Nox woke up to find himself in the office.
"That was a good nap — I wonder how much time has passed."
Nox looked around and found a clock showing 3:00 PM.
"Wait, I only slept two hours?! But I feel refreshed. Could this be because I'm awakened? That's amazing."
While Nox was surprised by his new strength, the office door opened and Alexander entered with a tall man who was clearly about 190 cm, with shiny black hair and sharp silver eyes. He wore a completely black formal suit; his presence made you feel his power and high status.
"Mr. Nox, good that you're awake. Let me introduce you to the person who will take you to the academy. This is Mr. Silas Ravenhaert — he will be responsible for transferring you to Cyprus, the country where the academy's lands are located."
Nox stood up quickly and bowed slightly out of respect; he knew the Ravenhaert family — the family that controls the Shadow Shard.
"Greetings, Mr. Silas. I'm Nox. Pleased to meet you."
Well, I'm not really pleased, but appearances must be kept. It will also be easier to deal with nobles if you show them respect.
Silas nodded his head as a sign of acceptance.
"Hello, Nox. It's rare for someone to wake in your condition, especially with a new shard like dark. The Alliance sent me because they thought a Shadow user would harmonize with you better. Anyway, if you're ready, let's go — the gate is ready."
"Of course, sir. I don't have anything to take with me. We can go now"
After they agreed, the three left the office and headed underground.
Who knew there was a basement beneath the center? Nox passed through armored gates, cameras, and all kinds of security. This puzzled him — after all, the center itself was small and rundown; why was there such a luxurious place beneath it?
When the final door opened, Nox and the others entered a large underground chamber, but Nox's attention was immediately drawn to the center of the room — to a gigantic gate that seemed to bend space around it.
"W-what is this?"
Nox couldn't control his reaction — after all, it was the first time he'd seen something so otherworldly.
While he was startled, Silas answered his question himself.
"This is a transport gate. Humans managed to build it five years ago. It allows you to travel across the world easily."
"Transport gate? Excuse me, Mr. Silas, even though I'm not fully informed about world news, this is the first time I've heard of something like this."
Silas laughed mockingly as he replied.
"Of course you haven't heard. This knowledge is forbidden to the public. If you're wondering why, it's simple: the technology is extremely expensive, so we don't use it much. Also, if people knew about it — just imagine what they'd do when they face the dangers of the Abyss world. Only a registered Awakened can know about it. That helps us protect it from criminals. Understand?"
Nox nodded in response to Silas's words while thinking to himself.
Those bastards hide a technology that could save millions under the pretense of cost and protection. I knew they were scum, but they exceeded my expectations. Someone should make an award for those bastards.
While Nox was busy cursing the authorities in his mind, Silas spoke again.
"Oh, also credit goes to the Starwalkers family — they own the space Shards after all, it's easy for them to move around. Hmm, that reminds me: their son is supposed to be at the academy as well. Try to stay on his good side."
Silas offered the advice casually.
"Thanks for the tip, sir. I'll keep it in mind."
Go to hell, you and your advice. Great — just what I needed to make things worse. Why is my luck always like this?
Silas spoke again, cutting off Nox's thoughts.
"Alright, enough talk. Let's enter the gate and go to Cyprus."
Let's do as he says and finish this quickly.
Nox and Silas approached the gate. Nox felt a pulling force trying to suck him toward it. Just before he entered, Silas said beside him:
"One last warning — try not to vomiting."
"What? Why would I vomiting?"
Before Nox could finish, the gate swallowed them. Before he could comprehend what happened, he found himself standing in another chamber. Then his body felt as if it had been turned into tiny particles moving at light speed and then stopped abruptly. This made his body shiver violently and he lost his balance. Nox fell to the ground, trying to vomit everything in his stomach, but he managed to hold it back and swallow the acidic matter before it came up. It left a nasty taste in his mouth, but it was better than actually vomiting.
"Oh, looks like someone has excellent self-control, boy."
Silas spoke sarcastically beside him.
Damn that eye — I hope it dies and the crows eat its corpse. What an end for someone from the damned Ravenhaert family.
"Anyway, stand up. We don't have all day — let's go to the academy director." Silas pulled him by the collar and forced him to his feet.
Nox was forced to follow, despite his annoyance. They passed several people who were clearly responsible for the gate; they bowed to Silas as they passed.
"Nox, do you know the power ranking in the world?"
Silas broke the silence with a strange question.
"Well, as I know, a shard Become stronger by challenging the Gate of Corruption. You will enter the world of the abyss and search for the Gate's heart and destroy it. It is considered the source of energy. The Gate is destroyed by the explosion of the heart and the awakened person merges with the exploded energy, making him stronger. "
"You seem well-read. Continue."
Silas praised Nox sincerely; most commoners, especially from poor regions, don't know much.
"Generally, no one has reached the highest rank yet and we are far from it. But humans managed to find records of other worlds in the Abyss world and discovered that there are nine stages for shards."
[Stage 9 — Awakened]
"This is where a person awakens their power. That's where the name 'Awakened' came from."
[Stage 8 — Bearer]
"The shard's abilities develop and the power flows into the person as if it were part of their body. The body also shows changes in its properties to suit the power."
[Stage 7 — Manifested]
"Power manifests in the form of a special entity, animal, sword, tool, or anything that helps the awakened person use and direct their power better. "
[Stage 6 — Singular]
"The body changes and surpasses human limits. The person's lifespan lengthens greatly, and spirit and body are integrated in this stage, which heals previous injuries and Awakened can specialize in this stage and use their ability differently than other Awakened from the same shard. "
[Stage 5 — Ascendant]
"The power greater than the world. I've heard that in this stage a person can sense shard energy clearly, and they can use the world's energy around them if the environment suits the essence, so they are considered to have infinite energy. This is also the highest stage humans have reached so far."
[Stage 4 — Sovereign]
[Stage 3 — Dominator]
[Stage 2 — Celestial]
[Stage 1 — Angel]
"That's all I know, sir."
Nox finished his explanation while looking at Silas. Now he was thinking about Silas's power.
Clap! Clap!
Silas smiled as he clapped for Nox.
"Bravo — truly a smart lad. As you said, that is the power ranking. As you can see, I am at Stage Six — Singular—. Also, the director here is Stage Five — Ascendant— so you are safe here."
Silas announced his rank casually as if talking about the weather.
What? That idiot is Singular? Wait, I wished him dead a moment ago — good thing he can't read minds. Nox felt panic; he would have died if he'd voiced his thoughts.
Wait — why am I afraid of death? First, I'm immortal. Second, I wanted death from the start. No — if they try to kill me and find out I'm immortal, they'll turn me into a lab rat and subject me to all kinds of torture. Nox thought as he prayed to a god in his heart.
"We've arrived. Get ready to meet the director."
Silas interrupted Nox's thoughts as he always did, but this time the atmosphere around him changed and Silas became serious — after all, they were about to meet a high-ranking person.
Nox thought of that as he stood next to Silas in front of a huge door.
Silas knocked on the door three times.
After a moment, an old voice was heard from behind the door.
"Enter."
I hope everything goes smoothly, Nox thought as he entered the room with silas