The familiar hum of his bedroom's environmental systems was a dull echo after the profound silence of the Sanctum. Ash Cross sat at his desk, his fingers steepled, his gaze distant. The phantom sensation of dissipating shadow-creatures still tingled on his knuckles. The raw, grounding energy of his unlocked Muladhara chakra was a constant, comforting pressure at the base of his spine. He had faced a literal manifestation of darkness and shattered it with a fist wrapped in lightning.
And no one on Earth knew.
The isolation of his secret lives had never felt so absolute, or so heavy. He was the sole bearer of a truth that could redefine human history. But a good CEO, a good leader, knows that even the most powerful individual is limited. True power lies in a trusted team. His friends—Aurora, Li Yue, Kai, Silas—they weren't just assets. They were his foundation in the real world. They knew him as Ash, the genius. It was time for them to know him as Ash, the Scion.
He opened a secure neural channel, bypassing all conventional networks and tapping directly into the encrypted satellite lattice maintained by Omnipotence.Net.
<< Priority One. Conclave. My location. 30 minutes. >>
He didn't need to specify the recipients. The message, encrypted with a one-time quantum key, would simultaneously ping the four people who shared his deepest secrets—all except the one he had just acquired.
Thirty minutes later, they arrived not at the front door, but via discreet teleportation pads linked to the subterranean complex beneath the house. Ash's "basement" was a command center that would give a Pentagon general an inferiority complex. Holographic globes spun slowly in the air, displaying real-time global data streams, stock markets, and Awakener activity reports. One wall was a single, seamless pane of smart glass overlooking a vast hangar where prototype aircraft and powered armor sat dormant.
Silas was the first to stride in, his A-Rank presence filling the room with a tangible aura of solidity. At twenty-four, he was the eldest, a businessman who looked more like a special forces operator. "Ash. Your message lacked its usual precision. 'Conclave' implies a world-level threat. What's the situation?"
Kai Li followed, his eyes immediately scanning the data feeds, his mind already dissecting patterns. "The Elysium acquisition is proceeding nominally. If this is about the minor market fluctuation in the Asian sector, my algorithms already corrected for it."
Aurora entered with a sniper's silence, her perceptive gaze missing nothing. She leaned against a console, arms crossed. "He's not fidgeting. It's not a corporate problem. His posture is different. Something's... shifted."
Li Yue, the last to arrive, simply found a quiet spot to stand, her calm demeanor a foil to the others' intensity. "We are here, Ash. What do you need?"
Ash stood from his chair and turned to face them. He looked at each of them in turn—the weapon's expert, the strategist, the sharpshooter, the martial artist. His family.
"The situation is a paradigm shift," he began, his voice calm but carrying a new, unshakable weight. "The scope of the threat, and our potential, has been redefined. It is no longer just corporate or digital. It is... metaphysical."
He gestured, and a holographic schematic of the human body appeared, the Muladhara chakra glowing brilliantly at its base.
"I inherited a book from my grandfather, Arjun. It was called the Vaimanika Shastra." He paused, letting the unfamiliar name hang in the air. "It was not a book of paper, but of light. And it is now inside of me."
Silas's brow furrowed. "Inside you? A biological nanite integration? A data storage system?"
"Not technology, Silas," Ash said, meeting his gaze. "It was knowledge. Power. It has given me a... System. It calls itself the Deva-Asura Nexus."
A wave of stunned silence washed over the room. They were all Awakened, familiar with the concept of unique abilities, but a System was something out of theory and legend.
"Ash," Kai said slowly, "are you saying you've developed a new form of AI-based augmentation?"
"No," Ash replied. He knew words would fail. He had to show them.
He closed his eyes. In the space between heartbeats, he reached for the well of Prana within him. He felt the golden energy surge from his Root chakra, flow through the pathways the Nexus had carved in his soul, and coalesce in his right fist. When he opened his eyes, his hand was sheathed in a crackling, faintly visible aura of gold.
"This is not a hard-light projection," he stated. "It is called Vajra Fist. The energy source is not electrical or kinetic. It is spiritual. It is Prana."
Before anyone could speak, he turned to a reinforced titanium test plate, used for calibrating Silas's prototype ammunition, mounted on the far wall. He didn't wind up or shout. He simply took one step forward and punched.
There was no loud bang, only a deep, resonant THUMM that vibrated in their bones. A perfect, fist-sized crater was punched clean through the three-inch-thick plate, the edges glowing orange-hot for a second before cooling. No conventional force could have done that so cleanly.
Aurora straightened up, her casual posture gone, her eyes wide. "What in the hell..."
"Impossible," Silas whispered, striding forward to inspect the damage. He ran a finger over the smooth, melted edge. "The material integrity... it didn't break, it was erased."
"The book also granted me access to a personal dimension," Ash continued, as if he hadn't just rewritten the laws of physics in his basement. "A training ground outside of normal spacetime. I have already completed my First Trial there."
With another thought, he didn't summon a hologram. He tore a hole in reality itself. A shimmering, vertical pool of light, two meters tall, rippled into existence in the middle of the command center. Through it, they could see the star-dusted expanse of the Sanctum of Eternity, the floating temples, the impossible architecture. The sheer, overwhelming presence of the place washed over them, a feeling of ancient, immense power that made the advanced tech of the room feel like children's toys.
Li Yue, who had been silent until now, took an involuntary step forward, her martial artist's soul resonating with the pure energy emanating from the portal. "This... this is real."
"It is," Ash said, letting the portal flicker and die. "My official Awakener rating is E-Rank. The system conceals my true power. But my potential, according to the Nexus, is classified as '???'."
He finally let the full gravity of his revelation settle upon them.
"I am telling you this because you are my council. The world believes the strongest Awakeners are S-Rank. They are wrong. I am on a path that leads to something else entirely. A path that involves powers termed 'Deva' and 'Asura'—Gods and Demons. And I cannot walk it alone."
For a long moment, no one spoke. They were processing, their worldviews violently rearranged.
Silas was the first to break the silence, a slow, grim smile spreading across his face. He placed a hand on Ash's shoulder. "E-Rank," he grunted, the sound laced with dark amusement. "It's the perfect cover. No one will ever see you coming." His loyalty was absolute, and his strategic mind was already adapting.
Kai let out a low whistle, a grin replacing his look of shock. "A literal god-walking-the-earth narrative, and we're the supporting cast. The operational security on this is a nightmare, but the strategic implications... are limitless. We need to re-evaluate all long-term projects."
Aurora walked up to Ash, her analytical gaze boring into him. "Can you teach this? The energy manipulation? Not the big flashy stuff, but the fundamentals. If we can integrate even a fraction of this 'Prana' into our existing skillsets..."
"The Nexus provides quests and knowledge," Ash said. "I believe it is possible. I will share everything I can."
Li Yue simply bowed her head, a gesture of deep respect. "You honor us with this truth, Ash. My skills are yours to command. This 'Prana'... it feels like the source of all the energy I've ever tried to harness."
The isolation was gone. In its place was a solidified, unbreakable alliance. They were no longer just friends or a hacker group. They were the inner circle of a nascent god.
"Then this is our new primary directive," Ash declared, his voice ringing with quiet authority. "We will continue our corporate and digital operations as a front. Simultaneously, we will pursue the path of the Deva-Asura Nexus. We will learn, we will train, and we will prepare."
He looked at the still-smoking hole in the test plate, then back to his team.
"The world thinks the shadows are for hiding. They are wrong. The shadows are for preparing. And when the time comes, we will step into the light, and they will finally see the god they never knew was among them."
The game had changed. And for the first time, Ash was playing with his whole team.