Benny

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Childhood in the Stans Tribe

Benny grew up among the Stans Tribe’s children. His ancestor John was a Sixth-Rank Warrior associated with the tribe’s founding generation 22.

He helped draw the withdrawn Lucas into the children’s games, inviting him to play “catch the wolves.” During a subsequent Wind Wolf attack, Benny obeyed his father’s warning and gathered the children for evacuation; Lucas helped him lead them to the cliffside shelter 3 4.

Benny later trained with Lucas in the tribe’s morning exercises. He openly supported Lucas against Eric during their horse-stance endurance contest, beginning a recurring rivalry with Eric. After several years of training, Lucas began giving Benny and Windsor additional martial instruction at his home 7 8.

Green-Striped Python Encounter

Despite Benny’s objections, Lucas accepted Eric into their expedition to obtain human corpses for anatomical study. Eric’s father regarded the four children as their generation’s most talented and wanted them to learn to cooperate for the tribe 13.

The expedition encountered a fourth-level Green-Striped Python. Initially frightened, Benny steadied himself after seeing Eric and Windsor maintain their composure. He joined Eric in fighting the beast while Windsor helped the injured Lucas, but the python knocked both boys away. Lucas ultimately killed it, and Benny survived with injuries 14 15.

Benny and Eric recovered two corpses and later assisted Lucas with dissections. The near-fatal battle and exposure to dead bodies left Benny unusually subdued. His questions about death and whether souls retained their memories prompted Lucas’s reflection on the Death Edict. Lucas then encouraged him to confront his fear by growing stronger 16 17 18.

Apprenticeship Under Drake

After learning Lucas’s battle qi method, Benny joined his friends in pledging to surpass their predecessors and create their own legends. Lucas then brought him to Drake, presenting the artificer as the hammer-wielding master he had promised to find. Benny was disappointed by the scruffy craftsman, but agreed enthusiastically after Drake displayed his Sixth-Rank Warrior aura 13 21.

While listening to Drake recount their ancestors’ achievements, Benny excitedly revealed that Lucas had created battle qi. Eric rebuked him, and Benny later apologized. Lucas forgave the disclosure, supplied a fourth-rank Magic Beast Core as Benny’s apprenticeship gift, and traded a cultivation method for artificing lessons for himself and Eric 22.

Eric subsequently pinned Benny against a wall and threatened him against betraying Lucas. Lucas intervened, emphasizing that Benny had not acted deliberately and that the method must not be given to outsiders. The three boys then spent a year learning smithing under Drake 23.

Separation and Reunion

When Lucas prepared to leave the tribe, Benny and Eric asked to accompany him. Lucas refused because their strength was insufficient for the dangers outside. Benny reluctantly accepted after Eric acknowledged that they would burden Lucas 23.

Years later, Benny greeted Lucas on his return and explained how the tribe had prospered through the battle qi method he had left behind. Benny’s weight gain was so pronounced that Lucas initially failed to recognize him. He also notified Windsor of Lucas’s return 39.

Benny eventually departed to gain experience with Windsor, Eric, and two other young tribesmen. Before they left, Lucas warned them not to reveal their battle qi to outsiders. Drake later stated that he had passed his blacksmithing and artificing craft on to Benny and could retire contentedly 42 45.

Appearance

• Childhood build: Slightly sturdier than Lucas and Eric before Lucas left the tribe 39.
• Young adulthood: Became noticeably chubby during Lucas’s absence. Benny attributed the change to eating more as the tribe’s living conditions improved 39.
• Usual expression: Frequently wore broad or goofy grins, particularly when imagining victory over Eric or flattering Lucas 8 11.

Personality

Benny is lively, sociable, and eager to impress. His friendly appearance conceals a mischievous streak: he hoped to boast about beating Lucas during their Tai Chi demonstration and delighted in the prospect of using new techniques against Eric. He also recognized Windsor’s feelings for Lucas and teased her by calling her their “sister-in-law” 8 9 11 21.

His loyalty to Lucas coexists with impulsiveness. He promised to remain by Lucas’s side, but his excitement led him to expose the battle qi secret without considering the consequences. Lucas regarded him as unsuitable for confidential work, while recognizing that the disclosure was not intentional betrayal 11 22 23.

Despite his enthusiasm for forceful combat, Benny was deeply shaken by his first brush with death. His questions after the dissections reveal anxiety about mortality and losing his connection to his friends, rather than simple disgust at the bodies 17 18.

Abilities & Skills

Martial Training

Benny received both the tribe’s physical conditioning and private instruction from Lucas 7 9 11.

• Tai Chi footwork: Practiced stepping patterns and cross steps taught by Lucas 9 11.
• Force redirection: Learned supporting techniques for redirecting an opponent’s force; Lucas emphasized these fundamentals rather than teaching him hammer techniques 11.
• Hammer preference: Favored heavy, direct attacks and aspired to develop a hammer method whose successive blows built momentum. This remained an ambition rather than a demonstrated completed technique 9.
• Combat experience: Fought the Green-Striped Python alongside Eric, but could not withstand its attacks 15.

Battle Qi Cultivation

Benny learned Lucas’s cultivation method after receiving instruction in muscles, acupoints, and meridians 20 21.

• Possesses low-grade fire affinity, his only stated elemental affinity 21.
• Learned meditation and battle qi cultivation, but has no separately documented battle qi rank 21.
• Reported that the method made strengthening himself easier than brute-force training 21.

Blacksmithing and Artificing

Benny became Drake’s formal disciple, unlike Lucas and Eric, who arranged to receive lessons without entering a full apprenticeship 21 22.

• Trained by swinging sledgehammers to forge iron during a year of instruction 23.
• Became the recipient of Drake’s craft when Drake’s grandson showed little interest in inheriting the trade 21 45.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Long blade — Carried during the expedition that encountered the Green-Striped Python 14.
• Protective cloth mask — Supplied by Lucas for handling corpses and guarding against possible poison 14 15.
• Smithing sledgehammer — Used while learning to forge iron under Drake 23.

Relationships

• Lucas Wood — Childhood friend, leader, and cultivation instructor, whom Benny calls “Boss.” Lucas’s treasured spear briefly tempted Benny to abandon his hammer ambitions, but Lucas insisted he remain with his preferred weapon 3 9 11.
• Windsor — Childhood friend and fellow student of Lucas. She checked Benny’s overconfidence about fighting Eric and later traveled with him to gain experience 8 42.
• Eric Baker — Rival turned teammate. Their arguments persisted after joining forces, with their sharpest confrontation arising from Benny’s disclosure of Lucas’s cultivation method 13 17 23.
• Master Drake — Master in blacksmithing and artificing. Drake accepted Benny as his disciple and later regarded passing the craft to him as one of his fulfilled life goals 21 45.
• John — Ancestor whom Drake identified as a powerful Sixth-Rank Warrior 22.
• Father — Warned Benny of the childhood Wind Wolf attack and ordered him to take the children to shelter; his name is not given 4.

Notable Quotes

“Boss, I like hammers. A real man makes every hammer blow hit flesh!” 9

“Don’t worry. Windsor and I will always stay with you, Boss.” 11

“The stronger I grow, the less death can catch me.” 18