"Damn it boy, again, this time do it as I ordered!" The words came from a harsh older man, Zerefs father Noc. Zeref a mere boy of ten, his upper body bare, dripping with blood, sweat and rain, stood up picking up a steel blade. After a moment Zeref lunged at his father aiming to pierce him through the stomach. In response Noc side stepped, bring the hilt of his own sword on the back of Zerefs skull knocking him down. Zeref laid face down in the mud, blood dripping from the back of his skull. "Pathetic, useless, and weak. You should of died instead of that woman, at least i had use of her."  The woman he spoke of was Zerefs mother, just another tool in Nocs eyes. Noc started to walk back towards the house leaving his son in the mud. Hearing him speak of his mother always pissed off Zeref. At the mention of her Zeref rose to a single knee breathing heavy, he drove the blade into the dirt and a split second later a steel spike erupted just in front of Noc slicing his cheek. "Tsk, can't even kill me while my back is turned?." Noc twisted and flung his blade at Zeref catching him in the collar piercing through his back.

Zeref woke him his slumber just as the sun peeked through the window of his one room apartment, it was time to start another mission, this one was tracking down some recipe or something. He quickly got dressed and headed out for the mission. Zeref walked out of him apartment, his sword on his back, his kunia hanging on his hip, three on each side, and his gauntlets on his hands. His attire did not match that of a shinobi, but of a mercenary, of a born killer. Although he looked out of place, the villagers paid him no mind, some even waving to him, he has made himself known with in the village, taking on missions, and joining a squad, word has spread of him quickly. To Zeref it was only a matter of time before he caught the eye of the kage, a genin who was quickly moving up through the ranks. In the less than a month Zeref was mere days away from becoming a chunnin without the need of the exams. As Zeref went towards the Skybar his mind started to wander back to the teaching and words of his father when he was a child.

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