Before the wind screamed in his ears, there was the smell of baking bread and the sound of his mother's laughter.
In the village of Oakhaven, power levels didn't matter. Ostein's father had a minor "Fertility" spark—just enough to make the tomatoes grow larger and redder than the neighbors'. His mother could "Warm" small objects, a trick she used to keep Ostein's milk at the perfect temperature every morning. They were simple people, living in the quiet gaps between the territories of the Great Nations.
"Ostein, look!" his father had shouted, lifting a basket of glowing produce. "The earth gives back what you put into it. Remember that. Hard work is the only ability that never fails."
It was a lie. A beautiful, peaceful lie.
The "Battle of Nations" arrived on a Tuesday. It wasn't a war of soldiers; it was a war of gods. Two High-Rankers—an Admiral from the Frost Empire and a General from the Solar Republic—decided Oakhaven was a convenient place to settle a border dispute.
Ostein had watched from the cellar as the sky turned into a battlefield of ice and fire. He saw a single "Frost Spear" the size of a cathedral plummet from the clouds. It wasn't aimed at them. It was a stray thought. A discarded bit of mana.
In a heartbeat, the warmth of the kitchen was replaced by a flash of absolute zero. His father didn't even have time to scream; he became a statue of ice, his hand still reaching for his mother. Then came the fire. The heat of the Solar General's "Nova Burst" shattered the ice into steam.
Within ten minutes, Oakhaven was a scar on the map. The High-Rankers didn't even land to check for survivors. They simply flew on, their "Epic" battle continuing elsewhere, leaving Ostein alone in the ashes of his world.
That was the day Ostein learned the truth of the world:
' If you do not have an Ability, you are not a person. You are terrain.'
THE PRESENT:
The memory shattered as Ostein's feet left the edge of the Forbidden Ravine.
The wind was a freezing blade, slicing through his thin clothes as the darkness of the abyss rose to meet him. Gravity was the only force that still recognized him, pulling him down toward the jagged rocks below.
"I'm sorry, Father", he thought, the air rushing too fast for him to breathe. Hard work wasn't enough. In this world, the earth only takes. It never gives back.
He closed his eyes, waiting for the impact that would end the mockery, the hunger, and the crushing weight of being 'Null'.
Then, the world stopped.
It didn't just slow down. It seized. The howling wind died instantly, replaced by a silence so profound it felt heavy. Ostein was suspended in mid-air, a thousand feet above the ravine floor, held by invisible, icy hands.
"So small,so empty",a voice echoed. It didn't come from the air; it vibrated from the very atoms of his own body. "A vessel born without a soul spark... perfect for being my mean "
In the grayscale stillness of frozen time, a rift opened in the sky above him. It wasn't a tear in the clouds, but a tear in reality itself. An eye—massive, alien, and swirling with the colors of dead stars—peered through.
"The 'Gods' of this world give you nothing.." the voice of the Outer Entity hissed. *
" They looked the void within you as a failure..but they didn't know that a void can even consume everything..even the gods."
A single drop of liquid darkness fell from the rift, landing on Ostein's forehead. It didn't feel cold. It felt like hunger.
[System Initialization...]
[Searching for Soul-Core... Result: Not Found.]
[Searching for Mana-Veins... Result: Not Found.]
[Perfect Compatibility Confirmed.]
A screen of obsidian glass flickered into existence before Ostein's widening eyes.
[The Outer God's Blessing has been bestowed.]
[Unique Trait Awakened: 'Yours Mine']
[Rank: ???]
" Good my Vaccum..make a way to grow" the entity whispered as the rift began to close. " Show them that fate of person can be changed 'Destiny' is a mere word which is about to change."
Time snapped back.The gravity that should have crushed Ostein suddenly felt like a gentle tether. He didn't hit the rocks. He landed on the floor of the ravine with the lightness of a feather, the kinetic energy of his mile-long fall disappearing into his skin as if he had simply swallowed it.
Ostein stood up in the darkness. He looked at his hands. They were glowing with a faint, predatory violet light.
He looked up at the distant, glowing spires of Anmony Academy far above. For the first time in his life, he didn't feel like a commoner. He didn't feel like a Null.
He felt like the only person in the world who was truly awake.
[Trait: 'Yours Mine' — Level 1]
[Current Capacity: 0/2 Abilities]
[Target acquired: None]
"Haisel," Ostein whispered, his voice sounding different—sharper, colder. "You said I was a waste of air. Let's see how you breathe when I take that from you, too."