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A DILAPIDATED HOUSE – EXILED BOY'S ROOM
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In a dim, crumbling room, a young boy lay on a rough makeshift bed. Every small movement sent arcs of pain through his battered body. His dull grey eyes were fixed on the broken ceiling as his thoughts drifted like wandering clouds.
He wanted to get up.
He wanted to swing his wooden sword again.
He wanted to train, just like every other day.
But today… his body refused to obey.
His mind replayed the brutal beating given to him by the trio—their smug expressions, their contempt, their laughter.
Is it a crime to be born with E-rank talent?
I never asked for it. I never asked for any of this…
Why am I punished for something I did not choose?
They said his parents were powerful—monsters among monsters.
Yet they abandoned him the moment they discovered he was inferior.
I even have a sister… he thought bitterly. Wouldn't it have been nice if… all of us lived together like a real family?
But he wasn't foolish.
Deep down, he knew that nothing would change.
This life of isolation, this endless torment… it would continue.
Ever since the trio beat him up publicly, more and more children had started coming to harass him. They seemed emboldened, as if someone was encouraging it.
He clenched his fists.
Don't know when I'll be able to form my first star…
With my talent, it might take six years.
I can't afford to wait that long.
In Chronos, even children who hadn't entered the Star Realm were capable of manipulating space—space steps, micro-teleports, spatial slashes. Space was their birthright.
But not his.
The boy's heart tightened at this cruel reality.
He had no space affinity—something unheard of for a child of Chronos.
In Celestia, every person was born with an elemental affinity. Even though the Chronos specialized in space, they were still capable of controlling other elements. Space was simply where they excelled the most.
Affinity mattered.
Sometimes even more than talent rank.
Affinity too was graded from E to SSS.
A higher affinity meant easier control, deeper connection, and exponentially stronger power.
But the boy…
He didn't have a low affinity.
He had no affinity at all.
Affinity-less.
A phenomenon so rare that only a handful of such cases existed in all recorded history.
And yet, here he was—
Affinity-less.
E-rank talent.
Abandoned.
Exiled.
This alone explained everything—the ridicule, the isolation, the hopeless future.
The sword was the only path he could choose. But even the sword path wasn't easy for him. Most sword practitioners fused their elemental affinity with their sword techniques to create destructive force.
His sword carried no element.
No fire, no ice, no wind, no space.
Just a plain, powerless strike.
Compared to the other children of his age, he started far, far below them. His sword lacked the destructive might the Sword Path was famous for.
But he continued anyway.
Because he had only one hope left.
The Spirit Marking Ceremony, in three years.
A sacred event where every child below ten would be judged by the ancient spirits—messengers of the Celestian God. Those deemed worthy would receive a blessed mark, each one a sentient being with its own will.
Spirit marks were divided into:
Common Mark
Noble Mark
Prince Mark
King Mark
Emperor Mark
Ancestral Mark — a rarity seen only once in several millennia.
Each mark could elevate a child's fate.
Each mark could change a life.
For most children, it was a ceremony of pride—of showcasing their destiny.
For him…
It was his only chance.
His only escape.
His only wish.
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