"Son, there's something you should know about your father."

His mother's words were enough to keep Ethan in shock, and he opened his mouth to stare at her. The mother continued in a tone tinged with sadness:

"Your father was a senior member of the Special Forces, a noble and heroic man who sacrificed everything for justice."

She paused for a moment as if trying to suppress her emotions, then added with suppressed anger:

"But how was he rewarded for all that?"

She turned to him, her eyes flashing with anger and pain:

"Son, as soon as your father realized you were coming to this world, he decided to leave the Special Forces. But he didn't have that choice... They said he knew too much. And so, we moved here. As soon as you were born... your father disappeared and never showed up again."

The mother stopped talking, and tears began to roll down her cheeks. Ethan, saddened to see his normally cheerful mother burst into tears, walked over and hugged her gently, saying in a warm voice:

"Don't worry, mom... I'm here with you. Everything will be fine, starting from this moment."

Ethan hugged her for a few minutes until he realized she had fallen asleep. He kissed her forehead softly, turned off the light and walked out of the room.

Ethan returned home, and there was a heavy sense of emptiness in the room. He went straight to his room and threw his suitcase full of books on the bed, emptying it completely. Then he started filling his bag with clothes, water bottles, and some random tools   wires, knives, knives, spoons, cooking utensils, and more.

When he finished, the bag was on the verge of bursting at the seams. He picked it up with difficulty and stood in front of the door with a determined face, as if he had made his final decision this time. He opened the door, locked it behind him with the key, and turned and headed for the forest.

Reaching the forest, he dropped his heavy bag on the ground, trying to regain his breath, and then said in a steady voice:

"Minotaur, come out."

The Minotaur appeared in its familiar form, commenting sarcastically:

"I think you finally made the right decision."

Ethan looked at him seriously and said:

"No more joking around. From now on, there is no room for rest."

The Minotaur grinned broadly as he said: "I like your persistence today... So, get ready."

From there, Ethan's real training began.

His training program consisted of:

- Lifting huge boulders from morning to midday.
- Running 100 kilometers with a heavy pack.
- Climbing mountains under the same load.
- Staying underwater for 30 minutes while carrying the same bag.
- Other intense workouts that push him to his limits.

It wasn't easy, with Ethan constantly screaming:

"How can I do this?"

"This is impossible!"

"Are you trying to kill me?"

But despite everything, his determination to change and sense of responsibility kept him going. Day by day, he got better and better, until the forest turned into an arena filled with his enthusiastic shouts:

"1523... 1524... 1525! I finally broke my previous record!"

Ethan lay on the ground, lifting a very large boulder, while the Minotaur stood next to him with a grim expression and said loudly:

"Keep going, you weak human!"

Ethan looked at him sarcastically, mimicking his voice:

"Go on, you weak human!"

Then he added, laughing:

"But no, I'm hungry. I'm going hunting now."

He tossed the rock aside and sprinted off into the forest, leaving the Minotaur to sigh and say in a quiet tone:

"hooo... How am I going to deal with you now?"

As he jumped from tree to tree, wielding a wooden bow and long arrows, he looked like a mythical creature, moving with unimaginable speed. He shot an arrow into the sky and hit a bird in midair, laughing excitedly:

"Hahaha, I hit it!"

In the evening, Ethan sat in front of the fire roasting the bird he had caught. Suddenly, the Minotaur broke the silence, saying:

"Two days left for the event."

Ethan didn't respond, just chewed his food loudly. The Minotaur snarled in annoyance:

"You idiot, can you hear me?"

Ethan replied with his mouth full of food:

"Tomorrow I'm going home."

There was silence again, until the Minotaur suddenly stood up and grabbed Ethan's shoulder, forcing him to stand up.

"What are you doing? Don't you see me eating?" Ethan shouted angrily.

But the Minotaur replied with a stern face and a dry tone:

"I'm serious now."

He ran his hands over Ethan's abs, then his back, his shoulders, down to his feet, before finally saying:

"Hmmm... You are now ready to receive my power."

Ethan looked at him disdainfully, and the Minotaur surprised him with a powerful blow to his head:

"Didn't I tell you not to look at me like that?"

Ethan clutched his head in pain:

"Ouch! Do you think I'm a rock?"

The Minotaur placed his hand on Ethan's forehead and said seriously:

"This is the proof of the Minotaur's power. I will give it to you now. But from this moment on, you will no longer take the power of Rampage from me... You will rely on your own strength alone."

Ethan looked him in the eye, then grabbed his arm and said firmly:

"I'm ready."

The Minotaur told him to close his eyes. Minutes of silence passed before Ethan began to feel a sharp pain in his head. He cried out in pain:

"Aaaah... That's enough! My head is going to explode!"

The Minotaur replied in a stern voice:

"Hang in there, it will be over soon."

In those moments of pain, Ethan remembered his unbearable moments of pain during training, his constant falling and getting up, and his great determination to change.

The pain in his head was like a quadruple headache. Heavy minutes passed, his screams growing louder, before the tattoo on his body glowed a strange red color, getting brighter and brighter until it lit up the entire forest...

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