The small room was spare, containing only a simple bed and a worn wooden cupboard. Nothing else broke the emptiness of the space.
On the bed lay a boy. His most striking features were the color of his hair, eyelashes, and even his eyebrows, all of which were a vibrant lavender.
The unusual coloring gave him a distinct, exotic look. He was bare-chested, wearing nothing but his underwear.
Levi woke slowly, his eyes fixing on the plain white tiles of the ceiling. For a long mont, he simply stared.
Beneath him was the unfamiliar but wonderful feeling of a soft mattress— a luxury he couldn’t afford to experience since he was thrust into this new life. The air was still, and there was a rare, sweet sensation of having absolutely nothing urgent to do.
It wasn’t that his schedule was empty. He still needed to start the agonizing process of building his next Star and opening the corresponding Node. The heretic path of becoming a powerful sorcerer.
But for once, he wasn’t plotting his next move, analyzing threats, or running. The imdiate, deadly pressure that had been hanging over his head like an executioner’s blade had temporarily vanished. For now, he was simply peaceful.
His mind, though briefly at peace, soon began to search for answers, settling on the most perplexing question from his test.
How did he gain the Illusion elent, an affinity reserved only for those aligned with Pisces, the Constellation of Dreams and Imagination?
Sitting up, Levi reached down, grabbed his trousers from the floor, and pulled out the small, orb-like object that had been making his pocket bulge.
This was the artifact he found in the ruins— the sa artifact that had briefly flashed in his mind when the clay test revealed the unexpected elent.
He had a strong feeling this orb was the reason for the Illusion affinity, but he couldn’t grasp how it could affect him just by sitting in his pocket.
He tried to recall his last interaction with the orb. He rembered when he poured a string of his origin energy into it back in the ruins, and how that energy seed to flood back into his head afterward.
"Could it be?". He wondered aloud.
Wanting to test his theory, Levi poured his origin energy directly into the orb. As usual, his hand was suddenly flooded with his own power.
He sighed when he saw that the misty silver origin energy was now approximately half lavender in color— a stark visual representation of his soul’s unstable state.
Out of the huge amount of energy he channeled, only a tiny fraction actually managed to enter the orb. The majority of the energy simply dispersed into the air around him.
The reason for the massive waste of power was his currently low control over his unstable origin energy.
In contrast, if a more advanced sorcerer were to cast a spell, the attack would be so precise and efficient that you wouldn’t even realize how you died.
But a basic sorcerer like Levi, who had virtually zero control over his energy, was like a walking beacon. Even a normal human could spot his visible, leaking energy from a distance and easily run away.
That is why ordinary humans with guns still dared to compete against basic sorcerers like Levi.
Back to the orb, Levi waited for the energy to return to his head, as it had back at the ruin. But unlike the first ti, no energy ca back.
The orb instead acted like a dry sponge, quietly and completely drinking the origin energy he poured into it.
Levi sat there in a daze, his only lead to the mystery of his Illusion elent turning into a dead end.
He shook his head in frustration. He placed the orb carefully on top of his bed and walked over to the wardrobe. When he opened it, he found it was equipped with only a single, simple towel.
Levi grabbed the single towel from the wardrobe and tied it securely around his chest. He descended the attic stairs, coincidentally eting Emi on the third-floor landing.
Emi gave him a quick, efficient tour of the second and third floors, showing him the kitchen, the communal eating area, and pointing out the pair of bathrooms at the end of the hall.
Levi imdiately headed for the bathroom and drew a deep, long hot bath. The warmth was a physical luxury, washing away the gri and stress of weeks spent running through the wilderness.
Feeling refreshed, he climbed the attic stairs back to his room. He had nearly reached his bed when he stopped, realizing a major issue— he still had no clothes. He glanced at the floor where he’d left his torn, filthy clothes, but they were gone.
Instead, a fresh pile of clothes was sitting neatly on his bed. ’It must have been Emi’. He realized.
He slipped on a pair of light green cargo pants and a simple white shirt that was just slightly too big for his lean fra. Beside the clothes were two pairs of dark, new slippers.
Dressed, Levi headed back down to the communal dinner hall. Emi was there, quietly cleaning up.
"Thank you for the clothes, Miss Emi". Levi said sincerely.
She brushed it off with a gentle wave of her hand. "Don’t worry about it, dear. You’re family now."
He sat down at the table and greeted Vivian, the administrative lady, who was sipping a cup of sothing strong. Seeing her still there confird his guess— she lived in the building as well, likely occupying the spare room.
Vivian, noticing him looking around the quiet space, pushed up her glasses. "Jake and Hazel already went to school". She explained simply.
Levi took a light but satisfying breakfast of fried eggs, toasted bread, and tea. As soon as he finished, he hurried toward the back door that led to the training area.
"Robert is waiting for you, Mr. Baer!" Emi called out, reminding him that the hard work was about to begin.
"Please call Teddy, or Ted". Levi urged with a smile.
"Alright, Teddy". Emi said with a soft giggle.
Levi hurried down to the last floor and through the back door and stepped into the expansive Training Hall. The familiar sll of rubber matting and steel was imdiately present.
He spotted Mr. Robert seated cross-legged in the center of the Technique Training area— the small area dedicated to sorcery practice. Robert was perfectly still, deep in ditation.
Levi approached the edge of the pit, considering whether to wait. Just as he was about to settle down, Robert’s eyes snapped open. He greeted Levi with a calm, warm smile.
"Well, Mr. Baer, you’re early". Robert said.
Levi scratched the back of his head with a slightly embarrassed smile. "Well, I live here now." He paused, then added. "Thanks again for the room and also call Teddy or Ted."
Robert waved off the gratitude. Without breaking his ditative posture, he reached to the ground besides him and threw a tightly rolled scroll toward Levi. Then, he simply closed his eyes again, resuming his practice.
Levi caught the scroll, unfurled the parchnt, and instantly froze. His breath hitched in his throat.
It was Celestial breathing.
In this world, power wasn’t drawn from the air. There was no spiritual energy to breathe in, no rivers of qi flowing between heaven and earth.
Power ca from within— Origin Energy.
But it didn’t appear on its own. To create it, one had to face their bound Avatar.
Avatars were beings from another realm. Their essence was poison to the human soul. Just standing before one could rot you from the inside.
The clans taught a safe thod— Celestial Breathing. It filtered out the poison, leaving only the usable essence. It was steady and safe.
But Levi didn’t freeze due to shock, but in anger.
’This is what they guard with their life?’. Levi’s face twisted in anger, it was basically heart beat count.
He had to enter his soul canvas and then connect with his heartbeat in real life. That was all.
The absurdness almost made Levi cry out in pain, anger and suffering. Of only he knew of this he wouldn’t have to step his foot in the Chessboard and tornt himself.
After calming down Levi sat in a lotus position and then close his eyes, and just like the hypnic jerks from his past life.
When Levi’s body jerked, his eyes flew open— not in his room, but in another plane entirely.
He was in his soul canvas, and he stood in a near starless void. They was a star that was pulsing in a Misty silver color, with a huge stain of lavender color.
Then he looked at his Avatar, the Celestial Gambit. On the massive chessboard board, apart from the usual pawns, knight, bishop, rook, queen and king piece.
He could see two figures, they both had humanoid form, one looked similar to a monk. Levi montarily stopped in confusion.
’Since when do I have a mont monk piece’. But sensing the extre coldness from it Levi recognized it to the praying figure of that ruin.
The other figure had the skull if a antelope wearing tattered clothes. Levi gave a wry smile, it must be one of the skeletons.
Then Levi focused on why he was here.
To full his his first star and build a new one.
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