The void screamed with silence. No light, no sound, no warmth only an infinite, suffocating pressure dissolving thought and form. Within this primordial nothingness, a spark coalesced. No name, no memory, no self. Just raw, terrified awareness trapped in non-existence.
"Cold… Dark… Where?!". Formless panic dissolved instantly.
Then, unseen and unsensed by any cosmic entity, the impossible occurred. A secret theft. From dying dimensions, collapsed stars, and spatial rifts, motes of raw, primordial energy drifted towards the nascent spark. Emerald nebula shards. Amethyst time-threads. Sapphire void-dust. Gold stellar death-filaments. They converged within the awareness, silent and stealthy. A hidden alchemy.
AGONY.!!!!
The universe being born inside a single point. Concepts, vast and terrifying, were whispered into his core: The Great Chain, The Paths, The Staircase, Bloodlines, Races, Affinities. The Primordial Blueprint downloaded in utter silence. Absorbed, not bestowed.
I am… hollow filled. Stolen dust. Outside the Weave. A name surfaced [Li Wei** (黎纬). Li – the dark before dawn. Wei – the hidden thread. The Unseen Weaver].
The void, oblivious, expelled him.
Reality was a physical assault. Silence shattered into cacophony. Leaves roared. A bird's cry stabbed his ears. Water gurgled monstrously. His own heart hammered 'thump-THUMP, thump-THUMP' against fragile ribs.
Scent invaded wet earth, sweet decay, sharp pollen, and the coppery tang of blood. His blood? Touch Cool moss beneath, scratchy leaves wrapping him, a chill breeze needling new skin.Taste Dust, grit, copper.
Sight.
Eyelids flew open. Blinding, painful green. Shapes swam. He blinked rapidly, tears stinging. Towering wooden giants, scarred bark vanishing into a choking green ceiling. Jagged ferns. Eerie blue-glowing mushrooms. Sunlight stabbed down in blinding spears.
"Where?! How?! Void… gone… pain… loud… bright!"
Primal panic seized him. The cosmic knowledge was a cold, useless library Lower World, Continent of 7th Heaven, Flesh Tempering Path, Rank 1 Initiate, Bloodline: ???, Race: Human (Apparent) drowned by sensory tsunami and animal terror. He flailed weakly, limbs tiny, soft, alien, tangled in rough purple leaves. Trapped! He tried to scream.
A thin, reedy wail tore from his throat. Silence. Shock.
"That… was me?"
Shame mixed with fear. Utterly helpless. Exposed.
Cradled haphazardly in giant roots on deep purple, silver-veined leaves. No nest. No warmth. No one. Immense, indifferent silence pressed down. The knowledge whispered abandoned. The newborn felt crushing loneliness, abandonment so profound tears welled again, blurring the painfully bright world.
Focus! Cold logic surfaced. Inward Energy thrummed beneath his frantic heart. Strange. Vastly old. A potent darkness sucking in light, threaded with fierce multicolored pinpricks. Primordial Dust. Stolen fragments. Unbound. Unseen. Untamed. Him, yet alien. He needed to learn it. Control it. Love it? Absurd amidst the terror. He looked down. Miniature fists. Warm peach skin. A strand of hair: deep violet-black, like thundercloud midnight. Energy hummed cool beneath the warmth.
His eyes… stinging, wet. Knowledge hinted: Reflect the stolen source. Unseen. Gateways to inner chaos.
A rustle. Not wind. Small. An iridescent blue, multi-legged creature – a Starfoot Skitterer froze, antennae twitching. Its large, obsidian eyes fixed on him. Curiosity? A flicker of desperate, lonely hope sparked in Li Wei. He gurgled, a wet, bubbling sound.
The Skitterer tensed. Its delicate blue fur didn't just stand on end; it seemed to crackle with static. Primal revulsion. It sensed the void-touched Primordial Dust, the dissonant signature of something profoundly unnatural.
[Starfoot Skitterer], "Kreee-SHRIEK!" High-pitched, pure terror, like shattering crystal
It didn't just flee; it erupted backwards in a frantic blur of blue light, vanishing into the ferns so fast it seemed to teleport. The sound was a physical blow to Li Wei's raw nerves. He flinched violently, drawing his limbs in tight. Cold knowledge stated:
[ Primordial Dust signature. Dissonant. Perceived as corruption/abomination by natural spirits ].
The baby Li Wei only understood the scream of pure terror was at him. The loneliness sharpened into a deep, aching wound.
"Monster. I am a monster".
Vulnerability crashed over him. Hunger cramped his tiny stomach a sharp, twisting agony. Thirst parched his throat like sandpaper. The chill air bit deeper into his exposed skin. Cold, hungry, alone, lost, and terrifying to anything nearby. Panic spiraled, tightening his chest.
[Water. Food. Warmth. HIDE. The System offered sterile lists: Locate stream. Identify non-toxic flora (probability low). Seek geothermal vent (unlikely). Conceal in foliage ].
Useless! He couldn't even lift his head properly!
He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the overwhelming, terrifying world, focusing inward on the only constant the knot of Primordial Dust. It pulsed, a deep, resonant thrum beneath the frantic heartbeat, a dormant maelstrom. Wild, untamed, terrifying in its own right. But it was his. His only anchor in this sudden, terrifying reality. He clung to it mentally, a drowning thing grasping driftwood.
"Li Wei. I am Li Wei".
The stolen dawn. The hidden thread. The words were a fragile shield.
'CRUNCH'.
'SNAP'.
Leaves crushed. Twigs snapped. Heavy. Deliberate. Measured. Close. Too close. The sounds weren't random; they were footsteps. Hunting footsteps. Every nerve in Li Wei's tiny body screamed DANGER! His breath hitched, caught in his raw throat. His body locked rigid with primal fear. His newly heightened senses, tingling with the latent awareness of the System and the unsettling energy within, painted a terrifying picture: size large; weight heavy; intent – predatory, focused, hungry.
The dense ferns ten paces away rustled violently, then parted with a wet shush. A creature emerged, low to the ground. It wasn't just wolf-like; it was a [ Grey Moss Wolf ]. Its thick fur was a perfect mottled tapestry of grey, moss-green, and deep brown, making it nearly vanish against the forest floor and tree trunks. It stood taller than a large dog at the shoulder, muscles rippling beneath its pelt like coiled springs. Powerful shoulders hunched as it lowered its head, its muzzle wrinkled into a silent snarl, revealing yellowed, bone-crushing fangs slick with saliva. Ropes of drool dripped onto the mossy ground. Its eyes, however, were its most terrifying feature: a sickly, intelligent yellow that scanned the clearing with chilling focus before locking onto the bundle on the purple leaves with unwavering intensity. Hunger. Simple, brutal, all-consuming hunger.
Knowledge flashed instantly, cold and clinical
[ Grey Moss Wolf
Rank 1 Flesh Tempering (Approaching Stage 3).
Solitary ambush predator.
Favors dense woodland.
Threat: Exceptional camouflage, crushing bite force capable of snapping young trees, enhanced stamina.
Weakness: Relatively poor longdistance sight, sensitive nose, vulnerable eyes and throat ].
The facts were meaningless against the tidal wave of pure, instinctive !!TERROR!! that washed over Li Wei. This wasn't abstract knowledge; this was death incarnate, smelling of wet fur, rotting meat, and raw carnivore breath.
The wolf took a slow, deliberate step forward, its massive paw sinking silently into the thick moss despite its size. Its low, rumbling growl started deep in its chest, vibrating the air. The sound wasn't just heard; Li Wei felt it resonate in his own fragile bones and the hollow pit of his stomach. It was the sound of inevitability.
Grey Moss Wolf, "Warm meat. Weak. Alone. Easy prey. Hunger gnaws. Feed"
It lowered its head further, its powerful haunches bunching, muscles coiling like drawn bows. The yellow eyes never left Li Wei. Saliva dripped steadily. It was mere seconds from launching.
Helpless. Alone. Stardust and void-stuff crammed into fragile, trembling flesh, about to be torn apart on his first day under a real sky. The cosmic absurdity was obliterated by sheer, overwhelming terror. Panic detonated within Li Wei, a supernova of fear. He opened his mouth, not to form words, but to release the raw, shrieking terror tearing him apart – a final, futile cry.
As the massive jaws gaped wide, revealing the dark, wet maw and glistening fangs poised to snap shut on his tiny form, saliva splattering onto the moss near his head, those unseen eyes of his blazed.
Not with controlled power. Not with conscious intent. But with the sheer, reactive pressure of the compressed, stolen multiversal energies – the Primordial Dust – recoiling violently against the imminent threat. It was a terrified spasm of the alien power within him. An invisible, silent shockwave of pure, alien wrongness, the dissonant signature amplified a thousandfold by his own blind panic, radiated outwards in a pulse.
The effect on the Grey Moss Wolf was instantaneous and catastrophic.
The wolf froze mid-lunge, muscles locked in agonizing tension. Its yellow eyes bulged, widening impossibly, the pupils shrinking to terrified, black pinpricks. The rumbling growl choked off into a strangled, high-pitched yelp that sounded almost puppy-like in its sheer terror. It wasn't just fear; it was the complete and utter shattering of its predatory instinct, replaced by soul-deep, mind-numbing horror.
It didn't just step back; it convulsed backwards. Its powerful legs, moments ago coiled to spring, now scrambled wildly, paws slipping and churning the soft moss. It stumbled, crashing sideways into a thick fern, tearing it from the ground. Every hair on its body stood rigidly on end, making it look twice its size. The hunger vanished, replaced by pure, unadulterated flight instinct screaming louder than any growl. The scent that had promised easy meat now reeked of void, decay, and cosmic terror.
Grey Moss Wolf, YIPE-AIIEEEE! A shrieking, yelping cacophony of pure, mindless terror.
For one frozen, surreal heartbeat, the tableau held: the massive, powerful predator trembling violently, paralyzed by an incomprehensible dread, its intelligent eyes glazed with primal horror; the infant Li Wei, tears streaming down his face, mouth stretched wide in a silent scream of his own terror, utterly unaware of the defensive nightmare he radiated.
Then, the wolf broke. With a final, desperate, whimpering howl that echoed through the trees, it spun on its haunches. It didn't choose a path; it fled blindly, crashing through the undergrowth with no regard for stealth or terrain. Li Wei heard the frantic snapping of branches, the panicked thud of heavy paws fading rapidly, punctuated by another terrified yelp as it likely tripped or crashed into an obstacle in its headlong flight. The sound of its terror-stricken retreat faded into the depths of the ancient forest.
Silence rushed back in, thick and heavy, broken only by Li Wei's ragged, hitched breathing and the frantic drumming of his own heart. He lay trembling violently on the leaves, the sudden surge of alien energy receding as quickly as it had flared, leaving him utterly drained, shaking uncontrollably, and soaked in cold sweat. He hadn't commanded it. He hadn't understood it. It had simply… happened. A terrified reflex of the stolen power within him. The System offered no explanations for uncontrolled surges of Primordial Dust.
Exhaustion hit him like a collapsing stone wall. The adrenaline ebbed, leaving him hollow and shivering violently. Hunger gnawed with renewed fury. Thirst burned his throat. The cold air seeped deep into his bones. The vast forest seemed to watch with ancient, uncaring eyes. Yet, through a gap in the canopy high above, a single, pure shaft of golden sunlight finally found him. It fell across his face, warm against his tear-streaked cheek.
He flinched at first, the light still painfully bright against his tightly shut eyelids. But then… the warmth. Real. Soothing. Solid. Different from the cold void, different from the bone-deep terror, different even from the unsettling coolness of the Primordial Dust within him. It was a simple, physical comfort. Slowly, hesitantly, he turned his head slightly towards the light, his strange, nebula-dark eyes though he couldn't see them squinting open just a slit against the glare. He saw the dancing dust motes swirling in the beam, like tiny, captured stars.
For the first time, amidst the crushing fear, confusion, loneliness, and the echo of the wolf's terror, a tiny, fragile spark ignited within him – pure, unadulterated wonder. The warmth was real. The light was beautiful. It belonged to this world. To him, in this terrifying, bewildering moment.
His eyelids, impossibly heavy, began to sink like stones. The emerald gloom softened into comforting shadows. The sharp scents blurred into a vague, earthy perfume. The sounds of the forest faded to a distant, murmuring lullaby. The lingering terror mixed with the unexpected solace of that single ray of warmth on his skin. The vast, cold library of cosmic knowledge dimmed, overwhelmed and finally silenced by the sheer, crushing fatigue of being a newborn body in a vast, frightening world.
As unconsciousness pulled him down into merciful oblivion, one final, coherent thought surfaced, fragile but clinging fiercely to the only anchor he had, the only thing truly his
"Li Wei… I am Li Wei…"
And in the deep, ancient heart of the woods on the Continent of 7th Heaven, under the indifferent gaze of timeless trees, the child woven from stolen starlight and void-shadows slept. His impossible journey began not with triumph, but with terror; not with control, but with a reflex born of cosmic theft; not with belonging, but with a stolen name and the unexpected, simple warmth of a single ray of golden light. His eyes, holding the chaotic echo of creation and the silent depth of the abyss, closed for the first time on the world.