Chapter 3: Awakening the Racial Network
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The map's glow faded slowly, leaving behind trails of light that lingered like veins across the air.
Kael stood at its center, eyes closed, feeling the faint pulse beneath his skin. It wasn't just mana or energy—it was connection.
Millions of threads. Millions of lives.
He could feel humanity breathing through him.
> "So this… is the Racial Network," he murmured.
The council watched in tense silence. Only the faint hum of the glowing map filled the hall.
Then, a voice—not from the outside, but from within—echoed in Kael's mind.
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> [Racial Network Initialized]
[Designation: Human Race – Tier 0 Civilization]
[Racial Authority Detected: Sovereign-Class Entity]
[Administrator Rights Granted to: Kael Ardent – 56th Human Emperor]
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A surge of light burst from his chest, spreading across the hall. Every human within the palace felt a faint resonance ripple through their souls.
The air thickened. Every torch flickered. The floor vibrated as an invisible force swept outward like a tide.
Rurik stumbled back, gripping his sword.
> "What—what is this power?!"
Liora fell to her knees, trembling. "The Flame of Humanity… it's awakening!"
Kael opened his eyes. They were no longer silver—they had become pure white, glowing with shifting symbols and circuits of light.
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> [Racial Directive Protocol Unlocked]
[Command Options Available: Expansion | Restoration | Ascension]
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Kael could see lines of information spiraling before his mind's eye—endless data: knowledge, history, lost technologies, cultivation methods, battle doctrines.
The sum of every human thought ever recorded.
And now, it was all connected.
He reached out mentally, and the Network responded like a living organism. He could sense people—individuals scattered across the Dominion. Farmers in the dust fields, guards on cracked walls, children huddled in broken shelters.
They all looked up at once, confused, as a voice entered their thoughts.
His voice.
> "People of humanity," Kael said, his words resonating in every mind, "your Emperor has awakened."
The council gasped as they realized what was happening.
Across the city, thousands knelt instinctively as their hearts burned with faint light.
> "Our empire fell because we forgot how to learn," Kael continued. "That ends today."
> "You will receive knowledge. You will gain strength. You will remember who you are."
One by one, streams of faint energy began to descend from the palace like shooting stars. Each one sought out a human soul and vanished into them.
A farmer dropped his hoe as strange memories filled his mind—techniques of soil enrichment and crop engineering from the First Era.
A blacksmith stared at his hands, recalling forging patterns he'd never seen.
Children began to speak in the ancient common tongue once lost to time.
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Back in the hall, the council watched in awe as the world changed before their eyes.
> "Majesty…" Lady Seris whispered. "You're granting… knowledge directly?"
Kael nodded.
> "Every mind in the Network shares in what I know. This is the Human Authority—our divine right of unity."
The words echoed across the chamber like a prophecy.
For the first time in centuries, humanity felt hope.
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End of Chapter 3: Awakening the Racial Network
Next: Chapter 4 – The Emperor's Authority