Commander had dismissed me for the day.
Now, I lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling, my thoughts circling endlessly around his words.
I didn't show it in front of him, but he was wrong.
The path of god… He called those SSS-ranked awakened gods. To him, that was the peak. The ultimate end of the path. He wasn't the only one—almost everyone believed it. Even those who stood at that rank themselves thought they had reached the absolute limit of power.
But they were wrong.
So very wrong.
A low laugh slipped from my lips. If only they knew. The real monsters—the true gods—were still out there. Beings who had shattered every limit, who stood beyond everything this world believed in.
In front of them, even a peak SSS-ranked awakened was nothing more than a child waving a wooden sword.
For now, they were occupied. But the day they descended upon this world… only one thing would follow.
Destruction.
And nothing no hero, not those SSS rank individuals, not even the so-called protagonist would be able to stop it.
That was why I had to work harder. Why I couldn't afford to rest.
As those thoughts churned in my chest, a dark, guttural sound echoed inside my head.
Hahaha…
Noctharion's laughter.
His laughter echoed in my head—low, mocking, like chains dragging through the void.
Kael… do you really believe what that commander said?
I clenched my fists but stayed silent. I couldn't answer him. I couldn't reveal what I knew—what even Noctharion himself had never discovered.
The voice grew smoother, darker, curling around my thoughts like smoke.
Do not worry. Those men, those so-called ranks, they are not the limit. I have fought beings far stronger than them… and I crushed them. The true power lies beyond their mortal chains. I had reached it… or was close to it.
My chest tightened as his certainty pressed down on me.
So fret not, Kael. You have me. My knowledge. My guidance. With me, you won't just catch up to them—you will surpass them. You will stand above them all.
"So don't lose hope. Don't bury your pride.
I am bound to you—me, the most prideful being in this world.
As long as I walk with you, your pride will never be beneath anyone else's."
The most prideful being—he calls himself that.
Huh. That's the point… though I'm not sure I'd call it true. Well… maybe in his own twisted way.
I know why he's telling me all this. He's worried I'll start doubting myself, feeling crushed under the weight of what's ahead. So, he talks like this—loud, arrogant, absolute. And maybe… just maybe… it works.
"Yes, I know, Noctharion," I muttered, voice low but steady. "We will never bow to anyone."
Yes, his voice rumbled back inside me, filled with that endless pride. And we will make everyone bow to us.
I sat on my bed, legs crossed, and let the flow of mana move through me.
Two months of endless practice had shaped me. What once felt heavy and wild now moved calm and steady—like waves rolling across a quiet ocean. Each cycle was smoother than the last. Each breath, easier.
I opened my eyes when I heard his voice.
Kael.
Noctharion stood there, his presence as suffocating as ever. His deep tone carried weight, like the world itself listened when he spoke.
"You've grown accustomed to pure mana," he said. "You can command it freely now. That much is clear."
I allowed myself a faint smirk. "So… what's next?"
His crimson gaze sharpened, and I knew whatever came would not be simple.
"Mana sense," he said.
Mana Sense.
My eyes widened the moment the word left his lips.
I knew what it was. Of course I did. This was the very skill the protagonist of this world would one day obtain—the one that carried him through countless battles, the skill that turned certain death into survival, again and again. One of his trump cards.
But it wasn't some common ability. It was high-grade. Even that bastard had to claw his way to it, only awakening the skill when he reached SS-rank. Years of blood, sweat, and desperate struggle before he finally earned it.
And now… Noctharion wanted to teach me. Me, a mere D- rank nobody.
Could he even do that? Could the skill he passed down truly match the one that future bastard wielded?
…No. Maybe not.
But even if Noctharion's version was weaker—even if it was a mere shadow of the original—it was still insanely valuable.
If I could learn this now, it would change everything.
This skill could become my blade, my shield, my chance to stand against the tides of fate that had already begun closing in.
I forced myself to calm down and reached out to Noctharion in my mind.
"Mana Sense… what exactly is it?" I asked.
His voice echoed with that usual calm weight.
"It is the ability to perceive mana around you."
"Perceive?" I repeated, feigning ignorance. Of course, I knew the skill existed, but I couldn't reveal that. I had to act like I was clueless.
"Yes. Mana Sense helps you connect yourself to the mana in your surroundings. It allows you to feel, detect, and even interpret the flow of mana within your range. The more proficient you become, the wider and sharper your senses will grow. At its peak… nothing can hide from you. That is why it is one of the most important skills you must master, Kael."
I exhaled slowly. As I thought… the description is exactly the same as that skill.
"Alright then… teach me," I said.
I could almost see the smirk in his voice when he answered.
"That's what I intend to do."
"The first step is simple. You must learn to feel the mana around you. That much, at least, should come easily to you. Now… close your eyes, Kael. Forget your body. Forget your surroundings. Just try to feel it. The flow of mana."
I closed my eyes, steadying my breath. My heart drummed, not from fear this time, but from anticipation.
Alright… mana, show yourself.
At first it's harder than I expected. I can feel the mana around me, but I have no idea how to connect to it. I try to force it—reach, grab, drag it into myself—but Noctharion's voice cuts through my concentration.
"No, Kael. Don't force it. Let it come to you. Let the mana do the work."
I stop struggling and just wait. At first nothing happens. Then, slowly, a sensation builds—like a tide rolling in. Light gathers around me, and with it a color I don't have words for. It's not red or blue, not black or white. It's something unique, as if it refuses to be compared to anything in the world.
Noctharion's voice rings in my head. "Yes. Now you can see it. This is pure mana—the thing you've been trying to grasp for the last two months."
Pure mana. It clicks into place. Elements have their colors—fire burns red, wind runs pale as silver, Liana's light was gold—but this is the mana in its rawest form. It's everywhere, he says. Even where one element dominates, pure mana still underlies everything. That's why this skill matters.
"Now try to increase your range," Noctharion said, his calm voice carrying a weight that demanded obedience.
I closed my eyes and focused, pushing my awareness outward just as he instructed. The world around me shifted.
The table… the chair… even the bed. Each object pulsed faintly with a rhythm I had never noticed before. The floor beneath my feet thrummed as if alive, its veins running with a current invisible to ordinary eyes.
Mana.
It was everywhere. In wood, in stone, in air. I could feel it breathing, flowing, stretching into every corner of the room.
For a moment, the world looked different—like a living organism stitched together by threads of light.
I pushed my range further, and at that moment—I could see it. I could feel it.
The knights scattered across the quarters, each radiating a different flow of mana. Their natures bled into the air like faint trails of smoke.
Then, to the side, my eyes caught something overwhelming.
A blinding silver brilliance. A light so fierce that every other presence around it seemed pale, insignificant.
The commander.
He stood there, shining brighter than anyone else—like a star that swallowed all others.
Now you're seeing through the eyes of mana, Noctharion's voice echoed within me. But this is not yet perfect. You must learn to narrow your sight… to focus. Only then will you uncover the secrets buried in the flow of mana.
His words cut through the haze. I forced myself to stop. Slowly, I closed the vision, and when I opened my eyes again, the brilliance was gone. I was back in the dim room, sitting on the bed.
Mana Sense… incredible, yet dangerous.
Right now, my mastery over it was pitiful—raw and unshaped. It would take time to wield it properly.
For now, all I could do was drown myself in it, swim deeper into the currents until I learned to move without losing myself. Only through practice—endless, relentless practice—could I refine this power and learn to feel not just mana, but the truths hidden beneath it.
Noctharion's voice echoed in my mind, deep and steady.
"By learning Mana Sense, you will see the secrets of mana. Nothing will be hidden from you. You will see the shapes, the threads, the intricate weavings of spells cast by others. And with your pure mana, you can seize control of them—bend them, unravel them—so long as they are not far beyond your level."
My heart skipped a beat.
Control… of another's spell?
If what Noctharion said was true, then I could strip away an enemy's magic with a single thought. I could turn their greatest weapon into nothing—an illusion that vanished before it ever reached me.
The possibilities made my blood rush.
Yes… yes. If I could master this, then no sorcery, no flame or shadow hurled against me, would ever touch me.
Mana Sense wasn't just a skill.
It was a weapon sharper than any blade.