With the last system alert dissipating, a silhouette started to emerge from the flowing patterns of the crystalline ground. It gleamed into being, taking the form of a lofty figure crafted from solid, silver illumination. It lacked a face, possessing solely a sleek, expressionless exterior that somehow emanated a sense of vast wisdom and tranquility.
"[Hello, User Alvian. I am Warden, the AI guardian of the Crucible, designated to oversee your introductory training program. Its voice was a robotic monotone, a striking difference to the Architect's celestial resonance.
Alvian, still dazed, clenched the corroded sword tighter. "Practice?" Can you explain to me what this place is? How can I go back home? "My dad will be concerned." The inquiries rushed out hastily, propelled by an abrupt surge of fear and unease.
"[The Crucible is a pocket realm, a sandbox space designed by the System Architect for newcomers to God-Tier systems." It is intended to offer a secure, fast-paced environment for you to understand the basic principles of your abilities prior to confronting the challenges of the external world.
The Warden lifted a hand, and a large holographic image appeared in the space between them.
"[Escape from the Crucible operates under one main goal.]"
═════『 Primary Objective: The Spire Challenge 』═════
┏━━━━━━━━━━[ Conditions for Escape ]━━━━━━━━━━┓
│ 1. Upgrade the System Weapon to Level 5.
│ 2. Successfully clear the final combat simulation on the top floor of the Combat Spire.
┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛
"[Time within the Crucible is dilated,]" the Warden continued, its voice unchanging. "[For every two days that pass within this dimension, only one day will pass in your home world. This is to your advantage. Use this time wisely.]"
Alvian processed the information quickly. Level 5? A Combat Spire? This seemed exactly like the sort of fantastical tale shared by travelers in the village tavern. "How do I upgrade the sword? And what's Aether? My father told me never to use it."
"[Your father's warnings pertain to the diluted, chaotic Aether of your realm,]" Warden explained. "[In this place, you will use Primordial Essence, the pure, foundational energy from which Aether originates. It is far more potent and poses absolutely no risk of corruption. As for the mechanics of your system, observe.]"
The Warden gestured, and Alvian's system interface reappeared, this time with a new, detailed tab.
═════『 System & Aether Primer 』═════
┏━━━━━━[ Aether Ranks ]━━━━━━┓
│ Rank 0: Mortal (No awakened pathways)
│ Rank I-III: Novice Enhancer (Initial pathway awakening)
│ Rank IV-VI: Adept Enhancer (Core mastery and manifestation)
│ Rank VII-IX: Master Enhancer (Domain control and conceptual power)
│ [Note: Your Prismatic Aether Core bypasses standard affinity limitations, granting you unparalleled growth potential.]
┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛
┏━━━━[ Level 999 Sword Upgrade System ]━━━━┓
│ Current Weapon: Rusted Blade [Level 1]
│ Upgrade Requirement: 100 Essence Points
│ Current Essence: [0/100]
│
├━━━━━━[ Base Protocol: Skills ]━━━━━━┤
│ [Essence Slash]: Active Skill. Channel Primordial Essence into the blade for a single, amplified strike. (Cost: 5 Essence)
│ [Soul Resonance]: Passive Skill. The bonded sword resonates with your soul, granting a minor passive boost to physical strength and speed.
┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛
"Essence Points?" Alvian asked, his eyes wide.
"[Essence Points are the primary currency of your system,]" Warden stated. "[They are obtained by defeating the data constructs that inhabit the Crucible or by absorbing raw Essence from designated nodes. To begin, you will face the most basic construct.]"
The crystalline floor directly in front of Alvian suddenly changed. Sections of light quickly shifted and reorganized, coalescing into a creature made of pure data—a lumbering, wolf-like beast with glowing red eyes.
[Data Construct: Alpha Wolf (Rank 0)]
[A basic training puppet. Low durability, predictable attack patterns.]
The wolf let out a digitized snarl and charged. Panic seized Alvian. He took a clumsy step back, lifting the rusted sword as a shield. His father's long-held warnings echoed violently in his mind, a lifetime of ingrained fear fighting for control. Yet, a deeper, instinctual drive took hold—the fierce need to survive, now amplified by the vibrant power thrumming from the Prismatic Core in his chest.
He focused on the skill description in his mind: Essence Slash. He attempted to draw upon that energy, guiding it down his arm and focusing it into the blade.
A faint blue glimmer flickered along the edge of the rusted sword. He swung wildly as the wolf leaped. The blade connected with the construct's shoulder with a dull thud. The wolf barely flinched, its data-claws swiping at him and leaving three shallow, stinging cuts across his arm. They didn't bleed, but they felt shockingly real.
"[Inefficient. Your focus is scattered,]" the Warden observed dispassionately. "[Clear your mind. Will the Essence to obey. Do not ask it. Command it.]"
Alvian fought back the pain, drawing a ragged breath. Command it. He disregarded the imminent attack, pouring all his attention into the core within his chest. He visualized the energy not as a meek trickle, but as a destructive force, imagining it surging through his body like raw electrical current focused into the old metal.
When he commanded the energy, it flared instantly. A sharp azure light ignited the blade, seeming to burn the rust away beneath the intense glow. He swung again—an awkward but forceful horizontal sweep.
"Essence Slash!" he yelled, the words feeling right on his tongue.
The radiant blade struck the data-wolf in the middle of its leap. It yielded with a sound resembling breaking crystal, dissolving the construct into scattered blue motes of light that floated briefly before being drawn into his core.
[Ding! Data Construct: Alpha Wolf defeated!]
[+1 Essence Point!]
[Sword Proficiency Increased!]
A single point. It felt like the most profound triumph he had ever known. A look of fierce satisfaction appeared on Alvian's face. He knew he could succeed now. He looked at the Warden, his eyes burning with a newfound fire. "Again."
For the next two months, the Crucible became Alvian's entire world. His singular desire to get back home became a driving, merciless force that he fed with relentless effort. He fought continuously, from the simulated digital sunrise until the pixelated sky darkened into night. He clashed with Alpha Wolves, Data Golems, and Glitch Raptors, absorbing a painful new lesson with every encounter.
He focused on evasion, parrying, and controlling his breath. He perfected the timing of Essence Slash, learning to channel the precise amount of power needed for a finishing blow without depleting his reserves. His prior awkward, frightened movements evolved into a smooth, efficient fighting style. The Soul Resonance buff honed his reflexes and solidified his frame. His physique, formerly that of a thin, neglected boy, became hard, fit, and resilient.
The system notifications became his constant companions, a steady rhythm marking his progress.
[+1 Essence Point!]
[+2 Essence Points!]
[Sword Proficiency has reached Intermediate Level!]
[Ding! Essence collected: 100/100!]
[Upgrade Available for [Rusted Blade]. Initiate Upgrade? Y/N]
"Yes!" he shouted, his voice hoarse.
A torrent of Primordial Essence surged from his core into the sword. The rust flaked away, dissolving into dust. The pitted metal smoothed and hardened, taking on a clean, sharp edge. It was still a simple, unadorned shortsword, but it was no longer junk.
[Upgrade Complete! Rusted Blade -> Level 2 Steel Shortsword!]
[Host has met the conditions for Aether Pathway breakthrough!]
[Congratulations! You have reached Rank I Aether User!]
Raw, thrilling energy surged throughAlvian's body. His awareness sharpened, and his connection to the ambient Essence intensified. It felt like a fundamental shift in perception, as if he had only now truly awakened after a lifetime spent in a haze.
┌───────[ Host Profile ]───────┐
│ Name: Alvian
│ Aether Core: Prismatic Aether Core [God-Tier]
│ Aether Rank: Rank I Aether User <1.20%>
│
├───────[ Attributes ]───────┤
│ Strength: [8]
│ Speed: [9]
│ Constitution: [7]
│ Aether Affinity: [N/A - Prismatic]
└──────────────────────────┘
He was ecstatic. The path home was clear. He just had to keep grinding. He devoted another week to collecting the required Essence Points for the next enhancement, but upon reaching the necessary threshold, the process stalled.
[Essence collected: 250/250]
[Upgrade attempt failed. System Firewall Detected.]
[ERROR: Higher-level protocols are locked. Further upgrades are impossible.]
Leo looked at the alert in stunned disbelief. A fresh icon materialized in his interface: a padlock, pulsing a hostile red, marked "FIREWALL." He strained against the block, trying to force the enhancement, but it was utterly immovable. Regardless of how much Essence he accumulated, the sword refused to progress.
The frustration and hopelessness he had rigidly controlled for two months suddenly overwhelmed him. He realized he was stuck.
His gaze drifted to the horizon, to the colossal structure that dominated the digital landscape: the Combat Spire. The Warden had said clearing it was the final condition. It was a challenge intended for a Level 5 weapon, but it was the only direction he had left to take.
With a growl of determination, he turned and began the long walk toward the spire. His knuckles were white around the hilt of his Level 2 sword.
He was stuck, but he was not broken. He would face this spire.
He would break through this firewall.
He would go home.