One month had passed since Kael's world was destroyed, where he should have died like everyone else… he had instead been transported to this unknown world.
From atop a cliff, Kael Virent watched a group of armed men below. They looked like mercenaries… or perhaps bandits.
"One month…" he muttered quietly. "And this is the first time I've seen human."
When he first appeared in this world, the first emotion he felt was shock and disbelief.
He should have been dead, but instead, he was lying in the grass—alive. Even his lost arm and the injuries on his body were completely healed.
As time passed, confusion filled his mind.
He could see strange particles floating in the air around him. At first, he didn't understand the meaning of these particles.
He noticed that even his physique felt different—stronger and more flexible.
Things that used to exhaust him quickly now felt easy, like he could do ten times more… or even more than that.
His body felt lighter, and his senses had become sharper. He could notice even the smallest things—a tiny bug, or a falling leaf.
While he was walking through the unknown forest, searching for anything useful or information, he encountered a large white wolf with two horns.
At first, he was shocked. He never imagined a creature like this could exist—something he had only ever read about in fantasy novels.
"What the—!"
Before he could finish, the big wolf noticed Kael. Its mouth opened wide, sharp fangs bared as it immediately rushed toward him, ready to devour him.
Kael immediately dodged the large wolf, but he was thrown back and hit a tree with great force. He still hadn't adapted to his own strength.
"Ugh—! I don't know where this strength came from, and I still can't control it. Damn it!"
He stood up, while observing the large wolf.
"I think it's useless to run from it. It's faster than me. I barely managed to avoid it because my instincts have become sharper."
The big wolf rushed again, but this time it was even faster. It opened its massive mouth wide, fangs ready to devour him.
Kael dodged again, but a sharp fang grazed his chest. He had underestimated the wolf's intelligence.
Now its tail came sweeping toward him—there was no time to evade it.
"Shit!"
He was thrown back and slammed into a tree. The impact was so strong that the tree couldn't withstand it—it shattered on contact, and Kael crashed hard onto the ground.
Blood spilled from his mouth and head as he lay there, struggling to breathe.
"Ugh… ugh… I'm really this weak… Even with a second chance, I'm still weak."
Then he remembered his mother's smile and her words.
Follow your own desire, and don't give up—no matter what.
And his goal… and his promise to kill every creature involved in the destruction of his world.
He twitched his hand, his teeth clenched tightly, his body trembling as he forced himself to move.
"I won't die here… my goal is beyond anything they can imagine… to kill the gods!!!"
The big wolf lunged toward Kael, its mouth wide open, fangs ready to devour him.
Kael pushed his body at the last possible moment, rolling aside as the wolf crashed into the ground where he had been.
Dirt and stone exploded outward from the impact, dust everywhere.
He struggled to stand, his legs shaking violently, but his eyes no longer carried hesitation. The pain was still there—but it no longer stopped him.
"…Now I understand," he muttered to himself.
The wolf turned again, growling low, circling as it prepared another attack.
Kael lowered his stance, readying a powerful punch.
This time… he didn't run, his greenish eyes are glowing with determination.
He Realized
These particles are not random—this is part of his own power. They can form lines, guiding him toward clean hits and easier evasion.
He could also see it now—its structure, its internal flow, even its weaknesses, the wolf's main source of power came from its horns.
The wolf's muscles tensed—and Kael knew.
A lunge—slightly to the left. Jaws aimed to tear through his entire body. Its weight shifted too early on the rear leg.
A mistake.
A flaw.
A path.
The drifting particles aligned, forming invisible lines that traced the wolf's movement before it even happened.
His heart pounded violently, this wasn't instinct, it wasn't thought.
It was something deeper—something that revealed.
Every motion. Every weakness. Every outcome, something that stripped the world down to what it truly was.
1st Stage of Awakening: The "Truth."
Kael moved without hesitation. His eyes were calm, and in them, the wolf seemed to slow down.
He followed the lines formed by the particles.
The wolf lunged—and missed.
Kael was already beside its head. He threw a powerful punch, the impact shattering part of the wolf's skull.
Yet the wolf was still alive, only stunned for a moment.
Kael noticed his chance while the wolf was momentarily frozen. He jumped onto its head and grabbed one of its horns, pulling it upward with all his strength.
With a sharp tear, the horn ripped free. The wolf went berserk from the pain, blood pouring from its head as it thrashed violently. Kael barely managed to stay on his feet.
He quickly grabbed the remaining horn, and with it in his hand, he thrust it into the wolf's eye.
The wolf let out a deafening howl, its body convulsing violently as blood poured from its eye.
It thrashed wildly, shaking the ground as it tried to throw Kael off, but he held on, barely keeping his balance.
Kael's breathing was ragged, his arms trembling from exhaustion.
But he didn't let go.
Not yet.
He pulled out the other horn with all his strength and thrust it into the wolf's head.
He was thrown backward by the force, but he landed perfectly—because even potential movements, he could now see.
He watched the wolf grow weaker and weaker, thrashing wildly, its body shaking violently.
Then it collapsed, falling lifeless.
He looked at his hand.
"Hm… this is the Truth? I think this isn't its full potential. I can still add more strength in a fight."
The particles around him shifted slightly, as if responding to his thoughts.
Kael clenched his fist, feeling the strange power settle deeper within him.
Then he felt slightly dizzy.
"I'm dizzy? Side effects…?"
He realized he could see the particles floating above him again.
"!? So these particles consume mental strength… So there's a limit."
Kael steadied himself, placing a hand against a nearby tree as his vision blurred for a moment, the particles around him dimmed, their glow fading like dying embers.
"So I can't rely on it for long…" he muttered.
He glanced at the fallen wolf, then back at his trembling hand.
"…Then I'll just have to get stronger."
He flexed his hand, then looked up at the blue sky—like there was an invisible barrier stretching across it.
"Strong enough to kill those bastard gods… even if it's impossible…"
He realized something.
If that large wolf existed here, then magic must exist too.
He closed his eyes and focused, trying to feel it. An unseen energy stirred around him, faint but present, as if the air itself was alive.
"All I know about magic is that it needs mana… or some kind of energy to use," he muttered. "But the problem is… I only know this from webnovels. Not from real experience."
The particles drifted around him once more—faint, quiet, waiting.
Kael raised his hand, focusing, as if shaping something in his mind, forming it purely through imagination without chanting.
"Let's see… how this works."
He remembered what happened with the wolf earlier. When it tried to devour Kael, he had seen it absorbing an unseen energy through its horn.
But Kael was different.
He shifted his focus. Instead of relying on an external medium, he used his own body. Thanks to his extraordinary physical condition, he could now easily sense the energy around him.
He absorbed it and focused on his hand, trying to shape it into an element using his imagination.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then suddenly, a tiny flame appeared in his palm.
"Seriously… magic really exists here. Haha."
A theory flashed through his mind. Then he pushed more energy into his hands, Instantly, a massive burst of fire erupted in his palm.
"Huh!?"
The flame roared for a moment, then stabilized, swirling in his hand.
Kael stared at it, stunned—but quickly tightened his control, forcing it to obey his will.
The fire steadied, no longer chaotic.
Kael slowly clenched his fist, and the flames followed his control, tightening and shaping in his hand.
He didn't celebrate too early, because he knew the massive burst of flame would attract other creatures.
Instead, a hint of fear and panic lingered beneath his excitement. Still, he couldn't help but feel a surge of joy—this was his first real step toward becoming strong.
"Finally… I can test my new power."