After Arven left, silence fell over the room. Etherion removed his mask with a sigh.
"Ah… What a hassle it is to be a wizard every time."
[Narcissist.] A genderless voice rang in his head.
Etherion replied sarcastically; it would have been amusing if not for his emotionless tone:
"Am I wrong?"
[I want to punch your smug face.]
Etherion tilted his head innocently:
"But it's the truth… Anyone who looks at me blushes."
[Tsk... Annoying.] The voice rang, resigned.
As expected of me, my emulation of emotions is perfect.
A faint smile touched Etherion's impassive face. Thirteen years ago, at the age of four, when the decision to isolate him was made, he found himself in overwhelming loneliness that the books within his sight couldn't alleviate, as they lost their luster the moment he glanced at their contents.
They were learned in an instant. It was no longer shocking, and Etherion had accepted reality. Nothing was difficult for him. Swordsmanship arts – he learned and refined them. He formed his magic core before the awakening age—which is ten—and developed it until it became stronger than the previous clan leader's.
When he remembered Zephyr again, his face darkened with annoyance.
In a flash of inspiration, the idea came to him to create an artificial life, a companion not of flesh. He called the concept of its existence a 'system.' He didn't give it a name because he didn't want it to evolve, for giving names is akin to granting life to a new entity or enabling the evolution of a creature it didn't originally possess.
[I find this amusing. All that attention, and you still feel lonely.]
Etherion sighed, lying on the platform:
"Loneliness… yes. Everyone is... distant. Is closeness something natural at all?"
[I refuse to answer. You'll give me a headache if you continue with this nonsense.]
How mean. Etherion frowned and puffed his cheeks gently. If a girl were here, she would have melted on the spot from sheer beauty.
[Huh… Nice to hear that. Sometimes I feel you created me just to talk about yourself and enjoy my sarcastic remarks.]
Etherion smiled a small smile:
"Perhaps… But I need someone to accompany me. Something… even if it's not real."
[But now there's something exciting you. You don't want to answer me. What is the future you saw? Is it truly... the end of the world?]
Etherion turned his head toward the window where sunlight crept in:
"It's not the end of the world. It's more like something that was decided to come from the beginning, but we are left with the choice to welcome it or repel it."
Etherion glanced at the blue screen edged with gold filigree.
This screen appeared when he temporarily sent his senses into the future, hoping to see something to alleviate his loneliness. Fortunately, and ironically, he saw the future, but something prevented him and sent him back. It didn't have ill intentions. Etherion felt that thing could have stopped him from the start, but it didn't, as if deliberately letting him see just enough.
Upon the return of his senses, it appeared before him for the first time and remains to this day with the same words.
[[You are the first to discover the emergence of Scenarios]]
[[You have the right to choose two paths at the same time]]
[[Scenario One loading.]]
Etherion smiled again, this time with a more relaxed smile but also a slight grumble:
"I was just taking a peek at the future. Who would have thought the end of the world was near?"
[What's the problem? Come on, be grateful. Go on, choose! I'm curious. You've delayed this for ten years. Come on!!!!]
Etherion sat on the floor, raising his head toward the sky through the room's window:
"Annoying."
He raised his hand to his eyes, making his fist appear the size of the shining full moon.
[Come on come on come on come on.]
He let out a long sigh, then smiled a childish smile. He lowered his hand and pressed the blue void with the finger of a wizard:
[[Ding]]
[[The following choices have been determined:]]
[[1. Constellation]]
[[2. Etherion (Race) ]]
Silence reigned for a moment, followed by an unfamiliar sound, yet strangely warm to Etherion.
[[Ding]]
[[You have chosen to incarnate as a Constellation]]
[[Ding]]
[[The incarnation Etherion Keith has no 'story']]
Story? Etherion pondered. Is it in the literal sense?
[[Ding]]
[[Searching for an unused symbolic name for the Constellation compatible with the incarnation...]]
[[Ding]]
[[Name selected]]
[[Compatibility with the Name: 100%]]
[[Ding]]
[[A new 'story' is born]]
[[Error!]]
[[The 'story' is in a world without Scenarios]]
[[Calculating probability... ]]
Etherion hummed thoughtfully.
Probability… Is it a type of law preserving balance?
[[Ding]]
[[The host possesses an awakened lineage ]]
[[Ding]]
[[Awakened power "Aether" has been used to adjust probability]]
[[Ding]]
[["Aether" has been sealed until the Scenario appears ]]
Of course, there's a price for everything, Etherion mocked inwardly.
Although he didn't use it because he didn't want to reveal another difference between him and others.
He felt uneasy, but his discomfort soon dissipated as he watched with his starry eyes, precisely analyzing every word that passed over the transparent blue surface.
[[Ding]]
[[The 'story' is in the process of being born]]
[[Constellation's modifier has been revealed]]
[[Welcome to the Cosmic Chaos]]
[[The Constellation of "Allure"]]
———
(Author's note: In Arabic, the words allure, charm, and gravity have the same spelling. I will use Allure even though it does not convey the intended meaning.)
————****———
«Allure».
The name wasn't associated with a physical force, nor a cosmic law. Etherion understood that immediately. This wasn't about magnetism or pull, but about an irresistible attraction.
An existence that cannot be ignored.
A presence that unconsciously draws all eyes.
A desire to look… to stay… to be ensnared, even against one's will.
[That's quite a direct name.]
Said the voice, this time without sarcasm, but with a hint of newfound understanding.
[It describes your effect, not your essence.]
Etherion didn't move, but his eyes lowered slightly behind the mask. He cast his gaze to a mirror beside him.
Since his childhood—one could hardly call it a childhood.
Even the isolation imposed on him wasn't solely out of fear of his power,
but also of his effect.
Allure.
He repeated it in a low voice, testing its weight.
So the name doesn't describe what I am… but what I do to them.
The blue screen didn't object. It didn't add an explanation. As if the system considered this understanding part of the complete compatibility.
His beauty wasn't just about appearance.
It was a weapon of perception.
A flaw in the social equilibrium that makes people lose their composure, become irrationally attached, or foster venomous envy when they feel their own will bending.
[You don't just capture their gaze.]
The voice said slowly, piecing it together.
[You capture their... focus. Their attention, against their better judgment.]
The voice fell silent, as if the realization was profound.
Etherion raised his hand, touched the mask with his finger, a calm, deliberate movement.
True allure doesn't ask for attention.
It seizes it.
And that's why…
The name was devastatingly accurate.
Because he was never just a beautiful being.
A Constellation that doesn't rule by beauty alone.
If that were the case, it would have been named 'Beauty.'