"That cripple is trying to play an instrument again, as if he could achieve anything with those deaf ears." The mocking words of the inner sect student, combined with the laughter of the fawning outer sect students, made Alex's difficult moments playing the violin, with his red hair and sky-blue eyes inherited from his mother, even more challenging. Deep down, he was suffocating from the pain caused by these taunts.
"Damn those bastards, they think I don't understand what they're saying," Alex thought. "If it weren't for Violet teaching me to read lips when I was just four years old, I would have to feel ashamed of the occasional insincere kindness these fools show me." Violet was not just a teacher to him but also a friend. Yet sometimes, when he thought about her voice, he sighed, "I wonder what Violet's voice sounds like. I'm sure it's as perfect as her appearance."
Yes, Alex was the baby boy born on the night when the heavens painted the sky; unfortunately, the happiness of the heavens had come too early that day. He was born deaf. His father, Fred, had spent countless hours training as a celestial musician and had expended tons of third-level resources, but he had found no solution. It felt as if, from the very beginning of his existence, ears were never meant to be a part of Alex. Every day, as a young man burning with the desire to hear the rhythm of music, he endured the pain of being deprived of it.
On the planet Tvamvos, infinite paths reign supreme, and there are thousands, if not tens of thousands, of ways to become powerful. The Infinite Note Sect follows the path of music. There are eight known major stages on the path of music. The first of these is the musical ear. As the name suggests, to pass the level of musical ear, they must overcome seven levels corresponding to the seven notes: do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si. They must absorb these notes into their bodies with their destiny instruments, fill the seven notes to the limit, and form the heart of a musician to advance to the beginner musician stage.
"Ah, if this continues, I'll never be able to form the musician's heart," Alex thought, filled with despair. "Why did it have to be this way? Damn it, no wonder my head looked like an egg when I was a bald baby." Stroking the smooth spot where his ear should have been, he decided to throw the violin into the corner and walk toward the sect's garden, so as not to entertain people any further and to avoid tearing the cursed violin to pieces in anger. He advanced toward the garden gate, made of thousands of magical stones and materials, with angry glances.
"Hey, is it just me, or is this garden becoming more and more impressive day by day? I should warn my mother; this woman's unnecessary obsession with flowers is making the sect's garden look like a botanical garden," he thought. The flowers blooming in the garden were colorful and magnificent, but all Alex could think about were the taunts from the sect's students and the unnecessary rules of the sect.
"Hmph, if it weren't for the cult's ridiculous no-fighting rule, I'd show them the power of money and hired warriors," he thought to himself.
Looking with disgust at the sect students serenading their lovers on the road and trying to impress their girlfriends with various instruments, Alex saw Violet alone in the distance, playing her violin, and approached her with a mischievous smile on his face. "Violet, what are you doing in the garden? Are you going to hang out with these guys who left me here to serenade their lovers?" he asked.
"Hello, little brother Alex. I'm preparing to make a leap toward becoming a master musician. I can't think of a better place than this peaceful paradise. We really need to thank your mother," Violet said, glancing at the young people around her. Alex had already realized that what Violet was saying had nothing to do with what they were doing at the moment. He had heard from his mother that the woman with her purple hair and purple eyes, who looked like a magnificent jewel, was a gossip addict despite her worldly detachment and ethereal aura.
"Ah, Violet, you truly deserve to be called a genius. Despite being only 15 years older than us, you're already making a breakthrough as a master musician," said Alex. He was genuinely amazed by Violet's master musician breakthrough, as she was only 28 years old. The elders of the sect and the tower masters were almost at this level, but most of them were old fools, 200 or 300 years old, spending all their wealth at auctions for better skin and fewer wrinkles.
"Damn it, I need to start training urgently," Alex thought, filled with despair and anxiety. "If there's no future for me in music, I need to start taking small steps toward sorcery using the shadow affinity I inherited from my mother. Otherwise, I'll end up cooking for my future wife in the kitchen while she conquers the universe."
After talking with Violet for a bit, Alex went to his room through the small teleportation circle in the garden, changed his clothes, and thought, "Ah, tomorrow will really be my last attempt with the violin. I can't keep going with this crap anymore; I have no energy left."
Turning his back to the wall and curling up, Alex was just about to fall asleep and start counting sheep when, on the fourth sheep, suddenly, he experienced something he had never felt before; it was something beyond his four senses. Yes, Alex had heard, but the first thing he heard, beyond his expectations, was not the voice of his mother, his father, or his beloved Violet. The sound he heard was a robotic DING soun