Without delay, he reached for the second book, World of Body and Mind. It had no introduction, no preamble. The first page began like a warrior's journal, almost crude in its simplicity: "The body is the sheath. The mind, the blade."
It described a philosophy that felt both ancient and revolutionary: that the physical body was not a vessel for magic but a co-creator with it. And those who only trained their cores without aligning body and mind would forever be incomplete.
The book laid out daily routines, breathing exercises, and full-body training regimens—some similar to the martial arts practices Arin had endured over the last year. But what truly captured his attention was a chapter titled: "The Reborn Path."
A line in that section struck him like lightning: "Shedding human skin and being REBORN."
His breath hitched.
It was metaphorical at first. The author described how through intense training and mana exposure, one could slowly reform internal structures. Bones could be hardened with mana to resist fatal blows. Nerves could be refined to transmit signals faster than normal. Blood vessels could be modified to circulate mana alongside oxygen. Even organs could be layered with condensed mana veils for resilience and speed.
The book called it the "Internal Awakening." It didn't require a powerful core—it required discipline and pain tolerance.
Arin visualized the techniques. He could see his skeletal system, veins, the texture of muscle fiber. He imagined them wrapped in mana, pulsing with strength.
If I can't be born with power, he thought, I'll forge it inside me.
Each line of the book seemed to resonate with his path: the struggle, the persistence, the hunger for survival. And this, he realized, was the first clue to mastering his own nature. Not just surviving monsters, but becoming a force that stood between chaos and the innocent.
He looked at both books, now sitting side by side.
What is Magic?
World of Body and Mind.
A philosophy of soul. A blueprint for evolution.
A slow smile curved his lips.
Arin wasn't just going to learn magic or martial arts anymore.
He was going to reinvent what it meant to be a magic warrior.
He was going to be reborn.