Elias walked along the sidewalk with a sense of wonder and fascination in his eyes.
Around him were many strange and fascinating things—things that widened his limited horizons and seemed to tear them open all at once.
Assorted cars moved through the streets beyond him, their speed causing the air to whistle and generating constant currents across the city. Occasionally, shadows from hovercars above swept over the ground below, each one ringing faintly like the chiming of distant bells.
At a café a few meters away, a boy and a girl sat across from each other on floating chairs. Even the umbrella above them hovered in place, shading them from the sunlight.
How ridiculous.
The most astonishing sight, however, was the numerous people—mostly teenagers—floating midair on sleek hoverboards. They, too, emitted that same chiming sound, leaving trails of glowing golden sparks behind them.
It made the entire city feel like it was constantly raining gold.
The sight was so mesmerizing that Elias could barely resist the urge to let his mouth hang open again.
People moved steadily along the sidewalk, and from a few of them, Elias could feel the familiar ripples of Chordbearers emanating faintly. They moved so silently through the streets that they were almost unnoticeable, blending seamlessly into the rest of the crowd.
And the buildings—goodness—everything around him felt like towering skyscrapers.
Only the truly rich could afford a life in a city like this. The cost of living was so high you had to be rolling in Arvon Dollars just to survive here. Although it looked mesmerizing and beautiful, this was no doubt a terrifying place for someone like him.
Hell, just eating at one of the restaurants around here might probably leave him broke.
He shook his head, repeating a sentence in his mind like a mantra.
'I must get rich.'
'I must get rich.'
On his shoulders, Elyndra shifted with a scoff, and Elias could already feel one of her sarcastic remarks forming before she even spoke.
"Good thing you have some self-awareness. It's a good first step in wiping some shit off your broke ass."
He rolled his eyes, replying in his mind. 'Tiny gremlin, why can't you just be happy for me? At least give me some encouragement, dammit!'
Her wings fluttered slightly. "The tower is right ahead."
He could see it now. He hadn't been walking through the streets blindly—using the navigation feature on his phone, he had made his way toward a massive clock tower that stood out even among the surrounding skyscrapers.
When he had called Mr. Ferborn, he had been told to meet at that spot. Presumably, someone was already stationed there, waiting to receive him and lead him to the Concordia Labs.
Even now, Elias could not fully understand why Mr. Ferborn was doing this much for him—or for little Lizzy. His first impression of the man had been of someone cold and methodical, someone who cared little for emotions and worked only in his own interest.
Someone like that should have simply handed Lizzy over and told him to move on.
If this was because he still wanted him as an apprentice, then Elias had already made himself clear over the phone—it wasn't happening. So why was he still helping him take care of Lizzy, even when he didn't have to?
Elias shook his head. There was no point thinking about it now. He would reach the Concordia Labs first and figure things out himself.
He had arrived at the massive clock tower. The bell rang loudly across the city the moment its hour hand struck 9 AM.
Elias winced at the sound.
Just as he expected, a few feet away from the tower was a hover car floating above the ground, a man in a tuxedo leaning against it, his eyes hidden behind dark shades.
The hover car was fascinating. It had no wheels, only curved semicircles at its edges that vibrated with a ringing sound. The ground beneath it swirled slightly, air blasting downward and fanning out across the pavement.
Its glossy blue surface was lined with numerous glowing golden strips, shimmering like strings and constantly humming like distant alarm bells.
It was fascinating.
"You are Elias Verden," the man asked when he saw him, more out of formality than ignorance. He spoke with the confidence of someone certain of what he was saying.
Elias bowed with a relaxed smile. "I am Verden. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
The man sighed tiredly. "You've kept me waiting for long. Get in the car, kid."
He was already stepping inside, shutting the front door behind him.
Elias watched him for a moment, then followed, climbing in as well.
The inside of the car was strangely small, only able to fit two people, with no back seat at all. There were numerous buttons on the dashboard, but no steering wheel. Instead, what seemed to function as one was a control yoke positioned where the gear shift would normally be.
The man leaned back in his seat with a sigh. "Brace yourself and put on your seatbelt," he told him.
Elias obeyed.
Then the man called out, his voice relaxed.
"Nova, ready for takeoff."
"Command processed. Takeoff will commence in three… two…" a computerized female voice rang through the car—
—but the hover car had already shot into the sky before it finished speaking.
Elias's eyes widened as his stomach lurched with the sudden acceleration, a wave of air sickness hitting him all at once. Yet the AI's voice alone was enough to shock him so much that the discomfort barely registered beneath his excitement.
It was common knowledge that Nova was a system AI only available in select Tier Three cities and the two tiers above them. It governed everything—an integrated intelligence designed to ensure the city ran in perfect order.
In cities with such complex infrastructure, only Nova could keep everything functioning smoothly.
With Nova, people didn't need to visit shopping malls; they simply told her what they wanted, and she would handle the rest. If you needed to move anywhere in the city, she could arrange a car, a hover vehicle, anything—so long as you had the money to pay. She could even locate the best places for any activity and book appointments on demand.
Hell, she could even find you a job.
In unranked cities like Avenelle, Nova was almost a legend—something people talked about but could never access. So hearing that voice called Nova for the first time was more than enough to get Elias excited.
"Humph! I am way better than this garbage!" Elyndra's jealous, irritated voice rang out from his shoulders.
Elias narrowed his eyes. 'At least this "garbage" won't annoy me like a certain someone.'
She clicked her tongue, mumbling incoherently to herself, but Elias could definitely tell she was cursing him.
He turned his gaze to the window, staring out at the skies in fascination. His eyes widened as they passed one of the floating islands, and he watched the massive landmass in awe.
The strange thing was that he couldn't see anything inside it. A massive golden shield covered the entire island like a protective dome, hiding whatever lay within from prying eyes. Its scale was so enormous it seemed to stretch endlessly into the distance, sealing the island from one edge to the other.
As the hover car flew past, the man seemed to notice Elias's gaze fixed on the landmass. A chuckle escaped his lips.
"The islands you see in front of you are called Floating Districts," he began, his voice distant and laced with longing. "Everyone dreams of entering them, but…" He shook his head mockingly. "Only special individuals ever get that right. Those who hold Noble titles or at least Tier 3 citizenship."
He turned toward Elias as though offering him sincere advice. "So give up on those thoughts, kid. People like us can only stare at these districts our whole lives—and nothing more."
Elias's eyebrow twitched. Who the hell wanted to be like him? That was definitely not him.
Too tired to argue with the man, Elias asked something else instead—something that had been bothering him.
"How exactly are they made to float midair like that? A force capable of lifting massive islands continuously… isn't that a bit ridiculous?"
The man laughed, the sound ringing through the car like Elias had said something amusing.
"Ridiculous? What's ridiculous about it?" he said.
"What do you expect from a Sacred Circuit created by a High Luminary? If it can't do something like this, then it doesn't deserve its rank—or its creator his title."
"A Sacred Circuit?" Elias asked, his voice filled with confusion.
The man looked at him skeptically. "Haaa… so you really know nothing, do you."
The weight of his tone made Elias feel embarrassed. They had covered something like this in school, but the topic had been so dull at the time that his mind had simply pushed it aside.
Now it made him look stupid. And for someone who was usually something of a star in school, it was uncomfortable realizing there were things he was expected to know—and didn't.
Thankfully, the man still answered him anyway.
"The Sacred Circuit originates from ancient civilizations inside the Mirrorths. Their diagrams are far too advanced for us to recreate on our own—at least, not at our current level."
Elias nodded, motioning for him to continue.
The man clicked his tongue, as if he would rather fall asleep than give a lecture, but he continued anyway.
"The High Luminary is the only Science Syndicate capable of building the circuit diagram. The beings in question are Virtuarchs—S Rankers—or those far beyond that."
He gestured lazily toward the massive shield covering the island beside them.
"The Sacred Circuit is what protects this city, and what keeps it floating high above the ground. The energy it uses—as with all circuits in existence—is the concept of sound."
His expression turned serious.
"Even now, the island beside us is ringing with a sound so intense it could make your head explode if you don't take the proper precautions. The only reason you can't hear it is because of the vehicle's sound-cushioning system. So never go near any floating district if you ever get on a hoverboard!"
Elias quietly took note of the warning. As the car flew past the floating island, he couldn't help but wonder what made these districts so different from the city below. Could anything really be more advanced than what he had already seen?
Minutes passed in silence as they crossed the boundary of the island and passed into other floating districts. Soon they were high above the clouds, and Elias was already growing bored of the view around him.
He just wanted to set foot on solid ground. Staying still for this long simply wasn't in his blood.
"Do you know one of the most fascinating things in nature?" the man beside him suddenly said, breaking the silence. He had been dozing off moments ago, but now he sat upright, staring ahead at the distant clouds like there was something only he could see.
Elias turned to him, eyebrows furrowed. "I guess the Immortal Jellyfish? Those guys literally get old, then go 'nah' and become young again. Honestly, I'd turn into a jellyfish too if immortality came with those kinds of job benefits."
"You—" The man shook his head. "You are an extremely weird kid."
"I get that a lot."
The man exhaled, then continued. "Have you ever wondered what makes Verse Sovereigns such terrifying existences?"
Elias waved a hand dismissively. "Because they beat a lot of asses, isn't that the point?"
The man exhaled, then seemed to give up on asking him any more questions.
"When it comes to the Science Syndicates, there is only one being who stands at that stage. He has been called many names, but we know him as the Eternal Nexus—Dr. Keiran Solvane!"
Of course, Elias already knew all of this, but he let him continue uninterrupted, recognizing the fanatical light that often appeared in the eyes of people like him whenever they spoke about their role models.
"Verse Sovereigns are terrifying for one reason," the man went on. "They don't form Echofields. Instead, they are built to encompass something far larger."
The hover car began to vibrate—lightly at first, then steadily. It felt like it was tuning itself to a specific frequency, but what frequency exactly?
Elias's eyes widened.
Ahead, the car came to a stop. The air in front of it rippled outward in waves, like something invisible was pressing back against them. The distortion reminded him faintly of Mirrorths—as though an unseen mirror-like barrier stood between them and what lay beyond.
A barrier that required a precise frequency before it would allow passage.
The hover car vibrated once—then again—until even Elias felt himself subtly shaking in his seat. The entire vehicle seemed to lock onto a precise frequency.
Then, with a sharp, seamless shift, it tore through the invisible barrier.
And everything changed.
They were somewhere else now.
Towering spires pierced the clouds—yes, the actual clouds—like needles forged from unyielding steel. Massive ring-shaped structures floated in midair, humming with an oppressive force as their obsidian surfaces rippled with contained energy. Endless chrome buildings stretched from one horizon to the other, with no visible end in sight.
At the center of it all stood a colossal megastructure, standing in the middle of this otherworldly place and dominating every building around it.
In the air, glowing holograms drifted like billboards, while countless hover cars streaked through the sky in smooth, calculated paths.
The entire place didn't feel like something designed to be normal. No, it simply felt like a fucking machine built by gods that had forgotten the meaning of limits!
With his mouth hanging open, Elias stared in a daze, barely hearing the man's voice behind him—a voice filled with undeniable pride.
"Welcome to the Archival Dimension, kid. Welcome to the Concordia Labs—the technological marvel of the human race!"