Elsewhere, while Vain was ruthlessly training : There was a vast and boundless mountain range that stretched to the ends of the horizon in all directions. The entire mountain was covered in lush and rich flora that were all rare and exotic spiritual plants. In the mountain range, there stood one particularly large mountain that's peak seemed to stretch through the sky and pierce through the heavens. On the mountain, flowing down from above the clouds was a waterfall that stretched about two hundred meters across. At the bottom of the waterfall, where torrents of water crashed against the rocks crazily, there was a large arena shaped square where thousands and thousands of people were gathered. Today was the day where the newest generation of all the big sects and big families of the Rem continent got together to publicly test talent. Only the most promising talents and descendants of the higher-ups of these noble sects and families were allowed to come here. This was the awakening commemoration that took place every ten years. In the middle of the arena, On two different pedestals placed, there were two circular orbs that had a crystalline appearance, were clear all the way through, and were about the size of a melon. These two crystalline orbs were called the discerning eyes. The discerning eyes had different uses such as identifying innate talent, elemental energy(if there is any), and special body types,(if there is any). Talent is equal to potential and the most important quality. If someone had low talent and potential, then they would not be worth the sect or family grooming and wasting all of their resources on. Potential is separated into five categories such as F grade, D grade, C grade, B grade and A grade. Each grade is separated by natural energy limits, how much energy is naturally contained in the body. [
The crowd seeing the gray/black figure went silent, then an uproar that shook the mountains exploded out of the crowd,"A special physique!" "A metal related physique!?? " Wow that's the first person today! How wild!" "The Iron Monolith Sect is really too lucky this time." The members of the Iron Monolith Sect, including the young man on the stage and the sect leader, hearing the reactions of the crowd, all stuck their chins in the air with smiles and looks so arrogant that the arrogance could almost condense. The sun and moon came and went, the four seasons came and went, the living died and their families cried. Just like that, in the blink of an eye, another four years passed. During this period of time, Vain had been training rigorously. He was now ten years old and a Bone Conditioning Rank six. During this time, Uncle Ale had been teaching Vain all types of combat techniques, movement techniques, and was training Vain's body to its limits. Vain was now proficient in hand to hand combat, throwing skills, concealment, poison, and anatomy. These five things are what Uncle Ale thought were the most important to an assassin, so within the last four years, Uncle Ale made sure to beat all of his knowledge into Vain's little head. At this time, Uncle Ale and Vain had just finished a one sided spar that ended up with Vain laying on the ground broken and bruised, panting for breath. Uncle Ale also sat cross legged putting on a serious expression and said out of the blue "In two years I have to leave here for a while." Vain leaned upwards and stared at Uncle Ale with a gaze that said, "What do you mean?" He was too exhausted to say it but Uncle Ale understood the gaze. Uncle Ale said seriously, "I have some business to take care of in two years and I cant take you with me, it will be too dangerous. So starting from today onwards, I'll give you enough books and resources about this place so you won't get in any trouble while im gone." Vain didnt know what to exactly feel at this point, he was excited that he could finally learn about where he was, why there were no people around, why there's so many creatures around, and why the woods in the distance look rotted and dead. He should finally be able to answer a lot of the questions he had. But at the same time, he was distressed about Uncle Ale leaving and frankly, he was scared. Every day since Vain arrived in this world, Uncle Ale had been there taking care of him. Vain was a grown man in his first life, but even then he had no one to rely on and now he got too used to Uncle Ale doing everything for him. It felt too good relying on someone for the first time. Vain didnt want to see Uncle Ale go, but again, Uncle Ale was his own man and he was his own man. These thoughts flashed passed in an instant, not bringing any awkwardness to the stare of Uncle Ale so Vain said, "Ok Uncle." Uncle Ale looked at Vain's calm reaction and joked "You're not gonna miss me?" "In two years I might Uncle." Uncle Ale -"Haha good brat, you don't need to hide it." Vain -"Hide what? When you leave I won't get beat anymore" Vain sneered at Uncle Ale showing a contemptuous gaze .
Uncle Ale scoffed, got up and said, "Make your own dinner for the next two weeks." Vain didnt care, that jab at Uncle Ale helped cover the pain he's felt for the last four years. Anyways, Vain didnt care about what he ate at all. During these last four years he figured out that no matter what it was he ingested, he could just use his blood and expel it out of his body flawlessly. In addition to this neat trick, Vain was homeless before he died and would never forget the feeling of starving to death. Therefore, he will eat anything he can get his hands on. Thinking about the last four years, Vain realized that his gains were immeasurable. Not only did Vain realize that he could dispel poisons and other substances from his body, but he also found out the use of the blood essences he's absorbed previously. In the space where Vain could see himself depicted as a blood body, Vain could see the different blood essences he's absorbed : the Mutated White Rabbit, Mutated Three Eyed Stag, Mutated Blood Mosquito plus innumerable regular blood Mosquitoes, and the Mutated Froblin. Vain figured out that he could summon these blood essences and use them in combat. While he was trying to grasp a combat technique Uncle Ale was teaching him, he messed up a dagger swing and slashed his left thigh leaving a nasty wound. However, the blood didnt flow out. Instead, a miraculous scene took place. All of the blood that came out of Vain's thigh turned into mosquitoes that flew out of his wound and hovered around him, causing Uncle Ale and Vain to completely forget about the gaping wound on Vain's thigh. However, even though there were many gains during these four years, the loss he suffered might even overtake all of his gains. During a previous practice, Uncle Ale was observing Vain after he just taught him some basic combat techniques. Uncle Ale was staring at Vain, watching his entire figure when is brows furrowed into a know suddenly. "What? How come I still cant sense his energy?" Uncle Ale was utterly confused becuase he's watched Vain grow up and has seen Vain use his powers many times, but now that Uncle Ale was observing Vain wondering why he couldn't get the combat technique to work even though Vain's execution of it was flawless, he noticed that he couldnt actually sense any energy coming from Vain at all. Sudden realization actually came to Uncle Ale at this point though. Uncle Ale thought that maybe the reason Vain was abandoned at the edge of the woods was this. "Maybe his parents couldnt sense his energy either and didnt want to waste food on him? How strange though, Why didnt I notice this earlier? Because I saw him using his powers maybe?" Uncle Ale jolted out of his thoughts, then he suddenly called Vain over and put his hands on Vain's body feeling his entire body from top to bottom. Vain squirmed away and gave Uncle Ale a look that seemed to say "Pervert." Uncle Ale ignored Vain's angering gaze and told him bluntly, "You don't have any energy... you must have a special physique that allows you to use all of your powers. But dont worry, this may actually be beneficial for you since you want to hide away and be an assassin." Uncle Ale continued explaining, "If I can't even sense your energy while im touching you, its very unlikely that you'll be discovered by others." Vain didnt know how to react to this news. He didn't have any of this energy nonsense or powers in his first life either so he didnt mind not missing out on a little something now, but he wanted to be as strong as possible so he was still a bit disappointed. Vain didnt know what to say so he didnt speak for the time being, allowing Uncle Ale to speak another sentence, "Since you can't use energy, just keep focusing on your own powers. Forget about the combat techniques. I'll teach you some footwork that won't require energy and then we can go from there."