The Strongest With Nothing Left

They arrived at the forest the designated location for the quest. The dense trees cast long shadows over the dirt path, and the sound of rustling leaves echoed around them. It was eerily quiet.

Arin glanced around nervously. "S-So, uh… we're here! First quest, huh?" Li, on the other hand, barely paid attention. Without a word, he stepped toward a large boulder nearby, effortlessly leaping onto it like it was nothing. He then sat down, resting his katana on his shoulder. His cold, dead gaze stared down at Arin.

"Go." Li commanded, his tone lifeless. Arin blinked. "The boars. Go kill them."

Arin gulped. "Ah… right." He turned back toward the forest, sweat already building on his forehead. "Okay, okay. I can do this. First quest. I got this. I totally got this." 

As Arin stepped deeper into the forest, Li simply watched from his high perch. His cold eyes never left the boy. 

Suddenly, rustling in the bushes. Arin came to a halt, his senses sharpening. "There you are." SNAP!

A large horned boar burst from the bushes, its tusks sharp and dripping with drool. It immediately locked eyes with Arin and charged at full speed. But Arin didn't panic. Instead, he grinned. "Come on, then!" 

The boar lunged and in a split second, Arin sidestepped, slamming his fist into the boar's side with insane force. "HAH!" The boar stumbled, letting out a pained grunt.

The boar, furious now, turned and lunged again. Arin didn't flinch. He stepped to the side once more and this time drove his elbow straight into the creature's jaw. "TOO SLOW!"

A sickening CRACK echoed as the boar's jaw slightly dislocated.

The adventurers watching from the town's entrance — who secretly followed Li and Arin out of curiosity were slack-jawed.

"WHAT THE HELL!?"

"THAT KID'S ONLY 12, RIGHT!?"

"HOW'S HE MOVING LIKE THAT!?"

Li remained stoic, but deep down, he was slightly impressed. "…His adaptation speed has increased."

The boar, despite its injuries, refused to go down. It roared and charged again — this time with pure desperation.

Arin, however, smirked. "You're already done." As the boar lunged, Arin didn't dodge. Instead, he ran toward it. At the last second, he ducked low, planted his foot and UPPERCUTTED the boar so hard it lifted slightly off the ground. "HAAAH!!"

The boar collapsed, unconscious. Silence.

The adventurers who followed them were frozen. "…Holy shit…" Arin, wiping his nose with his thumb, turned to Li with a cocky grin. "How was that, Master?!"

Li, still sitting on the rock, didn't answer. But the moment Arin celebrated his hit, Li's cold voice cut through the air. "Don't get distracted. Look behind you."+

Arin's eyes widened. Without hesitation, he ducked just as one of the three boars lunged at him from behind, its tusks barely grazing his head. He rolled to the side, quickly regaining his footing.

The second boar came next, charging at full force. Arin didn't panic. Instead, he stepped aside and slammed his fist into the boar's temple, using its own momentum against it. The beast stumbled but didn't fall.

The third boar was already on him, aiming to ram him down. Arin clicked his tongue. "Damn it…" He twisted his body, allowing the boar to graze his side, pain surging through his ribs but he used that pain to fuel himself. Grabbing the boar's hind leg, he slammed it into the ground with all his strength.

A loud thud echoed. The boar screeched in pain but still tried to get up. Arin didn't give it the chance. He mounted it and began pummeling its head repeatedly, each strike filled with determination and raw strength.

The other two boars attempted to recover and attack him again, but Arin was already moving. His combat instincts and his ability were kicking in. He leapt off the downed boar, his knuckles bleeding, and threw a devastating punch into the second boar's jaw, sending it crashing into a tree.

"One more!" Arin gritted his teeth, his body screaming in pain, but he didn't stop. The third boar came charging again. Arin roared, charging toward the beast instead of retreating. With a loud war cry, he threw a full-force punch straight into its skull. A sickening crack echoed as the boar finally collapsed.

Silence.

The adventurers who followed them were frozen. "…Holy shit…"

Arin, wiping his nose with his thumb, turned to Li with a cocky grin. "How was that, Master?!" Li, still sitting on the rock, didn't answer immediately. He simply watched the aftermath. Blood. Beaten-down beasts. A kid who could barely stand, his hands trembling from pain but his face still burning with the desire to fight.

"…Sloppy footwork," Li finally muttered. "You got hit more than you should've. Your stance is still weak. And you nearly let your guard down twice." Arin's grin faltered slightly. "Ah… yeah, but I still won, right?" Li's cold gaze didn't waver. "Barely."

Arin pouted. "harsh as always…" But Li said nothing more. He hopped down from the rock, walking past Arin toward the corpses. Without hesitation, he yanked a knife from his belt and began carving out the boars' tusks proof of the hunt. "Grab the other two," Li ordered, not even looking back. 

Arin grumbled but did as told, his body still aching from the fight. But as he moved, he couldn't help but grin. I did it… I actually did it. From the distance, the adventurers watching were still speechless. One of them leaned toward another. "…What the hell kind of training did Li put that kid through…?"

As they entered the guild, the lively atmosphere suddenly shifted when the receptionist caught sight of Arin. Her eyes widened in shock. "Oh my god—! Arin?!" she gasped, immediately rushing around the counter toward him. "What happened to you?! You're covered in bruises you're bleeding!"

Arin, still wincing from the soreness, awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "Ah… yeah, I just finished my quest…" "Quest?!" she practically shrieked. Her gaze darted toward Li, who was walking behind Arin, completely unbothered. "Li! What the hell did you do to him?!"

Li barely spared her a glance. "Nothing. He fought a few boars. Took some hits. That's it." His tone was as cold as ever. "That's it?!" she nearly lost it. "He looks like he got run over by a pack of ogres!" Arin quickly waved his hands. "N-No! It's fine! I'm fine! Really! I-I was just uh… training!"

The receptionist's face twisted in disbelief. "Training?!" She turned back to Li, glaring. "You call this training?! He's a kid, Li!"

Li shot her an indifferent look. "And?"

"And?!" she was on the verge of losing it. "You can't just treat him like he's one of your quests! Look at him he can barely stand! What if he broke something?!" Li turned his back, uninterested. "If he broke something, he wouldn't survive a real fight."

Arin, despite his injuries, let out a nervous laugh. "I-It's really fine, miss. I'm actually feeling stronger now… kinda…" "Stronger?!" She looked like she was about to have a heart attack. "You're bleeding from your nose and knuckles how is that stronger?!"

"Because I won," Arin grinned, despite his battered state. "And I could feel it… like I was getting stronger the longer I kept fighting." The receptionist froze, staring at Arin in disbelief. "…What?"

Li, still uninterested, walked toward the counter and dropped the three sets of boar tusks onto the table. "Quest complete. Register his kill." The receptionist blinked. "You wait, what?!" She pointed at Arin. "You mean he did all of this himself?!"

"Yeah."

"On his first quest?!"

"Yeah."

"With no weapon?!"

"Yeah."

The receptionist's jaw dropped. "What the hell did you do to this kid?!" Li didn't answer. He just turned to Arin. "Go get patched up. You're slowing me down." Arin smiled sheepishly. "Yes, Master!" 

The receptionist just stood there, still in shock, as Li walked away like nothing happened. "Unbelievable…" she muttered. "What the hell did you do to him, Li…?" 

As Li casually walked out of the guild without a second glance, the receptionist, still baffled, turned her attention back to Arin. 

She crouched slightly, her face filled with concern as she carefully inspected Arin's bruised arms and dirt-covered face. "Geez… you're a mess…" she muttered. "Did he seriously make you fight alone without any weapon?" 

Arin laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head. "Uh… yeah. Pretty much." Her jaw practically hit the floor. "What?!" She stared at him like he had lost his mind. "That's insane! No weapons?! Against wild boars?!" 

"Yup," Arin smiled proudly despite his bruised face. "It was tough, but I managed to beat them all. Master was watching me from a rock." The receptionist blinked. "…A rock?"

"Yeah!" Arin's grin widened. "He said it was part of my training! I think he wanted to see if I could handle the fight on my own." "And did you?" she asked, still trying to process everything.

"Yup! Took a lot of hits, though… but I think that's kinda my thing." Arin chuckled, rolling his sore shoulders. "Master said my ability lets me get stronger the more I get beaten up." 

The receptionist's mouth fell open again. "W-What kind of ability is that?!"

"I don't know," Arin admitted. "But I could feel it, you know? Like every hit I took made me a bit faster… a bit stronger… and my body just started moving on its own." 

The receptionist stared at him in disbelief. "And Li just… let you get beaten up to figure that out?"

"Uh-huh!" Arin nodded enthusiastically, as if proud of it. "At first, I thought he was being kinda harsh, but… I get it now. He's teaching me to survive. Not just fight."

The receptionist's face twisted in disbelief. "But he's pushing you way too hard! You're just a kid—"

"So?" Arin cut her off, his tone firm. "Master said the world doesn't care if I'm a kid or not. Monsters won't go easy on me just because of my age. So why should he?"

The receptionist froze. 

"And besides," Arin grinned, clenching his fists. "I want him to push me hard. I asked him to train me really train me. If I can't handle this, how am I supposed to protect the people I care about?"

The receptionist could only stare at him, speechless. In her eyes, Arin wasn't just a kid anymore he was already walking down the path of a warrior, despite his age. And Li… she couldn't even begin to imagine what Li must've put Arin through to give him this kind of mindset.

"You're crazy…" she finally muttered. "Both of you." "Heh…" Arin chuckled. "Maybe. But I know one thing for sure…" 

"What?"

Arin's grin widened, filled with admiration and confidence. "Master's making me strong."

"And the fact that he practically trained me to death before this… yeah, it was brutal," Arin admitted with a sheepish laugh. "He even made me fight an Alpha Wolf alone." 

The receptionist practically choked on air. "W-What did you just say…?" she stammered, her eyes wide with disbelief. Arin laughed awkwardly, scratching his cheek. "Uh… yeah. Before I even registered as an adventurer, Master put me through some pretty brutal training." 

"Brutal…?" she repeated, still trying to process his words. "What do you mean by brutal?" Arin chuckled nervously. "Well… like, for example…" He shifted uncomfortably, rubbing the back of his head. "He kinda made me fight an Alpha Wolf alone." 

The receptionist froze, her mouth slightly agape as if she misheard him. "A-An Alpha Wolf…?"

"Yeah," Arin smiled sheepishly. "No weapons either. Just my fists. He said it was a test to see my progress or something."

Dead silence hung in the air for a moment before the receptionist exploded. "ARE YOU INSANE?!" she shrieked, grabbing Arin's shoulders and shaking him frantically. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW DANGEROUS THAT IS?!"

"Y-Yeah, I know! But it was fine! I won, didn't I?" Arin laughed nervously, trying to calm her down. "Though, uh… I don't remember much about it. I kinda blacked out after I killed it." 

The receptionist's face paled. "Y-You… killed it?"

"Mhm!"

The receptionist's grip on him loosened as she stumbled back, completely flabbergasted. "I-I can't believe this…" she muttered under her breath, staring at Arin as if he was some sort of monster. "What kind of insane training did he put you through…?" 

Arin simply shrugged. "Well, Master did say he wasn't gonna go easy on me. And the fact he trained me to death before this… yeah, it was pretty brutal." He let out a small chuckle. "But hey, I survived! So I guess it worked out, right?"

The receptionist could only stare at him, her mind still struggling to comprehend what she had just heard. "He… really made you fight an Alpha Wolf… with your bare hands…?"

"Yup!" Arin grinned. "*Honestly, I think that was the hardest part