[15 years ago]

A young boy sat in the corner of a marketplace, hidden between crates and sacks of food.

Underneath him was a dirt covered sheet, and on it was a single bowl with a few copper coins in it.

The boy's clothes were tattered and covered in grime, and his pitch black hair was a mess. He sat with his back to a wall, which provided him with more support than anyone else in this world could ever have.

His eyes were lifeless, and it was hard to tell whether the dark lines under them were dirt or merely fatigue and malnourishment.

Many people passed by this young boy without so much as giving him a glance. Every once in a while, someone would bend over with a pitying look and place a coin or two in his bowl.

This young boy was an orphan. From the day he could remember, he had been left on the streets to fend for his own.

But the young boy had survived through begging.

He would do nothing day in and day out aside from hoping that a few generous souls would pass him by, sparing the scraps from their table in order to allow him to eat.

A single bone from a chicken leg, or the crust of ones bread.

The change which otherwise would have been given to the merchants nearby as a tip.

'Keep the change.'

How many times had this young boy heard these words?

'Keep the change.'

While he sat right next to these merchants who seemed to gladly suck up to their customers, placing their hands together and bowing in gratitude, these people instead would choose to ignore him and pass him by with no more than a glance, and a dirty one at that.

But this did not anger the boy.

For this was the way of the world.

To this young boy, life was nothing more than a process.

A countdown.

He would sit here begging all his life, and a small percentage of people would put food in front of him, and he would continue doing this until eventually, nobody placed anything in front of him, and he would shrivel up and die.

There was nothing more to life.

Death was no more than the final step of this coldly calculated procedure.

Or so this young boy thought, until one day a young and beautiful woman approached him.

She smiled at him with a great kindness, one that seemed to lift up the dead spirit of the young boy.

He didn't understand why, but when he saw her smiling at him, he felt as if there was something greater.

There was something more to life than this step by step loop of sleep, beg, eat, and sleep more.

The young woman, who was dressed in a plain yet beautiful yellow dress, placed a silver coin into his bowl, and went on her way waving back.

"I hope you can eat for a while with this. I'll come back and visit you soon!"

So the young woman said, but right as she said this, looking back at the boy, she bumped into a tall and thin man who was wearing a hood to hide his face.

"Oi, be careful.", the man said while catching the young woman and holding her upright.

"Ah, I'm so sorry! I wasn't paying attention in fro-"

The woman was in the middle of replying to the man who she bumped into, but with a malicious smile, the man took off.

The young boy, who was watching the entire time, witnessed as the man slid his hand to where the coin purse of the woman was, grabbing it and making a break for it.

"If you're not careful then you'll get things taken from you.", the man whispered as he darted away through the crowd.

The woman watched frantically as the man bolted away, looking around with worried eyes, and she shouted out for help.

"Somebody catch that man! It's a thief!!!", she shouted.

"Eh?"

"A thief? Oof!"

"Agh!!"

The man who had stolen the purse pushed many people out of his way, making his quick escape towards an alleyway.

"Heh heh.... too easy....", the man whispered to himself.

It was at this moment, in seeing that concerned and worried face of the woman who showed him a brief moment of kindness, that the young boy felt an urge within himself.

An urge to stand up for the first time in a long time.

An urge to run after the man.

But this urge was not because he wanted to protect the smile of the woman in front of him.

It was simply because he could not stand seeing someone take the easy way out.

The child bolted through the crowd after the man, weaving in and out of the people in front of him with dexterity that could only be described as inhuman.

By the time the criminal had reached the alleyway, the child too was standing their, in front of him with a dull look on his face.

"Return that.", the child said as he blocked the path of the man with his arms spread out.

"As if I would do that! Dumbass kid! Out of my way!!"

The man ran forward, readying himself to shove the kid out of the way, and pushed the child aside.

The child fell, stumbling over to the wall, however at that moment something seemed to trigger inside the child.

His body felt as if it was moving on its own, instinctively. When he came close to hitting the wall, he held his hands out and springboarded off it, planting his feet well and readying himself to charge after the man once more.

Running after the man and soon catching up to him, they were now running through the alleyway alongside one another.

"I sit in that spot all day long, every single day begging people for food, only to get so much as a scrap. But that's fine, because everything that I have earned is due to my patience and hard work. But here you are taking the easy way out. You take things from others without their consent, and obtain things which are not rightfully yours. And that pisses me off."

The child now was once more in front of the man, but this time with a fighting stance. The man stopped in his tracks, wrinkling his brows in anger.

"What could you know about anything, kid? You don't live in the adult world, so perhaps you don't understand just how difficult everything can be. It takes a lot of hard work to be able to take things from people like that.", the man spat.

"Is it really so hard?", the kid asked.

"Of course it is!! I have to lure in my prey, find the perfect moment to strike, and evade the guards and make a clean getaway!! This work couldn't be harder!!"

"Then why do you do it if it's so hard?", the kid asked, confused.

The man laughed at this.

"Haha. Because it pays well, kid. I gotto put food on the table."

"If it's so hard to take from others, then let me try. If I can take it from you, then you won't have any complaints, right?"

"Hahaha!!! You think you can take it from me!? I may not be the strongest guy out there, but if you're picking a fight then you're out of your league, kid. Sure, if you can take it from me, then it's rightfully yours- but just know that I'm not going to let you go without any injuries if you try. You're just a weak little kid! Know your place!!"

As this, the kid merely smiled.

"Then come at me."

"Ehh??? You're really trying to pick a fight!? Look kid, I didn't want to have to do this, but if you're gonna act all cocky like that then I can't just let you go."

The man pulled back his fist and prepared to slug the child.

With the strength of a relatively built man, his fist seemed to come raining down on the kid.

But, in that instant, the child not only dodged the strike, but managed to thrust out his own fist, slugging the man in the face, using the power of his own strike against him.

The man was knocked out cold and fell to the ground. At this, the purse dropped and the clattering of coins filled the ears of the child as they rolled all around the streets.

The boy grabbed the coins one by one, filling up the purse. As he was doing this, he noticed that many people had gathered around.

"That kid just beat a criminal up!!"

"Guards!! Arrest this man!! Over here!!"

"What a hero!!"

Soon, some guards made their way through the crowd to see the child gathering up the coins, and the man laying unconscious next to him with a red mark on his face from the fist of the child.

The guards quickly took care of the man, surrounding him and taking him into custody.

One of them, wearing a fancy helmet walked up to the child.

"You did well, kid. It was our mistake to not be able to catch up to this guy, but you managed to hold him off on your own. Thanks for that. Here."

The guard pulled out his own purse, and handed the child 5 silver coins- more than he had ever received.

"As a guard, that's my thanks for doing our work for us."

The silver coins gleamed in the young child's eyes, and he smiled back.

"Thank you, Sir."

"No no. We are the ones thanking you. You've done something extremely heroic."

The child merely nodded, and began to walk back to his own begging mat, but on the way he saw the girl making her way through the crowd.

"Ah."

The child held up the purse, and the young woman exited the crowd with a smile.

Handing the purse back to the woman, she grabbed the child and hugged him, dirtying her own yellow dress with grime.

"Thank you!! I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't stopped that man!! That was everything I had....."

The child handed back the purse to the young woman, and she opened it up.

"Please, take this as my own gratitude. It should sell for a lot. It's a family heirloom, so I know I shouldn't give it away but.... you've just saved me from having to go back to my family after losing everything I had on me, so I think it's fine."

The woman took out a ring with a blue jewel embedded into it, and placed it on the finger of the child with a gorgeous smile.

"Thank you so much!!", she said while hugging him once more, getting up to leave and waving again.

"You should look where you're going.", the kid said as she walked away and bumped into another man in the crowd.

"Oof! Agh! I'm so sorry!!"

The child rolled his eyes, but looked at his two hands.

In one he held five silver coins, more money than he had ever held in his hands before up to this point.

In the other was a golden ring with a jewel in the center, worth more than he could imagine.

As he walked back to his mat, the crowd seemed to part in front of him, and he was showered with compliments.

"You did great, kid!!"

"I'm impressed!! You looked like a skilled fighter!!"

"Way to go!!"

As he was walking back, looking at his hands which seemed to burn just a bit from punching the man, he remembered something.

'Is it really so hard?'

'Of course it is!'

"It wasn't hard at all.", the child murmured to himself. "That man was just taking the easy way out, and lying about how difficult it was. That was too easy."

Sitting back at his mat, the child looked into the cup which previously had the single silver coin and a few coppers which he had begged for.

They were gone.

'I suppose there were some others around who wanted to take the easy way out as well.'

It then struck the child.

'Should I take the easy way out?'

Shaking his head, he thought back on it.

'That was too easy..... far easier than he described it to be. Should I try to do it? That guard and the girl gave me money so easily. I spend hours begging to get a few scraps, but I beat up one thief and I got more than I've ever made in my life.'

It was this day, that the child left his mat.

He instead turned to the dark alleyways, and made his way into the slums.

The places in the town where crime was highest.

Even on that very day, on his way there, he encountered many men who tried to take his ring from him- which he kept on show.

But it was too easy to stop them.

Every single one who attacked him, he could read their movements like a book.

He knew exactly where they would go and what they would do next.

They would surround him in numbers, but even then he would dodge every blow, using the power of his opponents against them.

He would have them miss only to elbow them in the neck as they stumbled forward, trying to grab him.

They would underestimate him, and they would make sloppy attacks.

It was almost a joke.

On this day, after making his way into the deepest corner of the slums, the child had fought off and defeated more criminals than he could count, and taken the money and valuables they had with him.

He began living in a cardboard box in an alleyway, where he could store his belongings and hide in the shadows, waiting for any crimes to happen in front of him. It acted as a mobile home of sorts which he could travel around with, as he searched out for criminals.

Five years passed, and this child's cardboard box turned into a small storehouse of treasure.

Treasure which he had taken from thieves and criminals.

He would often catch them in the acts of robbing innocent people who would be walking in the streets alone.

The child eventually purchased a set of pitch black leather armor and a mask which completely covered his face and his entire body.

One time, he fought an opponent who pulled a set of intricate daggers on him, and after easily taking down the man, picked the daggers up and began swinging them around himself.

They felt good.

He felt like they perfectly fit with his movements, and that he could use them well.

And so, in the slums of this town, an urban legend propagated of a dark knight who would attack and kill any criminals he met.

The crime rate slowed, and a name was given to this man.

Slith.

On one particular occasion, Slith witnessed a number of men ganging up on a single woman in an alley.

"Hey darling..... come with us.... have some fun....."

"No! Get away from me!!!"

As one of the men grabbed the hand of the woman, preventing her from running away, another slammed her to the wall.

"Don't be like that. We just want to get to know you a bit."

"Yeah. We want to know you inside and out."

"Stop this!!!"

Suddenly, a deep voice was heard from the shadows.

"Do you guys think you're strong?"

"Hah!? Who's there!?"

Some of the men went on guard at hearing this voice from behind the crates.

"I said, do you think you're strong for ganging up on a woman like this? Five on one?"

"This is none of your business, whoever you are! If you just walk away, we'll let you go free."

A man emerged from the shadows, dressed in pitch black leather and wielding two intricate daggers, one in each hand.

"I've been looking for a challenge all my life. Every man I find seems to believe that he's strong. He tells me 'I'm stronger than you. Get out of here. You don't stand a chance against me.', but then he ends up being a weakling. Tell me, am I just a genius? Am I just the worlds strongest? Is there nobody stronger than me? Is everyone else just a bunch of weaklings? I'm trying to find the answer here. What do you think? Are you guys stronger than me?"

"HAH!? What are you talking about, you loon?? If you're gonna be so cocky about it then we'll just have to put you in your place!", the man who was holding the woman to the wall exclaimed.

"Wait, boss. I think I've heard rumors about a man going around the slums these days and taking on anyone he finds performing crimes. Could this man be.... that legend? Slith!?"

"What are you talking about!? He's just trying to imitate the legend dressing like that, and scare us off. Well you ain't foolin' me! Plus, why would a man who only takes on criminals be so obsessed with strength? Wouldn't he try to fight anyone if he was so obsessed with strength!?"

"Hmm... that's true, boss..."

"Of course it is!!! This guy isn't Slith!!!"

At this, Slith seemed to sigh.

"The reason I take on criminals.... is because it doesn't cause me problems. Nobody reprimands me for fighting criminals, and they all seem eager to fight me. I'll take anyone on, but only so long as I can get away with it without any trouble. I'm just taking the easy way out. I just want to know. Am I truly the best in the world? That's why I need to keep fighting, and fighting criminals.... happens to be the best option for me."

In an instant, as if time had not even passed, the stomachs of all five men split open and their intestines all flooded out. Blood erupted from their mouths as they fell to the ground lifeless in moments.

The woman held in a scream, but looked over to the man, who flicked the blood off his daggers spitefully, as if he was disappointed.

"Ah.... you saved me.... t-thank you...."

"I will never know. I will never know if I am the strongest. Because no matter how many people I defeat, no matter how many people I am stronger than, that doesn't mean that there isn't someone else who is stronger than me.  But, I've decided on something."

"Um.... I would like to offer my thanks-"

The woman tried to get the man's attention, but he continued talking to himself.

"I will kill 10,000 men. And I will do it in a way that won't cause problems for myself. If I can kill 10,000 men, and I still haven't found one who is even a challenge, then I will accept it."

"Um.... could you accept my thanks-"

"I will accept that I am the strongest man to ever live."

"Thank you...."

The woman's voice was now trailing off, as she saw that the man was clearly ignoring her, as if she didn't even exist.

Soon after, this man was approached by a guard who had rushed over after hearing the screams.

"What's going on here?!"

"Ah, guard!! I was attacked by those five men, but this man saved me! Everything is alright now!!", the woman screamed.

The guard walked over to the man in black, and looked around at the bodies.

"I.... I see...."

Looking at the men on the ground, the guard seemed to realize something.

"Oh... These men are wanted. They have bounties on their head. You, are you a mercenary? If so, then I can attest for you that you've killed these men and you can collect the reward."

"Mercenary? What does that mean?", Slith asked.

"Oi, you don't know about the mercenary system?"

It was after this that the guard explained to Slith about the mercenary system.

Taking it as an opportunity not only to help him find more worthy opponents, but also as a way to make money, Slith gladly accepted and eventually became a mercenary.

He lived his life fighting opponents, counting each one as he worked mercenary jobs alone. The urban legend became even more popular, and his name began to spread all over the country.

And after he had reached his mark of 10,000 men, he finally accepted that he was the strongest man alive.

It was then that a rapid turn occurred in his life.

Over the course of this journey, Slith continuously grew in arrogance.

For every opponent he faced, his ego increased.

For every person he met who could not even hold a candle to him, he was further convinced that he was the strongest man alive.

It was too easy.

Not once had he ever found fighting or killing a person to be a challenge.

And soon, he became an elite among mercenaries.

He was near impossible to hire on a job because of the quality of his services.

To hire Slith on a mission meant that the mission would be completed with 100% certainty, unlike any other mercenary band.

Brutus took advantage of this, and promised Slith everything if he would work under him personally.

Wealth. A home. Women. Status.

And Slith agreed.

He had finished his quest. He had determined that he was the worlds strongest man.

And he had accepted that, the worlds strongest man deserved the worlds best.

"I am the best."

"I am the strongest."

"I am the smartest."

"I am the GREATEST."