The river flowed calmly through the forest valley.
Its waters reflected the pale morning light as a group of murloc hunters moved silently among the reeds.
Their spears were ready.
Their eyes were sharp.
One of them suddenly froze.
"Over there."
The others followed his gaze.
On the opposite side of the river, a herd of horses lowered their heads to drink.
If a human saw them, they wouldn't notice anything strange. They were normal horses.
Brown fur.
Black manes.
Strong legs.
The murlocs exchanged glances and smiled.
They were perfect prey.
One of them murmured softly:
"Meat."
Within seconds, they moved.
The murloc hunters surrounded the herd from multiple directions, silently closing the distance.
When the first spear flew, chaos began.
The horses neighed in panic.
Water splashed.
Two of them were quickly captured with rope nets.
Another tried to run but slipped in the mud.
Soon the herd scattered into the forest.
After some time, the murlocs counted the captured prey.
Ten horses.
One of the hunters nodded with satisfaction.
"Good catch. We'll eat well tonight."
"Enough food for many days," another celebrated.
They began tying the animals together.
Many of these murlocs had not yet started formally training mana. Although they already knew how to open their mana veins, they had not succeeded yet.
If they had mana and mana sense, they might have noticed something strange about these animals.
None of them had mana in their bodies.
Later that morning.
César walked through the forest toward the river with Laura and several murloc, goblin, and pigman warriors following him as guards.
César had decided to visit the river. He almost never came to this conquered part of the territory. Usually only servants came here to collect water or exchange goods and food with the murlocs.
Not many murlocs had moved to his base. Only Laura and a small group had followed him.
Thanks to the mana vein, they had advanced in the mana system, although they were still somewhat behind in aura compared to the goblins and pigmen.
"You know, soon I'll expand my territory and build roads to formally connect the two territories," César commented while holding Laura's waist.
"It's a shame we still don't have mounts or transport animals. Everything would be much easier. And now that several pigmen have joined us, we could expand more, build more houses, move some goblins and pigmen, and start forming communities along the river."
"Darling, I—"
Laura suddenly paused.
She sniffed the air.
"My people are nearby," she said.
César nodded in understanding.
They weren't very far from the river, so it wasn't strange that murlocs were nearby.
"They're probably hunting."
Soon they reached the riverbank.
And there they saw them.
Ten horses tied to wooden stakes while the murlocs discussed how to butcher them.
César stopped walking.
His eyes narrowed.
Then suddenly widened.
"Horses?"
Laura frowned.
"What's wrong, darling? What is a horse?"
She was confused. She didn't understand César's reaction. In her opinion, there was nothing special about those animals.
If she had to point out something, it was that despite their size, they seemed strangely weak.
As if they had no mana.
César didn't respond immediately.
Instead, he focused.
He expanded his senses.
And confirmed his suspicion.
Those horses had no mana.
None at all.
His heart skipped a beat.
Laura noticed the change in his expression.
"What's wrong, darling?"
César slowly approached the animals.
When the murlocs saw him, they were surprised at first, but when they recognized their leader, they bowed respectfully.
César placed a hand near one of the horses.
'Common animals… in a continent where every animal has mana.'
Then suddenly—
A memory surfaced.
In the novel, one of the protagonists possessed a powerful mental ability.
During the story, that character discovered something strange.
A child who had no special power.
Except for one peculiarity.
He could summon a horse.
But it wasn't a magical beast.
It wasn't a special creature.
It was simply a normal horse.
The horse only existed while it was summoned.
The protagonist investigated and discovered that every time the child summoned it, his mental energy was consumed.
At first, the child could only maintain the summoning for a few seconds.
But with time…
As his mind became stronger…
He could summon the horse for hours.
The protagonist later investigated the creature's origin.
The child simply said:
"I found them while traveling with my parents to the Monster Continent."
But when the protagonist tried to find them…
It was already too late.
According to records and stories, they had gone extinct.
Humans and demon-humans had slaughtered them.
To them, they were just ordinary horses.
No one asked how normal animals could exist in a continent full of mana.
No one investigated.
And when someone finally did…
They were already gone.
César slowly inhaled.
'Then I found them…'
Laura crossed her arms.
"I see these animals surprised you a lot. Are you going to tell me what makes them special?"
César turned to her.
His eyes shone with excitement.
"They are more valuable than you can imagine."
The warriors exchanged confused glances.
"But they are just animals," Laura insisted.
César shook his head.
"These animals, my dear lady… are training tools."
The murlocs stepped aside as César approached the horses.
They had no mana.
No magical presence.
Nothing.
Completely ordinary.
And that was exactly what made them strange in this continent.
César made a small cut on the tip of his finger with his claws.
A drop of blood formed.
Laura frowned.
"What are you doing?"
César didn't respond.
He simply let the drop of blood fall.
It landed on the horse's forehead.
For a moment—
Nothing happened.
Then the horse's body trembled slightly.
A faint invisible connection formed.
The horse slowly dissolved into light.
And disappeared.
Laura's eyes widened.
"What—?!"
The warriors stared at the spot where the horse had been.
In shock.
César closed his eyes.
Inside his mind—
He felt it.
A calm presence waiting within his consciousness.
A horse.
He smiled.
"It worked."
Laura stared at him, waiting for an explanation.
César opened his eyes.
"From now on, I can summon that horse using an energy called mental power."
Everyone blinked.
"Mental power?"
César nodded.
"You can consider it another power system, one that complements the existing ones."
He paused.
"The point is that every time I summon it… my mind will be strained."
Laura seemed to understand.
"You mean…"
César finished the thought.
"It becomes training."
The Forgotten Path.
César sat on a rock.
'In the future of this world, people will train mana, aura, and ether.'
He looked at the sky.
'But almost no one trains the mind.'
He continued thinking.
'The mind only grows naturally. It can only be trained using illusions, but even that has limits. Using them too much can become harmful.'
César spoke again.
"Mental strength determines perception."
Everyone listened attentively.
"Mana perception uses a bit of mental strength… along with mana."
He paused.
"But with enough mental strength, you can perceive your surroundings even without using mana."
The warriors listened carefully.
"Mental strength determines perception, awareness, and control."
"It also helps resist mental attacks."
Then he said:
"There are five mental realms."
The warriors leaned closer.
One of them even pulled out a notebook to write everything down and deliver it to the temple.
César began counting on his fingers.
"First Realm: Basic Mental Level."
"The level of most people."
"It allows basic environmental awareness and normal mental resistance."
"Second Realm: Superior Mental Level."
"The mind expands like a sea."
"It allows better perception of mana, aura, and ether. It can detect traps or hidden enemies and control spells more precisely."
"Third Realm: Concrete Mental Level."
"Mental power becomes tangible."
"It allows real mental pressure over others, faster combat techniques, and maintaining multiple abilities at once."
"Fourth Realm: Unlimited Mental Level."
"The mind forms a spiritual domain."
"It allows expanding awareness over large areas, mentally suppressing weaker enemies, and creating powerful illusions."
"Fifth Realm: Mental Limit Realm."
César paused briefly.
"A terrifying level."
"It allows protection against divine mental influence, large-scale spiritual energy manipulation, and extremely vast awareness."
The warriors remained silent.
Laura spoke slowly.
"So… these horses…"
César nodded.
"They are the only mental training method I know."
The murlocs who had captured the horses looked at each other.
They felt it was a shame they couldn't eat them.
But no one mentioned it again.
César looked at the remaining horses.
His smile widened.
"We just found a treasure."
Then his expression turned serious.
"In the future, I want the murlocs to carefully capture any horses they find."
The murlocs nodded immediately.
Now they understood those creatures were far too valuable to become food.