‘Seeing as there is no way out, i might as well train’.

Train as he did. He practiced the light sky step with vigor as he walked in the air until he collapses. He tried speeding up but it always caused him to misplace the light disk resulting in him falling down.

After that, he started practicing his spell light beam. It’s a concentrated light that is traveling in a straight line to pierce the enemy. It was a terrifying attack but it has a major weakness as he needs to point his finger to the target to activate the spell. The pointing of a finger is noticeable as the enemy can predict where the light beam is coming from and unlike a fireball, its attack is too small that a slight movement of the body can dodge it completely. Still, it’s perfect when used while invisible that even Catalinna was helpless against it. He tries to change its activation passage instead of his finger to his surroundings meaning he can surround the enemy with light beams.

Still, it’s extremely hard as he can only generate a small flicker of lights behind him after an hour of trying. After hours of practicing, his mana was depleted as he lay on the cold floor staring at the ceiling. Frustration is started to well in his heart as he tried it once more. Two spheres of light appeared in front of him as it concentrated until it was blinding if he gaze at it. With the last push of his mana, it exploded before he can move it by an inch as the room was engulfed with a blinding light that even Catalinna yelled in surprise. After emptying his mana, he loses consciousness as Catalinna gazed at him like he’s a crazy person. For days, both of them were locked in a single room as the Ice Monarch periodically brings them food. Lawrence continued on improving his technique while Catalinna usually sleeps the whole day or just stared at Lawrence who trained like a madman. He trained until he either he loses consciousness from emptying his mana or from fatigue. He was like a man with the only purpose in life was to train.

In the middle of the night, Lawrence can be seen standing up while closing his eyes. Both of his arms are stretched forward as 3 spheres of lights are floating behind his shoulders. Gritting his teeth, he started to slowly let the light particles inside the sphere move forward. While fully concentrating, three light beams started crashing towards the window at a speed slower than a toddler’s walk before vanishing mid-air. A genuine and proud smile appeared on his face as it was a success. Calling it a success is quite embarrassing as even hitting a stationary target would be hard but it was progress nonetheless. His knees felt weak but he didn’t fall to the floor this time. He slowly makes his way to the bed as he didn’t mind the glare he got from Catalinna. After of days staying here, he didn’t care what she said or what she thinks of what he’s doing. He doesn’t have the time to waste on a lady who lazes around despite knowing the end is near. This frustrated him to no end as she just wanted to rely on the main character she created to save the world.

“How’s it like wasting your time? you’ll never even be 1/10th of Cain’s power” she sneered but he just ignored her. A knock on the door followed by the opening of it, which got his attention as he saw the Ice Monarch enter the room despite the fact that it was midnight. His eyes wandered towards the wooden box she’s holding with a chilling aura surrounding it.

“Here is the compensation you wanted” she simply said before putting it on the table before leaving. Even with an overwhelming need to rest, he slowly trudged towards the box to open it. Upon opening it, his face nearly froze off as a white crystallize flower can be seen shining and reflecting the light around it. To gain its properties, he just needs to ingest the whole flower. A simple and efficient method but overwhelming pain would follow after eating it. He gulped in nervousness as his hands are shaking.

‘I will ingest this later after i have rested.’

He makes his way to the other side of the bed and started sleeping. A few hours later, a yawn escaped from his mouth as he rubbed his eyes. With eyes full of determination, he grabbed the ice flower with his bare hands before gnawing it with his teeth and swallowing the whole flower. He sat in a lotus position before breathing slowly and periodically. Continued grunts of pain can be heard as he felt like he swallowed a thousand needles prickling his whole body. Agony is seen in his face but he gritted his teeth. Despite his body temperature falling to the negatives, sweat started rolling from his forehead. 15 minutes later, the pain subsided as he opened his eyes. The floor was covered with his sweat as he trudged towards the bathroom to take a bath.

After taking a bath, he looked pale and sickly but with a proud smile on his face. He activated the light beam to see it turning into a grayish color from the usual white color. He willed it to turn to the right and slowly it bent towards the right wall. It wasn’t a sharp turn but more of a bend but his control over his element improved. Again he rested in the bed to recover his energy.

The next day, he can now use two moonlight beams without pointing his finger at a speed comparable to a one-star warrior or 20 kph. Fast but can be easily dodged by two-star warriors. He tried by targeting his arm to see if it hurt but instead of wounding it, it melted to his skin. There were no injuries whatsoever. He tried three moonlight beams but it only moved at 10kph before vanishing in the air without even hitting the window. The window has been his target dummy as this is where he aims his light beams most of the time. The door burst open as Lawrence saw the Ice Monarch followed by the northern knights as she gazed at the both of them. Catalinna woke up from the noise of the door slamming on the wall as she stared at her mother with confusion in her eyes.

“Both of you will participate in defending the 4th wall of the north” she said with a cold expression as Catalinna’s face paled while Lawrence accepted his fate. The infamous wall of the north consists of 5 walls each separated by kilometers of land. Each wall is made of metal and ice combined as it was the first bastion against the monster waves from the northern part of the continent.

This part of the continent is where the demon king's castle is located in. No one has come back from going there as it was one of the forbidden areas of the continent. If this wall is broken, three kingdoms would suffer tremendously and the loss of lives would reach millions. With the help of the Swordwin Empire, the three kingdoms decided to create these five walls, and every year they would give a large amount of supplies and soldiers to defend it. With only the fifth wall with a sustainable food source, the other four walls depended on the kingdoms to send them food and supplies. The first wall is defended by only the selected five-star soldiers with each battalion guided by a six-star soldier. The second wall is a mixture of 4-star soldiers and 5-star soldiers. The third wall is only defended with 3-star soldiers and the fourth wall is defended by the 2-star soldiers as the fifth wall isn’t for defending but for gathering supplies and acts as a garrison in an emergency. Each wall has a magical barrier that stops only the stronger monsters and it allows the weaker monster to pass through the large wall. It created a perfect training ground for the academies and for the military to train their students and soldiers. In the first wall, only four-star and below monsters can pass through and in the second wall, only the three-star and below monster can pass through and it goes back towards the fourth wall to defeat every monster that passed through sometimes totaling to thousands. Making the fourth wall the most tiring wall to defend against for a large number of monsters they have to kill. The highest death rate is the fourth wall followed by the second wall making it the most dangerous wall ever.

“Both of you will head there in a month.” she said before gazing at Catalinna

“As for you, I'll train you to make sure you won’t die out there”

“Mother, i’m fine i-” Catalinna was interrupted by her mother who reprimanded her. 

“Nonsense, you can’t even defeat a Lawrence who is only at the middle stage of second-star paragon unlike you who have reached the high stage of second-star paragon” the Ice monarch scoffed as Catalinna bit her lips in frustration as she glared at Lawrence before nodding at her mother.

“Lawrence, you’re being sent home but i will send you straight to the fourth wall in a month whether you’re ready or not” she sternly said as Lawrence nodded. After that, the Ice Monarch grabbed Catalinna by the wrist before dragging her out of the room. In the corner of his eyes, he saw something wrapped in cloth as the table was slowly freezing and breaking. When he touched it, it didn’t feel cold or freezing but as he unwrapped the cloth, he saw a sharp-pointed bone that shines a blue color. 

‘With this, i can forge a spearhead to attach to my spear. I’m sure that the blacksmith in the city can do something with this material. The next thing i need to do is to convince father to head near the cave where the luminosity of multitude spear art can be found. For now, i’ll stop training my double body since i need to boost my power in a short duration of time. This means i’ll be fighting with the moonlight beam, light sky step movement art, and invisibility from the artifact. The only thing left is my spear art.’

After eating his last dinner in the Ice Monarch’s palace, he bid her goodbye before entering the carriage sent by his father. It was a slow and boring ride as every monster was slain by his escorts and guards. He stared outside the window to see the never-ending snow blanketing the land. In a few weeks he stayed here, he nearly died but he gained a few things that is detrimental in his way of gaining power.

Meanwhile, at the gate of the academy where Lawrence was supposed to go. A young black-haired man with a cold look in his eyes can be seen entering the gate not as a first-year but as a second-year student for his tremendous talent in the way of swordsmanship. Not only is he a peasant but he skipped a year instead, angering the nobles for his audacity. Still, Cain didn’t even look bothered as he knew they weren’t his match. The strong rule the weak and they will start to know what this truly means.

As Lawrence arrived at their mansion, he was suddenly hugged by her mother as he was embarrassed. He tried pushing her away but she just hugged him tighter.

“I’m fine mother, i’m not that easy to kill” he grinned as his mother gazed at him before nodding and backing off. A gentle smile appeared on her face as Lawrence scratched his cheek in embarrassment. He saw his father standing beside his mother with a grim look on his face.

“Forgive me son, it was my fault for forcing you to go there. It wouldn’t have happened if i accepted your answer” He said with a tone full of guilt. Lawrence nodded as he smiled at his father.

“I’ll forgive you father if you’re willing to follow me somewhere” Lawrence replied as his father contemplated for a second before receiving an elbow to the side from his wife as he smiled awkwardly at her before nodding at Lawrence.

“Great, thank you, father. I’m gonna take a rest for today”  Lawrence stayed in the mansion for a day to laze around and train his moonlight beam on the training grounds where the knights were astonished by the chilling aura coming from the young master’s light beams.  Still,  no one has the audacity to ask what happened as they only glanced at him occasionally.

“Is it true that my son survived an attack from the Ice Monarch and nearly killed her daughter despite having a little mana left?” Leonard asked a hooded figure in the corner of the office.

“Yes, Duke Leonard. I saw it with my own eyes” the hooded figure replied as Leonard smiled proudly before gazing at his son training through the window of his office.

“He will be the next heir of the Aenir Family, Shades..I decided I will fully support him from now.”

“But sir, your second brother has a talented son. Yes, he’s only a warrior but he’s already a third-star warrior despite being only older by Young Master Lawrence by a year” Shades responded quickly but Leonard looked at Shades with a grim expression.

“I have seen the boy, he has already perfected 5 sword arts and indeed a talented young man. I know there shouldn’t be any bias in choosing the next heir but i believe my son will achieve greatness in the near future”

“Sir, forgive me for my shamelessness but i don’t think young master can even reach 4-star paragon. He still hasn’t perfected his spear arts and he only has two spells in his arsenal both of which didn’t even reach a perfected state.” 

“Then how did my son survive the attack from the Ice Monarch and nearly kill her daughter?” Leonard retorted 

“He can turn completely invisible for a total of 30 seconds which he used to escape and ambush miss Catalinna” Shades replied 

“Oh? interesting…do you know how he was able to use such a high level?”

“I think he has an artifact, a necklace to be exact” Shades reported as Leonard stared at his son.

“Relying on an artifact huh…Anyways, my son will head to the fourth wall next month. Continue to observe him and save him only if he’s about to die.”

“Yes Sir, I’ll guarantee young master’s life even if I have to use my life” Shades bowed before melting towards the shadows.

“I hope you can pass my little test” Leonard muttered as gazed at Lawrence before sitting back on his chair as a mountain of parchment is laid on his table. A helpless smile appeared on his face as he goes back to his work.

The rest of the day was the same, most maids were scared to even meet his eyes as he can only sigh. Again, his words twisted with full of arrogance once it was someone with a lower standing than him, unlike the time he spoke with his family and the Ice Monarch.

Nonetheless, he trained continuously until the moon is already in the sky. When he tried to use 3 moonlight beams, it doubled the number of spheres of light before crashing towards the dummy at frightening speed as 6 holes appeared on the dummy before he can even blink. This astonished Lawrence greatly as he tried it once again with the same outcome. Now, the dummy has 12 freezing holes in its body. It didn’t strengthen the individual beams but it doubled the number of beams he created as it was at least 30% faster than normal. He tried it again but instead of the usual six beams, only three materialized as he looked in the sky to see the moon is covered by clouds.

‘So it only works when the moon isn’t blocked. Meaning, i will gain an advantage at night as long as the moon isn’t covered. A quite strict requirement to buff my moonlight beam but it’s better than nothing. I should probably return back to my room. This mansion is indeed luxurious and large but except for my parents, no one is willing to talk to me, or at least i can talk without being overbearing and arrogant. I guess training myself is the only thing i can do.’

Returning back to his room, he takes a quick bath before heading to his bed. He gazed at the ceiling while reminiscing about his past. The door of his room opened as he saw his mother bringing a metal bracelet with runic language sculpted in it.

“Son…take this just in case okay?” she patted his head as he nodded to hide his embarrassment as a chuckle escaped from his mother’s mouth as she smiled gently.

“Your life is more important than anything in the world. Remember, me and your father will always accept you even if the world betrays you. We’re always here for you okay?” His mother added as Lawrence nodded while a small tear ran through his cheek. He was washed with gratefulness as he smiled brightly while his mother chuckled again.

“You’re still a crybaby but it’s alright, I’m always proud of you” she stands up before waving him goodbye as she closes the door gently. He didn’t even notice the bracelet was already hanging on his wrist as he slept with a smile for the first time in his life.

The next day, Lawrence knocked on his father’s office as it opened slowly. There he saw his father and a couple of people including a general, a merchant, and a magistrate. He knew them instinctively just in their clothing alone. The general was wearing a full plate of armor except for his helmet while the merchant is wearing silk clothes and jewelry covering his body, while the magistrate was wearing a black suit with a small cloth attached to his chest with the kingdom’s insignia. Once Leonard saw his son, he smiled briefly before gesturing for his son to come near him. Seeing this, Lawrence walked towards his father as the three people scrutinized him.

“Good morning Young Master Lawrence, i’m Diego of the Lugard Merchant’s Guild” the chubby man said with a jolly smile before going for a handshake as Lawrence gazed at him before shaking his hand with a stern look on his face.

“I’m General Hermon Richards, nice to meet you Lawrence” The general said sternly as Lawrence glanced at him before nodding.

“Nice to meet you Lawrence, your father has spoken a lot of praises about you. I hope you won’t disappoint us” the magistrate smiled with hidden intention but Lawrence just glanced at him before gazing at his father.

“Alright, well discuss this later” Leonard spoke as the three man bowed before leaving the room.

“What is it son?” Leonard stared at the bracelet hanging on Lawrence’s wrist as he sighed inwardly.

“There is a cave near the main road towards the Swordwin Empire containing specific spear art that I want” Lawrence didn't beat around the bust as he went straight to the topic. Leonard contemplated with suspicion in his eyes before nodding as Lawrence bowed with a grateful smile before leaving the office.