The room was unusually quiet.

Levia was finally resting peacefully after everything that had happened, while Doran and Yasmin had gone to take care of their own work.

As for Valen...

He had disappeared somewhere the moment they returned.

Which left Qasim alone.

"..."

He stood in the middle of the room for a moment before suddenly remembering something.

"I seriously need to start writing all of this down before I forget."

There was simply too much information.

Kingdoms.

Races.

Power paths.

Magic.

Alchemy.

If he didn’t organize everything now, he was certain half of it would become a complete mess inside his head.

After searching around for a few minutes, he managed to find several empty notebooks and a pen.

He placed them on the table.

"Six paths..."

"Six notebooks."

"Perfect."

He wrote a title on a spare piece of paper.

The Six Power Paths

Then he placed each notebook beside it.

Magic.

Alchemy.

Maker.

Irada.

Nahr’Keth.

Finna.

He stared at them for a few seconds.

"...Let’s start with the ones I know absolutely nothing about."

He picked up the notebook labeled Finna.

After thinking for almost a minute, he finally wrote.

Finna

- Discovered by the elven race.

- Fourth Century.

...

"That’s literally all I know."

He sighed before closing the notebook.

Next came Nahr’Keth.

Nahr’Keth

- Discovered by the vampire race.

- Fourth Century.

- It’s about using runes?

"..."

He quietly put it aside before opening the third notebook.

Irada

This time he actually had something to write.

- Created by the Beastkin.

- Sixth Century.

- Uses the power of life energy gathered through meditation.

He tapped the pen against the table.

"That’s about it."

Closing the notebook again, he reached for the next one.

Maker

- Created by humans.

- Seventh Century.

- Makers manipulate the properties of objects by weaving invisible threads.

- The same technique can even be applied to living beings.

- Their eyes change while using their powers?

"...Sounds useful."

He closed it and looked toward the remaining two notebooks.

These were the ones he knew the most about.

He opened Alchemy first.

Alchemy

- The oldest power path.

- Created by ancient humans during the First Century.

"It has two main processes."

"The first one is called Magnum Opus, or the Great Work."

"It focuses on creating supernatural materials by combining ordinary ingredients."

"Basically..."

"...making impossible things possible."

He nodded to himself before continuing.

"The second process is called Unleash."

"An alchemist drinks one of five Unleash potions."

"After that, they become an Unleash user belonging to that Type."

"Each Type has seven Evolutions."

"But..."

He frowned.

"They’re ranked from Seven to One."

"...Whoever came up with that ranking probably enjoyed confusing people."

A small smile appeared on his face before he finished the page.

Finally...

He opened the last notebook.

Magic

- Created by humans during the Second Century after evolving Alchemy.

Unlike the others, this page quickly filled with words.

Mana.

Mana Blocks.

Mana Blockchain.

Mana Engine.

Spells.

Unlike Alchemy, Magic didn’t rely on creating anything.

Instead, everything revolved around controlling mana inside the body before shaping it into different spells.

By the time he finished writing...

He leaned back in his chair.

"..."

"So that’s everything I know."

Looking at the six notebooks lined up in front of him, Qasim couldn’t help feeling that the world had suddenly become much easier to understand.

Even then...

There were still far more blank pages than filled ones.

Just as he was putting the notebooks away...

The door opened.

Valen walked inside while stretching his arms.

"There you are."

Qasim immediately stood up.

"Oh, perfect!"

"I wanted to ask you something."

Valen glanced toward the notebooks.

"Hm?"

"Already studying?"

"I figured I’d forget everything otherwise."

Valen chuckled.

"Not a bad habit."

Qasim scratched the back of his head.

"Actually..."

"When I was leaving Team Two..."

"Aurora mentioned something called Awakening."

"What exactly is that?"

Valen looked at him for a moment.

Instead of answering...

He asked his own question.

"Tell me first."

"Why do you think there aren’t many people with supernatural powers?"

Qasim answered almost immediately.

"Because the information about them is kept secret?"

Valen smiled.

"A good answer."

"But think about it."

"Can knowledge really stay hidden forever?"

He slowly walked toward the window.

"Take the village we saved yesterday."

"Were they completely ignorant about the supernatural?"

Qasim immediately remembered the mayor’s reaction.

He already knew monsters existed.

He knew strange incidents happened.

He simply didn’t understand them.

"...No."

"They weren’t completely ignorant."

"Exactly."

Valen turned back toward him.

"So..."

"Why?"

Silence filled the room.

Qasim lowered his head.

"...Then why?"

Valen picked up one of the notebooks.

"The maximum a normal person can achieve..."

"...is exactly what’s written here."

He gently tapped the notebook.

"Knowledge."

"You can learn how Magic works."

"You can memorize every stage of Alchemy."

"You can even understand the theory behind all six power paths."

He placed the notebook back onto the table.

"But you’ll still be nothing more than an ordinary human."

Qasim’s expression slowly changed.

"So..."

"Learning isn’t enough?"

Valen shook his head.

"No."

"If someone truly wishes to walk a Path..."

"They must first cross the line separating ordinary people from those who wield power."

He raised a single finger.

"The First Step."

"It has many names."

"Some call it Mahik."

"Some simply call it The First Step."

"Others call it Awakening."

Valen smiled.

"It is where every true journey begins."

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