The planet where Ethan found himself was called Aetherion a world drenched in mana, where the laws of existence rippled every ten years, shaking reality itself.
During that cycle, everything could awaken people, beasts, even trees and stones. The planet's pulse spread like a wave through creation, granting consciousness or power to anything that could withstand its resonance.
Sometimes, even mountains stirred in their sleep.
But this awakening was not without consequence.
When mana surged, so did danger. Rifts tore open across the land, connecting Aetherion to twisted abysses from other realms — places where strange, hostile entities tried to invade and claim the planet as their own.
And so, for centuries, humans had fought back, forming cities fortified by magic arrays and ancient beasts.
In this world, power defined survival and talent determined everything.
The measure of talent was simple but brutal:
F, E, D, C, B, A, S, SS, SSS.
Only a handful in all of Aetherion ever reached SSS, and no one knew what existed beyond that.
As the great awakening wave swept across the city that morning, cheers and cries filled the air. Fireworks of mana burst in the sky. People shouted their new affinities, beast companions roared, and the whole city trembled with energy.
But inside a certain small, glowing shop…
Ethan Raphael yawned.
He leaned lazily over the counter, watching his younger sister drooling on her folded arms beside him.
"...You awake, Mira?" he asked, his voice dry.
She groaned and rubbed her eyes, a faint silver glow flickering across her pupils. "Mm… brother, everything feels warm."
Ethan squinted. "Oh, great. Don't tell me you just awakened."
A soft pulse of energy rolled off her, making the shelves rattle slightly.
[Detecting newly awakened soul nearby.]
[Analyzing target…]
[Name: Mira Raphael.]
[Age: 15.]
[Detected Talent: Dreamweave.]
[Rank: SSS.]
Ethan blinked. "Dreamweave? What kind of name is that?"
[Description: A nascent power capable of shaping reality through dream-space construction. Potential—Undefined.]
He frowned. "So basically, my little sister's got a talent that doesn't even look cool, and you're telling me it's too advanced for the planet to understand?"
[Approximate interpretation: Correct.]
Mira tilted her head. "Huh? Who are you talking to?"
"Uh nobody," Ethan said quickly, waving his hand. "Just… my sanity."
She frowned sleepily. "You're weird."
"Yeah, well, I get that a lot."
Mira stretched, still half-asleep, and stumbled toward the back room. "I'm going back to bed before Mom scolds you for being noisy."
Ethan froze. "…Right. Mom. Sure."
The door closed quietly, and silence filled the shop again.
He sighed, leaning back against the counter. "So, system, what about me? You've seen my sister's stats what's my potential?"
[Analyzing Host…]
[Detected Rank: Undefined.]
[Potential : Undefined ]
[Warning: Host data exceeds planetary parameters. Classification unavailable.]
Ethan blinked again. "You're saying… I broke your chart."
[Correction :*the current planet's Scale *]
He rubbed his face and groaned. "Yeah, that's super comforting."
[Advisory: Rest recommended. Host's mental stability decreasing.]
"Thanks, doctor," Ethan muttered, dragging a chair and dropping onto it. "Wake me when life starts making sense again."
The shop dimmed as the mana lights softened. Ethan closed his eyes, exhaustion finally catching up to him.
But just as sleep began to claim him
..
[New Mission Generated!]
The voice roared directly in his head.
Ethan nearly fell out of his chair. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"
[Mission: Clean and organize the Shop of Creations.]
[Reward: 10 Creation Points.]
[Failure: Loss of 2 points and reduction in shop synchronization.]
He rubbed his temples, glaring at the floating cube. "You're giving me chores now? I didn't sign up to be a cosmic janitor!"
[Objective mandatory. Shop conditions affect system efficiency.]
He sighed, dragging himself up. "Fine, fine. Cleaning it is. You're lucky I don't have anything better to do."
He grabbed a rag from the counter, dusting a cracked crystal orb that shimmered faintly under his touch. The shelves creaked, the air buzzing softly as though the shop itself were waking up.
After a while, he leaned back against the counter again, panting slightly. "Alright. Done. Happy?"
[Mission Complete.]
[+10 Creation Points Acquired.]
A small surge of warmth ran through his chest, spreading faintly to his fingertips. "Huh… feels weirdly good."
[Creation Points may now be used to manifest concepts.]
Ethan frowned. "Manifest what now?"
[Concepts. Objects. Beasts. Systems of thought. Anything within Host's comprehension and available energy.]
He stared. "So… I can make stuff?"
[Affirmative. However, creation consumes spiritual energy proportional to complexity. Improper focus may lead to]
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Don't explode myself. Got it."
[Warning: Host has not yet developed a Creation Circuit. Probability of backlash—47%.]
"Forty-seven what now?"
Before the cube could elaborate, Ethan grinned faintly. "Let's just make something small then. Like… a cat."
The air turned heavy. Dust lifted from the floor. Runes across the walls flickered to life.
A golden circle appeared in front of him, humming softly.
Then came the pain.
His head pounded. His breathing staggered. Something deep within his soul twisted.
"Okay okay, maybe not a cat maybe a goldfish"
Too late. The circle burst with a blinding flash.
Ethan fell backward with a curse, the air sizzling around him.
Smoke curled from the counter. Something tiny moved inside it a small creature made of golden light and shadow, half-transparent and trembling.
It blinked up at him with wide, glowing eyes.
Ethan groaned. "Did I just make that?"
[Creation incomplete. Structure unstable. Estimated duration: five minutes.]
[Displaying Proto-Beast Data…]
┏━━━[Prototype Lifeform Created]━━━┓
Name: —
Species: Undefined (Light-Origin Proto-Beast)
Grade: F- (Unstable)
Energy Signature: Fragment of Creation
Lifespan: 5 Minutes
Status: Weak / Flickering
┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛
"So I can't even make a proper cat?"
[Affirmative. Partial manifestation achieved. Success rate for first attempt: 3.7%.]
The little creature squeaked softly and curled beside his hand.
Ethan sighed. "Great. The universe's first imaginary hamster."
[Correction: Proto-beast construct.]
"Sure. Whatever makes you happy."
Despite his sarcasm, a faint smile crept across his lips.
The creature's glow dimmed slowly until it faded into dust.
[Mission log updated. Creation Circuit partially awakened.]
Ethan leaned back, exhausted. "Guess we both need some work, huh?"
[Correction: Progress inevitable. Every creation begins from imperfection.]
He chuckled weakly. "You sound like my old art teacher."
[Was she correct?]
"Yeah," he whispered. "She was."
A faint notification blinked before his eyes.
[+1 Creation Point Refunded.]
He slumped deeper into his chair. "This shop's gonna kill me."
[Statistically probable.]
"Not helping."
System [.....]