Chomp!
Sitting down, a boy was eating food and hanging on the walls was more food. This boy continued to eat food until he sensed something coming into the cave.
The boy's arm transformed into claws as he was prepared to attack the unknown stranger.
"Relax, boy." An unknown force caused the boy to freeze.
The stranger walked further into the cave until he was inches away from the boy. The stranger inspected the boy's body and looked around the cave.
"So, I've heard that you eliminated the entire batch of hounds this year… Impressive."
"Who are you?" The boy asked.
"Me? I'm a recruiter for the Dark Guild and my sources told me about your existence… The wielder of Murasame and of immense strength."
"Dark Guild? That criminal syndicate? Why would they want to visit me?"
"Why? Haha, obviously because you wield Murasame and you have potential to be an assassin."
The boy was processing the information as the stranger released his strange power on the boy.
"That power… Can you teach me about it?" The boy asked.
"Depends… if you were born with it then yes but if you aren't, then no." The stranger grabbed a piece of food.
"How will I know?"
"I'll need to feel your body to find out." The stranger appeared beside the boy and touched his shoulder.
The boy tried to resist but an invisible force prevented him from moving. The stranger continued to probe around the boy's body and stopped once he got to his abdomen.
"You can harness the power but you won't get far without a teacher…"
"Can you teach me?" The boy asked.
"I can but you'll have to accept my offer, if your power is strong."
"Fine, but I have a question. How did you find this place? It is protected by the strongest werewolves in our territory."
"The hounds? They won't be able to detect me as long as I have this artifact." The stranger replied.
Around the man's neck was an amulet and once it started to glow, the man's presence disappeared.
"Teach me already." The boy asked, impatient.
Before the boy could react, a fist connected and slammed the boy into the wall. The boy started to bleed from his forehead as the wall behind him was shattered.
"One can't learn to use this power but rather can unlock it through certain conditions so until then, I'll keep attacking until you die." The stranger spoke in a serious tone.
"Wai-"
Bang!
The boy barely managed to dodge the attack and stared at the stranger in disbelief.
"You crazy bastard!"
"Crazy?? I was crazy once." The stranger replied.
Swoosh!
The stranger appeared beside the boy and caused the boy to freeze in place with his power.
"This power requires you to use your will against your own enemy's will and sometimes it can even knock out weak-willed individuals. The stronger you are, the stronger your will is and the weaker the opponent is, the easier it is to knock them out."
The stranger started to demonstrate his power by expanding the area of effect and a random bird came flying in.
"Controlling something of size is nothing but it's the only thing I found in the area. When you're strong enough, you can control magical beasts to a certain degree but don't try to control every beast otherwise you will drain your energy.."
The stranger began to force power onto the bird until it exploded. He formed a fist and swung it toward the boy.
Bang!
The stranger's punch missed the boy and slammed against the wall. The wall shattered and continued to shatter until the other side was visible.
The boy looked back and forth at the stranger and the wall while trying to comprehend his power.
"H-How did you do that?"
"Easy! Every person in this world has a soul so it shouldn't be surprising if they could harness spiritual energy to enhance their defensive or offensive capabilities. Only specific people have the ability to harness it but it's hard to master especially if their soul is extremely strong."
The boy attempted to throw punches toward the stranger, who wasn't looking, and he dodged his attack. The boy continued to throw punches while the stranger continued to dodge without looking at the boy.
"This form of power is harder to learn and master but you'll get the hang of it when it comes down to it. Shall we begin your training? Or do you want to begin your training when you're out of the hounds program?"
"Now! The faster I obtain more power, the faster I can overcome and kill my foes." The boy answered with bloodlust.
"Alright, we'll begin with physical training that will put you through grueling pain!" The stranger responded enthusiastically.
The boy would soon regret his choice but in the future, he wouldn't regret it.
…
One week later
Bang!
A boy went flying into a tree, which was covered in blood. The boy proceeded to stand and stare at his attacker.
The stranger's eyes shined and the boy attempted to dodge but was hit by an invisible attack.
Ack!
Blood leaked from the boy's injuries as he continued to stand and cough blood. The training the boy was going through was physically tormenting as it required him to dodge invisible attacks but he couldn't dodge a single attack.
"Do you want to stop? Any longer and you might die." The stranger said.
"N… No!" The boy responded.
Bang!
The boy was slammed against the tree again and he tried to stand again but dropped to the ground. The boy was screaming in his head to get up but each time ended in failure.
Another attack was incoming as the boy was still attempting to stand up.
Bang!
The boy was slammed against the tree again and couldn't move a single muscle or a part of his body. His body was heavily damaged as he endured the stranger's attack for a week and still hadn't made any progress or so he thought.
'This boy… he's making progress! Unbelievable! It would take months to make it to the state he's in but it only took him a week! He probably hasn't even noticed but he is starting to dodge out of the way of my attacks.' The stranger thought.
"O-one more! I can st-still ke-keep going!"
Swoosh!
Another invisible attack was incoming and he stood up, and dodged the attack. The boy noticed he hadn't been hit and began to celebrate but it was a short celebration.
Bang!
The boy received another invisible attack but this attack was stronger and would seem like the boy wouldn't stand anymore.
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
Two more invisible attacks were incoming and the stranger didn't show any mercy as the attack power of each attack was more powerful compared to the previous attacks.
'Shit… I got too excited.'
BANG!!!
Both of the boy's arms flew off and his body slammed against the tree. Blood slowly started to come out of the boy's injuries and his mouth.
"Are you dead?" The stranger asked.
The stranger walked toward the boy and stopped near his head while inspecting the damages. He picked the boy up and further inspected his injuries.
'Nine broken ribs, arm torn off, bruises all over his body, one broken leg and a small crack in his skull… '
The stranger dropped the boy and stared at the sun while thinking of his mission. He pulled a cigar and lighter out, and started to smoke.
Bang!
Before the stranger could react, the boy kicked him between the legs while barely standing. The sudden attack left the stranger speechless as the boy isn't in any condition to move nor be able to attack while fatally injured.
"How the hell are you alive?" The stranger asked.
In front of the stranger, the boy's bruises and bones started to restore themselves and walked over to his arms to reattach them. The stranger was speechless watching the boy and began to understand his mission from his boss.
"Can we get more food? I used up all of my energy healing myself from all the damages done to my body." The boy asked.
"W-WHAT!!! Are you a monster or something?!" The stranger asked.
"Monster? I'm a werewolf so we're obviously gonna be different from you humans. Though I am a lot different from the others so I have massive energy reserves compared to your normal standard werewolf."
The stranger stared at the boy and didn't stop for five minutes. He regained his composure and had to process the boy's words until he gathered his thoughts.
"Alright! Let's go get some food to eat!" The stranger spoke.
"Yeah! Let's hunt some beasts!"
The two began to walk into the forest and kept looking around until they laid their eyes on a bear. This bear was massive and could last them a week before running out of food.
"Alright, You're gonna at-"
Before the stranger could finish his word, the boy had already made his move and jumped into the air. The boy flew until he latched himself onto the bear and proceeded to take a huge bite out of the bear's neck.
The stranger stared at the boy and couldn't comprehend the boy's thought process. Within five minutes, the bear's entire body and bones were gone.
"Why didn't you save any for me?!" The stranger yelled, angrily.
"What do you mean? That was only an appetizer for me." The boy responded.
The stranger's mouth dropped as he processed what the boy said.
"You're unbelievable!" He slammed his fist into the boy's face.
Teeth flew out of his mouth and blood began to leak from his face. Tears dripped down the boy's face as he had bitten his lip.