The world was quiet. Too quiet.
Aren's eyes fluttered open to a ceiling of ash and smoke. The crater around him shimmered faintly with golden dust—remnants of the Starcore. His body ached, but it wasn't the same kind of pain as before. It was deeper. Sharper. Like something had crawled beneath his skin and decided to rearrange him from the inside out.
He groaned. "If this is the afterlife, it seriously needs a renovation."
His voice echoed against broken metal. No answer, no rescue team—only the hum of something beneath his skin. Then, suddenly—
[Astralis Synchronization Protocol: Initializing…]
Aren froze. The voice wasn't from outside. It was inside his mind—calm, cold, mechanical… and yet not entirely synthetic.
[Analyzing Host Integrity…]
[Core Resonance: Detected – Classification: Primal Genesis Physique]
[Astral Affinity: Stellar Bloodline – Verification Complete]
"What the—wait, Physique? Bloodline?" he muttered, blinking rapidly. "I can't even afford breakfast, and now I've got a bloodline?"
The voice continued, utterly ignoring him.
[Warning: System Synchronization unstable. Commencing calibration…]
His veins began to glow. Not bright, not burning—just a slow pulse of amethyst light crawling up his arms like veins of liquid starlight. His heartbeat synced with it. Each thump grew louder, resonating through his bones until it felt like the sky itself was breathing with him.
"Okay, okay—this is officially above my pay grade," Aren hissed, clutching his chest. "If I explode, I'm haunting the next star that falls!"
[Initiating Evolution Node Integration.]
[Caution: Physical collapse likely.]
His surroundings blurred. A wave of heat rushed through his body—then cold, then both at once. The pain was blinding, but behind it was something else: a rhythm, a pulse older than words.
Somewhere deep within, a light flickered. A door half-opened.
He wasn't sure if he was burning or being reborn.
[First Evolution Node — Awakening Sequence: Commence.]
Aren's body arched. The crater burst with a pale golden flare, rippling outward like a heartbeat across the ruins of Sector Eleven.
When the light faded, he was on his knees, trembling, half-laughing, half-gasping.
"Note to self," he wheezed. "Never. Touch. Falling. Stars."