No.441's eyes cracked open.
The sky above was painted in deep purples and grays, the last hints of night clinging to the treetops. For a moment, all he felt was the cold earth under his back and the ache in every part of his body.
Then his eyes widened.
A light streaked across the sky—fast, fiery, growing larger.
It wasn't just falling.
It was coming straight for him.
He tried to roll, crawl, move—anything. But his limbs wouldn't respond. It was like his body had turned to stone.
The air heated. The trees around him began to shimmer, leaves curling.
No.441's heart pounded. After all that… I die to this?
The meteor filled his vision.
Closer.
Brighter.
Hotter.
He screamed—
And jolted upright with a gasp.
His chest heaved. Sweat clung to his skin. The forest was still dark around him, the early morning mist rolling between tree roots. There was no meteor. No heat. No falling star.
Just the lingering terror in his chest.
He let out a shaky breath, trying to steady himself. It was a dream. Just a dream.
He pushed himself up off the ground, legs trembling. His arms barely held his weight.
Then—
Chime.
A soft ringing echoed inside his skull. Not in the air. Not with his ears. Inside.
He froze.
Head snapping left, then right.
"Who's there?" His voice came out hoarse.
Nothing.
The forest was silent. Still.
But the noise… it hadn't come from the outside.
It had come from within.
No.441 stayed still.
The chime echoed again—gentle, crisp, like a drop of water in a cavern. His breathing slowed. He wasn't sure why, but something deep in his gut told him this wasn't a threat.
Then it spoke.
A voice—not loud, not harsh. Calm. Cold.
[Astral System initializing… syncing host consciousness.]
[Host designation: Unnamed.]
[Astral Tier: Unawakened.]
[Talent: Substandard.]
[Comprehension: Minimal.]
[Astral Heart: Not formed.]
Beginning baseline correction.
No.441 stumbled backward, hand hitting bark as he tried to steady himself. "What…?"
Words flashed in his mind—burned in like images, not speech. He didn't understand how he was seeing them. Hearing them. They were just there.
[Auto-cultivation unlocked: Passive Mode enabled.]
[Astral Awareness awakened.]
[Welcome, bearer of the dormant heart.]
His knees hit the forest floor. He looked down at his chest—nothing had changed. No light. No mark.
But something was different.
The air felt heavier. Alive. Like it pulsed with energy he'd never noticed before. And he could feel it brushing against his skin, flowing faintly toward him—drawn to something deep inside.
His breath hitched. "What are you…?"
The voice didn't answer. Not yet.
Instead, a faint warmth gathered near his sternum. Right where his heart should've been. It didn't hurt. It felt… right. Like something that had always been missing was finally sliding into place.
He whispered, "Is this… the Astral Heart?"
Nothing responded, but he already knew the answer.
No.441 sat still for a long moment, breathing slowly.
The warmth in his chest stayed steady—faint, but real. It pulsed in rhythm with his heart, and every breath he took now felt different. Fuller. Alive.
He looked at his trembling hands.
He'd felt this kind of presence before—from a distance. From guards and enforcers. From the woman who tortured him like it was a game. It was the pressure, the strange heaviness that clung to cultivators.
And now… it was coming from him.
Faint. Pathetic. Barely there.
But it was real.
I'm… a cultivator now?
Even thinking it felt strange. Impossible.
He didn't even have an Astral Heart. But something had changed. He could feel the energy in the air—Astral Shards—subtle streams drifting into him on their own.
His eyes narrowed.
Cultivators…
He'd heard the word his whole life. They were people who had stepped above the normal limits of the body. They breathed in invisible energy—Astral Shards—and refined them inside their Astral Hearts. With each tier they broke through, they gained more strength, speed, awareness, and longevity.
Some could crush boulders with a fist. Others could leap rooftops or slice steel with a flick of the hand.
To the slaves, cultivators weren't just strong—they were gods in human skin.
And now, somehow, he was on that path.
[Warning: Multiple dangerous energy signatures detected within a 400-meter radius.]
[Suggested course: Shift northwest. Minimal threats.]
No.441 flinched as the system's voice echoed in his mind again.
He didn't question it.
He moved.
His body was stiff, still sore from the escape, but something felt… smoother. The pain was there, but not as sharp. He moved faster than he expected, even if just slightly. The system's passive cultivation must've already started easing the wear on his body.
He kept low, slipping between trees, eyes scanning for movement. His breathing remained quiet, trained from years of being beaten for making too much noise.
[Host proximity alert: Weak Astral Beast—Rank 1.]
[Classification: Clawtail Viper. Avoid striking range.]
A rustle.
His head snapped to the side. Just a few feet away, a snake-like creature with silver-blue scales slithered from a thicket. Its tail ended in a curved claw that dragged along the dirt.
No.441 took a step back.
[Suggested action: Strike at the underside of the jaw. Hold breath. Its senses are weak to stillness.]
He hesitated.
Then moved.
He stepped lightly, crouched, heart hammering. The viper lifted its head, sensing him—but he didn't breathe, didn't blink.
Its jaw opened.
He moved.
A rock—small, jagged—crashed into the soft flesh beneath its chin. The beast hissed, tail slashing wildly, but it was dazed.
He didn't give it time.
With trembling hands, he grabbed a fallen branch and swung down hard on the snake's head—once, twice, three times—until it stopped moving.
Silence returned.
He dropped the branch and stumbled back, panting.
It wasn't clean. It wasn't fast. But he had done it.
[Host combat performance: Crude. Acceptable.]
[First kill bonus: +1 Talent Point. New Rank: Marginal.]
[Auto-cultivation reward: Small.]
No.441 stared at the viper's body.
I'm really doing this...
No skill. No sword. No technique. But he'd survived.
He kept moving. The system continued guiding him, helping him avoid stronger beasts and suggesting weak points when a fight couldn't be avoided. The further he went, the more confident his steps became. It wasn't much. But for the first time in his life…
He was choosing his own path.