Sword God in a World of Magic

Alex slowly stepped out of the forest, dragging a severed head behind him.

The Frozen Lake Stag's antlers had lost all their color by now.

Obviously, Alex's masochistic and power-hungry side couldn't let go of so much Mana.

Alex slowly stepped towards the village, a couple hundred meters away. Right now, Alex could finally see the villagers doing their business. They were tending to some farms while others cooked on the streets for the entire village.

Alex watched the village from a distance.

'Everyone is working together. Some people are tending to the crops. Some are cooking for everyone. Some are out gathering Ice Wood.'

'I've never seen anything like that on Earth. Sure, I've seen scenes like that in documentaries and movies, but not in real life.'

Alex silently watched the village.

'It has a kind of purity and innocence to it.'

After a bit, a boy noticed Alex. After looking at Alex with wide eyes, he walked up to a grown woman and pointed at Alex while pulling on her skirt.

The woman looked at Alex, and her eyes widened.

'Great,' Alex thought. 'Guess the villagers will all leave again.'

However, surprisingly, the villagers didn't retreat. Instead, they all called each other and pointed towards Alex, or, more accurately, towards the head of the Frozen Lake Stag.

Alex could see some shock and surprise in their eyes.

'Well, at least they're not scared anymore,' Alex thought. 'Might as well give them a display.'

Alex lifted the head and held it above himself.

The villagers continued to look at Alex while talking in hushed voices.

After a couple of seconds, Alex felt a bit awkward and lowered the head.

'Weren't they supposed to break out into a cheer or something?' Alex thought awkwardly.

Alex released a sigh.

'Well, real life doesn't work like that, I guess. They're probably all just happy and surprised. Who would expect a huge group of adults to loudly break out into a cheer?'

Alex continued walking towards the village, and the villagers didn't retreat.

When Alex came close to them, some of them walked up to him.

"Well done, young man!" one of the men said with a bright smile. "That beast has been a problem for a long time!"

"Yes, thank you for taking care of it," another man said with a respectful nod.

villagers gave their thanks, and

problem," Alex answered.

here," the Elder said as he pushed himself through the

"As you've seen, the Frozen

looked at the head and nodded. "Good job. I knew that the Frozen Lake Stag wouldn't be a problem for you. After all, you already took down

for you. I

up that I had to deal with," Alex explained. "However, the fight definitely

Elder's eyes

the head

there no white glow

to take care of," Alex

eyes widened in

he quickly looked at the other villagers and pulled Alex away with his

almost attacked the Elder out of instinct when he

pulled Alex into his house and closed the

released a

tell people your affinity," the Elder said in a hushed tone. "There are ways to take advantage of someone's affinity. If

the Frozen Lake Stag getting impaled by its

lot of

arm would absorb all the Ice Mana

quickly recover from any injury, but

force him to injure himself at

if the Frozen Lake Stag had filled Alex with Ice Mana while running away and not

Stag wouldn't injure Alex, which would

opportunity to finish Alex. After all, Alex could recover from heavy injuries in

Alex couldn't evade

kind of bomb filled with Ice

explode or

a perfect opportunity to

as he realized

these scenarios in an instant, but Alex had gathered enough battle

didn't know it yet, but his experience with battle was vastly

me, Elder," Alex

Elder nodded solemnly. It was good that the young man realized the weight of

Elder had seen too many young geniuses die to

me how you dealt with the surplus of Mana? A Mana Overload is usually a death sentence," the

at the Elder

nearly killed myself several times," Alex

Elder's eyes widened

a while, the Elder

the Elder released a

Alex's words, the Elder's

Elder knew that Alex would go far. Alex had also offered to help the villagers instead of just directly forcing them to hand their

the Elder realized

Why naïve?

how did a genius become a

only mean having a strong body, powerful techniques, or