Chương 4: The World Beyond the Village

Leo learned something important during his sixth year. Knowledge was more valuable than power. Power could win a fight. Knowledge could prevent one from happening. That lesson had taken Park Suho decades to understand. Leo understood it much earlier. The small village where he had been born was peaceful. Too peaceful. There were perhaps a few hundred residents. Farmers. Hunters. Merchants. Blacksmiths. Woodcutters. A handful of people capable of using simple magic. To Leo, the village was almost painfully ordinary.

But ordinary did not mean useless. It was the perfect place to learn. Every morning, Leo trained his body. Every afternoon, he studied Mana. Every evening, he listened. And he listened to everything. Travelers passing through the village. Merchants talking about distant cities. Hunters discussing monsters. Children talking about the capital. Older villagers telling stories about ancient ruins. Leo collected every piece of information. Slowly, a picture of the world began to form in his mind.

And it was much larger than he had expected. There were several major kingdoms. There were enormous cities surrounded by magical barriers. There were guilds for adventurers, merchants, and craftsmen. There were academies where young mages studied. There were magic towers that reached into the clouds. And beyond the civilized lands… There were territories where humans rarely survived. Leo found those places particularly interesting. Not because he wanted to visit them. Not yet.

But because the strongest creatures lived there. And among them were dragons. One afternoon, Leo sat beside the village's small river. He was reading a book. It was old. Very old. The pages were yellow and some of the writing had faded. His father had bought it from a traveling merchant for almost nothing. It was a children's book about the history of the kingdom. Leo had already read it three times. He wasn't interested in the simplified history. He was interested in what the book failed to explain.

There were enormous gaps. Wars were mentioned without details. Ancient kingdoms disappeared without explanation. Several regions were simply marked as: Unknown Territory. Leo frowned. Convenient. He turned another page. Then stopped. A drawing filled the page. A dragon. Its body was enormous. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Its wings stretched across the sky. But what caught Leo's attention was the description underneath.

Dragons are the oldest known magical creatures. Their bodies contain enormous quantities of Mana, and their hearts are believed to possess a unique magical core. Leo stared at the drawing. Magical core. He had never heard that term in the Murim world. The dragons there possessed terrifying Internal Energy. Their bodies were naturally powerful. But this… This sounded different. Leo closed the book. He needed more information.

"Father." Marcus looked up from the table.

"Yes?"

"Can we go to the city?" Marcus blinked.

"The city?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I want to see the library." Marcus stared at his son. Leo waited. Finally, Marcus laughed.

"You're six years old."

"I know."

"You want to visit a library?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I want to learn." Marcus looked at Elena. She smiled.

"I told you he was unusual." Marcus sighed.

"You certainly are." But after a few moments, he nodded.

"We can go next week." Leo's eyes brightened.

"Really?"

"Really." Leo smiled. But inside, his thoughts were already moving. Finally. The village had taught him enough. He needed information from outside. He needed to know how advanced magic truly was. He needed to understand the social structure. The kingdoms. The academy. The monsters. And most importantly… He needed to understand how strong the people of this world were. Because until now, he had only seen ordinary people. That was about to change. The journey to the city took half a day.

Leo sat in the back of the small wagon while his father drove. The road passed through forests and fields. Leo watched everything. At one point, he noticed something unusual. A wooden pole stood beside the road. Several symbols had been carved into it. Leo pointed.

"What's that?" Marcus glanced over.

"A warning marker."

"For what?"

"Monsters." Leo looked ahead.

"What kind?"

"Wolves, mostly." Leo nodded. Simple. But the further they traveled, the more warning markers they saw. Some were painted red. Others were carved with different symbols. One had been broken. Leo looked at it carefully. The wood was blackened. Burned.

"Magic?" Marcus nodded.

"Probably."

"From a monster?"

"Maybe." Leo said nothing. But his attention sharpened. The world outside the village was already different. Danger wasn't theoretical. It was everywhere. The city appeared beyond the hills. Leo stared. For several seconds, he said nothing. It was enormous. Stone walls surrounded it. Tall towers rose behind those walls. Some were made of ordinary stone. Others seemed to be made from a strange black material that glowed faintly with blue light. Above the largest gate floated a massive crystal. It pulsed slowly.

Leo could feel Mana radiating from it. A barrier. Interesting. As the wagon approached, Leo noticed something else. People. Hundreds. Maybe thousands. Merchants. Travelers. Adventurers. Soldiers. Mages. Children. Nobles. Beastfolk. Leo's eyes moved constantly. He analyzed everyone. A man carrying a sword. His stance was poor. A woman wearing a mage's robe. Mana density around her body was relatively high. A group of adventurers. One of them had a scar across his neck. Another carried a large axe.

Leo's instincts returned naturally. He wasn't trying to judge them. His body simply remembered. A martial artist never stopped observing. Inside the city, Leo felt overwhelmed. Not by the people. By the Mana. It was everywhere. The concentration was several times higher than in his village. His skin tingled. His breathing became slightly heavier. Leo closed his eyes for a moment. This place is saturated with Mana. He immediately understood something. Cities were built around magical resources. The roads.

The barriers. The lighting. The water systems. Even transportation. Magic wasn't simply a weapon. It was civilization. That realization changed his understanding of the world. In the Murim world, martial artists existed alongside ordinary people. Here… Magic was woven into everyday life. Leo smiled. Interesting. The library was inside a large stone building near the center of the city. Marcus gave Leo a warning before they entered.

"Don't touch anything you're not supposed to." Leo nodded.

"I understand." Inside, Leo immediately forgot about everything else. Books. Hundreds. No. Thousands. Shelves stretched across several floors. Leo's eyes widened. This was exactly what he needed. For the next four hours, he read. Magic theory. History. Geography. Monsters. Alchemy. Mana circulation. Magical creatures. And dragons. He discovered something unexpected. There were seven recognized magical elements. Fire. Water. Wind. Earth. Lightning. Light. Darkness. But some texts mentioned other forms.

Ancient magic. Void magic. Spatial magic. Time magic. These were considered extremely rare or nearly impossible. Leo carefully memorized everything. Then he found a book about magical cultivation. He read the first page. Then the second. Then the third. His expression slowly changed. This is wrong. Not completely wrong. But inefficient. The standard magical circulation method had several weaknesses. It depended heavily on external Mana. It placed stress on specific channels.

And it wasted a considerable amount of energy during conversion. Leo continued reading. The further he went… The more obvious it became. The people of this world had developed an incredible magical civilization. But their understanding of Mana wasn't perfect. They had simply accepted certain principles as fundamental. Leo closed the book. A dangerous thought entered his mind. What if they are wrong? He immediately remembered his own cultivation. The Murim world had also believed certain principles were absolute.

Until someone challenged them. Leo smiled. He understood now. He didn't need to choose between Internal Energy and Magic. He didn't need to abandon one for the other. He needed to understand both. Then… He needed to find the connection. That evening, Leo stood on the balcony of the small inn where his family was staying. The city glittered below. Magical lamps floated above the streets. A carriage passed without horses, carried by a glowing magical core. Far above the city, something flew through the clouds.

Leo looked up. A bird? No. Too large. It disappeared behind the clouds before he could see it clearly. Leo narrowed his eyes. His instincts told him it wasn't a normal creature. A dragon? Perhaps. He smiled faintly.

"One day." His father opened the door behind him.

"Leo." Leo turned.

"Yes?"

"We're leaving tomorrow."

"I know." Marcus hesitated.

"There is something else I wanted to tell you." Leo waited. Marcus looked toward the city.

"There's a place called the Royal Magic Academy." Leo's eyes narrowed.

"The academy?"

"Yes."

"It's here?"

"No. It's in the capital." Marcus smiled.

"You'll be old enough to apply one day." Leo looked back toward the distant towers. The Royal Magic Academy. A place where the most talented young mages in the kingdom gathered. A place filled with knowledge. A place where Leo could learn everything he needed. But he knew better than to rush. He had learned patience in another life. He would train. He would study. He would grow. And when the time came… He would enter that academy not as the Heavenly Demon. Not as a legendary martial artist. But simply as Leo.

A boy from a small commoner family. He looked toward the night sky. Somewhere beyond the clouds, the mysterious creature had disappeared. Leo smiled. His second life had only just begun. And already… the world was waiting. End of Chapter 4.