Chapter 4

Posted by Kuze, ? Views, Released on January 22, 2025

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Chapter 2. Heading to the Academy

1.

It had been half a year since returning to the past.

The prairie was covered in snow, turning it white. It meant winter had arrived. Due to the fierce snowstorm, no one was wandering around.

Except for one person: Ulan.

He walked briskly, holding a sharply honed axe, heading toward the deep forest beyond the prairie.

‘Today, I have something to do.’

One of the lingering regrets from his past life.

It was the dawn of the third day, at the tail end of winter, just before sunrise. A certain ‘beast’ from deep within the forest had once attacked the village.

At that time, Ulan had been out hunting.

So, the warriors left in the village banded together to fight the beast. They barely managed to stop it, but the village was left in ruins.

And in the process.

Ulan’s older brother, Ark, lost his life.

‘I can’t let my brother die again.’

Ark was his only sibling.

He had a reason to live no matter what.

He had to take on the role of the clan leader in Ulan’s place. That way, Ulan could naturally be freed from the duties of the clan leader and pursue his goals with peace of mind.

Just after arriving deep in the forest.

He deliberately walked without hiding his presence.

To provoke the beast, he smashed trees as he went. Swinging his axe and causing chaos.

Then, he felt a gaze from afar.

A powerful enemy emanating from within.

He immediately turned his gaze.

Boom! Thud! Boom!

The ground rumbled loudly.

A pungent smell of blood wafted through the shaking wind. Ulan stared straight ahead with unwavering eyes.

It was a massive beast.

Its size was as large as a boulder, with two pairs of horns on its head and six legs.

‘The forest guardian, Gtooh.’

A spirit that had lived for centuries.

But now, its appearance was far from that of a guardian or spirit.

Eyes filled with hostility.

A mouth smeared with blood and flesh, as if it had greedily devoured something. An evil aura rising from its entire body.

There’s a special term for such a beast.

‘Demon Beast.’

A Demon Beast refers to a creature whose original magic power has gone berserk or been consumed by evil forces.

And once a beast becomes a Demon Beast, there’s no way to return it to its original state. The only mercy is to kill it as quickly as possible.

The moment he silently gripped his axe.

“Grrr! Kraaak!”

With a roar, the beast charged at him.

A chaotic charge. Smashing through all obstacles with its horns, it reached Ulan in an instant.

But Ulan wasn’t one to go down easily.

He kicked off a tree like a flying squirrel and leapt into the air. Grabbing onto the beast’s horns, he immediately swung his axe.

Clang! Crack!

It was tough. The axe bit in slightly, but it wasn’t enough. Then, the beast thrashed wildly, likely trying to shake Ulan off.

But Ulan didn’t budge.

Still holding onto the horns, Ulan pulled out the axe. Then, gripping the axe tightly, his eyes flashed red.

At that moment.

Whooosh!

The axe trembled violently.

In an instant, the axe turned bright red.

‘Spirit.’

A technique only those who have proven themselves as warriors can use. By raising their killing intent and fighting spirit, they infuse their latent mental energy into their weapon, enhancing its durability and cutting power.

If you only hear this much, it might sound like a special power, but in reality, Spirit isn’t much different from the energy called ‘Mana’ outside the prairie.

In other words, the reddish light enveloping Ulan’s axe was also strengthened by Mana. Just like the Mana Swords used by knights outside the prairie.

‘This should be enough…’

To tear through its hide.

Ulan brought the red axe down with full force.

Crunch! Squelch!

The tough hide was sliced cleanly.

The axe blade tore through the flesh and severed the spine in one blow. Gtooh’s head soon dangled from its body.

A completely severed head.

Yet, Gtooh didn’t die.

“Kraaaah!”

A bizarre scene unfolded as the fallen head let out a scream. The headless body thrashed wildly, trying to shake Ulan off.

‘To kill a Demon Beast, you must remove its core.’

The source of its power and magic.

Only by finding and removing or completely destroying the core hidden somewhere in its body can a Demon Beast truly meet its end.

That’s why witches, sorcerers, or mages are essential in battles against Demon Beasts. To locate the core, one must sense the flow of magic.

But Ulan’s method was different.

He didn’t need a mage. No witch or sorcerer was necessary. All he needed was a weapon capable of cutting through flesh and breaking bones.

‘I’ll just keep cutting until the core comes out.’

After making this brute decision.

Ulan swung his axe like a madman.

Thud! Crack! Squelch!

A scene reminiscent of a slaughterhouse.

The once-revered spirit, now a Demon Beast, began to be dismantled like a mere piece of meat. It screamed and flailed, but it was no use.

Not long after.

The Demon Beast’s body was reduced to hundreds of pieces. Ulan, drenched in blood, stood up.

“Found it.”

He said with a stoic tone.

The core was in the beast’s fifth leg.

More precisely, it was embedded deep within the thick thigh muscle. Grabbing it, Ulan ripped it out, and the Demon Beast immediately stopped moving.

‘Now, with this…’

Ark won’t die.

Ulan smiled with satisfaction.

Then, he looked at the Demon Beast’s core in his hand.

A pulsating, bright red lump of flesh, throbbing like a living heart. Ulan brought it to his mouth without hesitation.

And bit into it.

Crunch! Munch!

A gluttonous feast began.

If a mage from outside the prairie had seen this, they would’ve been horrified.

A Demon Beast’s core is a chaotic mass of magic power. Absorbing it without refining it could grant immense power, but the risk of going berserk was equally high.

‘If I can’t suppress the rampage…’

Only two outcomes awaited. Either he’d die, bleeding from every pore, or he’d be consumed by the core and become a new Demon Beast.

Either way, it was a mad act.

Of course, Ulan devoured the entire core without a second thought.

Gulp!

As the gluttonous feast ended.

His entire body quickly heated up.

Sizzle! Hiss!

His body emitted such intense heat that it felt like it would melt anything it touched. The unstable magic power inside him began to run wild like a mad beast.

Yet, Ulan remained expressionless.

He skillfully suppressed the magic power.

Not through any fancy technique, but purely through sheer force.

In the process, his skin tore, and excruciating pain coursed through him, but Ulan endured it calmly.

How long had it been?

The rampaging magic power gradually subsided. Finally, after absorbing all the magic, Ulan let out a breath he had been holding.

“Huu…”

His gaze deepened.

Over the past half-year, Ulan had hunted Demon Beasts near the prairie and absorbed their cores. As a result, his Spirit had grown immensely powerful.

If anything, he was now on the verge of reaching the level of a Great Warrior. Outside the prairie, this level was known by a different name.

‘The Master’s Realm.’

A monster transcending ordinary humans.

In his past life, Ulan had stepped into the threshold of the Master’s Realm at the age of twenty-six. Now, at the tail end of sixteen, he had achieved the same feat.

A full ten years faster.

This was possible because he never neglected his training, using his seasoned experience to steadily build his Spirit.

After finishing his brief reminiscence.

Ulan opened his eyes.

“By the way, what should I do with that?”

His gaze turned to the scattered remains of the Demon Beast on the ground.

The beast’s teeth, horns, claws, and more.

They were tough, but not suitable for forging into weapons. In other words, they were useless to a warrior.

But for a sorcerer, it was different.

Those who wielded Mana often coveted the byproducts of Demon Beasts.

“I’ll give them to Ajuheuh.”

Having made up his mind.

Ulan turned around.

2.

After washing off the blood and flesh from his body, Ulan headed to Ajuheuh’s cabin. As usual, he sought her guidance.

‘I’ve learned a lot over the past half-year.’

For Ulan, delving into knowledge was an entirely new experience.

Perhaps that’s why he found joy in learning. With a newfound passion for academics, his eyes burned with determination.

‘What will I learn today?’

Ideally, he wanted to learn the knowledge required to enter the Arsen Academy. His personal goal was to enroll in the academy before turning twenty.

Lost in thought.

He soon arrived at the cabin.

Knock knock!

After knocking on the door.

He entered as usual.

But today, the atmosphere felt off.

“You’ve come, Ulan.”

A solemn expression and voice.

Her attire was different from usual. She wore the hide of a giant serpent. Ajuheuh only wore this for important matters or rituals.

Just as he was about to ask why.

“Hm? What’s that?”

Ajuheuh spoke first.

She seemed interested in the Demon Beast’s teeth and horns Ulan had brought. Since he intended to give them to her anyway, Ulan handed them over nonchalantly.

“I found them on the way.”

“What on earth did you find…?”

The dense aura of magic emanating from them was overwhelming. Ajuheuh picked up a tooth and was immediately shocked.

“T-This!”

It was understandable.

She had never seen a tooth with such a strong residual magic aura. The massive horn, too, was something that couldn’t possibly come from an ordinary Demon Beast.

All Demon Beasts have ranks.

Though the ranks were arbitrarily set by humans outside the prairie, they were surprisingly accurate, and Ajuheuh remembered them.

From 1-star to 9-star.

The higher the number, the stronger the Demon Beast. A 9-star Demon Beast was said to be on the level of a legendary monster.

‘Considering that, this horn…’

Was at least a 5-star Demon Beast.

Outside the prairie, it would take a knight order and a mage battalion to barely take down such a monster.

“Where on earth did you…?”

“Found it deep in the forest. I killed it before it could attack the clan.”

“A-Alone?”

“I didn’t need help for something like this.”

Ulan answered casually.