It had been three days since Nyx awoke in his new body. Three days spent trying to understand himself—or rather, trying to catch up with a body that had never been meant for him.
Now, he sat in the center of the spacious room that had been granted to him. The wooden floor reflected the shy morning light filtering through tall windows. Everything around him was still, calm… but inside, his mind was anything but.
He took a deep breath and muttered,
"Alright… let's start."
Slowly, he raised his right hand. A faint warmth spread across his fingertips, like a gentle current coursing through his veins. He knew this feeling well—mana. The very essence of power in this world.
But it wasn't like any energy he had ever known.
The mana in his body was… overwhelming. Dense. Flowing faster than he could control. Like pouring a river into a tiny cup. The cup didn't break, but it trembled violently under the pressure.
"No wonder I can't control it yet…" he muttered, clenching his fist.
He closed his eyes, attempting to draw the mana toward the core of his body—toward his very nucleus. Energy surged through intricate pathways, lines he had drawn in his stories countless times, without truly knowing what they meant. Now, he had to feel it for himself.
Yet… there was something else.
Something unlike pure mana.
Dark. But not darkness. A void—cold, silent, empty, as if the world itself vanished when he touched it. He felt it behind his heart, a small abyss sucking in the air around it.
"What… is this?" he whispered.
He opened his eyes. "Status Window."
The window appeared instantly, sharp and clear.
---
✦ [Status Window]
Name: Nyx Firen
Age: 16
Rank: Awakened
Core Type: Supreme Core
Mana Capacity: 210/210
Elements:
• Lightning
• Void (?)
Primary Attributes:
Strength: D-
Agility: D
Endurance: D
Vitality: D
Perception: C
Mana Control: C+
Secondary Attributes:
Magic Resistance: E+
Recovery Speed: D
Mental Fortitude: C-
Combat Arts:
• Ascendant Blade Style – Sealed
---
Nyx's gaze lingered on the line under Elements:
Void.
He had never written this element. It appeared in no records of Eirenval, no myths, no ancient legends… not even among the powers of his heroes.
A single word. Yet it unsettled his soul.
Lightning, though rare, at least existed. He had heard of it, written about it, seen side characters wield it in his drafts.
But the void…
"Why me?" he muttered, pressing a hand to his chest where that chilling emptiness lingered.
He gritted his teeth, forcing himself to stop overthinking, and closed the Status Window.
"If I don't understand my power now… I won't stand a chance in the entrance exam."
He rose slowly and approached the sword hanging on the wall. Simple, sturdy, nothing extraordinary. A training tool, nothing more.
He gripped it, feeling its weight. Not heavy—but his new body wasn't yet accustomed to balance. The hilt slipped slightly between his fingers.
"Step one… control."
He moved to the empty space in the room, the floor solid beneath him.
Raising the sword, he tried to recall even the faintest memory of basic training. He had never been a fighter in his past life. The most he knew came from anime, novels, and games… not actual combat.
He swung straight down.
Whoosh—
Mana surged uncontrollably through his arm. The sword shot forward like a released arrow.
"—Damn it!"
It slammed into the floor with a metallic clang. He nearly lost his grip.
"This… is too much."
He reset his stance and tried again.
A horizontal strike. But the mana reacted unpredictably, surging toward his left shoulder instead of the right. Twisted motion, unbalanced. He almost fell.
He sank to the floor, exhaling heavily.
"Raw power won't cut it… I need to understand the flow of mana."
Closing his eyes again, he focused on the pathways inside his body.
Not mere lines—rivers, some wide, some narrow, twisting abruptly. Mana rushed through them like an unstable electric current. One wrong move… and he would lose control.
A sharp pulse hit his right hand.
Another near his heart.
Then a hot wave—lightning.
Electric mana. Quick, tense, volatile. One misstep could set the room ablaze.
And the void… he felt it again. A cold whirl behind his heart, as if something tried to devour part of his consciousness whenever he focused on it.
"The second element… not yet."
He opened his eyes, steadying his breath.
"I'll start with the basics."
He stood, sword firm in hand. Footwork, angles, smooth movements—he focused on nothing else. Cutting through the air in a slow, straight line. Painfully slow.
And… the mana stayed calm.
"This is better."
He repeated the movement dozens of times.
Gradually, he increased the speed.
With each swing, slight improvement. Tiny control. He began to understand the rhythm of his new body… the weight of his shoulders… the way muscles moved… even how mana flowed when relaxed rather than forced.
After about fifty swings… something unexpected happened.
He lifted the sword.
A small blue spark shot from the blade's tip.
Just a spark—but it froze him.
"Lightning…?"
It didn't hurt, but it was a sign.
A sign that the element could manifest more—if he allowed it.
Could he control it?
Not yet.
He continued cautiously. Sparks appeared more frequently—once from the hilt, once from his arm. Then, one escaped in a larger burst, striking the wall.
Bzzzt!
A black mark remained.
"Oh god…" He raised an eyebrow. "This is bad."
He stepped back, breathing heavily. Losing control in a real fight could kill him before the monster did.
He sat down, exhausted, sword by his side.
"Lightning is strong… but volatile as hell."
The void… thinking about it sent shivers down his spine.
His thoughts drifted to the Status Window, to the Combat Art:
Ascendant Blade Style (Sealed).
He still didn't know its meaning or why it was sealed. Dangerous? Conditional? A gift… or a curse?
"Not yet… not now."
He lay on his back, staring at the ceiling.
Mana roared within him, attempting to break free. Yet… something else. Calm, stable, moving only when his mind reached for it.
"The void… an element that never existed."
He slowly turned to the sword.
"What does that being want from me…?"
No answer came.
But one thing was certain:
If he didn't master his power in the coming days… the entrance exam wouldn't be just a test.
It could very well… be the end of him.