49,847
CRASH!
A girl’s water bottle slipped from nerveless fingers, shattering on the floor. The sound went completely unnoticed.
Silence.
Absolute, crushing silence that pressed down like physical weight.
Nobody moved. Nobody breathed. Nobody could process what they’d just witnessed.
"F-f-forty-nine..." soone stamred, unable to complete the number.
"FORTY-NINE THOUSAND?!" Another voice cracked like breaking glass.
"That’s... that’s peak Tier 2 Warrior combat power!" Theron, the newly certified Tier 2, stared with his mouth hanging open. "I only achieved 21,000! He’s at LV2 and he achieved DOUBLE my combat capability?!"
Elara stood frozen, docunts forgotten in her hands. Her professional composure had evaporated completely. Tory didn’t ntion the guy she introduced her to was a monster!
Garrick made a sound like a dying animal — half wheeze, half sob. His entire worldview was crumbling in real ti.
Kaelith’s ice-blue eyes had gone wide with mild surprise. In her previous life, she had never heard of anyone achieving this level of combat power at LV2.
Fifty thousand combat power at LV2. That’s should be impossible. Even with the absolute best equipnt, the most expensive genetic enhancents, the highest-grade techniques — the mathematical limits shouldn’t allow this.
Who is this person?
This wasn’t in my previous tiline. He’s a complete unknown. An anomaly.
Her mind raced. Another regressor? Soone else who returned from the future? Or sothing else entirely?
Through the consciousness link, Nova’s main body registered Kaelith’s intense scrutiny with interest.
She’s analyzing with far more depth than a simple talented teenager should possess. Her reaction pattern suggests familiarity with power scaling that exceeds normal experience.
And that was partly why he had chosen peak Tier 2 output specifically. Not just to pass. He had wanted to see her reaction — to see whether the number landed differently for her than it did for everyone else in the room. Garrick had produced cody. Theron had produced awe. Elara had produced professional paralysis.
Kaelith had produced calculation.
Interesting, his main body thought through the link. Very interesting.
The staff mber finally found her voice, though it erged as barely more than a whisper. "C-combat power assessnt... passed. Far, far exceeded minimum requirent."
She fumbled with the badge storage, nearly dropping the container. "C-congratulations on achieving... Tier 1 Warrior certification. Though, ah, with this combat power you could technically challenge for Tier 2 certification imdiately if you desired..."
"Tier 1 is sufficient for now," Nova said calmly, accepting the badge. "I’ll advance the certification when I reach appropriate levels."
When I reach appropriate levels, several people thought hysterically. You’re ALREADY beyond appropriate levels!
Elara approached on legs that were doing their best. "The, ah, the Genius Developnt Fund... 100,000 points for certification before eighteen..."
"I’ll claim it, thank you."
"Of course. Please, please follow ..."
As Nova departed to process paperwork, the testing area remained frozen in shocked silence.
Finally, Garrick released a long, shuddering breath. "I need to retire. I’m going to beco a farr. Martial arts is clearly not for my generation."
"I’m with you," soone agreed weakly. "These kids are playing a completely different ga than us."
Theron just shook his head slowly. "The examination rankings this year are going to be absolutely terrifying. If there are multiple prodigies like these two..."
He didn’t finish the thought. He didn’t need to.
What none of them knew — what Garrick himself would not discover for another three months — was that when he finally followed through on his farming declaration and returned to his grandfather’s land outside the city, his shovel would strike sothing hard on the fourth day of work. Sothing that glowed faintly under the soil. A sealed container, ancient, covered in faded formation markings that his newly awakened Warrior sensitivity would recognize as significant even before he understood why.
The treasure buried in his grandfather’s field would change his life more dramatically than any Abyssal Rift could have. But that was a story for later.
For now he sat in the registration area looking like a man who had lost an argunt with reality, which was accurate.
Kaelith studied Nova through narrowed eyes as he completed his registration.
Fifty thousand combat power. LV2. Unknown origin. Not in my previous tiline’s records.
I need to investigate him carefully. If he’s another regressor, we could potentially cooperate. If he’s sothing else...
I need to determine whether he’s an ally or an obstacle.
Nova, naturally, was acutely aware of her attention. Through Absolute Insight, he could practically feel her analytical gaze working through him from across the room.
She’s definitely more than she appears. That level of scrutiny isn’t normal. I should keep track of her.
Warrior Association — Branch President’s Office
After completing all paperwork and receiving their fund disbursents, both Nova and Kaelith departed the Warrior Association within minutes of each other.
Inside the administrative wing, Elara carried two registration files up the stairs, her heels clicking against polished marble. She knocked twice on an ornate door before entering.
"Branch President Aldwyn, I have the information on the two high school students who passed Tier 1 Warrior registration today. Both applied for the Genius Developnt Fund."
Branch President Aldwyn Stormheart — a distinguished man in his fifties with salt-and-pepper hair and the bearing of soone who had survived countless battlefields — looked up from the tactical reports he’d been reviewing.
"Oh? In addition to the prodigies from the Wintercrown and Ashford families, there are other high school students who managed to beco warriors before the examination?" His interest was genuine. "Let see."
Elara placed both files on his desk. Aldwyn picked up the first one, eyes scanning the information.
"Kaelith Frostborn... is she the illegitimate daughter of Silverpeak Conglorate’s late CEO?" He stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Awakened A-Rank talent, dic profession. Combat power of 6,947. Tut tut... everyone seems to have drastically underestimated this girl."
He set aside her file and picked up the second.
"Nova Stern, common Shadow Reaper profession, E-Rank talent, combat power value of..." His eyes widened dramatically. "49,847?!"
Aldwyn looked up sharply at Elara. "Are you absolutely certain these numbers are correct?"
"I had him test twice to be sure," Elara confird, though her voice carried a note of disbelief even now. "The results were consistent. There’s no error."
"Dear gods..." Aldwyn leaned back in his chair, staring at the file as if it might suddenly make more sense. "Peak Tier 2 combat power at LV2. With an E-Rank talent and common profession classification."
His eyes narrowed with decades of experience reading between lines. "Which ans his official awakening data is almost certainly falsified. Nobody achieves these paraters with E-Rank talent. He’s hiding his true capabilities."
"Smart boy," Aldwyn murmured approvingly. "After the Abyss Cultist attacks during awakening ceremonies, concealing exceptional talent is the wise choice."
He set down the file and made his decision. "Give them both the standard genius fund — 100,000 points each. But add an additional Essence Cultivation Elixir to each disbursent. Consider it an investnt in the future."
Elara’s eyebrows rose with surprise, but she nodded professionally. "Yes, Branch President. I understand."
Essence Cultivation Elixirs were premium genetic dicines worth 50,000 points each on the open market. They accelerated energy refinent and helped break through cultivation bottlenecks. The Association rarely provided them except to warriors who had demonstrated exceptional rit or potential.
"Also," Aldwyn added, his tone becoming more serious, "make note of both nas in our priority watch list. If either enters dangerous situations or requests Association assistance, we respond imdiately. These two represent the kind of talent that shapes the future."
"Of course, sir."
As Elara departed to arrange the additional disbursents, Aldwyn returned his attention to Nova’s file.
Nova Stern... what are you really hiding behind that E-Rank classification? And how did you achieve such impossible power at your level?
He filed both docunts in his secure cabinet, making ntal notes to track their progress personally.
The examination this year is going to be absolutely fascinating.
Outside the Warrior Association
Nova and Kaelith walked out of the Association building into early evening air that slled of rain that had recently stopped. The streets glead with reflected neon. Steel high-rises lined both sides of the boulevard, their massive light screens running advertisents for new genetic dicine varieties and smart ho systems. Aircraft moved through the darkening sky above in organized streams, their navigation lights trailing color against clouds that were finally clearing.
Taking a breath of the rain-washed air, Kaelith felt sothing she didn’t expect — a brief, unwanted wave of nostalgia.
Such a scene. She looked at the ordinary city going about its ordinary evening and felt the specific ache of soone who had watched this city cease to exist. I haven’t seen sothing this peaceful since before everything ended.
The God-Tier entity had not rely devastated a region. It had obliterated the entire solar system — Earth, the moon, every installation humanity had built beyond the atmosphere, every planet, the sun itself consud in the first three minutes of its full ergence. The final battle had lasted less than an hour from the mont it fully crossed through the rift at the solar system’s edge. Every King-Tier and Demi-God warrior on the planet, every weapon the Federation and the other nations had spent three centuries developing, every contingency and evacuation plan and last resort — none of it had mattered.
She had watched the sun go dark before she died.
A shadow moved across her features beneath the baseball cap’s brim. She pulled her jacket hood up and thrust her hands into her pockets.
Three years. I need to reach God-Tier. Nothing less will matter when it arrives.
Sensing the change in her atmosphere, Nova glanced at her more carefully.
That expression isn’t a teenager looking at a city street. That’s soone seeing sothing else overlaid on what’s in front of them. Sothing heavy. Sothing she’s already lived through.
He filed the observation alongside everything else Absolute Insight had been quietly gathering since the waiting room.
Kaelith turned her head after ten ters. "Why are you following ?"
Nova raised an eyebrow. "Who said I’m following you? I’m heading to the Tier 1 Abyssal Rift in the southern district."
Kaelith’s eyes widened slightly. "You too?"
A beat of silence.
They were both planning the sa thing — register as warriors, then imdiately enter a rift to hunt spawn and accumulate resources. Neither had ntioned it to the other.
Without further conversation they walked one after the other toward the transit terminal, maintaining about five ters of distance.
The Skyrail station wasn’t far. They waited together at the platform, standing separately but obviously traveling to the sa destination. The evening commuter crowd moved around them with the purposeful energy of a city that had sowhere to be.
Kaelith broke the silence while waiting for the train. "Are you planning to enter the Abyssal Rift alone? Without any weapons or preparation?"
"Yes."
Her laugh was cold and short. "Let warn you — the Abyss isn’t as simple as you think. Don’t overestimate yourself just because you tested well. Even Tier 1 Abyssal Rifts can bury Tier 3 Warriors if they’re careless."
"You’re talking as if you’re very experienced," Nova pointed out. "But isn’t this your first ti entering a rift as well? And you haven’t made any preparations either, from what I can see."
"I’m different from you." Her tone sharpened. "Forget it. I’m just offering friendly advice. If you want to throw your life away, that’s your choice."
Though I doubt you’ll actually die, she added privately. Soone with your combat power should survive a Tier 1 Rift without difficulty. Unless you encounter sothing genuinely unusual.
Nova just felt puzzled by the contradiction.
She warns about danger while heading into the sa danger herself without preparation. Acts like she’s vastly more experienced despite being the sa age. Definitely a regressor or sothing similar. The weight in that expression when she was looking at the city confird it.
The Skyrail arrived with a soft hum, doors sliding open. They boarded and sat across from each other in the nearly empty car, both maintaining their silence.
Nova’s clone began running the Cosmic Consciousness Scripture quietly, refining his spiritual sea during the transit. Through the consciousness link, his main body continued the Eternal Chaotic Origin Scripture at ho, the two systems running in their now-familiar parallel.
Kaelith was sowhere in her own thoughts — her eyes focused on nothing visible, clearly reviewing tilines and calculations that only she had access to.
After a mont her ice-blue eyes ca back to him with an expression that was less hostile than before and more asuring.
Three years until the God-Tier entity arrives, she thought. I cannot do this alone. I know that. The question is whether this anomaly sitting across from is soone I can eventually trust with what I know.
Not yet. But I will find out.
Nova t her gaze with the calm patience of soone who had plenty of ti and no urgency to fill silences.
The Skyrail humd through the city, carrying two exceptional people — each carrying knowledge the other didn’t have, each hiding things the other was already beginning to suspect — toward the Tier 1 Abyssal Rift in the southern district.
Neither could predict exactly how this chance eting would develop and would alter both their destinies.
But both of them, independently and for different reasons, had already decided to pay attention.
But the wheels of fate had begun turning, and nothing would ever be quite the sa again.
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