Chương 7: The Dragon Beneath the Forest

The village did not sleep that night. No one said it aloud, but everyone felt it. Something had changed. The hunters had disappeared. A wounded woman had emerged from the forest. And now there were whispers of ancient ruins buried beneath the trees. But Leo noticed something the others didn't. The forest had become silent. No insects. No birds. No distant howls. Nothing. It was as if every living creature had abandoned the area. Leo stood beside the window of his family's house.

His small hands rested against the wooden frame. He stared into the darkness. The dragon is awake. He could feel it. Not constantly. The creature's presence would appear for a few seconds, then vanish completely. It wasn't merely hiding its body. It was hiding its Mana. That was what made Leo uneasy. A beast capable of suppressing its Mana to such an extent was not ordinary. And if the woman was telling the truth… It had awakened beneath ancient ruins. Leo looked down.

At his feet lay the old history book he had borrowed from the city. He opened it. The page containing information about dragons was already familiar. Dragons were among the oldest known magical creatures. But the book contained almost nothing about their origins. Leo frowned. Convenient again. There were too many gaps. Too many things humans didn't know. And Leo had learned in his previous life that missing information was often more dangerous than forbidden information. Morning arrived.

The wounded woman was still asleep. Marcus had spent most of the night treating her. Leo watched quietly. His father looked exhausted.

"Father." Marcus looked up.

"Yes?"

"What are the ruins?" Marcus hesitated.

"I don't know."

"You've never heard of them?"

"Not here." Leo frowned.

"Then why did she say they're beneath the forest?"

"Because she saw them." Marcus sighed.

"Leo, listen carefully." His expression became serious.

"Whatever is inside that forest, we are not going near it." Leo remained silent.

"I mean it."

"I understand."

"Good." Marcus returned to treating the woman. Leo turned toward the window. He had no intention of going. Not yet. His father was right about one thing. He didn't know enough. The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Charging into an unknown territory simply because he was curious would be foolish. He had already made that mistake once in his previous life. Not with enemies. With ambition. He had always pushed forward. Always climbed higher.

Always assumed that if something was stronger than him, he simply needed to become stronger. Eventually, the entire Murim world had united against him. And even then, he had believed he could win. Until a sword entered his back. Leo closed his eyes. Never again. He would not repeat the arrogance of Park Suho. He would become stronger. But he would also become wiser. Three days passed. The wounded woman finally recovered enough to walk. Her name was Seren. She was an adventurer from the city.

She had entered the forest with the missing hunters after hearing rumors about ancient ruins. They had found a stone staircase beneath the roots of an enormous tree. The stairs descended deep underground. At the bottom was a massive stone door. Covered in symbols. Seren couldn't read them. Neither could the hunters. But one of them touched the door. And it opened. Leo listened without interrupting.

"What happened next?" Seren's face became pale.

"We entered a chamber."

"What was inside?"

"Nothing." Leo frowned.

"Nothing?"

"At first." She looked toward the window.

"Then the ground moved." Leo's eyes narrowed.

"The dragon?" Seren nodded.

"We realized the chamber wasn't a chamber." She swallowed.

"It was a nest." Silence.

"The entire room was covered in scales." Leo's expression changed.

"Scales?"

"Ancient ones." She looked at Leo.

"Then we heard breathing." One of the villagers crossed himself instinctively. Leo noticed. He had never seen the gesture before. But he didn't care. His attention remained on Seren.

"What happened to the others?"

"They ran."

"And you?"

"I followed."

"You survived." Seren lowered her eyes.

"I don't know why." Leo studied her. She was telling the truth. At least, mostly. There was something she wasn't saying. He could see it in her eyes. Fear. But beneath the fear… guilt. Leo didn't push her. Not yet. That afternoon, Leo went into the forest. Alone. Not toward the ruins. He stopped near the village boundary. He simply wanted to test something. He closed his eyes. Mana surrounded him. He reached outward. The forest was filled with it. But beneath that… there was another flow. A much deeper current.

It felt almost like a heartbeat. Slow. Massive. Ancient. Leo followed it with his senses. His consciousness traveled through the forest. Past trees. Past rocks. Past underground roots. Deeper. Deeper. Then— Something noticed him. Leo's eyes opened. The connection vanished. His breathing became slow. It sensed me. He had not physically entered its territory. He hadn't even moved far from the village. Yet it had detected his presence. Leo stared into the forest. Then he smiled.

"Interesting." A voice came from behind him.

"What is?" Leo turned. Mia stood there. She had her hands on her hips.

"You disappeared."

"I was walking."

"Father said not to go into the forest."

"I'm not inside."

"You're still too close." Leo sighed.

"You worry too much." Mia frowned.

"And you don't worry enough." Leo looked at her. For a moment, he almost laughed. She sounded like his father.

"Let's go home." Mia nodded. They began walking. Neither noticed the pair of golden eyes watching them from between the trees. That night, the dragon moved. Leo woke suddenly. His eyes opened. The room was dark. Something had changed. The pressure in the air was different. He sat up. His heart was beating faster. Not from fear. His body was warning him. Leo moved toward the window. The village was silent. Then he saw it. A shadow passed over the moon. Too large. Far too large. Leo froze. The shadow disappeared.

A second later— BOOM. The forest shook. Birds erupted from the trees. The ground trembled. People screamed. Leo immediately left his room. His parents were already awake. Marcus grabbed his sword.

"Stay here!"

"What happened?"

"I don't know." Another roar echoed across the land. It wasn't loud in the normal sense. It was overwhelming. The sound entered the body. The windows rattled. Dust fell from the ceiling. Leo felt his Internal Energy react instinctively. Mana surged through the entire region. Leo's eyes widened. This isn't just a dragon. This was something far older than the beasts he had encountered in the Murim world. Marcus looked outside.

"Everyone needs to leave the village."

"Where?"

"The city."

"Now?"

"Now." People began running. Families gathered their belongings. Children cried. Animals panicked. The village that had existed peacefully for decades was collapsing into chaos within minutes. Leo stepped outside. Then he stopped. The forest was glowing. A faint blue light rose between the trees. Mana. An enormous amount of Mana. It was gathering. Leo's expression became serious. Something is happening beneath the ruins. Then— A crack appeared in the ground. Right outside the village. The earth split.

People screamed. Marcus grabbed Leo.

"Move!" But Leo stared into the opening. Something was rising. Not the dragon. Something else. A stone structure emerged from beneath the earth. Ancient. Covered in symbols. The same symbols Seren had described. Leo's eyes narrowed. The ruins had expanded. Or perhaps… they had never been beneath the forest. They had been beneath the entire region. The structure continued rising. Then a voice echoed through the night. Not spoken aloud. It appeared directly inside Leo's mind. Who are you? Leo froze.

His blood ran cold. He hadn't heard a voice like that in either of his lives. The voice continued. Why does your soul carry two currents? Leo's eyes widened. Soul? The pressure vanished. The stone structure stopped moving. For several seconds, nothing happened. Then the voice spoke one final time. Interesting. The ground stopped shaking. The glowing symbols disappeared. And the dragon's presence vanished completely. Leo stood motionless. Marcus was shouting something beside him. Leo couldn't hear it.

His mind was elsewhere. The dragon had sensed something about him. Something no human in this world had noticed. Two currents. Internal Energy. Mana. Leo slowly clenched his fist. He had spent years trying to understand whether the two could coexist. Now… Something ancient had recognized the difference immediately. That meant only one thing. His path was not as unique as he had believed. Someone—or something—had encountered a similar phenomenon before. Leo looked toward the ancient ruins.

For the first time, his curiosity was replaced by something stronger. Determination. He would eventually return. Not now. Not as a child. Not with his current strength. But someday. He would enter those ruins. And he would discover why the dragon had looked at him as though it had seen something impossible. The next morning, the village was empty. The people had evacuated to the city. Leo stood on the road with his family. Behind them, the village slowly disappeared into the distance.

Leo looked back one final time. The forest remained silent. But deep beneath it… the dragon was waiting. And somewhere inside Leo's body, the two energies continued to circulate separately. Internal Energy. Mana. Two paths. Two worlds. One body. Leo looked toward the road ahead. His second life had been peaceful until now. It wouldn't remain that way.

He didn't know it yet, but the events of that night would eventually become the first page of a history that would span kingdoms, magical academies, ancient ruins, and the territories of dragons. For now, however… Leo was still only seven years old. And he had a long way to go. End of Chapter 7.