Aiden sat on the edge of his dorm bed, fingers laced together, staring at the floor. The excitement of entering Class A had faded, replaced by a growing weight that sat squarely on his chest.
*Class A… the realm of monsters.*
Cecilia. Nolan. Arthur. Emilia.
Each of them had 4-star potential. Their growth rate was exponential—leagues ahead of normal awakeners. Even among elites, they stood out. The academy expected them to reach Level 3 within two years, maybe less. For most, it took five—some, even a decade.
Aiden clenched his fists.
He had to keep up.
Not just to avoid falling behind like his past life—but to protect them.
*To protect her.*
To protect Emilia.
And for that… he had to reach **Level 3 within eighteen months**.
Impossible. At least, for a 3-star. Even dual-elemental ones like him.
Lightning and Chaos. One rare, one legendary. But Chaos…
*Chaos won't respond to me.*
No matter how much he trained, meditated, or poured mana into the strange black core that pulsed inside him, Chaos remained dormant. A deep, silent abyss. Unreadable, untouchable. No spells, no feedback. Just a bottomless hunger.
*Then I'll have to rely on Lightning.*
He breathed out slowly, gaze steady.
And to match 4-stars with only a single usable element… he'd have to embrace the **masochistic method**.
A brutal path that should never have existed—yet it did.
He had seen it firsthand. In his previous life. Not here, not in India, but in **America**, the last stand of humanity.
---
Twelve years after his awakening, India had changed.
At first, there were only whispers—a strange fluctuation in the southern skies. Then came the gate.
**Category 6.**
Just like the one in Antarctica.
India was proud, powerful, home to two Level 9s. But even they couldn't stop what emerged.
Entire cities vanished in hours. Millions died. Aiden, barely a Level 3 at the time, had run like the rest. Fled, abandoned, survived. Not out of courage—but desperation.
He'd made it to America. The last bastion. Where the surviving minds of the world gathered. Where humanity pushed back with technology and magic hand-in-hand.
Where secrets were unearthed.
It was there that he discovered the **body-breaking method**.
A forbidden path discovered through tragedy. They called it *Resonant Fracturing*. A way to force the body to absorb mana by repeatedly pushing it beyond its limits—physically damaging the meridians and then rebuilding them, over and over again.
Painful. Dangerous. Maddening.
But effective.
It was there that Aiden, once a stagnant Level 3 after twelve years, rose to **Level 5 in just two**.
He paid the price in scars, sleepless nights, and shattered bones—but it worked.
And it was in America… that he met **Luna**.
---
She was nothing like Emilia.
Where Emilia was playful, teasing, passionate—Luna was quiet. Calm. A cold flame instead of a wildfire.
But her presence… it anchored him.
White hair that shimmered like snow. Crimson eyes that bore into your soul. A 4-star **Light affinity** and a 3-star **Ice affinity**. A rare combination, even by global standards.
She wasn't flashy. She didn't dominate battlefields like Arthur or Emilia had. But she **never gave up**.
When the world lost hope, Luna stood beside him. Quiet, unwavering.
She didn't try to replace Emilia.
She simply stayed.
She saw him at his lowest—when he collapsed from exhaustion, when he screamed in pain during mana reconstruction, when he blamed himself for every death, every failure.
And she stayed.
He remembered one night, in the broken ruins of New Chicago, her voice like snow falling on a shattered world.
"You live, Aiden. Not because you must. But because you *can*. So live—for them. For her. For yourself."
---
Aiden looked down at his palms now. They trembled—not from fear, but from decision.
*I'll do it.*
Even if it meant breaking himself.
Even if it meant reliving that pain.
Because this time… he wouldn't be too late.
He wouldn't let Emilia die.
And maybe, just maybe—he'd be strong enough to unlock **Chaos**.
He stood up, rolling his shoulders.
First thing tomorrow, he'd start preparing his training schedule. Meditation, sparring, mana pressure chambers. And at night… the fracturing would begin.
He wasn't the same boy who failed before.
This time, he had a second chance.
This time, he would be ready.