In the dark of the night, the sound of repetitive beatings could be heard destroying the still atmosphere. In an area of what seemed like abandoned harbor where various dilapidated warehouses lined up, among the trashes and chunks of broken metal objects, lies a boy not more than 7 years old battered and worn out on the dirt floor.

A year and a half ago, this child was still living happily with his family. But now, the child laid there helplessly and injured. The beatings that the child received was nothing short of abuse. But it was not a usual abuse, it was a hellish kind of training that he had been enduring for the past 7 months. The child was none other than Amano Akira. The boy that the famous serial killer known as [Rapscallion] has taken custody on his whim and pure amusement.

Any normal child should have died under such ill treatment, but not Akira. The killer found out that the child possess a special body condition with high resilience. So he decided to take the boy under his wing and trained him to become an assassin like himself. He was confident that he could corrupt the child and lure him into the darkness. With an extra pair of hands, the killer thought that he would be able to increase his enjoyment in his deeds.

Rapscallion finds joy in killing others. Not surprisingly, he also finds joy of the hatred that people direct towards him. No one knew how he become such a monster.

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It has been a year and a half since the incident and now I am suffering from muscle aches, and my whole body feels sore. At this point in time, I was already made, or more like forced to understand my situation. In the first couple of weeks, I could only bawl my eyes out in tears as I was unable to accept my parent's death. In that time as well, I had been receiving relentless blows after blows of beatings from my parent's murderer as he finds joy in his actions. The man was crazy, a madness, a monster! My hate for him only grew day after day. But I could not do anything to him. I tried to escape multiple times whenever there was an opportunity but alas in vain. I was always found and zapped with electrocution and immediately beaten up afterwards. He had placed a type of slave collar on my neck where I would be zapped for any suspicious actions or attempt to escape.

After that, he drilled into me various unreasonable routine. I was forced to run 10 km every day, 100 squats, 100 push ups and so on. I was never given any rest until I collapsed from exhaustion. Even after I collapsed, I was forcefully woken up as he threw a bucket of ice cold water on my face. He then continued to beat me up. This lasted for a month before he proceeded to train me in real combat, where he taught me real fighting techniques. He also threw me into the wilderness where I had to learn basic survival skills to high proficiency.

I collapsed as usual after the vigorous training routine which kept increasing in amount day by day. When I woke up, I found myself inside a thick forest! I had no idea how he got me there! He left me there for 4 months. The only things he left me with was a knife, a rope, and a set of bow and arrows. Every day, I had to face many kinds of life and death situation. I could not get very much sleep since I was afraid I would be assaulted at night by wild beasts.

I fought with tigers, bears, wild boars, crocodiles, wolves, wild dogs and giant snakes. I get the feeling that he delivered me all the way to Amazon. Really, what a ridiculous thing to happen to a 5 year old! I was able to survive somewhat due to the accumulated endurance and stamina I gained from vigorous training. I was also able to fight for my life when I encountered wild animals as he had beaten into me real combat skills. However, I was only able to last enough until I could find the opportunity to escape. There was no way a child like me could kill ferocious animals like tigers and bears at all! Even in my escapade, I had to suffer from falling from a cliff, swarmed by bees, and I was almost drowned in the river.

On the first day in the wilderness, I was confused. I had not known anything nor idea of what to do. For starters, I simply wanted to find water as I was thirsty. Not knowing where to go, I simply went through the forest in random direction, flinching on every sound and brush of the wind. When my stomach growled, it dawned me in realization that I have no food to eat. Though I was but a small boy with lack of knowledge, my natural instinct kicked in, and I began to think more thoroughly and perceptively in desperation. I had to say, my time in the forest trained my cognitive abilities.

I had to hunt small animals like wild rabbits and birds for food while I find water supply from the river. While I move from places to places during the day to hunt, for shelter, I sometimes had to hide myself within the thickets and bushes, holes in trees, and climbed up the tree to rest up on tree branches. Very seldom could I find caves to rest in. I did not lit fire, the traditional way by the way, at night since I thought it would attract animals so I had to suffer from the cold at night. I only lit fire when I cook my prizes. Even learning to light up a fire took a very long time. Sadly, it doesn't taste good. The meat was rough and tasted weird. I don't have spices or salt for the meat so it was to be expected. By the way, I was always covered in scratches and wounds. I did not have any spare clothes so I had to take them off to wash them at the river. At that time, even though naked, I hunt for fishes and cooked them for lunch while I wait for my clothes to dry off.

After two months, I got better at living in the wilderness. I was able to hunt in a more skillful manner after various trial and errors. Let's just say, none of it was a good experience. I got better at skinning the meat, identify herbs that could go well as spices as well as herbs with medicinal properties for my wounds. Of course, I encountered poisonous plants too. Due to the smell of my blood, I always encountered wild animals that were attracted to it, so I also become stronger in combat as I fought battles after battles. One time, I even managed to kill a wild boar. Hey, I am not a genius so of course I was mortally wounded. But again, thanks to my special body condition, I was able to withstand it. My body also developed a resistance to cold.

Rapscallion was right about my body. A normal child should have died a long time ago in such a place. Since my body have high resilience, I was still alive even though I suffered through heavy injuries. My body also recovers fast. The accidental times when I ate poisonous mushrooms and plants, my body only convulses in pain and I felt slightly better after I threw up.

I did not want to die so I had to be smart in order to survive. I wanted to avenge my parents' death. A person's mind surprisingly mature faster when their lives in on the line. I pushed myself to the very limit to grow stronger. After four months, I pretty much gained proficiency in skills such as stealth as I always perked up in high alert and awareness of my surroundings while I move silently inside the forest. My overall strength, agility, hit accuracy, control, endurance and stamina also improved.

When hunting birds, I no longer need to waste my arrows since I could accurately hit my prey in one shot. I also became proficient in using knives as it had been my main weapon all the time. I got better at tracking animals since I don't want to encounter dangerous ones which could potentially take my life. When I noticed and traced that there are wild animals like tigers and bears from a distance or animal footprints, I was able to make prompt escape and leave unnoticed before getting caught by them.

Just when I thought that I had become strong, I was taken by surprise when I got assaulted with a hit at the back of my neck while I was stealthily moving inside the forest. Although I had my senses at its peak, I could not detect anything and was ambushed. My confidence shattered almost instantly. When I woke up, there he was. Rapscallion. I realized that I was still no match for him. Also, it seemed that we had also moved from the forest since I find myself inside what seemed like an abandoned warehouse. Just how on earth?! I wanted to retort so much that my stomach hurts!

Growl...

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Oh no...I was hungry. I could feel my face turning red. Rapscallion on the other hand simply grinned and threw daggers in front of me. I looked up at him and instantly felt terrified. He had a menacing look on his face and his bloodlust was emanating from his body. My face turned from beat red to dark grim.

My lessons...have only just begun.

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[Get up, brat] Rapscallion.

Guh!

I was kicked on my shin and spat a mouthful of blood. After I returned from the wilderness, Rapscallion kept upgrading my training regime to an outrageous degree! Hell continued to rain down on me for a consecutive 7 months after 4 months in the wilderness. I sometimes felt that dying was better than living.

[Hmm! Well, I guess so far is good enough. Your assassination techniques have raised another level. Your handling with knives are superb already but your manipulation of weapons such as the dagger and the sword needs more work. They are mediocre at best. Your one-hit attacks lacks power and your control of strength and pressure on acupoint techniques are still clumsy. Your proficiency and compatibility with the guns and rifles are good but I guess the recoil is still too much for your small body to handle] Rapscallion went ahead and muttered his evaluation of my current progress.

[More importantly, you begin to emit blood lust now. Fufufu. Control that too so you can numb your enemies. Blood lust that is strong enough are able to render your enemies useless] Rapscallion said as he smiled. I hate him!

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By the way, he properly feeds me with good food. Even though I am just a 6 year old, what is with this masculinity?!

[Kid, after you are done eating, I am bringing you somewhere. Clean yourself up and be here sharp at 11 pm] Rapscallion.

I nodded helplessly. I mean, I don't have a choice but to listen to him. The other day when I tried to oppose him despite the electrocution, and fought with all I had, I was almost killed. Experience, physical prowess as well as intelligence are much too wide in gap for a child like me to compare. I refrained from rash actions from then on. Unless I surpassed him in both brawn and brain, I can't go against him. Not yet.

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Wait? This is not the first time that he brings me somewhere?! He is not going to drop me somewhere like the Amazon again, right?!

I felt my stomach churned as I shivered at thethought.