"What should my weapon be?" Kaine muttered aloud, scanning the vast Aphelgustine family armory.
He never cared for fantasies of mastering a single weapon. He simply wanted something that fit his abilities. Now that he had unlocked the Sin of Wrath, he figured gauntlets would suffice—at least for now. Besides, he was more comfortable with hand-to-hand combat anyway.
Before long, he found himself standing at the edge of his grandmother's "garden"—though calling it a garden was an understatement. Known as the Bounty Garden, it was, in truth, a dense forest teeming with beasts—some at the peak of the Awaken Rank and even a few at Grand Origin.
The deeper one went, the stronger the beasts became. That was exactly what Kaine wanted—to push his limits. But first, he planned to "test the waters" by starting with weaker beasts.
Just minutes after entering, Kaine encountered his first opponent: a white, gorilla-like beast. Except, this one had four arms, four eyes, and was nearly twice the size of a normal gorilla.
"Wait... did I mess up the map and enter Dire Gorilla territory?" Kaine nearly facepalmed as realization struck. He had ventured deeper than intended.
Dire Gorillas were no joke. At minimum, they were Peak Initiate Rank, and worse—they always moved in groups of five or more. Even compared to beasts of the same rank, they were far stronger.
Cautiously, Kaine turned to retreat, hoping to avoid a confrontation. The one before him was peacefully munching a mountain of bananas but clearly Peak Awaken Rank.
"I'll just back off while it's still distracted," Kaine thought.
But as he turned, he found another gorilla blocking his path—menacing blood-red eyes glaring, fangs dripping with saliva, and low growls vibrating through the air.
"Guess I have no choice," Kaine's gaze sharpened as he leapt back just in time to dodge the first attack.
ROARRRRR!!!
A deafening roar shook the forest as three more gorillas appeared. One matched the strength of the first—Peak Awaken Rank—while the others were at 1st Qi Complex of the Awaken Rank.
"Perfect," Kaine whispered, eyes blazing. "Now I can properly test myself."
Instead of feeling overwhelmed, excitement surged through him.
He summoned his gauntlet, and raging flames burst from his feet, propelling him forward. In a blur, he grabbed one of the beasts by its upper arm and hurled it, smashing through trees and stunning the others.
Furious, another lunged at him with all four fists. Kaine blocked the barrage and responded with a flame-infused kick to its face, causing the beast to convulse, blood gushing from its mouth.
The Aphelgustine family's sin abilities were unique—each sin paired with a random element. In Kaine's case, Wrath manifested as Raging Flames. His cousin Maicy, for instance, had flora manipulation with her Lust sin.
"Don't get scared now," Kaine smirked, advancing toward the two remaining gorillas.
One charged, throwing wild punches. Kaine dodged swiftly and slammed his silver-black gauntlet into its skull—BOOM! The head exploded in fire.
Rage Explosion. That's what he called this technique. Upon contact, he could trigger an explosion—the angrier he got, the stronger it became.
"Two more left."
The Peak Awaken beast still sat silently, watching Kaine fight while munching bananas—almost bored.
Kaine swiftly dispatched another, leaving only the leader.
With a low roar, the beast stood, muscles bulging as its power surged.
It charged at Kaine with startling speed, landing a punch that shattered Kaine's gauntlet and sent him flying into a massive tree. Blood sprayed from his mouth, but there was no time to recover. The beast pounced, grabbed his leg mid-air, and slammed him into the earth, forming a crater.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
The beast unleashed a barrage of punches, its arms a blur.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!!"
A violent eruption of flames exploded from Kaine, sending the gorilla flying. The more damage he took, the stronger his Wrath became.
He had allowed the beast to beat him—to push his limits, to feed his sin.
"You're tough," Kaine muttered, rising from the crater, upper torso bare—either from the beatdown or the flames. His aura flared.
"But you're just a stepping stone."
His flames intensified, licking at his own skin as they grew wild and unstable.
The gorilla finally lost its calm, its fur turning red, fangs elongating, and body growing larger. With a roar, it charged.
They clashed—flame versus brute force. Each punch, block, and counter resulted in explosions. Kaine's Rage Explosion was constantly active, and his mounting fury began to overwhelm the beast, its arms now scorched and broken.
The forest quaked. Weaker beasts fled from the battlefield. Fire and destruction spread like a plague.
With a final roar, the gorilla tried to end it. It dug all four arms into the ground and hurled a massive boulder toward Kaine.
"Pathetic."
He shot forward like a missile, burning clean through the boulder—melting a perfect hole through it.
Seethe activated—another Wrath skill. It amplified his strength exponentially, pushing him close to the 3rd Qi Complex of the Awaken Rank.
Rage consumed him.
The need to destroy grew unbearable. With a scream, he dashed around the beast at blinding speed, leaving a wall of fire in his wake. Then he leapt.
Hands clasped, fury burning, Kaine smashed down with every ounce of power.
The beast tried to block—but its arms melted on contact. The impact obliterated it entirely—blood vaporized, leaving only a bright white core behind.
"AUUGHHHH!"
Still overcome with rage, Kaine ascended, propelled by fire. He vented—burning, smashing, and destroying everything in sight like a mad god of war.
Only after twenty minutes did his wrath fade. The once-beautiful forest now smoldered and cracked.
"This Seethe technique... is too dangerous." Kaine exhaled heavily, pulling new clothes from his spatial ring and sitting atop a boulder.
He didn't like losing control. Seethe was a passive skill, automatically activating when under pressure. It increased rage generation and power—but it also clouded his judgment.
That could get him killed.
With a mental note to never lose his cool, Kaine gathered the beast cores and stored them in his spatial ring. These artifacts could store items, their size dependent on their grade.
Kaine had defeated five Awakened beasts and three Initiates caught in the crossfire. These would aid his progression, though not enough to reach the 2nd Qi Complex.
By evening, he returned to his room and began absorbing the Qi cores.
As explained before, there are two types of Qi—Ambient and Internal. Qi cores fall under Ambient Qi and exist in both humans and beasts.
Human Qi cores are ethereal, only absorbable upon death if intact. Beasts, however, possess tangible Qi cores—easier to collect and absorb.
Kaine absorbed the cores through the night.
And by dawn… the day had finally come for the—