"Do you know how the Knight's Breathing Technique came to be?" Donald suddenly asked.
Kranos blinked, he was stunned. It was such an odd question. In all the books he had read, there was no mention of how the knight's breathing technique came to be.
Besides, how would I know that? I'm just a nine-year-old child! Physically, but his past life's memories didn't matter in this situation.
Seeing Kranos silent, Donald chuckled slightly, he could guess what Kranos was thinking. He didn't mind. "Back then, mortals and immortals lived in separate worlds. The gap between them was insurmountable. No matter how hard a mortal trained, they could never match an immortal's power."
Kranos listened quietly as Donald explained, now fully focused.
Donald continued, his voice was calm and steady. "That is, until one man chose to defy his fate. He studied cultivation techniques for years, determined to find a way for mortals to compete. Eventually, he came to a bitter conclusion—mortals lacked the Root Bone, a gift from the heavens. Without it, true cultivation was impossible."
He paused for a moment, then asked, "What do you think that young man did?"
Kranos thought for a second. Usually in stories like this, don't they go on to create a great cultivation technique and be the protagonist of an era? He smiled inwardly and answered, "He went on to create the Knight's Breathing Technique…"
However, before Kranos could finish speaking, Donald shook his head disapprovingly with a wry smile. "No. He failed. He gave up on his goal and fell into despair. Eventually, he settled down, took a wife, and had a son. He planned to live out his days as a mortal."
Kranos frowned, he was caught off guard by the unexpected twist. He continued to listen attentively.
"One day his son stumbled upon his father's research. He studied it, understood his father's dream, and decided to fulfill the wish his father had hoped for: bridging the gap between the mortals and immortals. That was how the knight's breathing technique came to be; of course, there had to be a method of fighting in order to prove your strength. And so this young genius created the sword techniques from the basic sword techniques."
Donald's voice deepened. "Unfortunately, he could only modify the forms up to the Seventh Form. After the seventh form, one would need to truly combine the sword techniques and embark on a path of their own."
At those words, Kranos fell silent, deep in thought. So that's why Teacher said he couldn't teach me anymore. This is where I must walk alone.
He recalled how different sword paths existed—some were tyrannical, others refined, and some existed purely for killing. But what is my path?
In his past life, time had always stolen from him—family, opportunities, hope. No matter what he did, he could never stop the flow of time. But in this life, he had gained the ability to control it, even if just a little.
If I use time as my foundation… then I will become unstoppable. My path… is one of endless momentum.
And my sword, which will accompany me for eternity, from this moment… it shall be called… Eternal Hunger.
A subtle breeze blew past them, causing Kranos's hair to flutter slightly under the night's breeze.
Donald smiled lightly as he looked at Kranos' resolute expression. He knew that the little boy had understood his path, as a teacher, he couldn't help but be amazed. When I was young, it took me months to discover my path. But this child… only needed minutes. Such comprehension is terrifying.
But what Donald didn't know was that Kranos wasn't a normal child. Deep within, he was an old man already, so he understood life to a certain extent and could faintly discern some things.
After withdrawing his thoughts, Kranos bowed deeply to Donald, "Thank you, teacher." His voice was solemn, he knew that if it wasn't for his teacher, he wouldn't have been able to improve so quickly.
Donald nodded, pleased. "Hmm."
Kranos raised his head to look at Donald, at this moment, he felt that his teacher felt similar to the man in the story. Could teacher be the one that created the two techniques? Just as Kranos was about to ask, his teacher seemed to understand his thoughts, in the next moment, Donald vanished into thin air.
Still so fast, Kranos sighed in surprise, just like before, he couldn't feel any spatial fluctuations from his teacher meaning that it was his natural speed. How terrifying! I wonder what realm he had reached. Wait! I doubt he is the man that created the two techniques, if he is, he should be a mortal, right? Right?
Kranos thoughts were moving rapidly, but on second thoughts, he never said that the young man's son was without a root bone…
…
Kranos began spending his days comprehending his sword path, among the more than ten basic sword techniques, Kranos studied the ones that were best suitable to embark on his sword path. Day by day he spent his time swinging his blade, each swing of his blade became sharper, faster, and heavier.
At first his parents were puzzled, but soon they were shocked to discover that Kranos had already begun emitting a fierce aura. This aura looked as though nothing could stop it, to his parents, who had seen so many things, it felt unstoppable.
…
Soon, Kranos turned ten years old.
Per his agreement with Raphael, he would now join the other children in heading to the Awakening Realm, where they would test their elemental affinity and talent. Though rumors had spread about Kranos' cultivation success, many still doubted him.
However, something surprising was that just before his departure, Raphael handed Kranos a medicinal pill. His tone was serious.
"Swallow this ten seconds before placing your hand on the awakening crystal," he instructed. "Remove your hands from the awakening orb within two minutes or serious problems may arise."
Kranos nodded solemnly. "Understood."
…
"I heard the child prodigy, Kranos, is attending the Awakening Ceremony."
"Yeah, they say he managed to get that 1% chance and awakened after all."
Although it was very rare for someone to awaken after failing to awaken the first time, there were rare cases where such happened, so it wasn't impossible. This cause people to unconsciously believe that Kranos was extremely lucky
"I wonder which element he awakened, I just hope his element isn't too strong. The heavens aren't that blind, right? His father is already terrifying enough. His son can't be another monster, can he?" Many people were curious as they continued to mutter to themselves.