(Inside the Mural, Speaking with King Moltherak, Leo's POV)
"*Cough*, *Cough*... So tell me, kid, on a more serious note… how do you have a mana heart? I've never seen a human with one before in my life! And I've lived a long time!" Moltherak asked, trying his best to be accommodating of Leo and his larger than life attitude.
"To be honest, I don't know either… I was just having my fifth and final Genetic Awakening shot when this organ just formed out of nowhere inside my body… I was honestly hoping you'd tell me more about it? And maybe even explain why I got sucked into this painting?" Leo replied, as he tamed down the arrogance and spoke normally for a change.
"Wait, let's do this. I'll ask my doubts first, then you go next, so this doesn't turn into a cross-questioning contest," Moltherak proposed, pausing until Leo gave a nod of agreement before continuing.
"What do you mean it just formed? Were you not born with it? And what the hell is a Genetic Awakening shot?" the former dragon king asked, as Leo sucked in a deep breath and began explaining everything Moltherak lacked context for.
He walked him through how humans in the modern world had developed a serum that could awaken dormant potential in one's bloodline, and how during his fifth and final awakening shot at Rodova, something unexpected happened, when his mana heart spontaneously formed inside his body.
The concept was, of course, entirely foreign to Moltherak, who blinked in disbelief at the idea of altering one's bloodline potential after birth, but even so, he looked thoroughly fascinated.
"Interesting… interesting, the modern world has indeed progressed a lot since I've been gone.
Hahaha! Last I saw humans, they were still worshipping their beastmasters and offering them food and sacrifices. You lot have grown a lot since then–" Moltherak said while nodding, as he seemed genuinely impressed by this breakthrough.
"What about your soul cultivation? How do you cultivate your soul when you don't even know how to use your mana heart?" The former Dragon King asked, as Leo blinked at him in confusion.
"What the fuck is soul cultivation?" He asked back, as it was the Dragon that was confused now.
"You… you're clearly a Golden Core warrior, on your way to becoming a nascent soul. What do you mean you have no idea about soul cultivation?" Moltherak asked, his tone caught somewhere between disbelief and concern, as Leo squinted slightly in response.
"You mean Grandmaster?" he replied, sounding confused, as Moltherak abruptly went silent.
The silence lingered for a moment before the dragon blinked his massive red eyes and leaned in with unexpected curiosity. "Tell me again… how do you tier up as a warrior?" he asked, voice lower now, not as a teacher, but as a student genuinely interested in learning.
Leo let out a deep breath, mentally bracing himself for how ridiculous this was starting to feel, and began walking the ancient dragon through the tier system of the modern world.
He started with the amateur realm, then moved up through master, and grandmaster—before explaining the rarer levels beyond, like Transcendent, Monarch, Demi-God, and finally, God.
Moltherak listened quietly, his expression unreadable as he absorbed every word with patience.
The modern practice to tier up was completely different from how Moltherak and the people living in his era used to cultivate, however, he still found it to be most fascinating.
"In our time," Moltherak began, his voice tinged with a mix of nostalgia and pride, "we followed a far more organic path. Our tiers began with Body Refining, moved to Foundation Establishment, followed by Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Monarch, King, and finally Emperor."
He paused for a moment, letting the names linger in the air.
"But unlike your world, where you have set rules and three clear criteria to break into each tier, we had only one… the strength of the soul. That was the ultimate judge of one's worth."
Leo blinked slowly, listening with interest as the dragon continued.
"The method was simple in name but difficult in practice, as the only thing we focused on was cultivation, or what you modern people call meditation.
Hours, days, even years spent in stillness, listening to one's breath, separating body from thought, and merging with the essence of the world.
When we reached bottlenecks, we turned to comprehension. Not of mana control, but of technique. We would seek to refine our swordplay, our battle arts, or our understanding of natural law to trigger breakthroughs in the soul."
"So… basically the same thing, but instead of learning skill moves you basically comprehended laws of the universe " Leo muttered, tilting his head as Moltherak nodded in agreement.
"Yes… in practice, it seems quite similar. Mastery of skill. Mental fortitude. Reflection. However, we lacked the structure and safety nets you possess now.
The criteria for breakthrough weren't clearly defined, and failing to break through often meant more than just failure—it meant backlash. Qi-deviation. Permanent regression. Sometimes death."
Leo frowned slightly at that, realizing how much more risk the ancients had carried with each step.
"We had no idea if our souls were ready to ascend or not. We had no checklist to fulfill before attempting a breakthrough, and so every breakthrough was a gamble for us.
But perhaps… that gamble is what made us fight with such desperation."
He lowered his gaze back toward Leo.
"Tell me… in your modern world, do they still value desperation? Or has the safety of knowing when you've done enough to ascend made you go soft while training?" He asked, as Leo chuckled at his question.
"Desperation has taken the face of ambition in the modern world.
And those who are the most ambitious are also the ones who are most often the most desperate for success.
I'm neither tho….. for success comes naturally to me, as I am 'TheBoss'," Leo replied, as this time Moltherak outright rolled his eyes at Leo's response, clearly fed-up of his ridiculous narcissistic attitude.