Chapter 86: The Fall

Chapter 86: Chapter 86: The Fall

Brutus’s POV

From that day on, I trained.

I trained harder than I had ever trained before. I woke up before dawn. I ran through the forest. I lifted rocks. I climbed trees. I punched trees until my knuckles bled. I kicked trees until my feet ached. I headbutted trees until my skull throbbed.

And then I did it all again.

I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop. I had something to prove.

I wasn’t useless. I wasn’t worthless. I was a null. And nulls were the strongest of all.

My father trained with me. He taught me everything he knew. How to channel mana. How to enhance my body. How to fight. How to hunt.

I absorbed it all. I learned faster than anyone expected. My mana was dense. My control was precise. My power was overwhelming.

Within a year, I was stronger than most adults in the village. Within two years, I was stronger than all of them.

I was eighteen when I first beat an adult in a fight.

He was a hunter. A man named Garrett. He was big. Strong. Experienced. He had laughed at me when I was a null. He had called me useless.

I challenged him to a spar. He accepted. He thought it would be easy.

It wasn’t.

I dodged his attacks. I countered. I struck. I broke his nose. I cracked his ribs. I sent him flying into a wall.

He didn’t get up.

The villagers stared. Their mouths were open. Their eyes were wide.

I smiled. A cold, satisfied smile.

From that day on, I was not the null. I was the strongest.

---

But power changes people.

I was not immune.

I started to enjoy the fear. The respect. The way people looked at me. The way they stepped aside when I walked. The way they lowered their voices when I was near.

I started to look for fights.

Anyone who looked at me wrong. Anyone who said something I didn’t like. Anyone who reminded me of the people who had laughed at me.

I beat them up.

I didn’t kill them. I wasn’t a murderer. But I hurt them. I broke bones. I shattered teeth. I left them bleeding in the dirt.

The villagers complained. They went to my father. They told him what I was doing.

My father tried to talk to me.

"Brutus," he said. "You’re going too far."

I ignored him.

"You’re hurting people. You’re causing trouble. This isn’t what a hunter does."

I ignored him.

"You’re better than this. I taught you better than this."

I ignored him.

I didn’t listen. I didn’t care. I was strong. I was powerful. I was right.

I was wrong.

---

When I was twenty, I went on a hunt.

It was a normal day. The sun was bright. The sky was blue. The forest was quiet.

I walked through the trees. My bow was in my hand. My knives were at my belt. I was ready.

I was looking for a boar. A big one. The biggest one I could find. I wanted to bring it home. I wanted to cook it with my father. I wanted to celebrate.

I didn’t see the man until I bumped into him.

He was tall. Lean. Dressed in fine clothes. A noble. His hair was slicked back. His face was sharp. His eyes were cold.

He stumbled back. He looked at me. His expression twisted with disgust.

"Watch where you’re going, peasant," he spat.

I stared at him. My blood boiled.

"What did you call me?" I asked.

"You heard me. Peasant. Filth. Trash." He sneered. "Do you know who I am? I am Lord Ashford. My family has ruled this land for generations. You are nothing. You are less than nothing."

I clenched my fists. My mana swirled. My muscles tensed.

"Apologize," I said.

He laughed. A cold, mocking laugh.

"Apologize? To you? A peasant? A nobody?" He shook his head. "You should be on your knees, begging for my forgiveness. You should be kissing my boots. You should be—"

I punched him.

He flew backward. He crashed into a tree. He slumped to the ground.

He looked up at me. His eyes were wide. Shocked. Disbelieving.

"You... you hit me," he whispered. "You hit a noble. You’re dead. You’re dead!"

He screamed. He shouted. He called for his guards.

Three men appeared. They were armed. Armored. Trained.

They attacked me.

I fought back.

I dodged their swords. I broke their arms. I shattered their ribs. I sent them flying.

One of them, the leader, was faster than the others. He was skilled. He was dangerous.

He slashed at me. I dodged. He thrust. I blocked. He kicked. I caught his leg. I twisted. I threw him.

He crashed into a rock. He didn’t get up.

I stood there. My chest was heaving. My knuckles were bloody. Three guards were on the ground. The noble was gone. He had run away.

I laughed.

"Pathetic," I said.

I turned. I picked up my bow. I continued my hunt.

I found a boar. A big one. It was fierce. It was dangerous. It charged at me.

I punched it. It flew. It crashed. It died.

I lifted it onto my shoulders. It was heavy. But I was strong. I carried it through the forest. I carried it toward my home.

I was smiling. I was proud. I had a boar. A big one. I was going to cook it with my father. We were going to celebrate.

I reached my house.

The door was open. That was strange. My father always closed the door.

I stepped inside.

My father was on the floor.

There was a sword in his stomach.

I dropped the boar. It landed with a thud. I didn’t notice. I didn’t care.

I ran to my father. I knelt beside him. I looked at his face.

His eyes were closed. His skin was pale. His breath was shallow.

"Father," I whispered. "Father!"

He didn’t respond.

I looked at the sword. At its hilt. At its design.

I recognized it.

It was the sword of the noble’s guard. The leader. The one I had thrown into the rock.

They had come here. They had found my father. They had stabbed him.

Because of me.

I held my father’s hand. I held it tight. Tears streamed down my face.

"Father," I whispered. "Please. Please don’t die."

He didn’t respond.

The world went dark.

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[Magic castle = 5 bonus Chapter’s]

[space craft = 15 bonus Chapter’s]

[golden gachapon = 20 bonus Chapter’s]