When I opened my eyes, I wasn't dead.
That was the first surprise.
The second was that I wasn't cold. Not anymore. I was wrapped in something warm, thick, and humming with low, gentle energy. My fingers still ached, but the pain in my ribs was… dulled. Muted.
Someone had treated me.
I sat up slowly—too quickly—and a sharp stab reminded me my injuries weren't entirely gone.
"You're awake," said a soft, musical voice beside me.
She sat cross-legged on the other side of the small fire. Pale skin, softly glowing. Eyes like starlight filtered through morning fog. Hair that drifted behind her like it was suspended in water. She wasn't human.
She wasn't even trying to pass as one.
"You almost didn't make it," she said gently. "We found you after the battle."
I blinked. "The Titan…"
"Destroyed. You killed it," she said.
Another figure sat at the fire's edge. Taller, broader. Skin like glass layered over stone. His eyes flicked toward me but he said nothing.
"My name is Lyssira Vel Sona," the girl said. "He's Tairo Sen Lurin. We're Eirali."
"Zavier," I muttered. "Zavier King. I'm from Earth."
That made Tairo finally speak.
"Figures," he said. "Only Earthlings got buffs that powerful."
They fed me. Strange soup with a spicy-sweet smell. I didn't ask what it was. I just drank.
"What do you mean 'only Earthlings'?" I asked.
"You really don't know," Tairo said, more to himself than me.
Lyssira leaned in, expression warm but curious. "Earth is new to the multiverse. No mana. No bloodlines. No evolutionary history. So the Academy gave your people something to… equalize things."
"The buff," I said.
"Yes," she nodded. "But more than just a buff. A multiversal artifact written directly into your being. Most other races earn their power over lifetimes. You were… fast-tracked."
"Why?"
"Because without it," Tairo said, "you'd die before the tournament even truly began."
I stared at the fire for a while, letting that sink in.
We were the weakest species.
So they gave us cheat codes.
"How many races are there?" I asked.
"Hundreds," Lyssira said. "Maybe more. The Academy recognizes 100 Primary Races, each with their own branches and subtypes. Some are physical titans like the one you faced. Some exist only in spirit. Others are parasites, swarm-based, machine-hybrids, time-dancers, gravity shells…"
She saw the look on my face and smiled softly.
"It's overwhelming," she said. "But it means there's no single path to strength."
"They all evolve the same way?" I asked.
Tairo shook his head. "Not even close. Each race has its own method—some absorb cores, others merge bloodlines, some meditate across dimensions. But evolution is universal. The ranks, though..."
He picked up a stick and drew in the snow.
"There are seven major evolution ranks, each divided into five stages: Initial, Minor, Moderate, Major, Peak."
"What's after Peak?" I asked.
He paused. "You either ascend… or die trying."
Lyssira continued, her voice like flowing water. "Each rank unlocks more than power. Size. Presence. Essence. Your true body grows too — some become stars. Others, galaxies. Eventually, entire realities can tremble when they evolve."
"So if that Titan was Rank 2…?"
"Then someone at Rank 4 could erase it with a thought," Tairo said simply.
I looked down at my hands.
Still mine. Still trembling.
But not the same as yesterday.
"What about buffs?" I asked. "They just… activate?"
"They awaken through desire," Lyssira said. "Not surface-level want. Something deeper. A primal need. Yours activated because you didn't want to die."
I thought back to that moment.She was right. I didn't fight to win.I just didn't want that to be my end.
"What about you two?" I asked. "Why are you here?"
Lyssira gave a wistful smile. "To learn. To survive. To carry our people's memory forward."
"To witness," Tairo added. "Not everyone fights to win. Some of us… just want to remember."
Silence fell again. But it wasn't heavy this time.
It felt shared.
I didn't have a goal. Not yet.
But I knew I wanted one.
And more than that, I didn't want to vanish nameless in the dark.
"I'll travel with you," I said finally. "If that's alright."
They looked at each other, and then back at me.
"Just for a while," I added.
"Of course," Lyssira said.
And like that, I wasn't alone anymore.
I still didn't know what I wanted.
But I knew this:
In a multiverse of monsters, myths, and gods…I had taken the first step.And I wasn't turning back.