Silence filled the sealed chamber.
Kayden sat motionless, his thoughts tangled as Principal Aria's words echoed in his mind.
The version meant to keep you safe.
"…Safe from what?" Kayden finally asked.
Aria didn't answer immediately.
She walked to the edge of the circular room, placing her palm against a section of the wall. The runes there shifted, responding to her presence.
A projection formed in the air.
Stone ruins.
Ancient pillars cracked by time.
Symbols carved so deeply they seemed burned into reality itself.
"This," Aria said quietly, "is a memory recorded by the academy long before you were born."
Kayden leaned forward.
"These ruins," she continued, "were discovered seventeen years ago—beneath Starcrest City."
His heart skipped.
"My parents found them," Kayden said.
"Yes."
The image shifted.
Two figures appeared—blurred but distinct.
A man carefully tracing runes along a stone tablet.
A woman forming seals in the air, stabilizing a pulsing mass of light.
"Elias Arin," Aria said. "A man who could understand dead languages better than living ones."
"And Selene Arin," she added, "whose seals could bind even unstable dimensions."
Kayden watched, transfixed.
"They were not powerful cultivators," Aria said. "But they were dangerous in a different way."
"Because they understood things others didn't," Kayden murmured.
Aria glanced at him, surprised.
"…Yes."
The pulsing mass of light in the projection grew brighter.
Kayden felt his chest tighten.
SYSTEM NOTICE:
CORE RESONANCE DETECTED. MEMORY LOCK STRAIN INCREASING.
"That," Aria said, "was the beginning of Project Ascension."
---
The image shifted again.
A massive stone tablet appeared, half-buried in rubble.
Ancient symbols glowed faintly.
"Your parents didn't just find a system core," Aria said. "They found a message."
The symbols translated themselves in the air.
> 'The Infinite System does not serve the strong.'
'It chooses the unshaped.'
'Not born mighty—yet destined to rise beyond all limits.'
Kayden's breath caught.
"That's…" His voice trembled. "That's about me."
"Yes," Aria said softly. "But your parents didn't know that at first."
The projection showed Elias pacing, frustration clear even through the blur.
"They were confused," Aria continued. "They asked the same question you would."
Why reject powerful cultivators?
The image flickered.
Selene stood still, staring at the system core.
"She understood first," Aria said. "That the system was not meant to amplify existing power."
"It was meant to grow with its host."
Kayden clenched his fists.
"So… someone born strong wouldn't be compatible."
"Exactly."
The system interface trembled.
SYSTEM NOTICE:
PROPHECY CONFIRMED. HOST PARAMETERS MATCH IDEAL VESSEL.
Kayden swallowed.
"…That's why I felt empty all my life."
Aria didn't deny it.
--
The projection changed once more.
A quiet room.
A newborn's cry.
Kayden stared at the small figure wrapped in cloth.
"That's me," he whispered.
"The moment you were born," Aria said, "the sealed core reacted."
A faint glow appeared around the infant.
Selene clutched the pendant tightly, shock and fear written on her face.
"She realized the truth," Aria said. "The system had chosen you."
Kayden's chest felt tight.
"But that made you a target."
The projection darkened.
Shadows moved at the edge of the scene.
"Not long after," Aria continued, "your parents noticed they were being watched."
Kayden looked up sharply.
"The Obsidian Order," he said.
"Yes."
---
The image showed Selene kneeling, forming a complex array of seals.
"They knew they couldn't fight forever," Aria said. "So they chose to hide you."
Kayden watched as light wrapped around the infant version of himself.
"Your parents sealed your talent," Aria said. "Not to weaken you—"
"But to protect me," Kayden finished.
Aria nodded.
"That seal suppressed everything," she said. "Your spiritual root. Your awakening potential."
"That's why I looked average," Kayden said bitterly.
Aria's voice softened.
"You weren't average," she said. "You were locked."
The system chimed quietly.
SYSTEM NOTICE:
SEAL STATUS: PARTIALLY RELEASED. FURTHER UNLOCKS REQUIRE LEVEL PROGRESSION.
Kayden exhaled slowly.
"…So the awakening test didn't fail."
"No," Aria said. "It panicked."
---
The projection faded.
The room returned to silence.
"When you were seven," Aria said, "the Obsidian Order came close—too close."
Kayden's throat tightened.
"They couldn't risk you being taken," she continued. "So they made a choice."
Kayden closed his eyes.
"They left," he said.
"Yes."
Aria met his gaze.
"They didn't abandon you," she said firmly. "They entrusted you to the city."
"To time," she added quietly.
Kayden's fingers curled around the pendant beneath his clothes.
"…Are they alive?"
Aria hesitated.
"That," she said, "is something even I don't know."
But then—
She reached into her robe and pulled out a thin crystal shard.
"However," she said, "this was found near the ruins years later."
The shard pulsed faintly.
The system reacted instantly.
SYSTEM NOTICE:
FAMILIAL SIGNATURE DETECTED. SEALED MESSAGE AVAILABLE. REQUIREMENT: LEVEL 5.
Kayden's heart raced.
"A message… from my mother?" he whispered.
Aria nodded.
"Selene Arin left something behind," she said. "For the day you awakened."
Kayden looked up, resolve burning in his eyes.
"Then I'll reach Level 5," he said. "No matter what."
Aria studied him for a long moment.
Then she smiled—truly smiled—for the first time.
"…Just like them."
---