It could be said that in all the aristocracy, they were the family in the worst straits, and Ethan himself was the most destitute of the poor.
Violent Fire Empire was currently in a golden age of Magus arts. Basically, everyone practiced Magus arts. But as it had turned out, Ethan's trash physique meant that he was incapable of practicing those, making him someone that everybody would sneer at.
The exact opposite to Ethan was his father, General Robert Taylor.
He was the strongest of his generation, and with him guarding against the Wilderness, even if the wild tribes were to attack savagely, they would not have the ability to step even half a foot within the Violent Fire Empire.
General Taylor was the military god of the Violent Fire Empire in this generation, while Ethan lacked the ability to even sense Mana. It was impossible to prevent people from thinking that this dragon of a father had had a worm of a son.
Countless people would jeer at him, but Ethan wouldn't care.
However, that day, the Reckless General's son, Yuma Zhao, mocked Ethan by saying he wasn't his father's son.
Ethan's anger had immediately skyrocketed to the heavens. Yuma Zhao had obviously been insulting his mother as an unfaithful woman!
Insult his father, and Ethan would ignore it with closed eyes. Insult his mother?
They were life and death enemies. His mother was his goddess.
Ethan's wrath had even made him become muddle-headed, and he had recklessly challenged his opponent to a duel.
However, his opponent was an actual strong person at the seventh stage of Mana Condensation, while Ethan was just an ordinary mortal incapable of even sensing Mana.
He had basically been begging to be disgraced.
Talk about a fool.
In the climb, one should always know who they are offending and should always be prepared for the effect of the cause.
But as a result of his folly and muddleheadedness, Ethan was later beaten to the point of losing consciousness and nearly death. He was sent home, and the news caused Ethan to be an object of ridicule for quite some time in the imperial capital.
And finally, now he had healed and was walking out.
Leaving his noble estate, Ethan went directly to the imperial capital's herb market. That was the place where all kinds of precious medicinal herbs were sold. Right now, what he needed to do was get an understanding of the situation in the medicinal herbs market.
While climbing, one should always concentrate one's forces. You gain more by finding a rich mine and mining it deeper than by flitting across multiple small mines.
His talent laid in Medicine, and maximizing it to his benefit was, of course, the best way to go about it.
Along the road, there were quite a few people, and when they recognized Ethan as he walked through, they couldn't help but point at him behind his back; however, Ethan was already used to this.
Letting the masses affect your mood was the worst thing one could do in a climb. He knew it, but at the same time, Ethan smiled bitterly inside.
His father had suppressed the Wilderness, an amazing, meritorious deed that protected the entire empire and its denizens. However, what had he obtained for that?
Ethan and his Mother had been left to suffer from bullying and humiliating stares in the imperial capital, and Ethan had almost been beaten to death. How could this be considered repayment?
A group of people whom his father protected had all given his son such nice and comfy treatment. Was this his repayment?
Ethan quickened his footsteps.
Although he wasn't fearful of these kinds of stares, he would always end up a tad gloomy. He would rather not be around these kinds of people.
Suddenly, a group of people blocked his path.
"What?! Are you actually Ethan? I heard you were beaten black and blue to the point where you couldn't even remember your own mother, so how are you so lively that you ran out already?"
In front of Ethan was a sixteen-year-old teen wearing gaudy clothes and sneering at him with two guards beside him.
Ethan looked at him coolly.
How did he know what had happened inside the room where no one except Sarah, his mother, and the 'Master' Healer was?
Ethan coldly chuckled inwardly.
The person blocking him was also born as a noble heir in an aristocratic family and was called Samuel Li. However, his position within the aristocracy was not nearly as high as Ethan's, and his status was incomparable to Ethan's as well.
But in the end, in the Violent Fire Empire, nobility and status were only secondary, and strength was still the most important thing. It was similar to how a politician cannot offend a billionaire.
Samuel was standing right in the middle of the road, and if Ethan wanted to go through, he would need to pass through him.
If it were the previous Ethan, he would have turned around and left, but today's Ethan looked at Samuel, shook his head, and sighed, "It appears that common sense is less common in you than a worm, which at least knows to wriggle out of the footpath."
Samuel's expression changed briefly before he taunted him once again. "Ethan, it seems you don't remember the lesson that I gave you last time! If you dare call yourself a man, then let's fight in the Battle arena."
"That's why I said you were a worm. Just go eat crap with Yuma Zhao." Ethan shook his head.
He didn't want to waste his time on this kind of person. They were just distracting lowlives, so he started to walk around him.
"Ethan, you are asking for it!" Samuel growled out.
He hadn't expected that the always cowardly Ethan would actually act in such an uncompromising manner that he basically didn't even pay attention to him. He stuck out his arms to bar Ethan's path.
Ethan frowned slightly, but just as he was about to say more, a person walked over from the crowd and cursed Samuel, "Samuel Li, you're the one asking for a beating! Just who do you think you are to dare threaten my people?"
The person who had come was an exceedingly tall eighteen-year-old.
His height was exceptionally extraordinary at 2.1 meters (7 ft), which was taller than both Ethan and Samual by over a head, and just by that, he looked very intimidating.
"Rand Shi, this isn't your business! It'd be best if you didn't meddle around."
When Samuel saw Rand, all he could do was act tough even though he was weaker.
Rand Shi was also a noble heir whose status was about the same as his, but Rand was a strong person who had reached the eighth stage of Mana Condensation, while he was only at the third stage of Mana Condensation.
In addition, Rand had innate divine strength, which meant that among people in the same rank as him, only a few were an equal match for him. Therefore, Samuel didn't have the guts to challenge Rand.
Ethan looked at this with curious eyes. Some people were just blessed and more talented than you, but they didn't have to be your enemies; they could be your friends.