Turning back to see the tour guide, Milah's mouth gaped open in disbelief. "Your skill is now Stage 5? It seems you've progressed accidentally.
I didn't realize giving you a job that didn't exist would elevate you to this rank," he sighed, rubbing his temples as if to process the unexpected development.
"Your attachment skill seems..." He trailed off, glancing at the text that materialized out of nothing and floated aimlessly:
[Adaptive Evolution]
> Leonardo blinked, unsure if what he saw was real. The words hovered, foreign and yet deeply intimate—like they belonged to him long before he had a name for them.
>
> A quiet chill passed through his spine. This wasn't just an upgrade. It was a shift, a rewriting of what he was allowed to be.
The air around them seemed to shimmer slightly as the text materialized, drawing Leonardo's attention.
Milah's eyes flickered with a hint of curiosity. "Well then, that seems brilliant for your new job," he practically snickered, though his voice betrayed a hint of nervousness.
"How does your body feel? It shouldn't start changing unless you feel stimuli in whatever way," Milah asked, his interest intrigued.
For a moment, the world felt quiet. The air was still. He wasn't dying—at least not in the same way. His hair seemed to lose its white strands and so did the green streaks under his neck.
Something was changing. The sickness hadn't vanished, but it wasn't winning either.
He looked at his hands, half-wondering if they belonged to someone else now.
"Can I adapt to dying?" Leonardo asked, blushing at his newfound skill. His heart raced with a mix of excitement and apprehension.
The thought of evolving to avoid death felt like an overwhelming paradox, one that challenged his understanding of life and mortality.
The tour guide looked at Leonardo flatly. "No," he said, his tone brusque. "Everyone has to die at one point; a story has to end. And a new one takes its place." He stood up from the chair, and as he did, the world around them began to shift.
And then it hit him.
Like something deep within his organs had been waiting to detonate, his whole body tensed. A strange metallic taste flooded his tongue, and his knees buckled slightly. His breath caught in his throat.
Leonardo started puking, black bile rushing from his mouth as he fell to the floor, Milah standing over him.
"The stimuli was already in your body. It seems you need to develop new traits to compensate for years of radiation sickness," Milah declared,
as Leonardo's head ached, his hand hurt, and steam-like air radiated from his body. His cells were working overtime.
"You didn't tell me it'd hurt this much!" he screamed towards the guide, every fiber of his being screaming with him.
His "healing" was grotesque—veins pulsed with blue Agnite light, eyes bleeding obsidian tears as his body found measures.
When the agony finally receded, Leonardo lay on the floor, his chest heaving. His veins still pulsed with residual Agnite light, eyes bleeding obsidian tears, and his fingertips trembled as he pressed them to his throat—smooth, no longer streaked with green.
"I'm alive," he whispered, half-laughing, half-sobbing. The relief lasted only a moment.
A new text flickered: [Kinetic Resonance Amplification (minimal)]. He stared at it, exhaustion warring with dread. What else would this skill demand?
The dim colors of the dead tree and the grainy rustling of leaves faded away.
Leonardo watched the dead tree, it adding more emphasis to what Milah had said.
"If death was beatable, the world would be more unfair," he declared to himself, nodding in agreement.
The space was replaced and changed into the opulent surroundings of Milah's office.
The transition felt like being gently pulled through a veil, with the scent of heated iron giving way to the dull aroma of polished wood.
Milah's eyes stared past Leonardo, who shuddered at the sight. "Starting today, I'll teach you how to be a guide," Milah said, though now more to himself than to Leonardo, as the sound didn't travel as they shifted.
They found themselves back in the office, with Leonardo slumped in the armchair.
"Well then, these are your current skills," Milah said, his voice echoing slightly in the grand room adorned with ancient artifacts and intricate tapestries.
---
**Leonardo Salvius Nox - Status**
- Age: 16
- Story Skill: Tour Guide Practical Officer (Stage 5)
- Attachment Skill: Adaptive Evolution
- Title: [Uninvited Guest], Champion Stage
- Rasvian Control Rank: Adept
---
Leonardo looked at this in disbelief, his story skill shocking him even more. Each skill description seemed to glow faintly, their significance slowly sinking in.
"You didn't explain Rasvian. What is that?" he asked, confusion evident while still barely seeing straight.
"How much of this was always there?" he wondered. "And how much, as a person, did I change?"
Milah's expression shifted, his eyes narrowing slightly. "It's a long story," he replied, dripping with sarcasm.
"You explained my story—explain this," Leonardo said, to which Milah stayed in silence for a second before replying:
"Rasvian isn't just energy. It's the ink that writes reality. Your world's Agnite is but a crude imitation. Here, Rasvian is blood, soul, and the space between realms."
He then leaned back in his chair, fingers steepled together as if contemplating on how much more to reveal. The room's lighting seemed to dim slightly, adding a dramatic flair to his words. He seemed almost to enjoy the power he held over Leonardo's understanding.
"Wait, what?" Leonardo responded, frustration creeping into his voice.
"I'll tell you later," he simply added, waving his hand dismissively.
"You're acting—"
"I'm acting?"
"No!-but could you at least tell me anything?"
"How about you do a quick tutorial, per se," Tour Guide Milah said, smirking a bit.
"You'll reach a city soon. It's big, so don't die from shock."
"City?"
"It's a district. I can't teach you directly. You'll have to figure it out."
"Why? why can't you send me back home—or the era, as you call it?" Leonardo protested.
"Sending one to an era is a much easier task, if they didn't originally belong there. But sending you back—who belonged—is like putting a paper into an already full book, which began rewriting your existence. It doesn't work."
> Leonardo opened his mouth to protest. It was always like this with Milah—questions met with riddles, answers buried under sarcasm. Was this what guidance looked like here?
"Anyway, it will take time before the big boss," Milah pointed upwards, "will accept my complaint." Dragging Leonardo out of the room, he said, "Go do your job before it's too late," smiling as he closed the door.
"What does he mean 'do my job'!" Leonardo cried out to the door—which was no longer there.
One second he was in Milah's world of velvet and riddles; the next, he stood in the cold, echoing vastness of the museum. The quiet hum returned, like the whisper of a thousand forgotten voices. It welcomed him—not kindly, but knowingly.
Leonardo wandered for a while, not knowing how to use anything in this space. He felt a profound sense of isolation. "I miss Ronald," he said softly, his voice barely a whisper in the vast emptiness.
The museum, an infinitely expanding space filled with Rasvian energy, had an almost ethereal quality to it, the air shimmering with latent power.
Leonardo watched the museum. "If Rasvian energy is everything... does that mean I'm made up of Rasvian energy?"
He pondered, then continued thinking, "I mean, it's believable. Agnite was a power source back home, but then again it didn't constitute everything... Rasvian energy is the power source for the world."
A sudden wave of destruction expanded, transforming the entire space around him into chaos. "Not another one," he muttered, clutching his stomach as the world spun around him.
The ground liquefied beneath his feet. Leonardo gasped as the museum's sterile air morphed into the stench of exhaust and ozone.
His boots hit pavement—real, solid—but his vision swam, overlapped: one heartbeat, crumbling museum walls; the next, skyscrapers clawing at a smog-choked sky. He staggered, bracing himself against a graffiti-strewn alley wall.
[Ghent, a City in the 21st Realm]** the text announced, as neon signs flickered to life above him. "Yeah," he croaked, wiping bile from his lips. "I see it."
The letters hovered for a moment longer before fading away, leaving Leonardo to take in his new surroundings.
The city was unlike anything he had ever seen—a bloated mass of advanced technology and architecture.
[Understood] it responded, vanishing the next moment. He had been in the museum trying to understand what Rasvian energy was.
---
The buildings seemed to stretch endlessly into the sky, their sleek designs a testament to advanced engineering. And what was more shocking was the landmass hovering above the buildings.
he shakes his head and tries to avoid it, they resembles the sky islands back home only differences is this one seems to go on forever.
A train hovered in the sky leaving a purple trail, with most of the cars suspended above the ground. In the center stood a monumental tower that seemed to pierce the heavens, [[The Stem]].
He walked around aimlessly, observing the [crossroads] and [stoplights]. "Uh, thank you, text," he said, embarrassed it had to explain everything for him.
The streets were alive with activity, people of various shapes and sizes moving with purpose. He saw something zoom past him in a blur, the motor engine roaring, grey gas trailing behind. "What is that?"
He saw the way a car drifts by, with a blur and not stopping.
[A Car]
Leonardo watches, trying his best to understand how it works. no wheels, no openings, how is it even hovering. he put a hand under his chin scratching as his brain worked out trying to use the norms and nature of his world here.
"It spreads air, allowing it to hover, it must have a main source of power, like how a carraige has a horse," he continued watching as it drifted away in a boom.
"Are there any more types of text?" Leonardo called out to the mysterious text that answers his questions to which a response came [yes]
Leonardo stood in front of the alleyway. eyes darting across the endless streams of people and vehicles.
A woman passes by him, long incognito hair and extremely white skin, she looks about for a minute before passing by the alleyway he stands in front of.
he stares, her eyes meeting his, as fear grips him. For a moment extremely allured—he shakes his head and stared forward.
He had been so lost in the sight of metal carriages—cars, they called them—that he hadn't noticed he was walking straight into a street with traffic light red. [Adaptive Evolution Taking Effect]
"What?" he stared at the words appering infront of his face.
A sudden blaring horn jolted him as he stepped forward. He stared at the car. as blood surges through his body.
"Hey, watch it!" A sharp voice rang in his ear.
Leonardo twisted around, eyes wide, breath shallow. blood glowing near his neck before vanishing. His gaze darted toward the car. now but a few feet away from him.
[Impact Tolerance (Minor)]
"Wait-" Leonardo tries saying, raising his hands up in an attempt to block the car.
and he is sent flying further down the street, screams are heard in the crowds as Leonardo let out a massive spit.
"Wow." He mutters as he hovers in the air for a few minutes.
"This is amazing." he continued. "If only ronald could experience this too. would he forget about the idea. yeah with this i'll influence him positively."
he then hits the ground hard, a groan escapes him. "Argh.." he squeezes from his shaking teeth.
He looks at his cloth ,then at the gloves, Something was strange about them. He removes them, a few bruises escaping and hurting him, but not as much. There was more to these than he initially thought..
"Ow ow ow!" Leonardo springs himself back up quickly his body didn't get hurt but the sensation remains the same, he turns to the edges of the street, people taking videos of him.
"huh?" he mutters confused, as he dusts himself walking away quickly.
"You wait over there! a third rank officer orders you!"
He passes by people slipping past them like snakes to avoid those "guards,"
"I was never good with guards anyway," he frowns, as he is stopped by two girls who interrupts his escape scene.
He stared at her, then at the Guards, then back at her.
"Anna de meaux of the stem," one brown hair girl mutters towards the direction of the guards, who stagger at the mention of the stem, they simply nod then leave.
Leonardo didn't reply, still suprised. He glanced at the other blond female.
"Thank you!" he screams rushing past.
they both turn to watch him, but ultimately decide not to respond.
He stepped beside the stop sign, blending into the crowd of waiting pedestrians. No one seemed to pay him any mind, their faces a blur of indifference. Only the cars, sleek and varied, held his attention.
"Must be mad," someone muttered nearby.
"Yeah," another voice agreed.
Leonardo then instinctively stepped back. He was used to being of average height, even tall for his era, but here… these people towered over him like giants. He craned his neck slightly to look at them properly, feeling utterly small in comparison.
"What are those?" he blurted out, pointing vaguely at them, his words a desperate attempt to cover up his bewilderment.
[Humans living in the city]
"I know they are humans but.." he said nervously. His voice was barely above a whisper..
As he walked through the bustling streets, he passed a myriad of shops, each more extravagant than the last. The city's sheer size and the constant flow of people overwhelmed him. "They're even more diverse than moerlan."
He stumbled into an open square, where a grand fountain sprayed water in intricate patterns.
He could see flying vehicles zipping through the air above, and holographic advertisements of a woman with brown hair talking about a new idea floated in mid-air, displaying everything from fashion to technology.
He then stopped to ask the text, "How am I understanding them?"
[Immediate language translator]
"Who's the king of this place?" Leonardo asked, his gaze fixed on the floating cars.
[There is no current king. Unofficial head being the church and rolls-worth]
"Church?" Leonardo muttered, his eyes widening as he tried to understand the institutions.
The words hung in the air, dense with implications he hadn't considered before. There isn't a kingdom or empire just a church.
"Curse you milah," he mused while smiling a bit. The atmosphere changed, reminiscent of when he had been in his earlier world staring at the moon.
He appeared to be in a trance again, continuing, "Everything just got harder." He sighed, walking towards the enormous tower at the center of the district, [The Stem].
"Welcome to the Skyway Hub," the conductor said cheerfully through a microphone to the crowd waiting to enter the train. Most people were on their phones, not paying attention to the speech.
On the other hand, Leonardo paid attention to every possible detail. "You'll need to get through here to reach the floors of The Stem," the conductor finally said.
Leonardo listened intently, his ears absorbing every word.