Early morning!
A gentle fragrance, a calming mix of savory rose petals and morning dew, permeated the surroundings creating a serene atmosphere.
The luxurious curtain hanging by the windows fluttered gently as a light gust of wind tried to enter like a little lover.
However, the serene atmosphere was broken by a high-pitched female voice.
"When Lionheart Lord was young, he ruthlessly butchered his family dog in front of everyone and fed its dismembered body parts to the wild abyss monsters..."
Dawn yawned and listened to the endlessly blabbering Fiona, who with a disgusted expression told him about the heinous deeds of the lord of the Lionheart family.
Some time ago, Fiona had also come to know about the assassination attempt that day. She was incredibly shocked when she heard about it and hugged Dawn tightly, shed tears for hours while muttering how anyone could be so ruthless.
Dawn felt a little touched by such sincere display of emotions. Since that day, whenever she got the chance, she would curse the Lionheart family lord with all her might.
Because of all this, Dawn also got to know about the recent happenings in the city, how the Skylar family declared war and how they got twenty Frost Iron mines from the Skylar family as compensation.
When Dawn learned about this development, he fell deep in thought and suddenly all things became clear in his mind, in the end he sighed.
At this time, he wanted nothing more than to push time forward and quickly grow up so that he could leave this family for good.
Time passed and soon Fiona left after feeding him his daily Soul Strengthening elixir.
Dawn's eyes were tightly closed as if he was trying to sleep, in reality he was mind was somewhere else.
[Brave warrior, Welcome to the Eternal Battlefield.]
A familiar window greeted him. Dawn ignored it and vigilantly stared at the surroundings.
It was still the same dimly lit cave as last time, with the rancid smell of decayed bodies filling the surroundings.
After taking a look, he sighed with relief; thankfully there was no Nether Wraith nearby.
"Suit of Righteousness and Eternal Valor..." Dawn silently muttered with a strange look in his eyes. The name of this skill was particularly wordy and took a mouthful just to pronounce.
Immediately the air around his tiny frame vibrated and out of nowhere mana started to gather and condense into small droplets of liquid that hugged his body tightly. Slowly, an outline of a bodysuit unfolded like liquid metal, shimmering in dark blue and gold accents as it moved with eerie precision. In an instant, it wrapped around Dawn's tiny form, adjusting seamlessly to his size.
The chest emblem, a glowing heart-shaped insignia, pulsed to life as if sensing the baby's heartbeat.
Dawn's chubby arms twitched as the gauntlets formed around his wrists, fitting perfectly despite their intricate design. The red cape, lined with a fiery glow, cascaded behind him, fluttering heroically. Finally, the sleek black mask molded over his eyes, making him look far more serious than any infant had the right to.
For a moment, the cave fell silent.
"Awesome!" Dawn muttered in awe; without him even realizing, he was levitating above the ground.
As soon as he thought about going forward, his body suddenly accelerated like a rocket. Realizing something, Dawn immediately shouted in his mind, "No... no, slow the fuck down."
His body reacted to his command and immediately slowed down; however, his head still hit the cave ceiling, causing him to slightly wince in pain.
"I will have to practice with the new skill first..."
Dawn rubbed the back of his head and thought, while feeling inwardly glad. Thankfully he didn't directly use the skill in combat, or the consequences would have been unimaginable.
Time passed, and after half an hour of practice, Dawn was finally able to fully control the effects of the suit and moved as he willed without any problem.
His body flickered like a firefly, quickly moving from one corner of the cave to another.
In the next moment, Dawn's body hovered above the batch of crystalline white soul pods, and he fell into deep thought.
"I wonder when someone else will arrive here."
Dawn found it extremely strange; it had been almost one month since his arrival here, and since then no other human soul had arrived.
He found this extremely strange, as no matter how small the human population was in this new world, there were bound to be some people who turned eighteen every day.
Thinking for a moment, Dawn shook his head and gave up thinking about it, and focused on the important things. If he was able to arrive here, a human sanctuary had to be nearby.
He had to quickly find one and gather information about the nearby places.
To reach the human sanctuary, he first had to get out of this Nether Wraiths colony fast.
While thinking, he gently flew forward, heading toward the tunnel in the distance from which the first Nether Wraith had appeared.
His eyes were filled with solemnity; he still hadn't forgotten about the Nether Wraith king who seemed to be looking for him.
As he moved forward, the dim cave was lit up by fiery energy. Numerous carcasses of humans and gigantic bones became visible in the distance; Dawn noticed this and frowned.
Although his suit was amazing, it was too eye-catching.
If it continued like this, someone was definitely going to notice him.
He started to feel a little worried; what if the Nether Wraith king suddenly attacked him?
...
Mesarith city.
In the centermost area of the city sat the grand castle of the Lionheart family, opulently decorated with highly sought-after Frost Iron.
The grand castle was filled with a depressive atmosphere similar to a brave warrior who had suffered a crushing defeat.
Inside a large hall, a middle-aged man sat on a grand throne with a solemn expression on his face.
Standing beside him was a young lady with a fiery appearance. She looked at the man on the throne and wanted to say something; however, no words seemed to come out of her mouth.
Suddenly, the man got up from the throne with a sigh and said, "Has the Skylar family accepted our proposal?"
Hearing his words, the eyes of the young girl beside him shook for a moment, then she said, "They are willing to cooperate on the condition that we hand over ten of the mines in the Northern border."
The man immediately fell silent and gazed into the distance with a clouded look in his eyes. No one knew what he was thinking. Suddenly, a smile appeared on his aged face and he muttered in a voice that no one could hear except him.
"You finally checkmated me, young friend."