The morning sun cast long shadows across the training yard behind the Walker family estate. A young boy moved through a series of precise and deliberate stretches, his small body was glistening with sweat. Victor had been at this since before dawn, just as he had been every single day for the past four years.
He lowered himself to the ground and began his final set of pushups, his arms burning with the familiar strain of exertion. The numbers continued to rise steadily in his mind as he worked. His movements remained steady and controlled because his body had repeated the motion so many times that it now followed the rhythm automaticalTasks
After completing the pushups, he shifted immediately into situps. His abdominal muscles protested with sharp fatigue as he forced himself through the final hundred repetitions. When he finally finished, he pushed himself to his feet and began walking slowly around the yard so that his breathing could gradually return to normal.
Victor released a slow breath and allowed his body to relax once he stopped moving. A long stream of stale air escaped from his lungs. Although he was only eight years old, his physique was lean and defined with muscle that far exceeded what would normally be expected for someone his age. The result was a training routine that most adults would have found impossible to endure.
A translucent blue screen suddenly appeared in front of him and hovered quietly in the air. It was the same screen that had first appeared when he was five years old.
[Ding! You have completed the 1st Major Tasks!]
[Task 1: 150,000/150,000 Push-ups - COMPLETE]
[Task 2: 150,000/150,000 Sit-ups - COMPLETE]
[Task 3: 15,000km/15,000km Running - COMPLETE]
[You have completed all tasks before the age of 9. You have been awarded: Divine Card]
Victor slowly released a long breath that trembled slightly as it left his chest. Four years had passed since he first began this training. During those four years he had woken before sunrise every single morning. He had pushed his body until exhaustion and then continued training even after his muscles begged him to stop. He had run until his legs could barely support him and then forced himself to run even farther.
While other children spent their days playing, he trained. His family had often looked at him with confusion because they could not understand why their young son forced himself to work so relentlessly.
The truth was simple.
Victor was a transmigrator.
In his previous life he had been Victor Gray, a seventeen year old martial arts prodigy who had trained under his family's traditional martial discipline. Then one day his life had ended without warning, and he had awakened in this new world as a newborn child.
This world was a parallel version of Earth where spiritual energy had returned roughly five hundred years ago. The reappearance of that energy had transformed everything. Humanity had evolved and developed the ability to awaken martial souls within their bodies. Animals had also changed. Many had grown stronger and larger, while others had mutated into dangerous monsters that roamed the wilderness.
The old world had disappeared and been replaced by a far more dangerous era.
When Victor reached the age of five and began to feel despair over the loss of his previous strength, the system had suddenly appeared before him. It had given him only one mission. He had to complete three physical training tasks before his ninth birthday.
Victor had never questioned the command. He had simply trained.
Now he stared quietly at the notification in front of him while the weight of four relentless years slowly faded from his shoulders. His eyes shifted toward the blinking icon that appeared beside the completion message.
[Divine Card: You can elevate the rank of anything to the Divine level using this card. Usage: One time only.]
Victor's eyes widened slightly as he read the description.
In this world, martial souls and abilities were ranked from grade one to grade ten. Above grade ten was considered legendary. Only the most exceptional warriors in history had ever possessed such martial soul. Victor had never once heard of anything beyond that level.
Divine clearly existed beyond grade eleven.
His heartbeat gradually quickened as the realization settled into his mind. With this card he could raise anything to the Divine level. He could use it on his future martial soul, a weapon, or even a special ability.
Whatever he chose would likely surpass everything that currently existed in this world.
"Victor!"
A clear voice called from across the yard.
Victor immediately dismissed the system screen with a thought and turned toward the sound. His younger sister Emily was walking toward him. She was six years old and had large round eyes. Her blonde hair was tied into two long braids that bounced slightly each time she stepped forward.
"Big Brother, I knew you would be out here training again." She walked up to him and grabbed his arm with both hands. "Mom and Dad are looking for you."
Victor smiled faintly and reached out to pinch her cheek.
"What do they want?"
Emily immediately pushed his hand away and puffed out her cheeks in annoyance.
"I do not know. But if we are late then Mom will spank your butt."
Victor laughed quietly. The sound came naturally despite the fatigue lingering in his body. In his previous life he had been serious and focused at the age of seventeen, but something about this small sister always made him behave more like the child he currently was. He ruffled her hair gently and suddenly began running toward the estate.
"Brother! Stop running!" Emily shouted as she hurried after him.
The two children ran across the courtyard while laughing loudly. For a brief moment they looked like ordinary children without a single worry in the world. However Victor's mind had already begun carefully considering the true value of the reward he had just obtained.
The Walker family estate itself was fairly modest compared to the powerful clans that existed throughout the world. Victor's grandfather had originally settled in this region about sixty years earlier and had claimed the surrounding land. Since then several generations of the Walker family had grown within these walls, forming a small community bound together by blood and shared responsibility.
Victor and Emily soon arrived at the main hall located in the Eastern Courtyard where their parents were waiting.
Their father, David Walker, sat at the main seat at the center of the room. He was a scholarly looking man in his mid thirties with sharp facial features and thoughtful eyes. Sitting beside him was Sarah Vale, Victor's mother, a gentle woman whose warm smile had remained unchanged since Victor's earliest memories of this world.
"Victor, Emily, come inside." Sarah motioned for them to approach. "Victor, your father and I would like to speak with you."
David quietly studied his eldest son.
"Where were you this morning before sunrise?"
Before Victor could respond, Sarah gently interrupted.
"It is fine. Please do not frighten him." She turned toward Victor and smiled kindly. "Victor, in a few days you will turn nine years old. That means it is almost time for you to awaken your martial soul. Your father and I plan to take you to the Martial Hall so that you can participate in the awakening ceremony."
Victor felt a small thrill pass through him as he heard those words.
The moment had finally arrived.
In this world every human possessed a martial soul. It was a spiritual manifestation of one's inner power and it determined the individual's potential as a warrior. Martial souls were ranked from lower grades to higher ones from grade 1 to legendary, and the level of one's soul determined how easily a person could absorb spiritual energy from the world.
However not everyone possessed a functional martial soul. Some individuals were born with crippled souls that could not absorb energy at all. These unfortunate people were known as wastes and were destined to remain weak for the rest of their lives.
Victor did not know what type of martial soul he would awaken.
However that uncertainty no longer worried him.
The Divine Card rested quietly within his system inventory.
Whatever martial soul he awakened, he could elevate it to a level that no one in this world had ever seen before.
Of course, he reminded himself cautiously, this would only be possible if the card truly worked on martial souls. The system description claimed that it could be used on anything.
Soon enough, he intended to find out.