The sun's luminescent rays slowly shone at every corner, signaling the start of a new day.
Despite the morning glow, many of the city's people remained in their homes, either hung over or tired from the previous day's celebration. The drama displayed by Phonzo had been practically erased from the minds of the people, cloaked beneath the forgotten festivities.
Phonzo was among the weary people, tucked away beneath the city's bridge. His body laid on the cold concrete floor, shivering from the freezing winds. His rugged and dirty blanket wrapped around him provided little protection against the natural forces.
The sun's bright rays stung his face, the heat dancing on his cold skin, forcing him to cover his cheeks with his left palm. His tired arms pushed his body up, trying to get him on his feet, but his exhausted body nearly toppled over.
After some trial and error, Phonzo gained his footing, his body bursting with energy, almost excited for the day's activities, though his dreadful features could make someone believe otherwise.
His daily routine was the same today as it was every other day: begging for meals with his face hidden, loitering around public areas, working minimum wage shifts to save money for cultivation tools, and getting taunted by children. A fairly simple way to live his life, nothing special.
But today was different. He had finally saved 1 gold coin to buy an enhancement potion that had caught his eye. It could have been a fake, but he couldn't decide unless he at least tried it, even at the cost of 1 gold coin. His mood brightened despite his dull features at the mere thought, and he sped into the city limits.
Meanwhile, within the city's limits, a small concrete house stood sturdily along the rough forest path, its wooden roof no larger than the smallest tree. Its paint was faded on the chapped structure, with only small potted plants placed outside to add a sense of beauty.
Inside, Ammaina's room rested at the building's edge, in a small space no larger than a closet, where she lay in bed, her curly hair standing on all sides, roughened.
Her gentle lashes rose a bit, unveiling the dark grey eyes they hid. "It's my birthday today..." were the words that escaped her lips.
Her eyes brushed through her room, each cloth and stocking out of place, until they landed on the door right beside. With haste, she leaped out of bed, making her way downstairs as she dashed out the door, her expression non-expectant but her steps in haste.
"Look who's awake. The ugly little..." Reen Valkyrie's taunting voice held jealousy underneath. "Hope you didn't come downstairs expecting a cake or something."
Ammaina shoved past her presence, as though immune to her poison, her path headed straight through the door in haste.
"Damn, she didn't even let me tell her." Her jealous tone sharpened, but it was too late, as Ammaina had already shut the worn-out door with a tenacious force.
Much like Phonzo, Ammaina also came from a long lineage of people who rejected her existence because she was born different.
Her family, the Valkyries, were a bloodline of weaklings incapable of bearing children able to surpass the first cultivation stage. All those who attempted to do so died from severe mana poisoning. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but the Valkyries had to accept the truth: "No one in the Valkyrie heritage was born to succeed in the world of cultivation," as the elders told the younglings in every generation.
That was until the birth of a baby in the family - Ammaina, the black sheep of the Valkyrie heritage, a living insult to the generations that came before. Born into the body enhancement cultivation stage, she knew not of the agony faced by cultivators during the foundation stage.
Her siblings and relatives bullied, cursed, and even attempted to kill her on many occasions, until she learned to defend herself during her teenage years.
Ammaina was loathed by her family because of her fortune. Her parents mainly viewed her as a means of profit worth more than gold. When she was 5 years old, they had decided they would either sell her or marry her off for a fortune when she reached the age of 19, which was today.
Through her rough childhood, Ammaina saw a fragment of herself in Phonzo the first time they crossed paths. The first time she laid eyes on her friend, who would stick with her till the bitter end, or so she believed.
"Ammaina!"
Her mother's familiar voice rang loudly in her ears. "What the hell does she want?" Ammaina whispered to herself, redirecting her gaze towards the voice's direction.
Beside her mother stood a man, probably in his 40s or 50s, his grey and black hair slick on his head, his beard disheveled like a beggar's, yet his black suit too stylish to be cheap. His loafers, darker than Phonzo's hair, were likely to cost at least 50,000 gold coins.
His mere appearance was too fancy for someone originating from Hagi or Hora.
"How are you, my child?" A warm, caring smile stretched across the man's face.
Ammaina remained utterly confused, staring at him, trying to rack her brain: "Who are you?"
He replied, "I'm your new..."
"F—Father!"
Phonzo's shriek echoed in the background of the nearly isolated forest area.
He could never forget the face nor the voice of the man who had rejected his existence and exiled him from the family - the man he swore to get revenge on, the man known as Helbert Frederik.