Chapter 7: Breath of the First Flame

The chill of the early spring morning bit into Jin Ho's skin as he knelt in the backyard, bare-chested and barefoot. The soft earth beneath him trembled with the pulse of unseen energy—the start of something that had once taken him a lifetime to understand. This time, he had to master it in years… maybe less.

The Yggidrasil System had shown no further windows, no tutorials or flashy indicators. Only the blood-red interface that had now faded from view.

"System," he whispered, unsure if he would receive a response.

Nothing.

He drew a sharp breath. "No shortcuts this time, huh?"

He placed his hands over his navel—the location of his mana core. In this life, it was undeveloped, dormant. But in his past, he had trained under a reclusive master from the Eastern Mountains who had taught him the art of First Flame Breathing.

"Inhale with the earth, exhale with the stars... kindle the fire inside."

Jin Ho shut his eyes and entered a deep meditative state. His breathing grew rhythmic—one with the pulse of nature. In, out. In, out. With each breath, he imagined stoking a fire deep within his belly, like coals glowing in the hearth.

An hour passed.

Then another.

The sun climbed higher, but he didn't move. Sweat pooled across his back. His small muscles ached. But then—

Fwooom.

He felt it.

A tiny spark. A flicker in the void.

His eyes snapped open. For the briefest moment, his vision was tinged in gold. He had succeeded in igniting the first flame.

[Mana Core Activity Detected – 0.2% Awakening]

A rush of exhilaration coursed through him.

"So it's still in there… the fire."

That night, as the house slept, Jin Ho snuck out again to continue. No one would know. No one must know. He would awaken everything silently, without a soul realizing his true strength… until the day he burned the world.