He then promptly ordered me to just go to sleep or rest beneath the tree.

  I stared at him. I literally just spent the equivalent of a small country's GDP on vintage booze for you, and your profound, mystical first lesson is a nap?

  But fine. I played along. I sat down beneath the shade of the tree, expecting him to suddenly jump up and ambush me to test my reflexes.

  Hours passed. Nothing.

  A whole day passed. Still nothing.

  Another day rolled by, and I was absolutely, undeniably frustrated. Was this guy just scamming me? Was this the magical equivalent of a fake unpaid internship?

  But then, my gamer-brain kicked in. If my physical body was stuck in AFK mode under a tree, I wasn't just going to sit there and waste my exp multipliers. I found a way to shift my focus entirely inward, diving deep into my own consciousness to train. I started running mental simulations, meticulously perfecting all of my techniques and combat arts. If my body couldn't move, my mind was going to do the heavy lifting.

  (Writer, take the narration for me. I'm gonna go train.)

  The old man sat nearby, taking casual swigs from his newly acquired, obscenely expensive wine. He was waiting patiently for Ragna to finally crack, throw a tantrum, and give up.

  What the old drunkard didn't know was that Ragna was essentially running a high-speed training montage entirely within his own mind.

  To the outside world, months passed. And yet, Ragna didn't move a single inch. The boy seemed to have slipped into an eternal sleep, perfectly still like a statue.

  Eventually, the old man’s patience wore thin. He was officially frustrated. What in the world was this kid thinking? Unable to contain his curiosity any longer, the master decided to take a little peek directly into Ragna's consciousness and soul.

  Closing his eyes, the man assumed his Astral form and seamlessly jumped into Ragna's soul space.

  The moment he crossed the threshold, the old man was practically blown backward. He was completely overwhelmed by the sheer, suffocating density of mana and spirit energy spread throughout the boy's inner world. It was like stepping into the epicenter of a magical hurricane.

  Recovering from the shock, he moved deeper toward the boy's core. There, floating in all its terrifying glory, he saw the massive Elemento Draco-Phoenix core.

  But that wasn't what made the old man freeze. Next to that divine core... there were two cracks. Empty slots.

  "It can't be," the old man thought, his astral form trembling in disbelief.

  "There have been some dual-core people in the world, and I have met one, but they are extremely rare," he reasoned internally. "And this kid casually moves around with Tri-core spots?"

  It defied all known logic. "Tri-cores are myths. Only one is known in this world. No one knows his name, but he has the title, 'Humanity's Strongest'."

  Still reeling from the discovery, the old man moved further in, his mind scanning the boy's internal data. He quickly got to know that this "sleeping" twelve-year-old was already at Qi Refinement Stage 3.

  And the deeper he looked, the more the impossible secrets unraveled. He discovered that the boy was a True Demon. And even more absurdly... he was reincarnated.

  "Maybe he is the one," the old man wondered, a profound sense of awe washing over him.

  Determined to see what the boy was actually doing, the master walked directly toward Ragna's active consciousness.

  The moment he reaches it, he gets completely confused at the sight. But more than confused, he was absolutely shell-shocked.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  He wasn't just looking at the boy's active consciousness. He was looking at not one, not two, but three legendary beasts casually hanging out in there. The Dragon Emperor, Mizuki; the Phoenix Empress, Phiona; and the mythical Dragon God, Yang.

  And they weren't in their massive, terrifying monster forms. They were in human form.

  Yang had assumed the form of a man around thirty to thirty-five years old, dressed in pure black clothes, with stark white hair and pure white eyes. Mizuki was rocking bright red hair and red eyes, contrasting loudly with his green and yellow outfit. Phiona, meanwhile, looked like a literal goddess—her hair was a swirling mix of blue, purple, and magenta, looking exactly like a galaxy, matching her deep purple eyes.

  The legendary beings were not acting very legendary, however. Yang was currently doing something that resembled a weird snake dance, flailing his limbs around and muttering, "How is this body made to walk?"

  Mizuki was aggressively yelling at Yang to stop acting like an idiot.

  And Phiona? She was busy helping Ragna train... by brutally fighting him.

  "Incinerate!" Phiona called out, her red dress practically glowing as a massive wave of fire roared toward me.

  "Missed me!" I yelled, sprinting straight through the heat distortion and dodging the blast. I launched myself into the air, bringing down my weapon for a heavy strike, but she casually sidestepped it like I was moving in slow motion.

  Alright, time to switch it up. Since this was my consciousness, I didn't actually need to dig into my physical inventory to swap gear. I just imagined it.

  In a flash, my weapon morphed into a bow. I drew back the string and let loose a rapid shot.

  Smack. Direct hit.

  But instead of taking damage, Phiona’s dress instantly shifted from red to a brilliant sky blue. Before I could even register the wardrobe change, she hit me with a literal avalanche.

  The sheer force of the snow and ice slammed into me. I clutched my chest, shivering, but I wasn't out of the fight yet. I quickly fired off three more arrows in rapid succession, pushing forward and closing the distance between us.

  Phiona didn't even flinch. She just decided to completely break my momentum. Her dress shifted colors again—this time to a deep, earthen brown—and massive walls of solid rock erupted from the ground, totally blocking my path.

  "You think a little dirt is gonna stop me?" I smirked. I conjured a volley of fireballs, blasting right through the earth walls, and immediately followed up by hitting her with a Rock Cutter spell.

  The spell connected perfectly, sending Phiona smashing into the ground.

  Got her! I cheered internally.

  And that was my mistake. Never celebrate early.

  Before I could even blink, a massive bolt of lightning crashed down directly onto my head. My knees instantly gave out, and I slammed into the floor, totally paralyzed and completely defeated.

  Through my blurry vision, I saw Phiona standing over me, emerging completely victorious. Her dress had changed to a brilliant, deep blue color.

  I stood up, dusting off my bruised ego, and muttered a quick "thanks" for the brutal sparring session.

  But as I turned around, I noticed we had a guest in the VIP lounge of my soul. It was the old man. He was standing there in his astral form, observing me very, very carefully.

  I immediately walked over and dropped into a respectful bow right in front of him.

  "I knew you were way stronger than you look, Master," I said, cutting straight to the chase. "But what is it that stops you from going far?"

  The old man sighed, his expression suddenly looking incredibly tired. "I am sorry to waste your time, kid," he replied softly. "But I was given Medusa's poison. It's a curse that slowly decreases my cultivation level, and it drains me even faster if I use my techniques or magic. I traveled around the world, but I was not able to find its cure. And—"

  I didn't even let him finish his tragic NPC backstory. My eyes lit up with pure, unadulterated excitement. The universe was literally handing me the perfect solution on a silver platter.

  "I can cure you," I interrupted eagerly.

  The old man gave me a feeble, pitying smile. "I respect your confidence, kid, but no one can," he said dismissively.

  I just smirked. "Try me."

  We instantly snapped out of my consciousness, pulling our minds back to the physical world beneath the tree. Without wasting a second, I reached into my spatial bag—the ultimate CEO briefcase—and pulled out the Emperor Poison Killer potion I had looted from that cliff-diving Minotaur.

  I handed the glowing vial to the old man and told him to drink it.

  He downed it in one gulp. Instantly, you could see the change. The sluggishness vanished, his aura flared, and after just a few moments, he was completely, undeniably cured.

  The absolute legend of a master was so overjoyed he practically tackled me into a massive hug.

  "Thanks! Thanks! Oh my God, it has been years since I've felt this good!" he yelled, totally abandoning his mysterious mentor persona. "Though my cultivation dropped from Void Amalgamation Stage 3 all the way to Venerable Stage 2... there are a 100 years for me to get back to my course. If I continuously kill S-rank beasts, I can reach Soul Formation!"

  He paused, clearing his throat and awkwardly stepping back to compose himself. "Ah! Sorry," he apologized, looking down at me. "I forgot about you in my excitement, and I've not even introduced myself."

  But before the old man could officially drop his name, Mizuki’s voice urgently echoed inside my consciousness.

  "Ragna," the Dragon Emperor warned, his tone dead serious. "He is the one who fought and defeated us with Jase."

  My jaw practically unhinged. I stood there completely paralyzed, even more shocked after hearing exactly who this guy was.