Rise of Lihas RAYZADA

Rise of Lihas Rayzada

Author: Grandmaster Wolf 🐺

Chapter 1: The Boy of ElderootThe sun hung low over Elderoot Village, its golden rays barely piercing the mist that clung to the jagged peaks of the surrounding mountains. The air was thick with the scent of damp earth and pine, a quiet hum of mana pulsing through the ancient Whisperpine Forest nearby. In the heart of the village, a small forge glowed with defiant warmth, its rhythmic clang echoing through the sleepy hamlet.Lihas Rayzada, sixteen and lean as a whip, gripped a hammer with calloused hands, his silver eyes glinting with focus. Sweat beaded on his tanned brow, dripping onto the anvil as he struck glowing steel, shaping it with a precision that belied his youth. His messy black hair clung to his face, but he didn't pause. Each swing was a rebellion against the world that had branded him a nobody—an orphan, a village rat, a boy with nothing but dreams too big for Elderoot's crumbling huts."Easy, lad," came a gruff voice from the doorway. Garen Holt, the village blacksmith, leaned against the frame, his graying beard catching the forge's light. "You're hammerin' like you've got a grudge against the metal."Lihas flashed a lopsided grin, wiping his face with a sooty sleeve. "Gotta make these nails perfect, Garen. Old Man Tyrus'll skin me if they're crooked."Garen chuckled, his eyes crinkling with warmth. "Stubborn as a mule, you are. Keep that fire, Lihas. It'll carry you far."The words stung more than they should. Far? Lihas's grin faded as he turned back to the anvil. Elderoot was a cage—fields that stretched to nowhere, villagers who whispered pity behind his back, and a future that promised only more sweat and steel. Orphaned at five, he'd grown up under Garen's care, hammering nails to scrape by. But deep in his chest, a spark burned, fierce and unyielding. He wanted more—a life beyond the village, beyond the mountains, beyond the stars.When the day's work ended, Lihas delivered a sack of nails to Tyrus's shop, dodging the old man's grumbling about "sloppy work." With a few copper coins jangling in his pocket, he wandered toward Whisperpine Forest, drawn by a restless urge he couldn't name. The forest loomed at Elderoot's edge, its ancient trees humming with mana, their branches whispering secrets no villager dared to chase. Children called it cursed; adults avoided it. But Lihas felt alive here, as if the forest knew him better than the village ever would.He pushed through the undergrowth, boots sinking into moss, until a faint glow caught his eye. Half-buried in the roots of a gnarled tree, a cracked pendant pulsed with starlight, its surface etched with runes that seemed to writhe like living flames. Lihas froze, heart pounding. "What… in the blazes?"Kneeling, he brushed dirt from the pendant, its warmth seeping into his fingers. The runes flared, and a voice—cold, ancient, and impossibly clear—echoed in his mind.[System Activated: Starforge System. Host: Lihas Rayzada. Initializing cultivation path…]Lihas stumbled back, the pendant clutched in his hand. A translucent screen flickered before his eyes, glowing with words that made no sense yet felt like truth:Host StatusName: Lihas RayzadaCultivation: Tier 1, Level 1 (Beginner)Skills: NoneQuest: [Daily Training – Run 5 miles, swing hammer 100 times]Reward: 10 EXP, Skill [Mana Sense]He blinked, glancing around the silent forest. The pendant's glow dimmed, but its weight felt alive, pulsing against his palm. "A system? Cultivation?" he muttered, voice barely above a whisper. He'd heard tales of cultivators—warriors who harnessed mana, toppled mountains, and ruled empires. But those were stories for nobles and prodigies, not a village boy like him.Tucking the pendant under his shirt, Lihas sprinted back to Elderoot, the system's quest driving him forward. His legs burned as he ran laps around the village outskirts, hammer swinging in the forge long after Garen had gone to bed. Each swing felt different now—sharper, stronger, as if the pendant had awakened something inside him.When he collapsed onto his straw mat that night, the pendant glowed faintly against his chest. A new screen appeared:[Quest Complete: Daily Training. Reward: 10 EXP, Skill [Mana Sense] Unlocked.]Lihas's breath caught as the world shifted. He could feel it—the faint hum of mana in the air, the pulse of energy in the earth beneath him. It was faint, like a whisper, but it was real.A grin spread across his face, wild and unstoppable. "Whatever you are," he whispered, clutching the pendant, "you're my way out."As moonlight spilled through the window, Lihas Rayzada lay awake, unaware that the Starforge System—and the bloodline it guarded—had set him on a path to become the Universal Ruler of ten universes.Upcoming Chapter Following Grandmaster Wolf: