'The Extra's Progression' - Chapter 49: Training

We have all heard the legends of great wizards, but do we know how those stories begin? Ardan Egobar, a young man living in a remote corner of the New Monarchy Empire, does not. He doesn't realize that this story is about him. Not yet...In a world where steam locomotives chug along iron rails, where massive airships hover in the skies, where in the cities you might encounter orcs in suits involved in organized crimes, dwarves with cigars controlling major banks, or elves strutting down fashionable boulevards, where humans have built vast nations on the brink of a world war, almost anything seems possible.Maybe, in such a world, even an ordinary young man, the last of the mountain hunters, might one day become the greatest wizard in history.

“Was trying to forget my past and live a peaceful life… a mistake?”His twentieth birthday was supposed to be a celebration, not his final moments—bleeding out on a bed, betrayed, and left to die.'Taking the life of a ‘good’ person makes you a murderer, but taking the life of a ‘bad’ one makes you a savior… Why?'As death embraced him, he whispered his final words—“The world’s kindness, right till the end..”…Only to wake up in an unfamiliar body.“Wait… I’m Noir Ravenlock?”A doomed heir, born to rule the world yet bound to a fate engraved with blood.In a world where morality shapes strength, survival demands more than just power—it demands understanding.And Noir, a man or perhaps a demon who once saw the world through twisted eyes, may just see something no one else can.

A marriage contract lasting three years, a marriage in name only, as if they were strangers.To provide for her child, she went out to work in a large corporation, only to find her boss was actually her contract husband...“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude. I chose the company because the salary was high enough.”The man flipped through the resume in his hand and asked casually, “Why did you take a year off from university when you were 19?”“I, when I was a freshman... something happened in my family.”“Is that so? Then why do you have a scar on your lower abdomen?”“I had appendectomy...”His gaze was inscrutable.......After a three-year marriage, she signed the divorce agreement with a heavy heart.She turned and walked away with dignity and poise, like a splash of light ink.But why did this man keep pursuing her?

Imagine a life where you have a home, a loving family, and loyal friends; where the days flow smoothly and brightly. This was the existence of twenty-two-year-old William Farrow from Pennsylvania. He was studying at university, dreaming of earning his diploma, finding a job that would provide a decent income, and continuing to live a simple, peaceful life.But then, one day, everything changed. Whether it was fate or a series of quiet coincidences—who can say? A trivial delay became the first domino in a chain reaction that thrust William into a world of mysteries, a string of murders, and dark supernatural phenomena. Since then, he has felt like a pawn in someone else's game, caught in a struggle against forces so powerful that he still struggles to find the words to describe them.And it gets even more intriguing. He discovered that the world is not as it seems. Do you believe in Bigfoot? William would have laughed too… until he encountered one in real life. Vampires? Ghosts? Demons? Name the creature—and William would simply shrug: “Yesterday, that thing tried to eat my neighbor.” As if that weren't enough, a heavier surprise awaited him: it seems he is not entirely human. Something foreign stirs beneath his skin, awakening in the dark, and the world responds to it with an unfamiliar echo.Now, all that remains is to learn the new rules and figure out how to navigate the world he has unexpectedly become a part of.