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Six months have passed since I began training under Sam, and after these past months of training I've gotten the swinging techniques and holding of the sword down better than before.

𝑪𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈!

"Good, now pivot and stab!"

𝑪𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈!

He swung his sword to the left, I leaned back on my right foot so that it would miss me. Then, I quickly counterattacked with a downward swing at his sword while it still swayed to the side.

𝑪𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒉!

"That's good! But you're too focused on just the swords. In a real fight, your opponent wouldn't be so cautious!"

𝑻𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒑!

His foot kicked hard at my side, I almost dropped my sword as I fell to one knee. I unconsciously let go of my double grip with my right hand to hold my side, and seeing this advantage, he swung down on me.

I used my left hand grip on the sword to block, but it wasn't as strong as it would've been if I was using both hands.

𝑻𝒊𝒏𝒈!

My sword fell to the ground as it was knocked out of my grip.

"Dammit, I wasn't expecting a kick!"

I complained in pain.

The dark skinned, and long messy white haired Sam walked towards one side of the cave and grabbed a pouch of water to take a sip. Today, he was wearing his usual outfit of a white linen shirt and dark brown trousers with black leather boots.

"Like I said, in a real battle, your opponents will be trying to kill you. They don't care if their techniques appear perfect or flawed, survival instincts will kick in, and with that comes the ugliest of fighting." He said as he drank.

I got up as he was talking as I also reached for my pouch of water.

"Again?" I asked, pointing with my sword in hand.

He chuckled,

"Not this time, remember I said I would teach you on subjects other than sword fighting?"

I nodded slowly.

"It's about time you get some proper education of the realm. First off, what have your parents told you so far?" He asked as he took a seat on a small boulder in the cave.

They refer to the world as "realm" according to Sam it was a actually the modern term for the world "world" and world is a more past term. As if it wasn't already ridiculously similar to a fantasy or fairy tale world enough.

"Well.. I know that the Aesion continent is at peace with the dragons, and that the other continent, or Sothen Kingdom is at war with them. I also know of the existence of the magic heart. Other than that, I haven't learned anything else."

After I finished speaking, he nodded with a contemplating expression.

"Hmm, alright, let's start with the Aesion continent then."

He got up and pointed towards a spot on the side of the cave.

His hands began to glow softly as he began writing something on the wall with his finger.

"This is the Aesion continent. At least that's what the Gilya Tribe calls it. First, you have to understand that these islands far off the coast of Aesion have had practically nothing to do with Aesion since your ancestors moved here, and that was a thousand years ago."

"So it really was a thousand years??" I blurted out surprised.

"Yep, but that doesn't mean that you guys have been completely out of the loop. Your parents informed you of a war, in this day and age, only the Dragons are at war with the Sothen Kingdom."

He checked over his shoulder to make sure I was following. He drew three lines on the continent drawing before continuing. Pointing to the drawing of Aesion.

"Up here in the North is the Kingdom of Athos. Athos is the only kingdom in Aesion, but there are very large and famous city states such as Druisal in the middle of the continent, and Vara down south. They are apart of Athos, but they have different cultures because they used to be former kingdoms that were split, but a long time ago there was a war which Athos won and well you can piece together the rest.

"And here on the west coasts of Druisal is where the Gilya islands are. Druisal formed a law that prohibits mainlanders from coming here often, not entirely, but just not often."

He turned around, pointing at the kingdoms, making sure I understood.

"This looks a little like Africa." I unknowingly remarked.

"Africa? No, no, no, it's 'Athos'." He said reassuringly.

"No, I... Yeah, Athos, got it."

Either way, he wouldn't understand what I was talking about. But that continent is somewhat kidney shaped, not exactly like Africa it just reminded me of it.

Sam turned around and continued informing me on information about the world.

"Alright now, far west across the sea from Aesion is the other continent. It is called the Kingdom of Sothen, or just Sothen."

Sothen looked like a wider continent that went to the sides.

"All of the way down south here on what's believed to be the bottom of the realm are the Four Rings of Epsilon, the Empire of Dragons, or just Epsilon."

"So what is Epsilon? Well, it is comprised of four ring like structures of flat land that stack on top of each other in the air. The first ring is on the water, but it isn't connected with it. It floats inside of a crater in the ocean. The other three land structures are the ones that float in the air. The land structures are not as large as Sothen or Aesion. However, they are are each as big as a city. They are also not literally on top of each other touching, between each ring is a sky of space.

"The land structures are also not literally ring shaped with a slim circular formation and then a massive gaping hole in the middle. No, the structures are circular, but they are also filled with land. Another reason they are called "rings" is because in the middle of each of them is a wide hole that flows a cylinder stream of water down through each of the other rings. If you were to actually see these holes from above or below, you'd understand that they are not actually that big compared to the entire size of each ring."

'I see, so it'd be like taking a metal straw and piercing it all the way through an apple, there would be a hole but compared to the actual size of the apple, the hole wouldn't appear big.' I thought to myself.

"I understand, but you said the "Four Rings of Epsilon." What about the Lumindra clan? Then wouldn't there be five rings?"

He took a moment to pause and think before responding.

"That is another history that takes some explaining.." He sighed before continuing.

"The Fifth Ring of Epsilon, which was called the City of Epsilon, no longer exists or is lost somewhere in the realm. I think you should know that one thousand years ago, there was a sort of cataclysmic event. That is the reason that a lot of the realm's mysteries and explanations always start with the phrase "A thousand years ago."

"Although the true phrase that has been given to that era is the Astra Epoch, during the Astra Epoch, the Lumindra Clan were branded as traitors and a threat to the realm. Because of this, the Onyx Clan, who are the black Dragons, and the Andath Clan, who are the red Dragons, stormed Epsilon and wiped out the Lumindra."

"Okay.. but that doesn't explain where the fifth ring is?"

He laughed at my tone,

"You're right. It doesn't. At some point after the siege on Epsilon, it was said that a massive blinding light appeared, engulfed the fifth ring, and when the light subsided, Epsilon was gone. And all the Dragons that were on Epsilon had somehow found themselves on the fourth ring.

"A lot of legends and tales have been created to theorize what happened. Some say the God's came down themselves and took the city away. Some say that the fifth ring had a hidden power that, if need be, it would teleport Epsilon somewhere in the world.

"Throughout history, explorers, pirates, and even some kingdoms have led expeditions to try and find Epsilon, it is said that if you go there you would be able to obtain powers of that of a demigod, like I said, a lot of legends and tales. But to this day, the city is still lost."

I nodded as I asked,

"Has this world.. sorry, has this realm been entirely mapped?"

"No, it has not. Although we have ships that can sail, voyages to map and discover the entire world costs people, time, money, and resources. Few kingdoms in history have tried to hosts such a voyage and every time the ships either never come back, or if they did, it would be years later and only one ship with a handful of half dead men would be on it saying that they found nothing. So, most of the world has deemed it unnecessary until there are major advancements in sailing."

"I understand then."

Sam clasped his hands,

"Anyways, back to the Four Rings, I'm getting tired of referring to each of them as just the rings. Because each ring has a name, for example, the ring that floats on top of all of them is called Onyx City because the Onyx Clan dragons inhabit that ring. The same goes for the third ring, the Andath City, because of the Andath Clan and so on."

"Wait, then what are the other two clans? I never learned the names of them or what colored dragons they are."

He clapped his hands again with an expression of recollection,

"Oh! Yes, I almost forgot, the other two clans are comprised of blue and green Dragons, the Cedeth Clan of Blue Dragons, and the Ivern Clan of Green Dragons. I'll also mention the current order of the cities.

"First on the bottom is the Cedeth Clan. They are on the crater ring called Cedeth City. Second above that is Ivern City, then Andath City, and Onyx City.

"Also if you're wondering why they are still called the Four Rings of Epsilon all together even though Epsilon is gone, it's because together all these cities technically made up a Kingdom, so for you, Athos, Druisal, and Vara make up the Leoto continent. Well, for the Dragons, these cities technically make up Epsilon, that's why."

I nodded tersley so that he understood that I got it.

"That is a lot to take in. You mentioned gold coins? I've always wondered about currency. Since the Gilya tribe uses wooden coins.

Sam nodded after putting his water down and responded.

"Yes, the currency for everywhere in the known realm are gold, silver, and copper coins."

'So that would mean that this world has similar minerals and periodic elements as earth. It's as if this is an alternate universe. Except this world is set in an almost medieval like setting with magic and dragons.

I sighed as I thought of the ridiculous yet incomprehensible world I reincarnated into.

'Whatever, no matter how it looks, all that matters to me are the dragons.'

"Can you tell me about the magic hearts?"

I asked with clenched fists.

He turned to the drawing wall once again and began.

"Like I said before, your peoples knowledge has become extremely outdated since the Astra Epoch. Humans have somewhat evolved and given new names to these magic heart stages.

"As you know, there are three stages a human can achieve. The first stage is the red magic heart, the second is the orange, then yellow. But we don't call it that anymore. Something you should know is that just because your heart would be glowing yellow or orange when using mana, it doesn't mean your magic will appear yellow or orange. It depends on the person's aura what color will appear when you use mana.

"Now for the current terms on these stages,

The first stage, the red heart, is referred to as an Osiris Mage.

The second stage, the orange heart, is referred to as a Ceraun Mage

The third stage, the yellow heart, is called a Crescendo Mage."

"I see.. thank you." I replied while nodding.

"What about the white and black heart that only Dragons can advance into? is it true that we really cannot achieve that stage?"

Sam chuckled as he responded.

"Heh, the Dragons simply call those stages, "White Heart," and "Black Heart."

"As for your other question... Like I said, humans have evolved since the Astra Epoch due to generations of constant use of magic. The reason why those stages are only available to Dragons is because their bodies and hearts intake and stabilize high amounts of mana that would normally be lethal for any other race. However, since the Astra Epoch, the races have evolved to the point that it is possible for very few individuals to unlock that stage.

"Throughout time, we've called these individuals "Ghostwalkers. " A Ghostwalker is a person that isn't a dragon that has broken into the White Heart stage. In this current day and age, there are only three Ghostwalkers, and since the Astra Epoch, there have only been seven.

"It is also true that races have intermingled with each other to make half breeded children, dragons included. The three Ghostwalkers are humans except for one half human and dragon. This doesn't mean any guarantees however. In the past, many have tried to get their mixed children to achieve the Ghostwalker stage. However, because a dragons mana intake is much more than any other race, a half blood would not be enough to harbor the same amount of intake as a full blooded dragon."

"Then what about people who are not dragons that have achieved the highest stage of magic, the black heart?" I asked.

"I was getting to that. If a human were to achieve all five magic heart stages, including the Black Heart. They would be called a "Dreamwalker. " In the entire history of the realm, there has never been a single Dreamwalker. Of course there are myths and legends of one but they say that it was a full blooded human that achieved it, which is ridiculous, and there was never real historical evidence and so those are probably just tales.

I once again gave a terse nod as I delved deep in thought.

'If it is true and there was one.. then it could be possible for a full human to achieve the Dreamwalker stage, then it's not impossible for me to achieve the Ghostwalker stage either. Milura said that some Crescendo Mages could rival White Heart dragons. And that was a thousand years ago...'

I was filled with hope and the will to fight again with this new information.

"But wait, how did the other two Ghostwalkers achieve the White Heart then?"

"Ah, good question. First to even awaken your mana veins, a person has to go through extreme physical toil and hardship, they have to go beyond the physical limits of the heart to ignite the spark that would awaken your mana veins. When you reach a pubescent age such as twelve years old. Your heart is able to go through the awakening process without the risk of it exploding from going past the limit. If a child your age or younger than twelve or eleven tried to undergo an awakening process, they would certainly die.

"This awakening process is not for the common man or woman to simply undergo and achieve either. Cutting Epsilon out of the equation, three out of five of the realms population achieve awakening. From there, it takes five years to break into the Ceraun stage. Then, another ten years to achieve Crescendo.

"From then on, you pose the same risks of dying from trying to awaken to a White Heart that a non pubescent child would trying to awaken Osiris. This is why there have only been seven Ghostwalkers ever. But going back to the three Ghostwalkers, those individuals somehow broke into the White Heart stage without dying. I don't know how they did it. They just did."

"I see..."

"So you're saying my mana veins are there right now inside me? And in theory I could awaken them right now?"

He slowly shook his head as he responded,

"Yes and No, they are there, sure. But like i said, if you tried to awaken them now, you'd die. Why do you want to become powerful in a short amount of time anyway? You mentioned that you hate dragons, but why? You were born here, your parents are still alive, and you haven't known war so..?"

"I don't have to explain everything to you, but just know that because of them, I lost a lot."

I responded solemnly.

"I won't probe then. After all, my kingdom is at war with them."

He said as he got up and began stretching.

"Alright, I've told you most of the things that you needed to know, plus it's already late afternoon. You should start climbing down now so your parents don't worry."