The heat didn't arrive as a single wave; it came as a rhythmic, agonizing palpitation. Elian's hand would sear with a white-hot intensity, the silver light flaring until the room was bleached of color, only for the sensation to recede into a dull, throbbing ache. Each time the pain pulled back, the Luminous Silver remained, etched into his skin like liquid mercury.
Then, the second wave hit. The heat crawled up his wrist, spiraling around his forearm in complex, jagged fractals. The third wave pushed it past his elbow, and the fourth crested over his shoulder. By the time the pulses slowed, Elian wasn't looking at a small mark on his hand. His entire right arm was encased in a shimmering, sleeved Sigil—a masterpiece of geometric impossibility that seemed to move beneath his skin.
As the Sigil finally linked with his consciousness, the world around him vanished. Behind his closed eyelids, a mental interface—the Soul-HUD—manifested in the void.
[Awakening Confirmed]
[Current Star Rank: 13]
[Trait 1: Universal Extraction (Rank 6 - Growth Type)]
Elian's heart nearly stopped. Thirteen stars? The textbooks said ten was a myth, a mathematical ghost. Thirteen was an anomaly that shouldn't exist in physics. But before he could even process the "Extraction" trait, the burning returned with a vengeance. It felt as if his very bone marrow was being replaced with molten glass.
A second notification flickered into existence, pulsing with a darker silver light.
[Trait 2: Sovereign Manipulation (Rank 8 - Authority Type)]
He was a Dual-Trait. He was the fifth in history. The air in the room began to vibrate, the sheer pressure of his awakening causing the Phase-Shard on the table to hum in resonance. But the heat wasn't gone. One final, localized spark ignited in the center of his chest, so intense it forced a silent scream from his throat.
[Trait 3: Ultimate Elemental Genesis (Rank 10 - Primordial Type)]
The burning vanished instantly, leaving Elian shivering in a cold sweat, his breath coming in ragged gasps. He sat there, eyes still squeezed shut, staring at the impossible text in his mind. He wasn't a Dual-Trait Lord. He was a Triple-Trait, a category that didn't even have a name.
"Elian? Elian, talk to me!" Mara's voice was frantic. She was holding his shoulders, her own 4-Star aura flared instinctively to protect him from the sheer etheric pressure he was leaking. "You went pale. The light... it was too much. What did you get? Even if it's low, Elian, look at me."
Elian opened his eyes, staring at his glowing arm. He couldn't find his voice.
"Listen to me," Mara said, her tone softening with desperate encouragement. "Stars aren't everything at the start. I didn't want to tell you this because I didn't want you to feel pressured, but when I Bloomed, I was only a 2-Star talent with a 1-Star trait. I fought, I bled, and I harvested enough in the Realm to evolve to a 4-Star. You can grow. Even if you're a 3-Star or 4-Star today, we will make it work."
The silence stretched. Elian looked at his sister, the person who had sacrificed everything for a 2-Star potential, and felt a wave of genuine terror.
"Mara," he whispered, his voice trembling. "I'm worried."
Mara's brow furrowed. "Worried? Elian, whatever it is, we can handle it. Did you get a 1-Star? It's okay, I can—"
"You told me I can't say my Star level to anyone," Elian interrupted, his eyes wide. "But... am I allowed to tell people about my traits? My multiple traits?"
Mara froze. Her hands dropped from his shoulders as her face went deathly still. The word traits—plural—hung in the air like a live wire.
"Don't," she whispered, her voice suddenly razor-sharp. "Do not utter another word about being a Dual-Trait outside this house. If that is what you are, you are no longer a person in the eyes of the Guilds; you are a resource to be captured. But..." She took a shaky breath, her loyalty overriding her fear. "You can tell me. I'm your sister. Tell me exactly what the Soul-HUD showed you."
Elian leaned in, his voice barely audible over the humming of his own silver-sleeved arm.
"It's not two, Mara. It's three. The first is Universal Extraction—I can strip the essence or skills from anything I kill in the Realm. The second is Sovereign Manipulation—it lets me seize control of any active ether-construct or law within my range. And the third..." He swallowed hard. "Ultimate Elemental Genesis. I don't just control elements; I can create new ones from nothing. And Mara... the Registry didn't stop at nine stars. It said I'm a Rank 13."
The clock in the hallway ticked once. Outside, the world remained silent, unaware that the hierarchy of the human race had just been shattered in a small, darkened living room.