The Codex was one of the artifact that was created by the Celestial Order after the apocalypse and the Ascendants began to make appearance.
It was created to check if one has an aptitude for cultivating mana and what type of affinity they have. At which point a core would be formed.
"What in the Seven Hells!" Kaedros cursed. Everything around him had turned pitch-black, a void that smothered his senses. He floated, gravity forgotten, as if suspended in the vacuum of space. "What is this choosing circle doing?"
Could the codex be reacting to him trying to obtain an affinity? Be reacting to his Sun Path?
Kaedros immediately tried crafting a technique, light spell, pouring his mana into it. He felt the rush of power... but no light appeared. Nothing.
"Since I'm not getting an affinity, can you just let me go?" he shouted. He didn't know who he was yelling at, but he wanted out.
He hated being suspended in this empty dark, surrounded by nothing. He hated being locked where the lights couldn't touch.
There was a pause, then came the sound, a deep rumble, like ancient stones grinding against each other. The darkness trembled.
A wave of raw, primal energy rippled through the air, raising the hairs on Kaedros' arms. It reminded Kaedros of the Great Dragons he had met in Draconic City with pressure aura that could crush mountains.
What was something like that doing here?
"What are you?" a thunderous voice boomed, shaking the space around him.
It struck Kaedros like a physical blow. His ears stung and rang, his nose dripping blood as his inside trembled.
The darkness peeled away, revealing two enormous yellow eyes glowing in the void. No face, just the eyes, and yet Kaedros heard the creature speak clearly.
"Answer me! You are not human!"
Kaedros had never encountered anything like this in a long, long time. Not since his mother got angry and her shout shook the whole of Draconic City.
"Are you the Codex?" he asked hesitant. Then he lied without blinking. "And yes, I am human."
The giant eyes blazed, Kaedros shielded his face. The light from the eyes reminded him of dying stars. It seems strangely familiar to him and yet so out of reach.
"What is this Codex you speak of? Do you mean I am..." The voice wavered, trailing off. "So that's how it is..."
A long silence followed.
"Yes... I am the Codex."
Kaedros didn't believe it.
It didn't sound sure of itself, and Kaedros felt like it had almost said something else before correcting itself. Just what is happening?
"So what are you here for?" the voice thundered again.
Kaedros just wanted to be done with this and get it all over with. "Nothing. I came here by mistake."
The glowing eyes narrowed.
"Hmmm... yes... he's the one? Hmmm... okay... alright. Be grateful, you who pretend to be human! You are here for your affinity, and you shall receive it."
Kaedros froze. Wait what?
A second affinity? That wasn't possible. You advanced in affinity, gaining more and more control of the said affinity and its surrounding energies, not just getting two.
"You're sure?" he asked slowly. "Can you even give an affinity, isn't it what one is born with?"
"DO NOT DOUBT ME, MORTAL." the voice rumbled, making the darkness around them tremble.
"Alright, alright. I agree," Kaedros muttered.
"Not like you have a choice anyway. Now—what class do you seek?"
Kaedros frowned. He hadn't prepared for this. His Noble Dragon affinity provided him with the power of the sun, and already gave him immense strength, stamina, and resilience. But because of his Lowly Bloodline curse, his offense was lacking. He needed something that could make up for that.
"A mage," he said. "I want to be a mage."
"A mage. Hmm."
Golden light streamed from the glowing eyes, engulfing Kaedros. Scorching heat entered into his blood and flowed in his veins, roaring as or devour everything.
He opened his mouth and screamed as pain slammed into him, his body bent at unnatural angle. His Draconic core shook, trembling. The new light that was flowing through him rammed into his core and shattered it.
The new power coiled around in its place. It's light. Bright golden and red.
It is the sun and it is not.
Something else entirely.
And then, his body lit up from the inside as if he carried the brightness of the world with him.
He felt something surge inside him, a shift in his essence.
His curse...was it broken?
Relief and satisfaction curled through him. He wouldn't be trapped for years in uselessness pretending. He could grow. He could evolve.
Kaedros opened his eyes.
And the space he was in lit up as if daylight has come.
The darkness ran...no, the darkness burn as it retreated, disappearing.
He turned his eyes to the figure that was speaking since he appeared in the empty space.
A man that was warped in chains.
"You are the Codex?" Kaedros asked with surprise.
The man didn't answer, instead he fell to his knees. "The Light of Annihilation, Ancient light of the Void."
Kaedros frowned. "What are you talking about? Is this what the Codex is..."
"Listen. I don't have much time. You must go to the place where the stars began and went to die. Go to where the stars once held dominion before the Dusk came.
"You must remember. You were the light that was. The harsh light of the Void.
"Congratulations for gaining bits of your inheritance. The Seed of The Light of Annihilatio." The voice got weaker and weaker.
Just then, a memory came to Kaedros. He remembered the show and movies he watched back in the human world where some people would draw vague words and then dissappear.
He wasn't having it.
Kaedros raised his hand to form a simple technique of light ball.
But what appeared was anything but.
He called the usual amount of power he always called.
Power surged in his veins, roaring with dominance. It appeared above his palm but it wasn't the pure sun light that he usually called.
This one was chaotic.
A bit of gold, black and red.
And the light it gave was both baleful and harsh.
The Light of Annihilation.
The disappearing Codex shouted out in surprise. "The First Light. The light above Dusk!"
Kaedros was so surprised that he didn't do anything until the Codex dissappeared. He could only stare at the ball of 'sunlight' in his hand.
For the first time since he was reincarnated.
He cursed like a human. "What the fuck?!"