The morning arrived with a soft breeze and a sky veiled in wisps of gray.
Ji-hyeon woke before the rooster crowed, as he always did. But today… something felt different. The air was heavier. Tense. As if the village itself sensed change coming, though no one could name its source.
---
In the back field behind his house, Ji-hyeon sat cross-legged in the tall, unharvested grass. Eyes closed, he drew in a steady breath, letting his mind slip into the subtle streams of mana flowing beneath the surface of his young body.
> "Calm. Feel. Do not rush."
The silent mantra pulsed through his thoughts.
His mana was still unstable. But there was progress—tiny, slow, yet undeniably real. Enough to assure him that his path remained steady.
He did not chase power.
He was sculpting it, inch by inch.
---
As the sun rose higher, soft footsteps rustled through the nearby brush. Ji-hyeon slowly opened his eyes.
A boy stood there, perhaps two years older than Ji-hyeon, with messy black hair and curious eyes. In his hand, a small harvest tool glinted in the light.
> "You always sit here every morning. What are you doing?"
Ji-hyeon stared back calmly. "Listen. To the wind. You can learn more from the unspoken than the spoken."
The boy frowned. "You're weird."
> "I'm often told that," Ji-hyeon replied. "But sometimes, the weird ones are just… more honest."
---
It was the first time Ji-hyeon spoke with Baek Do-yun, a neighbor's son—one who would one day play a crucial role in his fate.
But for now, they were just two boys from different worlds, standing in the same field.
---
That evening, Ji-hyeon returned home with a body tired from training. But as he approached the small doorway, something shifted.
The world went silent.
No breeze. No birdsong. Even the grass ceased its sway.
> Wild mana...?
No… not mine—
From the edge of the twilight mist, a shape moved. Ji-hyeon's eyes narrowed. But in the blink of an eye, it vanished.
And the world returned.
The wind picked up. Crickets chirped. Life resumed.
But for Ji-hyeon, everything had changed.
---
Someone was watching him.
Or… something.
And this was only the beginning.