X-Rank Hunter

Although Ben hadn't seen personally the genuine birthmark of the Kastel Family before, he was not a stranger to this thing. Of course, he would know something like this. After all, it was the birthmark of the former strongest family of the kingdom. The symbol of strength!

With the Kastel Family's bloodline, they became the rulers of strength. They possessed physical power that no one could defy allowing them to reign over anyone else.

Not only that, the most terrifying thing from their bloodline was their ability to reflect anything physical. As long as they could touch it, they could reflect any possible attacks. Even if it was made by World Energy or not.

To put it simply, anything made by World Energy such as elements (earth, water, earth, etc.,) could be reflected back to the attacker as long as they could touch it. Even if it was physical attacks made by a physical body, they could also reflect it with ease.

This made them become overpowered and become a feared existence. The only downside for them was that they always love to fight and cause chaos forcing the kingdom to put their entire family in one of the Shadow lands and give them a very important mission.

And that happened after the civil war.

Although very few people knew about this mission, and even Ben himself might be oblivious to this, that mission was to guard the Original Sin. It was something dangerous that appeared in the kingdom and caused the civil war.

The Kastel Family couldn't refuse such an important mission as they could only accept it with a forceful and bitter smile. They still want to cause havoc everywhere but who would have thought that their happy days would end up just like that as they were being caged in a certain Shadow land.

On the other hand, upon learning that the entire Kastel Family was sent to one of the Shadow lands, the whole kingdom heaved a sigh of relief. How could they not if the family who loved to cause trouble was finally put into a cage? They didn't know what was the reason but who would care about that anymore? As long as they were put into a cage, the people of the kingdom were more than happy enough.

However, just after a few years the Kastel Family was sent into Shadow land, something tragic happened. Everyone would just learn so suddenly that the strongest family of the kingdom was being annihilated. The whole kingdom was shocked and terrified from the news that befell on them. Not even a single person could remain calm with that news.

That was to say, the symbol of strength had vanished. Everyone in the kingdom knew about this fact.

So why in the world did Ben find a member of the Kastel Family here in this place so suddenly?

Ben stared at Janine even more intently as he saw as well his huge sword that was starting to form a crack. Ben was then again astonished before realization dawned upon him. "Could it be... Is she Janine Kastel?"

Now that Ben thought about it, there was only one survivor from the notorious Kastel Family. And that was their little princess, Janine Kastel!

No one knew why and how did she survived the invasion of a single demon and its minions, but she was the genuine little princess of the Kastel Family.

Who would have thought that this little princess was actually chosen as well by one of the Four Greatest Hunters. Ben was flabbergasted from that revelation. Not only that, this girl was actually insanely strong, their family really live up to their name.

So then, as Ben was watching the other party punching his huge sword, his sword couldn't hold any longer as the crack on it became bigger and bigger until finally, it turned into many pieces and was blown away by the strong shockwaves.

"Bone Sword I!" Ben shouted. One of his strongest weapons was destroyed just like that? How could this be...?

Ben shifted his gaze to Janine as he couldn't help but grit his teeth. Thankfully, his sword wasn't destroyed for real and could be restored later on.

That being said, a piece of bone rib appeared so suddenly in front of Ben as he grabbed it and inserted it into his chest right away. This Bone Sword I couldn't be used for some time. As angry as he was, Ben could only grit his teeth.

"I will kill you!" In the end, Ben was still a kid. His emotion overwhelmed him as his action became rash. He disappeared from where he was standing and reappeared right behind Janine. That moment, Ben had already had a short sword ready to slice the other party at any moment.

But when his sword landed on Janine's back, it suddenly broke into two making Ben fall to yet another shock.

How could this be... Ben imbued all of his Weapon Energy to that weapon so how in the world would his sword break just like that. Was the other party's body really that sturdy to the point that he wasn't able to harm her even in the slightest?

But who would have thought that that moment of shock would deliver him his doom. As Ben was still thinking about how did his attack failed to harm the other party, Ben failed to notice that the other party had already turned around and was already grabbing his wrist.

"Damn it! Let go of me!" Ben frantically tried to struggle in order to break free from the other party's grasp only to end up wasting his breath. The other party grabbed him so tightly that it was impossible for him to even dream of escaping.

"You want to kill me?" So then, as what Ben was terrified of, Janine finally made a move while harrumphing coldly. After a moment of pause, and with eyes flashing with cold glint, Janine continued, "You're too weak for that."

A memory of the past suddenly entered Ben's mind as he immediately lost his will to fight. "You're too weak." It was something that his younger brother always told him whenever they fought. Was he really that weak?

Ben thought that he already became stronger after he got the blessings of The Light. He even thought that with that strength, he could finally defeat his younger brother. That being said, he was eager to fight his younger brother as soon as possible. If not for The Light preventing him to do so, then he might have already made a move a long time ago.

But now, when he thought that he was undefeatable, he would have just heard once again the words "You're too weak." What even more was that these words didn't come from his younger brother but from someone else.

Perhaps, if he fought his younger brother once again with this strength of his, then he might suffer another tragic defeat and humiliation once again. Was there still a chance for him to defeat his younger brother in this lifetime?

Pain, negativity, spiritless, discouraged, Ben felt his heart being downcast. Were all the years he had trained so hard all in vain? Could he still really become stronger?

But before Ben could feel even more downhearted, he finally received the expected punch on his stomach. He was then sent flying and tumbled furiously on the ground.

Ben couldn't feel any pain anymore. It felt so numb. Even with his bloodied body caused by the furious tumbling, he just couldn't feel a little pain. Or at least physical pain.

Because in his heart, the pain he was suffering was too great that he wanted to kill himself right now for being too weak. Why was it too hard to become stronger? Just why could he not see the way? He was always being defeated. He was always being treated as too weak. Was life really this unfair?

So then, after a long roll, Ben finally came to a halt. He was now lying helplessly on the ground with his body dyed red. He had no more strength to lift even a finger. Not even a tiny bit of strength to breathe.

So as when he was going to give up this useless life of his, a certain person entered his mind. She was beautiful in every way and her sweet smile could give him warmth.

"Because you're special, That's why I'm willing to do anything for you." At that moment, Ben suddenly recalled the last words of his mother that always give him the strength to move forward.

Yes, the reason why he wanted to become stronger was not to prove himself, but to save his mother! How could he forget something important like that? When did he become so pathetic?

But he had no more strength now. He couldn't even feel his body anymore. How could he still fight in that state? This was really frustrating! Ben frenziedly catch some breath to at least preserve his life.

"Oh, you're not dead yet?" Ben was still struggling about gasping when he heard a cold voice near him. He forced himself to take a glimpse at who was it and sure enough, it was the girl who had beaten him up, Janine Kastel.