A luxurious carriage traveled through a dense forest as the sky was painted orange by the beautiful sunset…

  A group of seven people, four men and three women, guarded it from the outside on their horses, matching the pace of the carriage.

  Meanwhile, inside the carriage, Raze let out an exhausted sigh.

  It had been nine days since they began traveling toward the capital and they were finally well past the halfway point but the reason for his sigh wasn't the journey itself. It was the overly talkative maid and the young noble girl who hadn't given him even a second of peace.

  Over the past two days, he had grown fairly close to both the guards and the clients they were escorting and unlike what he had initially thought, the red-haired noble wasn't arrogant or distant at all.

  Once she grew comfortable, she was actually… far too talkative but more than that, he had discovered that her destination was the same as his— the Ascension Academy.

  "Miss Ellara, we have decided to rest for the day. We found a good place to camp near a pond." John, the bulky leader of the mercenary group, spoke as the carriage slowly came to a stop.

  Ellara, the red-haired noble, immediately lit up with excitement.

  "See, Lyla? We can finally take a proper bath."

  Although they had been camping every day, there had never been a proper water source. They had no choice but to rely on a Cleaning Artifact but no tool could ever replace the real thing.

  Lyla, the maid, nodded in excitement. "Yes, Miss."

  Meanwhile, Raze stepped out of the carriage without much emotion on his face.

  Although over these past days the mercenary group, and even Ellara herself, had shown him kindness, going as far as lending him a spare Cleaning Artifact and sharing stories from all around the world, especially after knowing he lost his memories but still, he just couldn't shake the discomfort settling deep inside him.

  Because to him, kindness didn't exist without a reason and if someone was showing it this much, then either they wanted something from you… or they were close to dying.

  As he was lost in thought, a large hand suddenly gripped his shoulder. "What are you thinking so hard about, boy?"

  Raze looked up to see a man with brown hair and brown eyes with a scar running across his face that made him look far more intimidating than he actually was. It was John, the leader of the mercenary group.

  Beside him stood his wife, Luna. Where John was rough and brutish, Luna was his complete opposite with an elegant air around her, fitting for a mage.

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  "Nothing." Raze replied flatly.

  John chuckled. "You know, when I was your age, I was doing all sorts of things. Meanwhile, all you do is think and think… even when a beautiful girl is sitting right in front of you all day."

  He leaned closer and whispered the last part before bursting into laughter.

  "You should loosen up sometimes, you know."

  Luna immediately pinched his hand.

  "Don't corrupt the child just because you are like that."

  She shot him a sharp glare with her calm black eyes.

  Then she turned to Raze, her expression softening immediately. "Don't listen to him. Come, let's continue our lesson from yesterday."

  She lightly tapped his shoulder, signaling him to follow.

  Ever since he had told them about his plans to enroll in Ascension Academy, Luna had started teaching him because the Academy didn't only test physical strength… and Luna had taken it upon herself to make sure Raze passed the theoretical exam as well.

  Not just her, even John had also tried to give him lessons about swordsmanship for a few days before eventually stepping back, realizing that Raze's swordsmanship was already far more refined than his own and he had formed a core.

  Raze looked at John for a moment before following behind Luna.

  "As I said yesterday, Raze, mana is not a tool. It's a spark of creation that exists everywhere… and within everyone. So rather than using it, you need to resonate with it."

  Luna continued as they walked toward the calm pond.

  "The world has two paths to becoming a superhuman. One is forming a mana core and becoming a mage. The other is awakening aura by refining your physique and mind to the utmost."

  She explained everything to Raze in a gentle voice.

  "Neither path is easier than the other. To form a core, you must have an affinity with mana and to awaken aura, you must become one with your weapon. But in the same rank, their strength is not much different."

  "Generally, the empire only allows commoners above the age of seventeen to form a core even if they possess affinity. Nobles, however, are allowed to form a core from the age of sixteen, when mana affinity truly begins to bloom."

  Raze listened carefully. Luna had only started teaching him Mana Application yesterday, after finishing the basics of world history and geography and he would be lying if he said he wasn't excited about this particular subject.

  He had never been taught anything about mana before because the people of the Dynasty believed that if he learned about it, he might form a core and completely ruin their plans as the world wouldn't accept outside mana.

  He hadn't even known how to form a core until Yunhwa had given him a core formation guide after she thought maybe forming a core could help him recover his memories. That was the only reason it took him a week to form it, he had spent most of that time learning the language and only a single day following the instructions of the manual to create his core.

  "Once a person forms a gray core, they begin to walk the path of magic and for warriors, the equivalent is when they forge their inner domain of consciousness."

  "Isn't aura one of the types of mana?" Raze asked curiously. That question had been bothering him since yesterday, ever since Luna first explained this to him.

  "No, Raze." Her voice was soothing as she took a seat beside the pond. "Mages use mana, which is the energy of nature. Warriors, on the other hand, use an innate energy called Aura. It exists within every human being but only those who refine themselves to the extreme can awaken it."

  After making sure Raze understood everything, she continued.

  "There are five mortal ranks for both warriors and mages, and above them are three Demi-god ranks."

  "Each mortal rank has five sub-ranks of progression. Right now, you have only just formed your mana core, so you are at the very beginning. You can only advance to the next level once you form five rings of mana around your core."

  "Which brings me to the main part of today's lesson, I am going to help you form your first ring today."