Garion kept reading.

At first, he thought he already understood most of it.

But the deeper he went, the more his expression changed.

"…There's more here than I expected."

He slowed down, flipping the pages one by one, actually paying attention now.

The book explained that early cultivators didn't start with some grand theory.

They simply felt mana, absorbed it, and reacted to what happened.

"At the beginning," Garion murmured, "they absorbed mana instinctively… without understanding the body at all."

He nodded slowly.

As mana gathered inside the body, a mana pool formed naturally.

It was not because they planned it, but because Mana had nowhere else to go.

"So they knew how to absorb it. They knew how to store it," he said quietly.

"But they didn't know how to use it."

Garion turned the page.

"And of course they didn't know about veins, nerves, or muscle fibers."

He snorted softly. "Not surprising."

What they did know came from doctors.

"Virtual meridians…" Garion muttered.

The book explained how healers mapped these invisible paths based on experience.

Not because they understood anatomy but because it worked.

Garion leaned back slightly.

"So doctors used meridians to guide healing energy… and cultivators copied it."

He raised an eyebrow.

"And somehow… it worked."

But the book didn't glorify it.

It clearly stated that early cultivators felt the flow was rough.

"They could only use a small amount of mana," Garion read aloud.

"Because the flow wasn't smooth."

Then came acupuncture.

Garion paused, eyes narrowing.

"Acupoints…"

The book described how healers noticed certain points that reacted strongly to needles.

"These points were partially blocked," Garion said, tapping the page.

"So mana couldn't pass through properly."

He let out a short laugh.

"And their solution?"

He read the line again.

"They forced it open… by ramming more mana."

Garion shook his head, half amused, half impressed.

"So they brute-forced the body."

Once one acupoint opened, mana flowed better.

Once one acupoint opened, mana flowed better.

So they opened another.

Then another.

Over time, they unblocked more pathways, expanded the mana pool, and forced mana to circulate faster and wider.

"And that's how their bodies became stronger," Garion murmured.

"Not because they understood muscles or bones… but because mana leaked into everything."

He closed the book halfway and rested it on his thigh.

"So mana-enhanced movement… mana-reinforced strikes…"

He exhaled.

"That's the origin of this world's martial arts and cultivators."

Garion stared forward, silent for a few seconds.

"…This book is very informative."

He smiled faintly.

"If I had read this when I first arrived in this world," he said, "I could probably… just probably… cultivate the mana path."

He shook his head.

"But that's not my road."

Still, his interest was genuine.

Garion tapped his temple.

"With my background, I trust veins, nerves, and muscles. Things you can see and touch."

He paused.

"…But even so."

He admitted it quietly.

"I've used some of these ideas too, as I have learned things from the eastern regions."

He looked back at the page.

"I just never knew this was how the mana path truly started."

Garion closed the first section carefully.

"…Alright."

He turned the page.

"Let's see the second realm."

His eyes moved down the title.

[Mana Core Realm].

"Hm."

He leaned forward slightly, interest clearly sparked.

The book explained that when a cultivator reached the peak of the first realm, they would feel it clearly.

The mana pool could no longer expand.

The pathways were already unblocked.

Mana circulated smoothly.

But humans were never satisfied.

He snorted softly. "Of course they aren't."

The book continued.

Even when everything felt complete, cultivators still wanted more power.

So they researched.

Garion raised an eyebrow. "And here comes the madness."

The first idea recorded was simple. Too simple.

The mana pool is too big.

The mana is too thin.

Garion blinked. "…That's it?"

He read on.

"So they thought… instead of making it bigger, let's make it smaller and stronger."

He rubbed his chin.

"That does sound dumb at first."

The book didn't hide it either.

It openly stated that many people mocked the idea.

"A smaller container? How can he think smaller is better?"

And just like Garion said, the idea was stupid, but it was the only idea they had.

And for cultivators, an idea was better than nothing.

The one who tried first was already at the peak of the first realm.

He knew how to control mana inside his body.

Garion's eyes followed the lines carefully.

"So he just… forced more mana in."

Even though the mana pool was already full.

Even though it shouldn't take any more.

Garion frowned. "That's insane."

But then came the key point.

Mana inside one's own body was much gentler than mana used in attacks.

It didn't crash violently.

So the mana pool didn't break, and instead...

It began to compress, becoming smaller... but tougher.

And the mana inside?

It became thicker.

The cultivator noticed the change and pushed further.

The mana pool shrank again and again until it no longer looked like a pool at all.

It looked more like a seed by now.

But the cultivator wasn't satisfied yet.

He forced more mana in.

Then...

The book described a sudden, clear change.

It was a qualitative change.

The seed hardened and transformed into something hard that was a bit familiar to a beast core.

And after this change, the mana became thicker, purer, and stronger.

And for this very reason, this change marked the beginning of the second realm.

It was also named as [Mana Core Realm] thanks to the new reservoir inside the body, the mana core.

Garion stared at the page for a long moment, then let out a short laugh.

"…To think such a stupid idea actually worked."

He shook his head in disbelief, fingers tapping the edge of the book.

Rashly experimenting was really dangerous, and this was even inside his own body.

Yet instead of failing, it succeeded... very much.

"And because it worked," Garion muttered, "they just accepted it."

No more experiments.

The Mana Core Realm became the official second realm.

Garion nodded slowly.

"Yeah. If it works, why change it?"

He turned the page again, eyes focused and sharp.

"Alright… Let's see what comes next."

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