Yawn)

  "Good... um... Morning, I guess?"

  I rubbed my eyes, blinking away the crust of a two-year sleep. It’s hard to tell the time in a forest where the trees are so thick they blot out the sun, but my stomach was making a noise that sounded like a dying whale, which usually indicates it’s breakfast time.

  Now, I know what you’re thinking. I know what the writer just showed you in that third-person perspective.

  “Oh, look at Ragna! He sat still for two years, glowed a bit, and boom! Power up! So cool!”

  Cool? You think that was cool?

  Let me clarify something for you. That wasn't a training montage. That was a two-year sentence in hell.

  Imagine your soul is a rope. Now, imagine a cosmic Phoenix on one end and a celestial Dragon on the other. Now imagine them playing a violent game of tug-of-war using you as the rope. For seven hundred and thirty days straight.

  It felt like I was being deep-fried and frozen at the same time. Every inch of my consciousness was screaming. I wasn't just "meditating"; I was desperately trying to glue nuclear explosions together with my willpower.

  It was a feat that was incredible... or insane. I haven't figured it out yet.

  But, I survived. Because I’m me.

  I stood up, my joints popping like firecrackers. I looked down at my hands. They were bigger. My legs were longer. I’m eight years old now. I missed two birthdays. Damn it.

  "Alright," I whispered, clenching my fist. "Let’s check the goods."

  I dove into my spiritual world.

  There, spinning in the center of the void, was a masterpiece. A swirling sphere of deep violet and emerald green, humming with ancient power.

  The Elemento Draco Phoenix Core.

  It was beautiful. It was S-Rank. It was mine.

  And right next to it? Two empty slots.

  "Perfect," I grinned. "One down, two to go."

  But having a Ferrari engine doesn't mean you know how to drive. Right now, I’m at the absolute bottom of the food chain. I am at Qi Refinement Stage 1.

  I can feel your confusion. “Ragna, what does that mean? Is that good?”

  You people are hopeless. Fine, since I’m feeling generous (and since I need to remind myself not to get cocky), here is the Official List of Cultivation Levels, ranked from "Weakling" to "God":

  | Rank | Name | Description |

  |---|---|---|

  | 1 | Qi Refinement | (3 Stages) Basically a toddler with a battery. |

  | 2 | Qi Formation | (3 Stages) You can light a candle with your mind. Congrats. |

  | 3 | Formation Gathering | (3 Stages) Okay, now you're dangerous. |

  | 4 | Golden Core | (3 Stages) The big leagues start here. |

  | 5 | Dharma Body | (3 Stages) You stop looking human when you fight. |

  | 6 | Nascent Soul | (3 Stages) If your body dies, your soul can flip the bird and run away. |

  | 7 | Venerable | (5 Stages) You get a cool nickname and people bow to you. |

  | 8 | Void Amalgamation | (5 Stages) You can punch holes in reality. |

  | 9 | Soul Formation | (5 Stages) Your soul is basically a weapon now. |

  | 10 | Divine Core | (3 Stages) You are a walking natural disaster. |

  | 11 | Saint | (3 Stages) You get a halo. Maybe. |

  | 12 | Divine King | (3 Stages) You rule a continent. |

  | 13 | Divine Emperor | (3 Stages) You rule the world. |

  | 14 | Immortal Emperor | (5 Stages) You rule the universe. |

  | 15 | Secret Level | DO YOU WANT TO KNOW? (Creepy voice) |

  Do you really want to know the 15th level?

  (Clears throat, normal tone)

  Never gonna give you up.

  Never gonna let you down.

  (Did I just Rickroll you in a fantasy novel? Yes. Yes, I did. Moving on.)

  Stolen novel; please report.

  So, to level up from this pathetic Stage 1, I need to collect Monster Essence (Cores). This brings me to the local wildlife.

  The monsters here are ranked F through S. And since I currently have the durability of a wet paper towel, here is my threat assessment guide:

  * F-Rank: A slightly angry bunny or a slime. A good warmup.

  * E-Rank: A wolf the size of a cow. I might survive.

  * D-Rank: Time to pee your pants. Run.

  * C-Rank: Write your will.

  * B-Rank: You are already dead.

  * A-Rank: A city-destroying catastrophe.

  * S-Rank: Pray to Talestia (for all the good that will do you).

  "Okay," I exhaled, drawing the dark steel sword my father gave me. It felt lighter now in my eight-year-old hands.

  "I need to hunt an F-Rank monster first. Something squishy. Something slow."

  I stepped out of the safety of the roots and into the dark, whispering jungle.

  "Here kitty, kitty…”

  "I have a sword which can be ranked F..."

  (...less than F, I think. Just giving myself confidence here. Work with me.)

  I crept through the underbrush, my stomach rumbling louder than the distant thunder. And there it was. My prey.

  A Silver-Horned Rabbit.

  It was fluffy. It was cute. It was twitching its nose at a patch of clover.

  [ Fooooood... ]

  I let out a low, zombie-like groan, raising my blade. I didn't see a bunny; I saw a roasted drumstick hopping around.

  "Infernal Slash!" I shouted.

  I swung the dark steel sword through the air. Thanks to my shiny new core, the blade didn't just cut the air; it ignited. A clumsy but effective arc of fire trailed the steel, rushing towards the rabbit.

  Nom, nom, nom.

  (Ragna eating the rabbit he definitely overcooked).

  "What? I was hungry, okay? And why is the sound of eating so fucked up in text form? Nom nom? Really? Huh. Whatever."

  I wiped grease off my chin. "Let's go then. Time for my first Monster Essence."

  You see, those rabbits are technically monsters, but their Qi is so low they don't drop Essence. And I need Essence.

  Let me explain the science while I digest.

  Every cultivation level has a unique way of leveling up. For Qi Refinement (my current, pathetic level), the standard method is refining the Qi from the atmosphere. It’s safe, but it sucks. It is incredibly slow because the ambient Qi is thin. Once you suck a room dry, you have to wait for it to refill.

  It’s like trying to fill a swimming pool with a teaspoon.

  The only way to speedrun this process is by collecting Monster Essence. It’s condensed Qi. A battery pack. You pop it open, absorb it, and boom—gains.

  "Okay, Writer," I muttered, standing up and dusting off my pants. "Please tell them my journey after this in a storytelling tone. And readers... try to think of a cool BGM while reading. Maybe something with heavy drums."

  The First Real Test

  Ragna moved deeper into the forest, his confidence swelling with every step. He had a sword. He had a belly full of burnt rabbit. He felt invincible.

  Then, the bushes parted.

  It wasn't a bunny this time.

  Standing ten feet away was a wolf the size of a small pony. Its fur was a jagged mess of grey spikes, and arcs of blue electricity crackled around its snout. Its eyes were glowing yellow orbs that locked onto Ragna with intelligent malice.

  A Thunder Howler.

  Ragna froze, his sword trembling slightly in his grip. The "Invincible Hero" vibe evaporated instantly.

  "Oh, oh," Ragna whispered, his voice cracking. "Guess the F-Rank was not a slime like I thought. Most Isekai start with slimes! This thing will eat me alive!"

  The wolf growled, and the sound was like rocks grinding in a blender.

  "Is this really F-Rank!?" Ragna yelled, backing up as the wolf lowered its head. "I think it is one of the top monsters in F-Rank! This is a boss battle already?!"

  The Thunder Howler didn't wait for Ragna to finish his complaint. It lunged.

  ZZZZT!

  A bolt of lightning shot from the wolf’s mouth.

  "Holy—!"

  Ragna threw himself to the left, rolling into the mud. The lightning blast scorched the tree he had been standing in front of, turning the bark into smoking charcoal. The smell of ozone filled the air.

  It’s fast. Too fast.

  Ragna scrambled to his feet. He couldn't outrun lightning. He had to fight.

  "You want some of this, Fido?" Ragna shouted, channeling his Qi.

  He drew upon the Phoenix side of his core. Heat flooded his veins. He held out his left hand, palm facing the beast.

  "Incinerate!"

  A burst of purple-tinged flame erupted from his hand. It wasn't a controlled stream; it was a shotgun blast of fire.

  The wolf yelped, twisting in mid-air to dodge. The fire singed its flank, burning away a patch of fur. It landed, skidding on the wet leaves, and snarled. It was pissed now.

  "Ha! Burn, baby, burn!" Ragna grinned.

  But the wolf didn't retreat. It howled—a high-pitched sound that made Ragna’s ears ring. The static in the air intensified.

  Crack!

  The wolf vanished.

  "Where did—"

  Slash.

  Ragna felt a burning pain across his chest before he even saw the attack. The wolf had used the lightning to boost its speed, tackling him with claws wreathed in electricity.

  Ragna flew backward, slamming into a tree trunk. The wind was knocked out of him. He looked down; three shallow claw marks were torn across his shirt, his skin sizzling.

  "Ow... okay... that actually hurt," Ragna coughed, tasting blood. His vision swam. "Using Mana... at low level... really does... drain you."

  The wolf paced towards him, drooling sparks. It knew it had won.

  Ragna gripped his sword hilt until his knuckles turned white. No. I survived two years of soul-torture. I’m not dying to a glorified battery charger.

  "Strategy," Ragna muttered. "Think."

  The wolf pounced for the kill.

  Ragna didn't dodge away this time. He dropped to his knees, sliding forward, under the wolf’s leap.

  As the beast sailed over him, Ragna thrust his sword upward.

  "Infernal Sword Strike!"

  He poured every ounce of his remaining Mana into the blade. The dark steel glowed red-hot.

  SHIIING.

  The blade sank into the wolf’s soft underbelly. Ragna roared, dragging the blade through the beast as momentum carried the wolf over him.

  Blood and lightning sprayed the forest floor. The Thunder Howler crashed behind him, twitched once, and went still. A small, glowing blue orb rolled out of the carcass.

  Ragna collapsed, panting heavily. "Status check... alive. Barely."

  The Long Grind

  You might think that after killing a lightning wolf, things got easier.

  Wrong.

  That was just Tuesday. I had two whole years of this ahead of me.

  I didn't become a master overnight. In fact, most of my time wasn't spent fighting; it was spent failing at basic survival.

  I remember the first time I tried to go fishing. I thought, 'Hey, I can use my magic!' I stood by the river and shot a fireball into the water, thinking the water would boil and the fish would float up cooked.

  Instead, I created a steam explosion that blasted me into a mud puddle. I ate berries that night. Sour ones.

  Then there was the campfire incident. I tried to light a majestic bonfire to roast a boar I had trapped. I used a little too much Qi. I didn't just light the wood; I lit the tree above me, the bush behind me, and the hem of my own pants. I spent the next ten minutes running in circles screaming while slapping my own butt.

  But, slowly... painfully... I learned.

  I killed more. I hunted Iron-Hide Boars. I ambushed Shadow Snakes.

  10 kills.

  50 kills.

  100 kills.

  My movements became sharper. My sword stopped feeling like a tool and started feeling like a limb. I learned to mix the explosive power of the Phoenix with the heavy, crushing pressure of the Dragon.

  I took their Essence. I sat on the roots of my tree, absorbing the power, feeling my Qi Refinement stage tick upward, inch by inch.

  Two years passed in a blur of blood, sweat, and burnt fish.

  And now... I’m ready.