slashed her chest with its claws leaving grievous wounds on her waist.

"Ahh! runaway Calix!"

Argh!

It then bit off her head and swallowed it, Calix helplessly ran towards his mother as he watched it kill her.

Calix stared in disbelief as his mother's headless fell to the ground , his eyes crimson, teeth gnashing, hands clenched.

"Mom. You killed her? You killed the only family I have. You! I will change my name if I fail to kill you!!" Tears fell down his cheeks as he looked at his mother with despair and then looked at the wyvern, vowing to kill it no matter the price.

The feeling of rage he was currently feeling has made him overcome his fear of the wyvern.

He then wiped his tears off as a frigid wind blew against his long raven black hair.

He grabbed onto the cold handle of his rusty blade. As the bright sunlight reflects off it, he lunges forward with unprecedented strength as he swings the sword across its neck while holding his shield up high to block its claws.

Rahhh!

Calix slid back effectively reducing the impact damage and then slashed the wyvern at its elbow joint where it had softer scales, making it lose its balance and fall upfront.

Rooooar!

Seeing it fall, Calix jumped on its head as it let out painful cries and forcefully stabbed through its eyes into the cranium.

Screech!

"Hateful thing, this is your end!"

He then leapt off it as it kept thrashing its arms around in mad fury, sending splinters of wood everywhere.

It kept thrashing around for a while, hurting itself in the process and then laid down as it slowly drifted into the unforgiving sea of death.

Pant

Pant

Looking in its eyes, Calix felt lost.

Calix survived but at what cost? He lost his mother.

Looking at his mother's headless body. Calix felt the urge to release all the pent-up emotions he had accumulated in a span of a few minutes.

Bawl!

Ah! he cried out incessantly, he suddenly felt a throbbing pain in his head. Making him hear a strange indifferent androgynous voice saying something he never heard about.

[You have gained your first aspect power 'Blessings of the Brave." You are now on the path of the Brave]

It is the legendary world echo that his late grandpa told him about in his stories, also known as 'The Voice of the Universe.'