Leo was a sponge with ears.

  Every morning he trailed Caden to the training yard, wooden sword dragging behind him like a lazy dog. The hunters called out drills—"Left foot, pivot, strike!"—and Leo mouthed the words while he watched the flames spit from his dad's palm.

  At night he made Selene name the herbs in her pouches until she laughed and flicked water at his nose.

  "What's this one again?" "Moonwort. Stops bleeding. Say it."

  "Moon-wort."

  "Good. Again."

  "Moonwort."

  'Shit this world language is too hard to read man.' Leo thought.

  He couldn't read yet, but he'd sit on the rug with picture books open upside-down, tracing the squiggles like they owed him money.

  'It's been five years since I came into this world and I realize that this world is far dangerous than my previous one so all I could do right now is collect knowledge of this world' Leo thought.

  One afternoon he finally cracked a real magic primer—leather cover, pages smelling like old campfire. He got as far as the chapter titled "WITCHCRAFT" before Selene's hand came down like a gate.

  "Nope." She snapped it shut. "Why?" He asked with a innocent face of a kid.

  "Because I said so." Her voice went tight, the way it did when thunder rolled too close.

  "Look there's one in the deep woods. Cursed the whole jungle. Even the knights won't touch it."

  Leo's eyes got big, but he only nodded. Inside, the word witch lit up like a flare.

  Later he found a book—"Legends of the Goddess-Blessed". She then comes to him and start explaining him about that book. "Heroes who weren't born, just made. Infinite tricks up their sleeves." Selene's voice softened when she read that part aloud, like she was handling something breakable.

  "A hero live near the capital," she said, tucking him in. "His light pulls people in. And monsters." Leo stared at the ceiling a thought came to his mind. 'Hmm this hero seems interesting. I mean it's more interesting then my pervious life.'

  He was five when suddenly a headache hit.

  He'd been tracing runes at the kitchen table, sunlight striping the page. Then—BAM!—a spike behind his eyes. He dropped the charcoal.

  A girl's voice, close as breath: "Leo!..." Giggle. Gone.

  The pain vanished. He blinked at the empty room. "…Hello?"

  Door creaked. Caden poked his head in, grinning. "Wanna spend some time in village, champ?" Leo shoved the voice into a corner of his skull. "Race you to the gate."

  Village walks were half lesson, half parade. Everyone waved at Caden like he was the mayor and the sheriff rolled into one.

  "Why's everybody likes you this much?" Leo asked, kicking a pebble. "Dad's the muscle," Caden said, ruffling silver hair that matched Leo's. "I keep the goblins polite."

  "Celebrity," Leo muttered. "Got it."

  Then they got home on dusk and saw Selene in the doorway, arms crossed, eyebrow cocked. "Really? All day?" Caden's grin went sheepish. "We… trained?" "Trained your mouths, maybe. I heard you gossiping with Old Marta for twenty minutes." Leo hid behind his dad's leg. "I learned a new parry!" "Great. You can parry the broom tomorrow. Whole house."

  Leo groaned so loud the neighbor's dog barked.

  'This world is weird as compare to my old one but still I like it' Leo thought.

  Training got weird fast.

  Caden expected baby steps. Leo took leaps.

  Six months in, Leo blocked every practice swing, his movement and timing of swinging the sword was actually pretty good. As if he understanding the mechanics of sword. But the issue is that. This can only be understand if there's a mature guy but Leo isn't mature. At least that's what Caden and Selene thinks.

  —clack, clack, clack—wood on wood, no misses. Caden's jaw dropped.

  "You're five." "I know," Leo said, shrugging. "One-two-block."

  Selene watched him light a candle with a finger-snap, then heal the blister it left. "Kid, you're either talented or ....." She wasn't able to continue more as she's also confuse. "I am just doing my best," Leo said.

  At night he lay awake, palms open, feeling the two sleeping things inside him stir like cats in a bag.

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  'Echoes. Void.' 'Soon enough I will be able to take control on them and once I mastered them. Then I'll be able to live a prosperous life.'

  For now, he had chores, sword forms, and a mom who threatened to make him scrub the privy with a toothbrush if he skipped spelling practice.

  Good enough.

  Leo was getting good and good.

  He'd parry Caden's strikes before the man even finished the wind-up. Five years old, wooden sword, and he moved like he'd been drilling for a decade. Caden kept upping the speed, half-joking, half-confusing.

  "You holding out on me, kid? Secret coach in the woods?"

  Leo just grinned, sweat flicking off his silver bangs. "Nah. I am just training hard."

  'After all, I have some experience with karate from my past life. I never mastered it, but that training is actually proving to be a huge help in this world,' Leo thought.

  Selene watched from the porch, arms folded, pride and worry doing a weird dance in her eyes. 'Too soon,' she kept thinking. 'I mean how is Leo is learning everything this fast? That's Way too soon. Is there any...............'

  One afternoon Caden decided to stop pretending.

  "Alright, Leo. Real swing. Dodge or eat dirt."

  Leo tightened his grip. "So what was it before ? Anyway finally."

  Caden blurred. Not practice-speed—this was hunter-speed, the kind that carved goblins in half. The blade came down like a falling tree.

  Leo's brain short-circuited. 'What the that's too fast—'

  He tripped over his own feet, butt hitting grass. The sword arced straight at his face.

  Caden twisted at the last second—thunk!—blade buried in the dirt an inch from Leo's ear.

  Selene was already sprinting, scooping him up like he weighed nothing. "Caden, what the hell?!"

  "Relax," Caden panted, yanking the sword free. "I pulled it. Kid needed to know the difference between sparring and *real*."

  Leo sat there, heart jackhammering, staring at the divot in the ground. "That was actually dangerous"

  Caden barked a laugh. "It's just a beginning. Just remember—real fights don't wait for you to blink."

  Leo whispered to Selene, "Dad's insane."

  She hugged him tighter. "That's just how he is."

  A shadow fell over the garden gate.

  Fancy boots, silk cloak, sword that probably cost more than the house. The guy strolled in like he owned the breeze.

  Caden's face split into a grin. "No way."

  They clasped forearms like they were trying to break each other's wrists.

  Leo tugged Caden's sleeve. "Who's the shiny guy?"

  "Kael. Capital hero. Saved my ass once upon a Demon Lord."

  Kael crouched, eye-level with Leo. "Heard you're a little monster with a stick. Keep it up, you'll give me a run for my gold."

  Leo's brain stuck in a single thought. 'A real hero. Here. Talking to me?.' He was confused but also surprised. He tried to stay calm and some thoughts came in his mind.

  'So, this man is a hero who is respected by everyone.' Leo thought.

  Inside, over stew and too much bread, Kael told the story.

  "Demon Lord torched half a province. I'm trading blows with the bastard, but civilians are screaming, buildings collapsing. I can't be everywhere."

  He jabbed a thumb at Caden. "This idiot runs into the fire. Drags kids out of cellars, hauls grandmas over his shoulder, keeps the whole damn town from turning to ash while I play pin-the-sword-on-the-demon."

  Caden shrugged, cheeks red. "Somebody had to."

  Kael snorted. "Yeah, somebody. You saved more lives than my fancy goddess blessing that day."

  Leo stared at his dad like he'd grown a second head. "You… ran into the fire?"

  "Somebody had to," Caden repeated, quieter.

  'I never thought that this guy Caden could do something so brave and powerful' Leo thought.

  Later, Selene cornered Leo by the door.

  "Go play in the village. Inside the flower fence. No river. No slimes. No poking Old Garon's goats."

  Leo's chest puffed. Freedom! He took one heroic step—

  "AND IF ANYTHING HAS MORE THAN TWO LEGS AND NO FACE, YOU RUN!" Selene yelled after him.

  He froze mid-strut. Turned back with the driest smile a five-year-old could muster.

  "Yes, Warden."

  She flicked an ice pebble at his butt as he scurried off.

  Under his breath 'Dad's a lunatic. Mom's a fortress. And I'm the one who's gotta adult.'

  He hopped the flower fence anyway.

  Adventure awaited. Probably. As long as it stayed on this side of the petunias.

  The ground beneath his feet was the dry, brown soil of a village path. On both sides, wooden barricades lined the way, held together by thick steel ropes. To his left, beyond the fence, lay a field of grass—not too long, but not too short. In the distance, the land simply vanished into the sky, revealing that the entire village was perched high on a mountain.

  To Leo's right, there were small houses and vast fields of golden wheat where villagers were busy harvesting. As he continued straight, the barricades on the right side began to gap, creating openings for people to head deeper into the fields. Leo didn’t turn; he kept his pace steady.

  Finally, he saw houses appearing on his left side as well. They were packed closely together, likely because the land was running out as the mountain reached its edge. Leo took it all in, a single thought forming in his mind...

  'Hmm, so that means my house is at the corner of the entire village, and it’s probably the closest one to the mountain’s edge.'

  As he continued straight, many houses began to appear on both his right and left. There were many alleys—or rather, the narrow gaps between the houses created small alleys. Now, there were many barricades opening up on both sides.

  Finally, Leo was about to turn to his left, because the houses on the right had suddenly become fewer, marking the end of the village's right side. At the very last moment, he spotted a tree on his right.