Norian left behind his run-down three-story wooden apartment. The night of Veltorian was starry, the sky glittering with distant celestial bodies.
Among them, planets orbiting Veltorian could be seen—small glowing spheres drifting across the sky.
From the ground, they looked like tiny globes, but in reality, they were massive planets locked in orbit. All the planets visible tonight were [Tier-4] worlds.
Norian's town, Veyas Reach, was located just outside Drelmora City. By train, it only took fifteen minutes to reach.
Right now, it was midnight. Most of Veyas Reach was asleep, and those still awake were likely celebrating with family in the city.
The air wasn't hot or pleasant—just barely bearable. Summer was ending, and the air had begun to cool.
Norian reached the station, which operated 24/7 under the government's AI and maintenance crews. He swiped his card, bought a ticket, and a few minutes later the train arrived.
He stepped inside, found an empty seat, and slumped down as the doors closed. The train was mostly empty.
As it rolled forward, he gazed outside. Moonlight lit the vast plains, stretching endlessly toward distant mountain peaks.
The rail line between Veyas Reach and Drelmora City had nothing in between—just the track, the road, and endless land. Norian drifted into a half-sleep, not focusing on anything, letting the rhythm of the train carry him.
When it finally stopped at Drelmora, he got off. The station was lively, filled with movement and noise—announcements rang out, footsteps echoed, people hurried about.
The air itself felt alive. In contrast, Norian's inner world was silent, heavy. The world outside moved forward, but inside, he was trapped in his own small, quiet cage.
He walked out of the station, hood pulled low. No one paid attention to him. If they had seen his face, they would have turned to look again—his transformation was that obvious.
The station opened into the central plaza of Drelmora City. Flying billboards hovered above, cars glided through the skies, and crowds filled the streets, laughing and chatting.
Norian sat on a bench and watched. The plaza overflowed with life. Holographic billboards flashed with interviews of newly ascended Walkers, retelling their missions and experiences.
Norian listened quietly. From what he gathered, most of them had faced trials similar to his. Yet no amount of liveliness, no display of celebration, could touch the emptiness inside him. He felt hollow, tired, unable to sleep. It was a torturous state.
Eventually, he stood and left the plaza, heading toward the city's park. The park sprawled across six square kilometers of rolling hills, a green space carved into the heart of the city.
At night, it was still open, maintained by the government like all public services. Bright lamps lit the paths, and security was tight—hidden cameras monitored everything, ready to alert the police instantly if something happened. Robbery here was nearly impossible.
And even if someone tried to rob him, they'd regret it. Norian was broke, but he was no longer the weak boy he once was.
He climbed one of the small hills and sat on a bench overlooking the skyline. The silver moonlight painted the city below in soft glow. Veltorian had two moons: a massive one that orbited the planet, and a smaller one that circled the bigger moon.
The larger moon was famous across the world, praised in poems, films, and even anime for its beauty. But Norian's eyes always wandered to the smaller moon.
He didn't know why, but whenever he looked at it, he felt understood—seen. At first he thought he was going mad, but that little moon was one of the few things that kept him moving forward all this time.
Tonight, under its glow, he felt as if his emptiness had been washed away. For a moment, nothing else mattered. Only the moon and himself existed.
He stared for a long time before finally exhaling deeply.
Rubbing his face, his thoughts cleared. He realized that sitting around lamenting loss would never bring him closer to his goal—or to keeping his promise. He had sworn to Garuda that he would return, that they would meet again, at least once more.
To do that, he needed strength. His power, Conviction Nexus, was the key. He still doesn't know the full potential of this power but he is ready to find out.
Norian stood. His steps grew firm, his body radiating newfound resolve. The emptiness that had consumed him moments ago was now replaced with fire—a burning desire to grow stronger, to gain recognition, and to prove wrong all those who once called him cursed.
He would no longer hide. If the world wanted to crush him, he would fight back. Pulling down his hood, he ran a hand through his hair, took a deep breath, and walked out of the park with a faint smile.
The air felt different, as if a barrier between himself and the world had finally shattered. Before, he had felt distant, like an observer watching others live. Now, he felt part of the same world.
Back in the plaza, people glanced at him. Some smiled. He smiled back. The warmth of their small gestures was an incredible feeling. He realized then how much he had changed. He knew he had grown handsome, but seeing their reactions confirmed it—it was enough to draw people's eyes.
Standing there, Norian no longer felt like a background character. He was ready to step into the world as an active participant, ready to clash with it if it tried to deny him.
With that resolve burning inside, Norian returned home. The fatigue of his emotional breakthrough finally caught up to him, crashing down on his body. He set his bed, lay down, and drifted into deep sleep.
=====
The next day, Norian woke up feeling refreshed and alive.
*Hnngg~*
He stretched on his bed, then slumped back against the sheets before finally sitting up, scratching his back lazily.
It had been a long time since he had slept on a soft cushion, and the comfort felt almost foreign—yet wonderful.
Though he had mostly overcome his depression, a bittersweet taste still lingered in his chest, born from not being able to see Garuda again.
Garuda's teasing banter still echoed in his mind as if he were right there beside him. Norian shook his head and opened his inventory.
The air rippled as he dipped his hand forward, his arm vanishing into the pocket of space. When it emerged, he was holding the toothed necklace Garuda had given him.
He stared at it for a long moment before gently squeezing it in his hand.
Afterward, he stood and went into the bathroom. For the first time, he looked at his reflection in a clear mirror rather than water. He had truly changed. Gone was the timid, oppressed boy with an average face and tired eyes.
Now, in front of him stood a young man—handsome, sharp, and brimming with a quiet confidence. Norian tilted his head, looking at his face from different angles.
He even flexed his muscles in the mirror, unable to stop the small grin tugging at his lips. He looked straight into his eyes and found something different there too—hope.
Hope that once never existed, and a new confidence that he could actually accomplish something.
He smiled at himself, then picked up his toothbrush and paste. It had been a long time since he had last brushed his teeth, yet they were clearer now than ever before.
Even back then, when he brushed regularly, they had never shone this bright. Perhaps it was the miracle water and forest fruits he had consumed.
When he finished, he took a quick shower, the cold water jolting his senses awake. Afterward, he sat on his bench, leaning against the wall, quietly planning the things he needed to do next.
'Alright, first things first.'
Before anything else, Norian needed to familiarize himself with the system. The system had ten pages in total.
The last two weren't of any importance — people barely used those pages. First, he needed to know about himself, his statistics. So he pulled up the status window and clicked the profile page.
✧═─〈 SYSTEM INTERFACE 〉─═✧
[1] PROFILE
• Name: Norian Veyar
• Origin: Veltharion
• System Designation: Initiated Dimension Walker
• Current Status: [Initiate]
• Trial Access: Tier II Locked
• Titles: None
• Recognized Class Path: None
• System Link: Active
• Status:
▪︎ Strength: F
—[Overall muscle power out put.]
▪︎ Dexterity: F
—[Overall reflexe and rection time indicator.]
▪︎ Vitality: F
—[Overall endurance and recovery rate.]
▪︎ Equanimity: F
—[Perfect balance of intelligence, comprehension, emotional intelligence and resilience.]
༺═─────────────═༻
He read the descriptions for Strength, Dexterity, and Vitality. These were familiar within his limited knowledge.
But after he read the description for Equanimity, his heart skipped a beat. It was a combination of four mental statistics.
From the notifications in Xerion, it seemed that Equanimity itself had a few aspects: [Mind], [Heart], and [Nature]. These three aspects were probably a combination of the four mental constitutions.
Norian remembered that, and the natural aspect changed through modification. As far as he could tell, the [Nature] aspect of Equanimity meant his personality and Conviction Nexus had changed it.
'!!!'
A chill ran down his spine.
'No way, right? No way. No way my assumptions were correct... right?'
Norian felt cold sweat on his back. He leaned forward, thinking hard — temples throbbing, mind racing through bad possibilities — then he shook his head.
'No way. No way that happened. Ah~, right — I should connect my bank account with the system.'
He quickly exited the profile page and clicked the Trading Center page.
✧═─〈 SYSTEM INTERFACE 〉─═✧
[7] TRADE CENTRE
•Balance: 200 ₳C
[Please enter your Bank Info to Bind with the Trade Centre.
* Note: Once Bound it cannot be unbound. So please be cautious when entering Bank Info.]
༺═─────────────═༻
There, he started to type his bank information and synchronized his Trading Center with his bank account.
Transactions of AetherCred and normal currency were overseen by the will of the world itself, so no third party was involved.
There was no risk of being cheated or delayed — everything was instantaneous. But as Norian typed his information, his hands still shook and his heart felt slightly uneasy.
He ignored it and filled whatever the Trading Center asked. Within a few minutes, the Trading Center was fully active.
Ding!
✧═─〈 SYSTEM NOTIFICATION 〉─═✧
[Congratulations! You have successfully bound [Trade Center] with your Bank account! Now, your eligible to use all the features of [Trade Centre].
To learn more about the functionalities of [Trade Centre], please click on [i] option on the top right corner of the [Trade Centre].
༺═───────────────═༻
A notification rang out congratulating Norian. He entered [Trade Centre] again. And clicked on the [i] option. He didn't know much about the system. In school, only the basic stuff is thought.
✧═─〈 SYSTEM INTERFACE 〉─═✧
[7] TRADE CENTRE
•Balance: 200 ₳C
[Trade Centre is a regional trading hub for Walkers to trade the items they have brought from their missions. The will of the World oversees all transaction. With Trade Centre, a Walker can—
• Convert AetherCred into their Desired currency. And also convert any currency to AetherCred.
• List items they wish to sell.
• Buy listed items.
• Hold auction to sell items that the Walker considers auction able.
* Rules to follow:
•The items will be inspected by the will of the world and the Walkers will be given the result to determine the price. But deliberate misleading item description for higher price is not allowed. It is a punishable crime and Walkers will be given three warnings before completely revoking rights to access Trade Centre.
• The item must first be put inside Trade Centre storage or the item won't register.
• Will of the World will never access personal Inventory of an Walker, so please manually take the items from Trade Centre and move to your Personal Inventory.]
༺═─────────────═༻
Norian read through the whole thing. It was simple but effective only because will of the World is the one that is maintaining it.
'I see... so now I have a way I can make some quick cash. Nice!'
He thought as he entered the listed item page. There were many items that were dazzling and too much for his current self.
✧═─〈 SYSTEM INTERFACE 〉─═✧
[7] TRADE CENTRE
•Balance: 200 ₳C
[Listed Items]
• Aether Sheep wool [Common-Grade] [ Tier-1]: Wool of Aether sheep of Mioas Planet. Very comfortable and soft. Good for making bed or cushions.
• Price: 2,500 ₳C
• Halmar Azure-Green Pearl [Uncommon-Grade] [Tier-1]: Found in the coastal region in the Sea of Halmar. The Azure-Green Pearl is constantly changing its color between Azure and Green and sometimes they reach equalled state thus the name Azure-Green Pearl. It has Slight Water Aether in it. Good for calming the mind.
• Price: 4,280 ₳C
• Flame Tooth Dagger [Rare-Grade] [ Tier-1]:
Made out of Flame Sabertooths tooth from Ignia planet. If cut, it is hard to heal and will constantly burn. Very durable and sharp.
• Price: 12,000 ₳C
༺═───────────────═༻
"Hiss~."
Norian took a sharp breath as he scrolled through the listed items. He saw the price and non were less then 2000 AetherCred. And he also found a [Rare-Grade] [Tier-1] Item that is 12000 AetherCred.
'12,000 into 50 then... 60,000 Zetharians!!! Holy shit!!'
Norian's head spun with the sheer amount of money. But he quickly calmed down.
'Just because I'm poor doesn't mean others are too.'
He thought. He thought for a second and came to conclusion that if a middle-class family put every thing in the line they will be able to buy the Flame Tooth Dagger for their daughter or son.
It mad more sense that way. Norian continued looking for few more seconds. The items listed in the Trade Centre was mostly by senior Walkers Netharilis.
The Trading Center was regional after all. He came to that conclusion because he remembered the Aether Sheep wool from Mioas Planet. It was integrated into Veltharion's star system few years ego. It was the talk of the month that year. It was a [Tier-2] world.
It was located into a solar system with five planets in the [Tier-2] planet zone.
Besides, in his continent there weren't many Walkers to begin with, so there weren't many items listed, and the ones that were listed, it wasn't hard to guess what type of people they might be.
He didn't even think about listing the fruits — who would buy fruits on the Trading Center? If it had been some miraculous medicine, like miracle water, they might have been interested, but unfortunately Norian hadn't brought any miracle water with him.
He felt a slight regret that he hadn't hunted a bigger beast and made a water pouch from its hide as well.
But he was curious so he brought out the Black Panther King's hide from his Inventory and moved it to Trade Centre Storage. The system evaluation began and few seconds later the results came out.
✧═─〈 SYSTEM INTERFACE 〉─═✧
[7] TRADE CENTRE
•Balance: 200 ₳C
[Trade Storage and Analytics]
Result:
• Item Name: Black Panther King's Hide
• Item Grade: [Tier-0]
• Item Description: A [Tier-0] Panther King from a [Tier-1] world. It hide quality is above average and was been processed by Aetheric Water Thus the grading of [Tier-0]. Will of the World was generous in this evaluation. This item can barely even fit in [Trash-Grade]
• Recommended Price: 50 ₳C
[Pleace Enter a Price]
༺═─────────────═༻
'...'
Norian looked at the evaluation and was stunned speechless. His finger hovered above the Trade Centre page. He had thought that the Panther King's hide must be valuable because it hide, and animal Hide Damn it!!
But to the will of the world, it was barely
[Trash-Grade]. And even after being generous it was still [Tier-0]...
'Bro what is this? Why is this?'
Norian felt deeply insulted. But there is nothing he could do. He took out the hide from the Storage and put it inside his Inventory.
He hesitated but took out a small blue barie with small red spots here and there.
He put it inside storage and the evaluation began again. He waited his ankles on his knees and his hands clasped infront of his mouth.
✧═─〈 SYSTEM INTERFACE 〉─═✧
[7] TRADE CENTRE
•Balance: 200 ₳C
[Trade Storage and Analytics]
Result:
• Item Name: Zhel'Nahur Barie
• Item Grade: [Uncommon-Grade] [Tier-1]
• Item Description: A [Common-Grade] Item from a [Tier-1] world. Due to the variety of tate the will of the world Graded it [Common-Grade]. This fruit has some Aetheric properties. Faster enery replenishment, dense neutrinos, and slight amount of Wood Aether which can keep one healthy. It is only effective on [Tier-0] beings. But for [Initiate] Walkers, this can be a rare delicacy. Thus the will of the world Graded it to [Tier-1]
• Recommended Price: 250 ₳C
[Pleace Enter a Price]
༺═─────────────═༻
'...'
Norian was speechless again. He was expecting another critique but what he got instead was a very high evaluation.
'A [Tier-1] Item!!'
Norian's heart leaped in joy. The recommended price was very high as well. He was about to instantly list it but stopped.
'Wait! If the stingy will of the world evaluated it in [Tier-1] then what will the people who has never had such a thing in their life will feel?'
Norian understood from the Black Panther King's hide evaluation that the wills standards are very high. And if it evaluated tye blue barie in the [Tier-1], it must he pretty amazing.
Norian's brain ran at full speed. Thinking of ways to get maximum benefit out of this. Then he decided, he will go to famous bars to sell these fruits at over the top price.
These fruits were from another planet and they were unique. He will present them with few as limited-edition. He can say whatever price because they won't know if he has more or not.
"hehehehheheh~"
Norian evily launched as he layer out his plan.
'Since listing any item on the Trading Center was out of the question now, it was time to lock on the prey— I mean customers~'
Norian could think of a few places where he might sell them, but to sell the big pouch — in other words, the Black Panther King's hide — he would have to go to another city.
Looking at his bank balance, he was broke. Then Norian pulled up the Withdrawal option of the Trading Centre.
He could convert AetherCred to Zetharian currency, and Zetharian currency to AetherCred. AetherCred was a universal currency; as long as there was a system anywhere in the universe, that coin would work.
The exchange rate was 1:50 for Veltharion.
One AetherCred equaled fifty Zetarians.
Norian debated whether he should exchange his money, but ultimately decided not to. First he would try to sell the fruits.
He pulled out his phone and searched for potential fruit houses that might buy the fruits as limited-edition goods.
While doing the research, he suddenly remembered he was still enrolled in school. The school committee hadn't contacted him since he'd been absent for a few days; they were probably relieved he'd been away.
He thought about whether to go back, but when he remembered those five bullies, his jaw tightened.
'Those bastards needed a lesson.'
Norian couldn't be timid anymore. He had power now, and he was going to use it to establish himself. His first step toward truly leaving his pathetic past behind was to stand up to those bullies.
Norian made up his mind: he was going to school. He checked the school site and saw that classes were running normally.
Tomorrow would be the day he confronted them — the day he'd let those who called him a curse see that he wasn't cursed but a warrior they would one day look up to.
And as for today, first he will have to form his Aether Core to become a proper Walker. The Aether Manipulation Primer is toting in his Inventory and he can't wait to form an Aether Core.
Although the systems evaluation of him was a [Tier-1], it was because of his ridiculously high stats that made it possible. Norian looked at his profile again. He hadn't paid much attention to it but now that he thought care fully, it was ridiculous through and through.
'All stats [F] from the beginning...'
Normally, it takes years for a Walker to raise their stats to [F] from [F-]. And his stats were in
[F-Grade] right after his first mission.
His stats broke through after eating the Forest God's Grace but he was strong even before that. His stats were likely on a threshold and with Forest God's Grace's push, it broke through.
Norian realized that some luck had been part of his ridiculous stats.
"Heh~, guess I'm lucky after all."
He chuckled. But he had to admit that
[Conviction Nexus] it self was an ridiculous power. Converting people's belif into reality isn't something a normal power can do.
He doesn't know how much reality the
[Conviction Nexus] can influence but that's for the future him to worry about. For now, he will point out the potential customers and by noon, he will start forming his Aether Core. And if everything went smoothly, he can leave at night.
"Alright! Let's get to work."
Norian enthusiastically scrolled through different websites as well layer down on his bed again.
-To Be Continued