The pain began at dusk.
It wasn't sudden—but relentless, like something was peeling him apart one layer at a time.
Alex had just returned to the RSA dormitory when the first wave hit. He collapsed near the elevator, gripping his chest as if it would burst open. Lightning flickered uncontrollably across his skin. The pendant embedded within him glowed violently, almost searing through his shirt.
His bracelet flashed red.
[Warning: Internal instability. Origin signature exceeding host threshold. Initiating forced sync mode.]
He didn't make it to his bed.
The world around him vanished.
Inside the Star
Alex found himself suspended in a swirling abyss of light and storm.
He floated, weightless, inside the internal world forming within him—but this time, it was no longer peaceful. The sky above his floating world cracked with cosmic thunder. The star at its core pulsed like a living heart, but its rhythm was unstable.
"You are unready," a voice echoed—not from around him, but within him.
He turned.
Before him hovered a figure of light, faceless, draped in a cloak of stars. Its outline shimmered with fragments of celestial script—ancient glyphs that pulsed in rhythm with his heartbeat.
"You carry the Origin Star. You are chosen—but incomplete."
"Who… are you?" Alex asked, his voice oddly clear in the void.
"I am what remains of the First Bearer. My will lives on to test the next."
"Test?"
The figure raised a hand. "You must survive the Celestial Trial, or your soul will burn."
Without warning, the world twisted.
The Trial Begins
Alex crashed to the ground in what looked like a shattered wasteland.
Gray skies roared above. Storms coiled in the clouds. In the distance, colossal ruins floated through space, connected by bridges of crystal energy.
He stood—barely. His power felt distant, repressed.
Then the first enemy arrived.
It took the form of himself.
Same height. Same face. But its body radiated pure lightning, and its eyes were mirrors of the star glyph embedded in his chest.
"You must defeat yourself," the voice said again. "Only the bearer who masters the mirror may ascend."
Alex didn't wait.
He struck first—throwing a bolt of spatial lightning toward the clone.
But it simply vanished—folding space like a sheet—and reappeared behind him, landing a brutal kick to Alex's ribs.
He flew backward into a broken pillar, pain exploding through his side.
"Your power is not your weapon," the voice whispered in his mind. "It is your reflection."
Gritting his teeth, Alex stood again.
The clone charged—lightning in both hands.
This time, Alex focused—not on attacking, but listening.
His internal world was shifting, but it hadn't turned against him. It was trying to align.
He slowed his breath. Reached inward.
And then, for the first time, he stepped into his own forming star.
Within the Star Core
Here, all was silent.
He hovered at the center of an incomplete world—a fractured dome of stars and embryonic landscapes. The mountains floated. The rivers curved into infinity.
"What is this?" he whispered.
A voice responded—not the old one, but a new, gentler presence.
"This is your truth. You are not merely lightning or space. Those are masks for what is beginning to awaken within you."
"What is it?"
"Creation."
Alex stood motionless.
The word echoed like a thunderclap through the cosmos.
"The Celestial Path is not of destruction—but genesis. Only those whose will can support worlds may walk it. You are forming your world. But to survive, you must birth its foundation."
A vision unfolded before him—of himself wielding not elemental spells, but shaping reality. Turning battlefield terrain with thoughts. Stopping time within a bubble of his world. Moving between stars in a blink.
"But first," the voice said, "Survive."
The Final Confrontation
Back in the trial arena, Alex opened his eyes—newly attuned.
His clone charged again, faster than before.
But now he could see it. The spatial cracks. The predictable loop in its movement. The resonance it followed from his own energy.
He stepped sideways into a spatial ripple and emerged behind it.
"Collapse," he whispered.
This time, the space around the clone condensed violently. Not just as a weapon—but as a concept.
The clone struggled—then fractured into lightning, disappearing into mist.
A second later, the sky cracked open. The star in the sky descended, hovering just above him.
"Trial complete," the voice declared. "Integration beginning."
Alex fell to one knee as energy poured into him.
Not just raw power—but structure. His veins aligned with silver threads. His bones hardened into conduits. His blood shimmered with stardust.
The world inside him pulsed once—and then stabilized.
He had survived.
Back in the Physical World
Alex woke up in the medical ward, drenched in sweat and wrapped in energy seals.
Alarms were blaring.
Two RSA medics rushed toward him—but stopped cold.
His eyes were glowing—not silver this time—but deep violet, with a faint ring of stars in each iris.
Kael stormed in next, followed by an older man Alex hadn't seen before—dark coat, white streak in his hair, and a gaze sharp enough to cut steel.
"You're alive," Kael breathed. "You actually survived a celestial trial."
The old man stepped forward.
"Name?"
Alex hesitated. "Alex."
"Not anymore," the man said. "You've crossed the threshold. You're a Rank C now. And that comes with expectations."
Alex blinked. "C? Already?"
Kael smirked. "You didn't just pass a milestone—you shattered it. You're the youngest C-rank in the RSA in years. Maybe decades."
Alex sat up, heart still racing. "Then what now?"
The older man handed him a black card.
"Your new clearance badge. You now qualify for inter-zone missions, restricted training modules, and access to our supernatural archive."
"Is that it?"
Kael stepped forward and added something else into Alex's palm.
It was small, dark, and pulsing faintly.
An invitation glyph.
Not RSA.
Vampire.
"The Sael'Var family wants to meet you," Kael said. "They've… been watching."
Alex didn't speak.
But inside, his heart twisted with a strange feeling.
Excitement.
Fear.
And something deeper—a pull.
His real journey was just beginning.