The cloaked ship descended silently through the clouds.
This time, instead of just data and reports, Aurelia wanted to see Earth herself.
From the reports, she had seen the scars of war healed, cities glowing, fortresses guarding the borders, but it was different to step close, to watch battles play out on the outposts with her own eyes.
The ship swept past a frontier outpost. Below, defenders clashed against a horde of twisted monsters.
Aurelia leaned forward, her gaze narrowing. She watched as Defenders fought with scrolls that flared in golden brilliance, barriers holding back monster tides, wounds closing in seconds beneath runes of life.
But even beyond the scrolls, what startled her most was the warriors themselves. Their movements were too fast. Their bodies too strong.
Too disciplined for a world so young.
She narrowed her eyes. "I understand the scrolls. But why are the warriors themselves this abnormally strong? Even if they fought for decades… this level of physique is unheard of for a newly awakened world."
Adrian raised his hand, turning it so she could see the back of his palm. Etched into the skin was a glowing tattoo, subtle but alive, its lines arranged like a rune inscription.
"This," Adrian said, "is the strengthening rune. Once etched into the body, it fuels itself from ambient mana."
"It simulates the void in stages, step by step, level by level. It cuts oxygen, freezes the body, forces the user to adapt and survive by channeling mana alone."
"It trains us to breathe mana, to live in mana. So one day, when we face the real void, it will feel like home."
Aurelia's eyes widened.
"In the beginning, I made it only to prepare our people for space," Adrian admitted. "But as time passed, we realized it strengthened them in every way. Endurance, power, speed, everything grew."
For a moment, Aurelia was silent. Then her lips parted, and the weight of her words trembled the air.
"Impossible."
"Even SSS-ranks can't stand in the void without wrapping themselves in Essence. To endure with your body alone requires comprehension of strengthening skills and refining the body for decades."
"But that is personal, Learned, and earned."
"A tattoo rune? To etch it into the flesh as a rune? To give that strength to anyone?" Her voice cracked. "It has never been done. No symbol like this had been found in the galaxy."
Adrian and Sentinel were shocked. Before, both thought this should already exist out there.
"The language of mana that the entire galaxy has is ultimately not everything, it's fragments," Aurelia explained. "So many things do not exist. There are many researches happening to this day to find new symbols."
"Most new symbols are meaningless, but a rare few are priceless. And no one had found a symbol which lets a rune be etched as a tattoo."
Hearing this, they understood the value of this symbol's discovery.
"Selena found this," Adrian said at last. "Our greatest Rune Master. She spent years searching, testing, breaking her hands on failure after failure."
"And then… she found it."
Aurelia felt a sudden heat in her chest, her heart clenching. Not just Adrian. Not just one anomaly.
Her home had birthed more geniuses. Earth, her Earth, still had the spark.
Her lips curved into the faintest smile.
...
Later, cloaked in hoods, they walked the streets of a city. Aurelia's steps slowed as she passed through the heart of civilization.
Not an outpost, not a battlefield, just a place where people lived.
She saw the civilians. Children laughing in alleyways, their voices bright with innocence.
Vendors hawked food in cheerful voices. Families walked hand in hand, utterly certain that defenders at the outposts would keep the monsters at bay.
It hit her memories. She had left a fractured Earth, scarred by demons and grief.
Now she saw smiles, Peace, Hope.
Her steps slowed. Her throat tightened. "This is what we fought for… what we bled for… all those centuries ago."
Even Sentinel, silent at her side, let the moment wash over him. His eyes softened as he watched a child run past, laughing.
Adrian's gaze was different. His eyes traced every face, every smile.
For him, this was why he bore his burdens. To see his people live like this.
...
Hours later, their path turned toward the HQ.
They walked through the districts, through healing wards where scars faded in seconds, through barracks where warriors sparred under glowing tattoos.
The more Aurelia saw, the more her heart swelled. She saw possibility. These were not primitives. These were not children clinging to survival.
They were seeds, countless seeds, waiting to grow.
"They could be weak now… but they will not remain so for long."
She felt hope for her home.
...
At last, they reached the Rune District.
The air came alive with the smell of ink, parchment, and mana hum. Inscribers bent over worktables, scrolls piling high, the white-grey sheen of Blackwood Ink glimmering in vials.
Aurelia slowed as she stepped into a shop. Scrolls lay stacked in towers, runes etched in Adrian's white-grey ink.
She touched one, her fingertips brushing the parchment. The energy coiled beneath her skin, strange, alien, yet harmonious.
"This feels wrong," she whispered. "In a good way."
Her expression darkened.
"Adrian, Sentinel." Her voice cut the quiet. "The significance of this ink is greater than you realize."
"The galaxy has never broken the chain of affinity. Even the strongest clans remain bound to their own concepts."
"They cannot simply wield any rune with pure mana. But Earth has broken free."
She looked them both in the eye. "If this secret spreads before Earth can defend itself, the empires will consume Earth."
"This ink… cannot leave this world. Not yet."
Both men nodded silently. The truth was heavy, undeniable.
The shopkeeper, an elderly inscriber with ink-stained fingers, approached them as he noticed it was Adrian. "Lord Adrian? Is everything alright?"
"Everything's fine, Master Chen." Adrian's voice carried calm authority.
Master Chen beamed. "Your ink has changed everything, my lord. My grandson can inscribe legendary runes now, even with his earth affinity."
Aurelia watched the old man's face light up with genuine gratitude. This was what Adrian had built, not just power, but hope spreading through every family.
At last, they entered the central tower. Its spires glowed against the night sky, every stone inscribed with light.
Aurelia's lips curved faintly. Earth was no longer the world she had left.
It had become something more, Something dangerous, Something beautiful.
But beauty was never left alone in the galaxy. It was always coveted, always fought over.
And soon, Earth would be no different.