It was daytime in the dark forest, but a great thick fog made it difficult for anyone who was there to see.
Somewhere deep in the dark forest, inside the mist, a child with long red hair was playing with a black kitten.
Or at least that's what the child thought, as if anyone else saw the scene, they would describe it as a child fighting a black panther.
The child happily jumped in front of the panther, landing kicks while dodging its claws.
And this went on for a long time, until finally the panther reached its limit and passed out, falling to the ground.
The boy seeing his 'toy break' has a dismayed expression, before turning around and quickly jumping from tree to tree, as if he were a small monkey.
After jumping through the trees for a few minutes, the child feels that he is being watched and turns his gaze in a certain direction.
As soon as the boy turned his gaze, he got scared quickly and tried to run away, but it was too late, as a red aura surrounded him and prevented him from moving.
"Didn't I tell you to finish your homework before I came to play?" Vayne scolded the boy as she walked slowly towards him.
The boy just looked to the side and looked away from his mother.
"Let Viktor play, real men don't need a duty. Why know how to read? Just knowing how to write your own name is enough." Mike said laughing as he walked up to Vayne with his big sword in hand.
Viktor's gaze brightened hearing his father's words, but seeing his mother's face, his expression soon turned to dismay.
"Hmm?" Vayne shot Mike a cold look, and the smile on his face quickly faded, and with a fierce expression he reached Viktor's side before punching him lightly on the head.
"Stupid kid, listen to your mom and study! She's always right and you know it!" Mike spoke with great seriousness as he was watched by Vayne's cold gaze.
Seeing his father's behavior quickly change with just one look from his mother, Viktor was disgusted, but there was nothing he could do but accept it.
"I'm sorry mom, that won't happen anymore..." Viktor spoke with a sad voice and a regretful look on his face.
Viktor's gaze softened Vayne's heart and she smiled gently at him before hugging him, "If you're sorry then it's okay."
Seeing the scene, Mike looked at Veyne with a strange look on his face.
He didn't really understand how she still believed in Viktor with the same thing repeating itself every day, but he just sighed and shook his head.
"Well, let's go home soon." Mike spoke before leading the way through the mist.
...
After a short walk, they finally arrive at their house, which looked completely different from 12 years ago when Lilith brought Viktor to them.
The little ramshackle house no longer existed, and in its place was a large white mansion, which created a stark contrast to the gloomy forest.
Upon arriving at the house, Vayne quickly notices Lilith standing outside reading a book, as if she's been patiently waiting for someone.
Upon seeing Lilith, Viktor's eyes immediately gleamed with intelligence, an naughty idea crossed his mind and he began to cry as he ran to Lilith.
"Please help me lady, they kidnapped me and won't let me go." Screamed Viktor in tears as he dodged the red aura of his mother that was trying to capture him.
A curious look flashed across Lilith's face, before she looked at Mike who had a wry, helpless smile on his face, and Vayne, who had looked like she was about to cry at Viktor's words.
A glint of mischief flickered in Lilith's eyes for a second before she looked at Viktor with a surprised expression and sent a red aura towards him, quickly bringing him back.
"Okay boy, stay behind me. I'll take care of the 2 kidnappers before I take you back to your house!" Lilith spoke seriously as she looked with a playful smile at Mike and Vayne, and standing behind Lilith, obviously Viktor couldn't see her smile.
Hearing Lilith's words, Viktor's face showed visible surprise and expectation. That was before he noticed his mother's sad face, which quickly made his expression waver between sadness and doubt.
Despite being just a child, Viktor had an intellect far superior to others, so he had planned to use this woman to finally get out of the dark forest and finally see the world beyond, which he only knew from the stories his parents had told him. and for the books his mother forced him to read.
He initially had no expectation that this would work, considering the strength of his parents. But after being instantly captured by Lilith even when he managed to avoid being captured by his mother for some time, he thought that maybe Lilith could be even stronger than Vayne, which generated some anticipation in him.
But he also didn't like the idea of his parents hurting each other over their selfish desire, so he quickly considered his options and decided to reveal the truth.
However, before he could do that, he saw a red mist surrounding Lilith, Vayne, and Mike as he remained motionless trapped by Lilith's red aura.
He couldn't see or hear what was going on inside the red mist, and anxiety quickly took hold of him after spending a few minutes trapped, helplessly watching the red mist with his parents inside with a strong-looking stranger.
After a few minutes, the mist slowly cleared, revealing Lilith's beautiful countenance in an imposing manner, with Mike and Vayne lying on the ground passed out with multiple wounds on her body.
Seeing the scene, Viktor just froze for a few seconds before yelling with great sadness and anxiety in his voice, "Mom? Dad? Mom?! Dad?!"
Lilith turned her gaze to Viktor and a red aura left her hand once more, covering Viktor's mouth, making the boy look at her with great anger and resentment in his eyes, before fainting from Lilith's aura.
As Viktor fell unconscious, Vayne and Mike quickly got up off the ground, and their seemingly serious wounds began to heal at a noticeable rate.
Vayne looked sadly at Viktor before giving Mike a spiteful look and a complicated look at Lilith.
"Don't look at me like that, you know the boy needs discipline, so him spending time with Lili will be a good thing. Besides, she said she intends to take him on as a disciple, and I definitely don't know anything that motivates anyone else. to get stronger than a big grudge!" Mike spoke seriously as he looked into Veyne's cold eyes before sighing.
Lilith looked at the couple and didn't know what to say.
This was initially just a simple visit, it turns out that everything changed when Lilith saw the boy managing to run away from Vayne, which was really impressive considering he was just a human boy.
Then it crossed her mind to take him as a disciple, but it wasn't really her priority. She had just retired and was considering accepting a disciple, and she felt he was a good choice, but not the only one.
She intended to scare the kid while talking to Mike and Vayne about it, what she didn't expect was Mike's ridiculous idea.
He insisted that Viktor needed discipline and that leaving him under the command of Lilith, a former general, would be good for him.
The part of turning the 'small scare' into a 'big grudge' was also his idea, since according to his own life experiences, only a big hate would make someone really strive for power.
Obviously Vayne was completely against it, but after a lot of prodding from Mike that it was in the boy's best interest, she finally accepted when Lilith ensured the boy's safety.
Lilith was completely neutral on this, as she herself had left Viktor in Vayne's care, and had no say in how she would raise her child.
But that was until Mike started talking about the kid's antics, about how he was very cunning and quick-thinking to get himself out of trouble.
This interested Lilith enough to give Vayne a guarantee, causing her to finally relent.
If it was anyone else talking about the boy, Lilith might not care so much. But the words came from Mike, she knew how difficult it was for Mike to praise someone, even if that person was his own son.
After all, Lilith chatted for a few more minutes with Vayne and Mike before saying her goodbyes and taking the still unconscious Viktor with her out of the dark forest, heading towards the neutral zone, an area with no commands and no law.
The neutral zone was a place of pure chaos, where humans, wolves, bats and even demons were allowed. It was a lawless place where only the strong survive.
In a way it could even be said that it was even more dangerous than the dark forest, since even in the dark forest there was a clear order of powers.