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{3rd Pov}
Astreo sighed as he gazed at the holographic blue screen floating in front of him.
[Unlimited Resource System is operating]
'First I get reincarnated into the world of a versatile mage, and now I have a system… what's next? Am I going to find out that a Goddess is yandere and obsessed with me?' he thought, shivering at the very idea.
He sincerely hoped that would not be the case.
Astreo had been reincarnated into the world of a versatile mage as a newborn, and at present, he was only five years old.
To be honest, he had initially been extremely excited about receiving a second chance at life after his idiotic friend had accidentally slammed him against an iron pole in his previous life.
However, the excitement quickly gave way to the harsh realities of starting over as a baby, which, he had to admit, was utterly horrible.
When he was born, it felt as though his lungs had been scorched from the inside, forcing him to cry out with unbearable intensity.
Then came the strange new experience of vision—initially black and white, no less. At first, he assumed he might have been born color-blind.
On top of that, he had to endure the frailty of weak limbs and the general helplessness of infancy, each day a struggle of its own.
As if life had not been cruel enough, his parents died when he was only one year old, leaving him entirely orphaned.
All the wealth and property they had accumulated? Seized by corrupt officials and opportunistic people, leaving him at the mercy of the cold walls of an orphanage.
At that time, he found himself in Bo City—the very same city from which the story of the Versatile Mage began, the city that shaped the hot-blooded, dual-attributed, and prodigiously talented Mo Fan's legend.
His parents had been foreigners who had settled in this city for reasons unknown to him.
Perhaps his mother had belonged to a prestigious clan or influential family, running away with his father to this place in search of freedom or safety.
Perhaps there was some other, more complicated story.
To be honest, with all the clichés he had read about, he had already prepared himself for either an extremely dramatic past or a terrifying, tragic origin story.
And now, on top of everything else, he even had a system! Just from the name alone, it sounded impressive—like something capable of shaping the entirety of his second life.
'Say, system, what exactly is your function?' Astreo asked in his mind, his curiosity piqued. He needed to understand the full capabilities of his system so that he could carefully plan how to utilize it to the fullest.
After all, he had hoped for a cheat when he reincarnated, and it seemed his wish had been granted—perhaps even beyond his wildest expectations.
[System has scanned the entirety of the world of Versatile Mage, and through its exhaustive gathering of information, it possesses the following functions:
It can generate infinite copies of any scanned resource through its creation module. This is not limited to beast corpses, beast essences, heavenly seeds, awakening stones, or similar items, but includes any resource it has scanned.
The system contains an energy breeder module, capable of producing extremely pure and high-level energy. This energy is essential for creating infinite copies of resources without any limitation.
The system can scan any new resource, the strength, abilities, or other information of targets, even details that are imperceptible to a Peak Emperor-level being.
It possesses a digital dimensional space, which can be used not only for meditation and magical training but also to fight virtual opponents. This allows the Master to hone his skills without any risk to his life.
Finally, the system has an upgrade and remix module, which can fuse various resources together to create even higher-grade or more potent resources.]
Astreo was slightly dazzled by the capabilities of the system. Judging by its functions, it could easily be classified under the category of being overwhelmingly overpowered.
In the world of Versatile Mage, what limited a magician's strength was not their innate talent, but the resources they possessed.
Talent alone could only carry someone so far—without sufficient resources, even a prodigy could not reach the top.
Conversely, someone with average talent, provided they had an abundance of resources and the dedication to cultivate them, could rise to become a forbidden mage.
Resources in this world were extremely scarce.
In fact, only about one to two percent of the population even had the potential to become mages. Among those, only roughly ten percent could ever hope to reach the stage of an Advanced Magician.
Ninety percent of all mages remained stuck at the level of Beginner or Intermediate Magician.
This was not only because of their limited talent but, more crucially, due to a lack of sufficient resources to truly advance.
Only a minuscule 0.001% of the mage population ever managed to reach the level of Super-tier Magician.
As for Forbidden Mages, their numbers were so few that encountering one was almost equivalent to witnessing a miracle—they were virtually nonexistent.
Therefore, possessing infinite resources meant that, with enough time and unwavering dedication, Astreo could realistically ascend to the rank of a Forbidden Mage, surpassing nearly all boundaries that the world imposed.
Astreo took a deep breath to calm his racing mind before posing his second question.
He sent it mentally, of course, not speaking aloud: 'What are your limitations?'
[The system has the following limitations:
It cannot copy or replicate the innate talent of another individual.
It cannot generate resources that it has not already scanned, and the scope of its scanning is limited to this world alone; even other dimensional planes within this world have not been scanned or catalogued.
It cannot create entirely new resources from scratch. The closest approximation to creating a new resource is by combining already scanned resources to form a stronger or upgraded version.
The system can only produce resources up to the level of Divine grade, which is precisely one grade above the Emperor grade.
The system has no ability to travel to, or interact with, other worlds.
If the Master wishes to unlock additional functions beyond those already present, he must create the necessary modules himself, as the system is not capable of self-upgrade or autonomous development.]
Astreo was left momentarily speechless upon seeing the last limitation.
The system had bluntly informed him that if he wanted it to become more powerful or acquire new functions, he would have to do it entirely on his own.
For a brief moment, he questioned the very logic of his situation.
Is the system supposed to be my cheat code, or am I supposed to be the system's cheat code? he wondered bitterly.
How on earth was a five-year-old child, who had not even begun to reach the level of a Beginner Mage, supposed to upgrade a system capable of creating resources above the Emperor grade?
It was almost laughably absurd, and yet terrifying at the same time.
Still, despite his frustration, Astreo felt a small measure of relief.
At least now he had a clear understanding of what his system was capable of and, just as importantly, what its limitations were.
With that knowledge, he could finally begin to formulate a concrete plan—strategizing the best way to utilize the system, optimizing its existing functions, and improvising as he learned its finer mechanics in detail.
Astreo's curiosity shifted to another question: did he possess any innate talent himself?
After all, in the world of Versatile Mage, transmigration could sometimes grant extraordinary abilities.
Mo Fan, for instance, had benefited from dual elements due to his transmigration, and innate talent could significantly influence a magician's combat prowess even at the same level of strength.
'Say, system, do you have something like a status screen for my abilities?' Astreo asked silently, sending the question directly into the system with his mind.
The system did not respond verbally. Instead, a status screen appeared immediately before him, displaying the relevant information in precise digital clarity:
[Name: Astreo Voldigoad
Age: 5 years old
Race: Human (Do not assume any connection to Anos Voldigoad)
Title: System Master, Reincarnator
Innate Talent: Early Awakener
Mage Tier: None
Awakened Elements: None]
Astreo blinked at the screen, a wry smile tugging at his lips. His full name was, indeed, Astreo Voldigoad.
For a fleeting moment, he had half-expected a scenario straight out of his daydreams: Anos himself appearing as his father, returning from some absurd "milk quest," and somehow declaring him the next Demon King.
But of course, dreams were always sweeter than reality.
The system, blunt and unyielding as ever, harshly crushed that whimsical delusion by clearly stating that he was a pure human and bore no connection to Anos in any conceivable way.
'At least I can cross that off my list of potential secret backgrounds', Astreo noted quietly, a small sigh escaping from his mouth as he allowed himself a moment of relief.
Then, his attention shifted back to the next line on the status screen, and a spark of genuine excitement flickered in his eyes as he examined his innate talent.
He actually had a freaking talent.
And while he could grasp its general meaning from the name alone, the specifics were still unclear.
To fully understand it, he needed the system to explain it in detail.
Barely restraining himself from speaking out loud, he sent the command mentally: 'System, explain what my talent is!'
The system immediately responded, displaying a clear description:
[Innate Talent: Early Awakener (Master's innate talent is the result of his reincarnation. Your spiritual sea and spiritual strength are already sufficient to awaken an element; you only need to stimulate your elemental pathways.)]
Reading the explanation, Astreo's eyes widened in understanding. In this world, the magic system was unique and highly structured.
Every mage's power relied on something called the spiritual sea, essentially the reservoir of one's mental and spiritual strength.
As a person matured, this spiritual sea would stabilize and gradually expand, eventually reaching a level sufficient to connect to an elemental pathway.
The optimal age for awakening magic was around fifteen or sixteen.
By this age, a person's spiritual strength had grown strong and stable enough to successfully awaken, and beyond that point, it became increasingly difficult to increase one's power further without extraordinary effort.
Technically, if someone's spiritual sea was strong enough, they could awaken at almost any time, but tradition and practicality dictated otherwise.
Why waste time, after all?
The human lifespan was limited, and the awakening ceremony was therefore typically performed around the age of fifteen or during high school.
However, if a person lacked the necessary spiritual force to open their elemental pathways, they could never awaken magic at all.
This innate potential was what separated those who could wield magic from the vast majority who could not.
The final step to truly awaken magic was stimulation, and the most reliable method was through an Awakening Stone.
These stones guided the spiritual force, channeling it into the latent magical pathways within the spiritual sea.
Importantly, they had no side effects, making them by far the safest and most dependable method.
Other methods of awakening did exist—near-death experiences, bloodline triggers, and rare environmental catalysts—but these were unreliable.
Even then, they would only succeed if the person already possessed the innate talent to awaken.
Without that talent, no external method could force the magic to manifest.
'So… does that mean if I get an Awakening Stone, I can awaken my magic?!' Astreo thought, his excitement growing uncontrollably.
Awakening Stones were extremely precious.
Even the ones available at the high school were often inferior, riddled with impurities that could hinder the awakening process.
Higher-ranked Awakening Stones, however, could not only awaken magic much more easily but also rarer and more powerful elements, providing the wielder with a distinct advantage.
Since he technically had access to infinite resources, Astreo realized he could awaken a rare and powerful element whenever he wanted.
He wouldn't have to struggle like everyone else, scavenging for materials or competing over limited resources.
The thought of this alone made a grin spread across his face, and he could not suppress a quiet laugh of pure excitement.
Just as he was about to check the Awakening Stones he already possessed, mentally listing and analyzing each one in preparation for his awakening, a sharp knock echoed at the door.
"Aster! You've been in the toilet for more than half an hour! Get out! I cannot hold back anymore!" a kid's frantic voice called from outside.
"…"
Astreo was momentarily speechless. He slowly stood up from the toilet seat, his mind racing as he tried to act nonchalant.
He flushed the toilet, pretending that he had just finished doing his business, and moved toward the sink to wash his hands. But then he froze.
He just got the nature's call, real for this time. Now… what exactly was he supposed to do?
"Aster! Please! I beg you! Come out! I won't be able to hold it much longer!" the kid cried again, the desperation in their voice making Astreo's hesitation worse.
Finally, Astreo made a decision.
He would postpone the rest of his "business" for later. Taking a deep breath, he opened the bathroom door, and the other kid immediately dashed inside like a whirlwind.
Astreo quickly stepped aside and walked away, trying to appear completely ordinary.
He was called Aster because his full name, Astreo, was difficult for Chinese children to pronounce.
In this world, English was a mandatory second language.
After all, the last thing anyone wanted was to encounter someone from a different country in a critical situation and completely misinterpret their intentions—or worse, their danger it could be both fatal and stupid way to die.
Despite this, it was still extremely difficult for young children who had just begun learning English to actually speak it fluently.
Chinese was their mother tongue, after all, and switching between languages at that age required effort and concentration.
Astreo, however, was different.
Thanks to the memories from his past life, he could speak both Chinese and English fluently, without hesitation or mistake—a skill that set him apart from everyone else around him.
He also noticed something peculiar about the people here.
They looked strikingly different from anyone back in his world.
They were more beautiful, more refined, and in some ways almost ethereal.
The only reliable way to distinguish people from different countries was by subtle traits such as skin tone, hair color, eye color, or accent.
Other than those minor differences, all humans appeared very similar.
Jawlines, eyebrows, and noses were not particularly distinguishing features—it was more about individual personal traits than communal or cultural ones.
It was almost as if an anime world had been brought to life.
At least everything wasn't rendered in 2D with exaggerated anime visuals—Astreo shuddered at the thought.
If the world had been entirely like that, he might have literally died from the graphics overload before anything else.
(A/N: Our human gpus aren't built for that shit)
Aster settled onto his bed and glanced at the other children's beds nearby.
As an orphan, he naturally shared his room with children of a similar age group.
Since he was only five years old and the pressures of study hadn't yet become overwhelming, he spent most of his time free and unburdened.
Aster didn't want to come across as either foolish or suspicious.
That was why he had chosen the bathroom as a private place to communicate with his system, allowing him to control his excitement without anyone noticing.
Of course, considering he was just a young child, nobody would have thought much if he had instead communicated with the system while lying quietly on his bed.
Still, the toilet had felt like a safer, more isolated space to freely explore the possibilities of his newfound abilities.
But since he had no choice now, he can analyze his system only on the bed now.
So he began meticulously going through all the resources he had accumulated, lying comfortably on his bed.
His sharp mind moved quickly, scanning through materials, analyzing their properties, and considering the best way to use them.
Soon enough, he would awaken a magical element—a power that would mark the first true step of his extraordinary journey.
Thus, Astreo's epic legend did not begin in some ancient, mysterious tomb or a battle-scarred battlefield as one might expect.
No, it began in the most mundane of places: a toilet, followed by his own bed in a shared orphanage compartment, surrounded by the quiet breathing of other children.
It was humble, unassuming, and entirely ordinary—yet it was here that the foundations of a story that would shake the world were quietly being laid.
To be continued...