Lai Yi noticed that the village children always headed in the same direction after breakfast, returning to their homes in groups around two or three in the afternoon.
Lai Yi vaguely sensed it must be a school, and decided to test Neil.
“Neil, why haven’t I seen you going to school lately?”
Neil froze, clearly not expecting Lai Yi to ask this. Blushing, he lowered his head and mumbled quietly.
“I do study.”
Just… reading books at home.
“Hmm? You know what I mean.”
Lai Yi pretended to be angry, making Neil grow anxious, his fingers nervously twisting his sleeves.
“Brother, I’m sorry, please don’t be mad.”
His eyelashes fluttered, tears welling in his eyes before falling, which he quickly wiped away with his hand before Lai Yi could say another word.
Sure enough, Lai Yi’s guess was correct – Neil had been skipping school.
He sighed and crouched down to meet Neil’s gaze.
“Neil, I’m not blaming you. I know you’ve been taking care of me all this time, but you have your own responsibilities too, don’t you?”
“Your brother wants you to study and play with the other village children, not stay by my side all the time.”
Neil frowned, about to argue, but was cut off by Lai Yi’s words.
“I have my own dreams too. I didn’t complete my education, but I want you to keep studying properly.”
Neil’s expression softened, as if remembering something.
His brother had been pursuing education away from home for as long as he could remember. He could have had a brighter future, but then that incident happened – it was his fault for holding his brother back.
Lai Yi pressed his advantage.
“Your brother is an adult now, I can take care of myself. Last time’s injury was just an accident. From now on, I’ll go with others and won’t get hurt again. Trust me, okay?”
“I trust you most, brother! But what if you get hurt again?”
“Would staying by my side prevent me from getting injured? Besides, if you follow me around, I’d have to split my attention to look after you, making us more likely to get hurt, wouldn’t it?”
Neil was completely bewildered by Lai Yi’s reasoning, momentarily unable to come up with a rebuttal.
“Brother, I’ll work hard to become strong and protect you.”
“Good boy, Neil. Then start by learning and building your foundation, alright?”
Neil hesitated but finally nodded.
The poor child had been completely swayed – Lai Yi had successfully achieved his goal.
Neil’s hair was getting in his eyes, so Lai Yi found scissors to give him a haircut.
Unfortunately, his skills were quite poor. After two hours, the cut remained uneven.
After asking for Neil’s opinion, he simply gave him a buzz cut.
With school settled, Neil prepared his things himself and even tidied the living room.
What a diligent, good child.
Without natural gas, cooking required firewood every day.
But gathering wood daily was too troublesome, so Lai Yi took Neil to chop down two withered small trees. They spent several hours splitting them into neat pieces in the yard, stacking them neatly in the small shed beside the house.
The next day, Lai Yi took Neil to school.
They had already paid the semester’s fees, but having missed over two months of school, Neil was unsurprisingly held back a grade.
Fortunately, for the next two semesters, he could replace the main subjects he’d already studied with specialized courses, so it wouldn’t delay him too much.
The village typically only ate two meals a day—morning and evening—switching to three meals solely during busy farming seasons. Despite this, Lai Yi still tucked a piece of bread into Neil’s bag, worried he might go hungry by noon.
After seeing Neil off, Lai Yi finally had some time to himself.
Carrying a woven twig basket on his back, a small hoe, and a dagger tucked at his waist, he ventured into the woods with the bow and arrows Victor had once used for hunting.
The woods lay over five hundred meters from the village.
The forest was vast, and villagers occasionally hunted there to supplement their meals or enjoy a treat.
On the outskirts, traces of large animals had nearly vanished, and even decent-looking berries were scarce. But Lai Yi’s destination lay elsewhere.
He followed the narrow path trodden by villagers, continuing even after the path ended. After scanning the area to ensure no one was nearby, he slipped deeper into the woods.
After walking a few hundred meters, the trees grew taller, with trunks thick enough to require several people to encircle them commonplace.
There was no industrial pollution here, nor excessive logging. Humans and nature coexisted in a healthy balance.
Trees stood densely, branches intertwining, gradually dimming the light.
Lai Yi took a deep breath, inhaling the damp, earthy scent—a light rain had fallen a few days prior.
No stench of rotting corpses, no strange odors of burning.
The tension Lai Yi had carried lately began to ease.
He couldn’t forget all he had experienced in the apocalyptic era.
Closing his eyes at night, scenes from that time would resurface in his mind. He even feared he might mistake Neil for a zombie and harm him unconsciously.
Post-traumatic stress disorder haunted him.
After carefully observing his surroundings and confirming no danger, Lai Yi raised his hand, trying to recall the sensation of using his ability in the past.
He focused the energy within his body into his hand, condensing it to a single point.
…
He failed.
This body held not a trace of power.
Still, being granted a second chance at life was fortune enough—what more could he ask for? Since he was here now, he would strive to live on!
Lai Yi sighed but soon accepted it, quietly encouraging himself.
Having come this far, he couldn’t return empty-handed.
The woods were rich with mushrooms and wild vegetables. Occasionally, vibrant red berries stood out amid the greenery; Lai Yi tasted one—it was sweet.
Remaining alert to his surroundings, he gathered edible plants within sight into his basket.
Birds chirped in the trees, and the occasional rustle of small animals passing by created an atmosphere of peace and harmony.
Suddenly, a rustling sound shattered the calm.
Lai Yi gently set down his hoe, drew his bow, and aimed at the low shrub where the noise originated.
The shrub continued to rustle, but whatever was inside didn’t emerge.
Lai Yi kicked a nearby stone toward the bush. Startled, a gray shadow darted swiftly toward him.
Lai Yi’s first arrow missed. He immediately nocked another wooden arrow and shot at the gray figure.
This time, he struck its hind leg.
It struggled, dragging its leg another ten meters or so before Lai Yi caught up and ended its life with a single dagger strike. The gray shadow turned out to be a Longtooth Beast.
Longtooth Beasts shared habits similar to rabbits, also possessing two prominent incisors. However, they were twice the size of rabbits and were very common creatures in these parts.
After draining the Longtooth Beast’s blood, Lai Yi wrapped it in several layers of large leaves he had casually gathered and placed it at the bottom of his backpack basket.
He didn’t want to get blood on himself.
This unexpected gain sparked Lai Yi’s interest in hunting. Carrying his bow and arrows, he walked a few hundred meters around the area where he had found the hare and successfully hunted two wild red prairie birds.
A decent harvest.
Lai Yi began heading back.
The deep forest was silent, with only the incessant chirping of unknown birds. The animals had stilled their movements, and the wind seemed to carry a dangerous aura.
The surroundings were too quiet. Lai Yi’s sixth sense told him something was wrong here.
He cautiously tightened his grip on the dagger at his waist.
Sure enough, a powerful force lunged at his back.
Fortunately, his backpack basket blocked the attack. He decisively discarded the basket and rolled on the ground to evade the follow-up assault.
It was a gray wolf nearly two meters long, missing one eye.
Its fur was matted and tangled into messy clumps, its belly sunken, and its body emaciated and covered with wounds.
The injuries on its head were particularly severe.
The gray wolf glared viciously at Lai Yi, its eyes reflecting green light, while thick drool dripped from its slightly open jaws.
Having failed twice, the wolf snorted impatiently and paced while observing Lai Yi for weaknesses.
Lai Yi assumed a defensive stance to protect himself, staring unblinkingly at the wolf’s movements.
This wolf was already at the end of its strength—beasts at such times are always exceptionally fierce. He only had a dagger in hand, and there was no one else around.
The wolf gathered strength in its hind legs and lunged at Lai Yi again, attempting to bite his throat, but Lai Yi blocked it with his arm.
Growing increasingly agitated, the wolf began attacking Lai Yi frantically.
Using trees as cover to protect his back from being attacked, Lai Yi noticed the wolf seemed intentional in driving him toward areas with less cover.
The standoff between man and wolf lasted over twenty minutes.
The wolf panted heavily, its attacks extremely fierce.
Lai Yi narrowly avoided several lethal strikes but inevitably sustained injuries, gradually losing stamina.
The wolf’s wounds began to bleed. Perhaps realizing that prolonging the stalemate would only lead to its death, it leaped high and launched a final, deadly assault.
Lai Yi was pinned to the ground, the wolf’s foul-smelling muzzle pressing against his face. He had no choice but to grab the wolf’s jaws and, in a panic, thrust his dagger into its neck.
The pain drove the wolf into a frenzy, and it attacked Lai Yi recklessly.
If initially it had only intended to assault a human and steal his prey, now it wanted this human dead!
Lai Yi exerted great force but couldn’t pull out the dagger; it seemed stuck in the wolf’s bones. He had lost his only weapon.
After the prolonged fight, Lai Yi’s blood was up, his eyes vaguely tinged with crimson. He grabbed a nearby branch and stabbed at the wolf’s wounds, attacking wildly as if his life depended on it.
Man and wolf tumbled and fought on the ground.
Lai Yi lacked a proper weapon, while the beast’s fangs and claws were its best defense—the gray wolf clearly had the upper hand.
But he refused to give up. Even surviving a second longer would be a gain.
Marshaling all his energy to face the beast, he raised the blood-stained branch high and stabbed at the wolf, his handsome face contorted with effort.
Faintly, a glimmer of green light enveloped the branch, which plunged deep into the wolf’s eye socket.
With a thunderous crash, the massive body collapsed.
Lai Yi had successfully slain the beast.
The surroundings were splattered with blood, the stench of blood and the beast’s odor assaulting his nostrils.
Such a strong smell of blood would inevitably attract more beasts. After catching his breath, Lai Yi picked up his backpack and left the area, his right hand trembling slightly.
Fortunately, his home was located close to the woods. He skirted around the crowds, and no one noticed his blood-soaked appearance.
When Lai Yi arrived home, Neil was still in class.
His clothes and pants were torn and tattered, covered in blood and mud. After bathing, he tossed them into the fireplace and burned them to ashes.
The familiar environment brought Lai Yi a sense of security. As his body relaxed, only soreness remained.
After tending to his wounds, Lai Yi sat in a chair and began to reflect.
Wolves are pack animals, and that gray wolf shouldn’t have been there alone.
The village had a self-organized militia that occasionally ventured deep into the forest to hunt dangerous beasts.
Lai Yi suspected the gray wolf had been cast out from its pack.
It was severely injured and couldn’t survive in the deep forest, which was why it had wandered to the outskirts.
And he had been unlucky enough to encounter it.
He needed a almanac—if such a thing existed.
Lai Yi raised his right hand and examined it carefully.
He remembered seeing a flash of green light during the chaos.
He recalled the scene at the time.
As he gathered his strength, something seemed to flow into his body, then enveloped the branch through his right hand.
This elusive sensation was like touching air…
Gradually, Lai Yi felt as if he had grasped something.
Flickering specks of light in various colors seemed to float in the air. Tentatively, he guided the specks toward himself.
Sure enough, the green specks gathered around him, while the others remained motionless.
As the specks accumulated, Lai Yi began absorbing them spontaneously. He felt a change within his body—a sensation of energy filling him.
Directing the energy to his hand, a small green orb of light appeared in the center of his palm.
Lai Yi pushed the orb toward a half-withered plant on the balcony.
The orb vanished, and the plant revived, its leaves trembling slightly as if expressing joy.
Lai Yi was stunned. Had he truly seen joy in a plant? Was he going mad?
After a brief moment of confusion, delight and relief washed over him. He truly possessed magic.
Life on this Magic Continent now had an added layer of security. Things seemed to be getting interesting.
Author’s Note:
“After the demise of the Prime Deity, her power became the final gift to all races. It divided into five types of magical particles with different attributes, permeating the entire continent. Even the lowliest of creatures have the right to wield them. Ah! Praise the Prime Deity, praise her selfless soul, praise her pure heart, praise her…”
—Excerpt from a certain church’s morning liturgy