The transition from Aetheria back to the physical world was always jarring. It was a sudden crash from digital godhood to biological frailty.
Vahn’s eyes snapped open as the tallic hiss of the VR pod unsealing filled his cramped apartnt. The absolute weightlessness he had felt with fifty Agility vanished, replaced by the heavy, oppressive gravity of Earth.
His muscles ached with a dull throb. It was the phantom strain of moving faster than a human body was ever designed to endure.
He sat up slowly, rubbing his temples. The glowing red numbers of the digital clock on his bedside table read 7:00 AM.
It was morning. The launch night of Aetheria was officially over, but for Vahn, the real work was only just beginning.
He climbed out of the pod and walked down the narrow, creaking hallway. The scent of cheap synthetic coffee and damp drywall greeted him. He stopped by the small kitchen, prepping a simple breakfast of oatal and nutrient paste, before gently pushing open the door to the second bedroom.
Hana was already awake.
She sat propped up against her pillows, her dark, glossy brown hair tied back with a simple red ribbon. Despite her pale complexion and the visible fatigue around her deep purple eyes, she offered him a bright, high-energy smile. Her eyes perfectly mirrored his own.
"You look like you just ran a marathon in your sleep, Vahn," she teased, her voice cheerful but lacking its usual volu. She reached out, accepting the warm bowl of oatal he handed her.
"Were you up all night playing that new VR ga? Did you et any cute girls, or did you just stare at spreadsheets again?"
Vahn stood beside her bed, his expression unreadable.
"I got what I needed," he stated flatly. "And I know exactly where to get more."
Hana rolled her eyes, taking a small bite of her breakfast.
"Right. Because heaven forbid my brother actually enjoys himself. You know, you’re not going to find a girlfriend if you treat every conversation like a tactical debriefing."
"I don’t have ti for that." Vahn replied.
He reached out, his hand gently adjusting the blanket over her shoulders, making sure the morning draft didn’t touch her.
"Eat your breakfast. I have to go to the Academy. I will be back by standard evening hours."
"The Academy," Hana sighed, her playful deanor dimming slightly. "Be careful, Vahn. You know how those Sovereign City elites are."
"They are not my problem," Vahn said.
He turned and walked out of the room, his face hardening into a mask of pure resolve.
Thirty minutes later, Vahn stood before the towering structure of the Sovereign Military Academy.
The real-world governnt had imdiately recognized the anomalous nature of Aetheria. While the public thought it was just a groundbreaking ga, the military factions knew it was sothing far more significant.
Specifically those led by the Valerius family.
They mandated that all cadets and affiliated students log their Aetheria accounts through the Academy’s mainfra for Awakening Evaluations.
It was a thinly veiled draft. Those with high-tier classes were imdiately conscripted, their digital assets seized for the benefit of the elites.
The grand courtyard was swarming with students in crisp, dark-blue uniforms. The air buzzed with arrogant laughter and loud boasting.
Everywhere Vahn looked, he saw the faces of the ignorant. Young n and won who thought they were playing a ga, completely unaware that in exactly thirty days, the Convergence would tear their reality apart.
"Make way! Move it, you commoner trash!"
A harsh voice cut through the chatter. The crowd parted instantly as a group of elite students swaggered through the courtyard.
At their center was Kael Valerius, the younger cousin of Pierce. He possessed the sa golden-blonde hair and arrogant sapphire eyes that defined the Valerius bloodline. He walked with his chest puffed out, loudly bragging to his sycophants.
"An Epic-Tier Elental Mage," Kael boasted, his voice carrying over the silent courtyard.
"The instructors nearly wept when the scanner read my data. What did you roll, Davis? A standard swordsman? Pathetic. I’ll be leading the vanguard while you polish my boots."
Vahn didn’t even blink. He leaned against a cold stone pillar, his deep purple eyes tracking Kael’s movents.
He felt no anger, no jealousy. He looked at Kael and rely saw flawed code. A temporary obstacle that would inevitably be deleted when the ti ca.
A loud chi echoed across the courtyard, signaling the start of the mandatory evaluations.
Students began lining up outside the main auditorium, where massive, military-grade biotric scanners were set up. The scanners linked directly to the Aetheria neural network, pulling a user’s class, base stats, and latent potential, displaying it on a massive holographic screen for the instructors to judge.
Vahn joined the back of the line.
He closed his eyes, his consciousness slipping effortlessly into the background architecture of his Aetheria link. He pulled up the EXP Converter interface in his mind. He had five million EXP sitting in his reservoir from slaying the Ironback Behemoth.
If he stepped into that scanner as an ’EXP Architect’ with a 10,000x multiplier, alarms would blare across the entire continent. The military would lock him in a subterranean vault and dissect his brain to steal his data.
He needed camouflage.
’System,’ Vahn commanded internally. ’Access the costic and registry sub-routines. Purchase a Data Disguise Cloak. Modify the outward projection of my base class.’
[System Abilities]
↳ Data Disguise Cloak (Epic Tier) purchased.
↳ 500,000 EXP consud.
↳ Please select your desired projection.
’Class: Magic Apprentice. Base stats: Below average. Potential: Minimal,’ Vahn dictated, his mind weaving the false data over his true profile like a tailored suit.
By the ti he reached the front of the line, the digital camouflage was perfectly integrated.
A stern-faced military instructor motioned for Vahn to step onto the scanning platform. The man didn’t even look at Vahn’s face, his eyes glued to the data-pad in his hand.
Vahn stepped into the circular podium.
A grid of blinding blue lasers swept over his body, reading his neural signature and cross-referencing it with the Aetheria servers. Above him, the massive holographic screen flickered to life.
[Student Information]
↳ Na: Vahn Ryker
↳ Class: Magic Apprentice (Common)
↳ Strength: 2
↳ Agility: 3
↳ Intelligence: 4
↳ Evaluation: Grade F
A collective groan of disappointnt and scattered snickers echoed from the students waiting behind him. The instructor sighed heavily, rubbing the bridge of his nose in sheer irritation.
"A Magic Apprentice," the instructor muttered, his voice dripping with absolute disdain. "Not even a full Mage. And those stats... you are a statistical anomaly of weakness, Ryker."
The instructor waved his hand.
"You don’t even qualify for basic infantry fodder. Step off the platform. You’re dismissed to the civilian reserve."
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