The sun rose over the mountain academy, painting the stone buildings in soft orange light. From his small window, Vorn watched the other students walk to their first classes. They laughed and talked about magic lessons and new skills.
They moved with the easy confidence of people walking a well-known path.
Vorn's path felt like it had ended.
He looked at his hands, the bruises from his fight now fading to a sickly yellow. His shoulder, though healed by Master Hajime's arts, still ached with a deep, stubborn pain. But the real pain was in his mind.
This is a waste of time, the thought came, cold and clear. It was not an angry decision, but a simple calculation. The academy taught magic and standard fighting skills. His body could not use magic.
His mind already knew the skills. Every day spent here was a day he was not getting stronger. A day his enemies were moving forward while he stood still.
He picked up his communication device and called Master Li. The old man's face appeared on the screen, his expression one of mild surprise.
"Vorn? Shouldn't you be in class?"
"Master Li," Vorn began, his voice steady despite the whirlwind in his head. "I need to get stronger, faster. This school cannot help me, I need real battle. Please, can you sign me up for the dungeon raids?"
Master Li's kind face grew serious. He sighed. "Vorn, I understand your frustration. But it is not so simple. The family controls those licenses. For me to get you one, I would have to argue with many resistant elders. It would take a very long time. And it is too dangerous for you to go alone."
Vorn had already guessed this would be the answer. His mind had run the probabilities.
Master Li continued, his voice lowering. "It is better for you to stay with your sister. Do not come home. If the main family sees you actively trying to become stronger, they might see you as a future problem. They might try to... stop you. We do not know what tricks they might use."
"I understand," Vorn said. He had already planned for this. "I will stay with Seren."
After the call ended, the silence in his room felt heavy. His plan was set. He would leave this place and find his own way.
---
His new room at his sister's apartment was small and simple, but it was private. He had turned one corner into a makeshift lab. Books on magic theory, human biology, and potion-making were stacked high on the floor. Empty vials and measuring tools sat on the desk.
Vorn's new research had begun. He had realized a terrible truth after his defeat: his body's adaptation had its limits. He could feel it—a growing resistance, a slight hardening that wasn't there when he first started training.
His muscles were getting stronger, but slower. What would happen when they stopped completely? The thought of being weak again, of being helpless, was a nightmare he could not accept.
He wanted to evolve. He wanted his cells to not just be strong, but to be able to use magic like the others. He refused to have a ceiling over his power.
He started with potions. He bought a cheap, low-level mana potion, the kind beginner Awakeners used, he drank it. His body, perfect and efficient, absorbed the tiny bit of energy that was useful for physical strength and simply… discarded the rest. It was like trying to fill a cup with water, but the cup had a hole that let all the water out. It was useless.
Frustration grew inside him, a cold, tight feeling in his chest. He saved his money for months, eating cheap food, until he could afford a small, low-level rune stone. It was supposed to grant a minor skill. He held the glowing stone in his hand, focusing all his will on it.
Nothing happened.
The energy from the stone touched his body and then… faded away. It was like his very cells were rejecting it, refusing to accept something that was not purely physical. The expensive stone became just a dull, grey rock.
Why? he thought, almost throwing the stone against the wall. Why can't I do this? His perfect mind could analyze the problem, but it could not find a solution. He read stories of others who had tried and failed to mix paths. The books gave him no answers.
Days turned into weeks. His physical training continued, and the feeling of resistance grew stronger. He low-key started regretting his choice of the Adaptation path. It was powerful in short bursts, but for the long term, it felt like a dead end.
He sighed, running a hand through his hair. The silence of the room was broken by a sound from the living room.
Thump, scrape.
He walked out to see his sister, Seren. Her face was tight with concentration. She was holding onto the edge of the couch, her knuckles white. Slowly, trembling with effort, she lifted one foot. She tried to take a step. Her leg shook violently, and she fell back onto the cushions with a soft grunt of disappointment.
But a moment later, she tried again.
Vorn watched, frozen. She failed again. And again. Each time, she gathered her strength to try once more. Her progress was painfully slow, but it was progress. She was facing a wall far higher than his, and she was not giving up.
Another thought hit him, hard. Even Seren is trying her best. What am I doing?
He remembered the attacker's cold, bored voice from the recording: "He's no threat." The words still stung, but they were the truth. Right now, he wasn't.
But as he watched his sister's incredible will, something shifted inside him. His frustration melted away, replaced by a new, calm determination.
He had been asking the wrong question. He had been asking how to get magic.
A deeper, more powerful question formed in his mind.
In his old world, all of this—magic, systems, skills—was just fantasy, stories in books. But here, it was real. People accepted it. So… what is reality? What makes one thing real and another thing not? What are the rules that decide how this world truly works?
If he could understand that, maybe he could find a way to write his own rules.
He didn't need to follow the path of others. He would find his own. And it would start not with a potion or a rune, but with a question.