Kael walked behind his grandfather, each step a carefully controlled act. The floor of the fortress was made of thick, polished stone, but Kael felt like he could crack it if he wasn't paying attention. His new Agility made his movements feel smooth and natural, but his strength and density felt like they belonged to a giant.
They passed through a set of tall, silver doors and entered a vast, circular chamber. The room was so large that Kael's small hovel in the Sump could have fit inside it a hundred times over. The walls, floor, and ceiling were made of a seamless, polished black stone that seemed to drink the light. The only light came from glowing blue lines that were carved into the floor, forming complex patterns and a large circle in the center.
As they walked, Kael's mind raced. The Crystal he had received was a "one-time" reward. What would happen tomorrow? He needed to understand this new feature.
'System, can you explain how the Daily Rewards feature works?' he asked inwardly.
[Certainly.] a new voice, or rather, a new tone, answered in his mind. It was still the System, but it felt more direct.
[The [Daily Rewards] feature provides the host with one claimable reward every 24-hour cycle, resetting at sunrise. Rewards are generated through a randomized algorithm drawing from a vast pool of potential items, skills, and inheritances.]
'So it's random?' Kael asked.
[Correct. Reward quality is categorized into seven tiers: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Legendary, Mythical, and Divine. The first reward, [Crystal of Foundational Attunement], was a guaranteed one-time reward to establish a baseline. All subsequent rewards are random.]
Kael's mind reeled at the possibilities. A divine-tier item every day? The thought was staggering. But then a more realistic thought occurred to him. 'Does my Luck stat affect the quality of the rewards?'
[Information regarding the function of the [Luck] stat is currently restricted by host authority.]
Kael sighed internally. It was the same answer as before. He had a feeling Luck was important, but for now, it was a mystery.
"This is an aetheric training field," Valerius said, his voice echoing slightly in the huge space, pulling Kael from his thoughts. "The walls are made of obsidian infused with null-mana crystals. They can absorb massive amounts of energy. You could set off an explosion in here that could level a city block, and no one on the outside would feel a thing."
Kael looked around in awe. In the center of the room stood a single, man-shaped dummy made of a dull, grey metal. It was covered in dents and scratches.
"That is a standard training dummy," Valerius explained. "It is designed to measure the power of an Awakened's attack. Our first goal is simple. I want you to channel your Aether affinity. Just a little. Let it flow from your mana core, down your arm, and into your hand. Then, place your hand on the dummy."
Valerius smiled encouragingly. "Do not worry about the power. A new F-Ranker would be lucky to make the dummy glow. Just focus on feeling the energy and guiding it. It is the first step in casting any spell."
Kael's heart hammered in his chest. A new F-Ranker. He was an F-Rank, but his stats were a joke. He had 600 mana. How much was 'a little'? What if he used too much and blew the dummy to pieces? The lie would be over.
He walked to the center of the circle, his footsteps silent on the black stone. He took a deep breath, just as he had with the teacup. Control is about focus.
He closed his eyes and looked inward. He could see his mana, a swirling sea of bright energy inside him. He focused on it, trying to imagine taking just a single drop from that ocean.
'System, can I use a specific amount of mana?' he asked in his mind.
[The host can control mana expenditure through focused intent. Simply will the amount you wish to use.]
That was a relief. He focused on the number 'one'. He imagined pulling just one point of mana from his core. He felt a tiny spark of energy leave the pool and begin to travel up his chest and toward his arm.
[Mana: 600 -> 599]
He channeled the spark into his hand. He was expecting a faint shimmer, something small and manageable. Instead, his entire hand was instantly covered in a brilliant, pure white light. It didn't burn, but it was so bright it was hard to look at. It was like holding a star in his palm.
From the edge of the room, Thorne gasped. Valerius's eyes widened, his calm expression replaced by one of pure shock. The purity and intensity of that light, from just a single point of mana, was unheard of.
Kael, seeing their reactions, felt a surge of panic. He quickly pressed his glowing hand against the dummy's chest before he could lose his nerve.
There was no sound, no impact. But the moment his hand touched the metal, the glowing blue lines on the entire floor flared to life. The training dummy itself began to glow from the inside out, first a dull red, then a bright orange, and then a blinding white. A high-pitched whining sound filled the room.
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
A loud alarm started blaring.
"Kael, step back!" Valerius yelled, his voice sharp with urgency.
Kael snatched his hand away. The dummy continued to glow for a few more seconds before the light faded, leaving behind a handprint on its chest that was now glowing a soft, cherry red. The alarms stopped.
Thorne rushed over to a control panel on the wall that Kael hadn't noticed before. He tapped a few buttons, his face pale.
"My Lord…" Thorne said, his voice trembling. "The energy output… it overloaded the F-Rank sensors. It even overloaded the E and D-Rank sensors. The reading peaked in the mid-C-Rank range."
Kael felt the blood drain from his face. C-Rank. He had tried to be careful, and he had still displayed the power of an elite Awakened who had trained for decades.
Valerius walked slowly toward the dummy, his eyes fixed on the glowing handprint. He gently touched the metal near the mark and hissed, pulling his hand back. "It's almost molten."
He turned to look at Kael, but there was no anger in his eyes. Only a deep, profound sense of awe and concern.
"Grandfather, I'm sorry," Kael said, his voice shaking. "I only used one point of mana. I swear."
"One point…" Valerius whispered, looking from Kael to the dummy and back again. "The quality of your mana… your Aether… it is purer than anything I have ever seen. It is so dense that a single drop has the power of a hundred drops from a normal Awak-ened."
He put a hand on Kael's shoulder. "You have nothing to be sorry for. This is not your fault. It is the nature of your gift."
Kael was relieved, but also terrified. If one point of mana did that, what would ten do? Or a hundred?
"Alright," Valerius said, his voice now firm, all business. "The Aether test is complete. Let us move on to the Void. Do the same thing. Reach for it. Feel it. Let us see what it does."
Kael nodded, his mouth dry. He closed his eyes again, pushing away the image of the glowing dummy. He reached inward, past the bright sea of Aether, searching for the other affinity.
He found it in a place that felt like a quiet, empty corner of his soul. It wasn't a pool of energy like the Aether. It was a… hole. A point of perfect nothingness. It didn't push, it pulled. He felt a gentle tug on his consciousness, inviting him in.
He decided not to channel it into his hand. Instead, he just let a small piece of it manifest in front of him. He opened his eyes.
Floating in the air between him and his grandfather was a small, perfect sphere of darkness. It was the size of a marble, and it was the blackest thing Kael had ever seen. It didn't reflect any light. The glowing runes on the floor seemed to bend around it, as if afraid to touch it. There was no sound, no energy reading on the sensors. It just floated there, a tiny piece of pure emptiness.
Valerius and Thorne stared at the sphere, mesmerized.
"What… is it?" Thorne whispered.
"I don't know," Valerius admitted, his gaze locked on the orb. He slowly reached a hand out, not to touch it, but to feel the air around it. "There is no heat. No cold. No mana. It feels like… absence."
Kael focused on the sphere, and with a thought, he made it dissolve into nothing. It simply vanished.
Silence filled the massive chamber. Valerius slowly lowered his hand, a look of intense seriousness on his face. He looked at Kael as if seeing him for the first time.
"The books will be useless," Valerius said, his voice low. "The standard training methods will not work for you. They would be too dangerous."
He looked around the high-tech training room. "We cannot train you here. Your Aether is too potent, and your Void is too unknown. We must go somewhere else."
He turned and started walking toward the exit. "Come,