1 Prologue

The world of Astria is one ruled by the law of the jungle , a place where the strong rule over the weak . This world is one ruled by martial arts , skills that can allow ordinary people to become like gods .They allow a normal person to do things out of the ordinary : wrestle a bear and come out unscathed , to shatter mountains with but a fist , to split seas with a roar. Your strength is determined by your talent . There are four major races that rule the five corners of the world . The elves of the south, the dragons of the west , the demons of the north ,the spirits of the east and the humans, who occupied the central territory .

And of them all , the human race is the weakest . Their talent for martial arts are the poorest and so the number of powerful experts they produce are the lowest and weakest, always oppressed by the other races . Treated like trash , and oppressed everywhere they go outside their territory . Of course , the heavens aren't completely unfair . Just because they are oppressed and weak doesn't mean they don't have their moments .

Every few millenia , there is one human who rises above his peers to dominate over his era . The humans saw them as legends. Such people were so powerful that even the leaders of the other races respected them , and weren't as overbearing to the humans during their era .

These legends were entrenched in the history of the human race . The Sword god , The Mortal Emperor, The undead king and the Talisman master ruled their eras like gods overseeing mortals .

After the Talisman master passed away , the next legend to be born , was the Blood god.

He was the greatest sinner of the human race . His story says that he was a powerful martial artist , the strongest in his generation , but , he was afraid of the inevitability of death . Although martial artists can live for many centuries , none but the gods are truly immortal . The Blood god - Borus , feared death, and in his desperation to escape it , he relied on his talent to create an evil technique - [Life blood theft ]- which allows him to not only grow stronger , but to also steal the lifeforce and vitality of those he kills.

Consumed by his newfound power ,we lost himself to his bloodlust and went on a killing spree . Not only humans, even the other races felt the consequences of his actions . He was like an unstoppable demon , unkillable in battle , and each foe he slayed just made him even stronger . Those were dark times for the human race as they tried and failed to control Borus .

Finally , the ruler of the human race at the time -King XanXus the First , used his life to activate one of the talismans that the Talisman master had left behind . The power of the talisman managed to bind the Blood god , both physically and spiritually , immobolising him until the strength and vitality he had accumulated through his slaughter drained away and he died . The royal family built a secret underground prison just for him in a remote location , and left him there to rot .

Not long after the Blood god was stopped , the greatest threat the human race had ever encountered arrived . The other races simultaneously declared war against the human race . The actions of the blood god instilled fear in them. Although he was eventually contained , they were afraid that someone even more fearsome than him would rise up and annihilate them ,so they acted first .

This new war lasted many , many long years . Obviously ,the humans were at a disadvantage, they lost territory and lives rapidly. Death and chaos reigned as they were brought to the very brink of extinction , but, they had a solid foundation and were able to persist until HE appeared. The next legend , and probably the greatest of them all - the Martial King.

He was the saviour of the human race . So strong that he almost singlehandedly drove back all the other races , and killed or heavily injured many of their experts. He was called a battle demon , a wargod , because the more he fought , the stronger he got . He was a monster that lived just for the thrill of the fight.

His very existence deterred the other races from acting against the humans . They feared him for his strength and his deeds . Some say he slayed some of the elders in the ethereal council, that he made the demon race - the most warlike people in creation -extinct, that he killed the dragon monarch .

All feared him and there was none who did not know of his glory .

It was said that after the war , the Martial king lost his purpose . Like a king with no subjects or a hero with no monsters to slay , he lost the very reason for his existence , so , he retreated from human society . Some say that he still waits for a worthy foe up to this day , for a reason to show his face once more .