Lucian Vale lay on the floor, resting. His current situation wasn't bad—at least he had a temporary safehouse. As long as he didn't get reckless and nothing unexpected happened, surviving until he could return to Aurelia shouldn't be an issue.
He focused, trying to sense the faint presence in his mind—a beacon, barely perceptible.
That was his return beacon to Aurelia. Right now, it felt vague and distant.
According to what he had read, the day this beacon became something he could physically crush would be the day he could return to Aurelia.
Suddenly, a strange sensation surged through him, starting from his head and sweeping across his body.
The feeling intensified quickly. Lucian felt like his brain was turning to mush, his whole body tossed into a washing machine, the world spinning around him.
Despite the overwhelming discomfort, excitement surged through Lucian's chest. This is it—awakening!
I'm about to gain an extraordinary physique!
Today marks my step into a higher tier!
Gripping the fire axe tightly with the last of his consciousness, Lucian fixed his eyes on the door.
He had to stay alert for any surprises. Gritting his teeth, he fought to keep silent, determined not to make a sound that could attract trouble.
…
He didn't know how much time had passed when his awareness finally returned. Groggily, he shook his head, still dizzy.
There was a metallic taste in his mouth—blood.
He reached up and touched his face. Traces of dried blood still lingered around his mouth and nose.
Panic flared in Lucian's heart. He quickly rummaged through the scattered items nearby and found some tissues.
In the perilous Ethereal Plane, the most important rule was to avoid making noise—especially avoiding the scent of blood.
He wiped the blood from his face thoroughly and sealed the tissues inside a bag to keep the scent contained.
Then he checked his body.
He was stronger now. His movements felt lighter. All five senses had become sharper. Even his thoughts felt clearer—sharper, smarter.
Looks like the awakening was a success!
…
Lucian couldn't hold back his excitement. He wanted to throw his head back and laugh—but this was the Ethereal Plane. He forced himself to stay silent.
Just then, a sharp pain stabbed through his head, and a translucent panel appeared in front of his eyes.
Lucian jolted. What is this?!
He focused his gaze on the panel and examined it carefully.
Name: Lucian Vale
Bloodline: Human
Strength: 1.3
Constitution: 1.1
Agility: 1.1
Spirit: 2.1
Skills: None
Potential Point: 0
What… are these? My physical stats?
Lucian stared at the semi-transparent panel, momentarily stunned.
If this panel stays in front of me all the time, it'll get in the way—both in life and combat.
If only I could make it disappear… As soon as he had that thought, the panel shrank and vanished from sight.
What?!
"Come back out," he muttered in his mind.
Sure enough, the panel reappeared.
Perfect. He didn't know where it came from, but having this stat panel would definitely help him track his progress while training.
Strength, agility, constitution—they were all a little above 1. Judging by that, the average adult must sit at 1.0. His enhanced stats likely came from the awakening boost.
As for that "Potential Point"… he wasn't sure what it did yet.
His spirit stat was the highest—2.1. Looks like I might be suited to become a spellcaster once I get back.
That thought brought a smile to Lucian's face.
He grabbed his axe and opened the door, carefully inspecting the whole building again. He even stepped into the hallway, scanning up and down to check if any danger had crept in while he was unconscious.
Everything was still. Nothing dangerous nearby. That gave him some peace of mind.
He leaned back against his backpack, pulled out a compressed biscuit, sliced off a piece with his knife, and silently chewed.
While eating, he focused on the Aurelia beacon in his mind, trying to sense how much energy it had gathered.
But what he sensed next shocked him—beside the beacon, there was… a book.
A Blessing from the Ethereal Plane.
After humans from Aurelia entered the Ethereal Plane, a small number of lucky individuals would receive blessings upon successful awakening.
Some were granted rare high-tier resources. Others received inheritances.
Most of Aurelia's current cultivation legacies came from those blessed individuals.
Could I be one of them? Lucian's heart leapt.
He mentally reached toward the image of the book.
Snap!
The book materialized before him, hovering in the air.
Lucian's eyes burned with anticipation. This has to be a legacy—a true inheritance.
Blessings from the Ethereal Plane always provided inheritances perfectly suited to one's physique. All he needed to do now was follow its cultivation method.
He reached out and took the book. There were characters on the cover—ones he didn't recognize—but the Ethereal Plane's power translated them for him.
The Grimoire of Tharion
A legacy from someone named Tharion? Lucian recalled what he'd read—blessings typically granted legacies in the form of a warrior's weapon or armor, where their path could be sensed and inherited.
For spellcasters, the inheritances were usually grimoires or casting journals.
And grimoires were the best kind—lifelong companions to a mage, holding the deepest insights and techniques.
Now, Lucian hoped that this Tharion had been as powerful as possible. The stronger the mage, the more valuable the knowledge left behind.
He flipped open the cover.
The first page was filled with lines upon lines of characters.
Thanks to the Ethereal Plane's translation, Lucian drew in a deep breath.
It was a meditation technique—the method Tharion had used to cultivate his magical abilities.
Breath of Darkness
The name alone made Lucian frown. It sounded like a dark-element technique.
I'm a bright, cheerful kind of guy. Why the hell did the Ethereal Plane give me a dark-type legacy?
He scowled, but kept flipping through the book.
The next section was all spells. The spell entries took up a lot of space.
First Cantrip: Dusky Mist
Cantrips were often called "children's spells"—weak and low-impact.
Dusky Mist was an area-of-effect spell that summoned a small patch of gray mist. It didn't harm anyone—just obscured vision.
Despite being a cantrip, the spell took up three full pages in the grimoire.
One page for the spell's rune, one for casting technique, and one for Tharion's notes and commentary.
Lucian glanced at the thickness of the book. If one cantrip takes this much space, then it probably doesn't contain too many spells overall.
He flipped to the next one.
Second Cantrip: Bonefang
Spell Effect: Condenses a white bone fang from mana, which briefly hovers before being launched at an enemy. Attack range = Spirit stat x 25 meters.
Finally, an offensive cantrip. Not bad.
Third Cantrip: Touch of Fatigue
Spell Effect: Casts a phantom tendril that induces a fatigue effect on the target, lasting until the spell ends.
A solid debuff spell.
Lucian tried to keep flipping forward—but the pages wouldn't move.
He quickly understood what that meant. His current level only allowed him to access the meditation technique and the three basic spells.
The more advanced ones would have to wait until his strength increased through training.
That was fine. He returned to the first page and began studying the Breath of Darkness technique.
As he read deeper, his eyes widened.
This… this is a gold-ranked meditation technique?!
A damn treasure!
In Aurelia's records, legacies from the Ethereal Plane were divided into five tiers: Black Iron, Silver, Gold, Epic, and Legendary.
Most people who didn't receive blessings had to rely on whatever legacy they could access after returning—whether it was a knight's breathing method or a mage's meditation technique. Most of those were Black Iron or Silver.
While it was possible to reach high tiers with those, the efficiency dropped sharply in the later stages.
Gold-tier legacies were rare enough. Epic and Legendary were almost mythical. For commoners like Lucian Vale, even hearing about those names was a privilege.
Lucian breathed heavily, staring at the grimoire in his hands.
Breath of Darkness… I take back what I said earlier.
So what if it's dark-element? I, Lucian Vale, love dark-element now. Any other attribute makes me cough—I just can't train it.
Gold-tier… feels damn good!