The last thing Litei had seen in his blurred vision was the bright shine of the well-polished golden marble of the Frost Estate. But looking at his surroundings he was at a loss of words.
He had just woken up and he felt as though he hadn't slept for a month , physically he was fine , it was his mind that was tired . Sitting upright he stared into the darkness outside of the room he was in . Thinking back , right before he had collapsed an enormous amount of pressure had come over him , though it had appeared that his father hadn't noticed it despite his Ae'sth specializing in battle instincts.
There were multiple people around his home as well who could more or less sense something , but none of them did.
"Hmh..."
All the speculation he did was useless unless he got out of the room , getting up he stumbled and fell to the ground .
Splash!!
Touching the surface he realized that the entire room was damp . Before he hadn't even taken the time to pay attention to that but now he could feel that his clothes from head to toe were wet .
No..
They weren't his clothes .
The more he examined the shape and feel if what he was wearing , the more he picked up on a few things . 'My clothes are different , and how did I get to this place .'
He was confused . He tried to wrap his head around the situation but without any clues he gave up.
'Something isn't right. Firstly , my environment is different from any of the places I've been . Second , I was in Ashuria City , at the house we bought . Thirdly , my clothes are different , I'm not sure how but they're different somehow.'
He lost in his thoughts when he noticed a flicker of light at the corner of his vision.
♦
'What the heck is that?. I'm probably going crazy, right? . There's no way that I have a system , right?'
The diamond shaped light continued to flicker with him still ignoring it , it continued to flicker this time more faster and the light increased with each one. It started to get annoying , with it reaching to the point where his vision was obscured .
"Ukh!"
And then it stopped .
[Child Of Destiny . The Trials Welcome You]
[You have been bestowed a chance to earn a gift.]
[To be triumphant in the Trials you shall need to let go.]
[Your progression through this first test shall be visible to you only if you are to state the word's: 'Status']
[Let the Trials begin...]
[Good luck ... Child Of Destiny]
[♦ Main quest Activated :
–You have fallen to the depths of the realm , Rise♦]
• Rewards :
? {Item : Type ; Unknown}
? {Unknown}
• Failure :
_No Escape_
————————
Between the constant notifications and the voice that echoed in his head , he wasn't sure if this was a dream or not. Even if it were a dream the voice had told him that this was the dream realm , so possibly he was asleep .
For now he put those thoughts aside , dream or not he had a feeling that something bad was going to happen were he to stay in that room for long .
Perhaps he had been to preoccupied with the notifications to notice but the more he looked at the sliver of stars through the small hole of the supposed shack....
The more it seemed that he was sinking .
'Looks like I'm in deep sh-' , then all of a sudden he recalled the words of the voice that echoed in his head moments prior .
"Status...."
Like before a diamond shaped icon appeared at the corner of his left side , and right after a wide interface appeared in his line of sight :
Type : Probationary
[Name] : Litei Frost
[Core level] : Dormant
[Progression] : [ 0%-----------------------200%]
[Attributes] : None
[Innate Skill] : None
[Weapons] : None
————————————————
Quiet.
Litei looked at the screen in front of him . Repeatedly his eyes darted all over from every corner , he was trying to make sense of the sight before his eyes. Nothing from his experience with the novels he read was able to assist in deciphering what was written on the interface.
He took a deep breath before returning to look at the screen .
Now that he had cleared his head a little , he was able to properly read line for line when he noticed....
"Core Level?" , it wasn't the first time he had heard of the words. No , they were pretty much common knowledge to almost everyone in the whole world.
Centuries prior ...
The world fell apart.
During the time of their ancestors , the world had reached wide technological advances with each nation in a race to reach what the records called ,'Tech-Supremacy' . All was going well before an event so catastrophic that no nation was spared.
The Rift.
It started in mid-east Europe until it had gotten to all the way to Asia , it was then that the fabric of reality began to tear . Panic erupted and many tried to escape the fate that came with coming in contact with the rift.
However....
It was useless.
Within hours the world system had crumbled with every piece of land known to man eroded and in ruin. When the tear in reality spread all over the earth , a new dimension was opened .
It was only after days that the creatures within rose from their slumber and embarked on their rampage across the planet . What was left of the proud people of earth trembled in despair whilst their witnessed the horrors created by the Rift .
"No...I don't have the time to think about history. If I remember correctly then a person's soul core can expand the more they absorb the essence in the air. " , he was correct ; in order for their core to expand then the particles of energy in the air was all they needed to achieve the next phase of their abilities.
Remembering this , Litei was at ease with the situation. He had been confused but now he knew that this was the trials to unlock his soul core.
After the Rift had opened , many of the survivors vanished from every sector of the world .
It went months without their friends and family knowing where they were or if they were even alive. There were those who thought they had been singled out by the rift and those who thought they had just disappeared.
Both were wrong.
After six months , they returned . Not all but most of the ones who had disappeared safely got home to their loved ones .
Although , they weren't the same .
For the first week after their return , civilization started to rise from the ashes of the incident they named , 'The Collapse' .
The people who had returned cake back with mysterious gifts known as Destinies . With this , they helped everyone regardless of the citizenship and such.
That is when the scientists discovered it.
The Soul Cores.
The survivors who came back with the power of Destinies , were scanned and shown to have an abnormal energy gathered at their chest's middle , such was the name .
Litei then thought of the explanatory conference held annually that he had attended as a kid . 'In those days I used to have fun.' , he sighed regretfully as he thought of the times when he enjoyed all the traveling they did.
Nonetheless he decided to let those thoughts slide away .
"Uh-um...", he cleared his thoughts , closed his eyes and despite the wet surface he sat cross-legged , leaving silence between him and the dream realm.
It was dark.
Without any unnecessary thoughts popping up , he was...at peace. But still , he knew that he didn't have the luxury of peace unless he heeded the warning of the system if he were to fail.
Once more he took a deep breath to calm his nerves and slowly his mind became clear again.
Minutes passed with him in the same position without as much as flinching.
And then.....
'Ah...'
He felt something.
It was a faint but he could tell that it was the essence of his soul core , after almost losing his progress he continued the breathing cycle ; slowly particles of energy started to flow towards him.
Although he couldn't see it , the colour was like sand which made Litei wonder what type of innate ability he would receive at the end of the trials . But more so , the evaluation of his core was what presented the most wild scenarios.
Soul core evaluation was ranked from weakest to strongest , from : [Standard —> Arched —> Conquest —> Noble —> Divine —> Boundless —> Mythic]
Litei was now curious . Almost so that he was close to breaking the process. He had to continue , then the fruits of his labour would get recognized.
He continued to sit on that exact spot , in that exact pose without as so much as flinching except for the breathing cycle he was maintaining. As he continued to absorb the soul essence into his core , his perception of time began to fade .
*
With time the essence particles were getting faster by the minute and some ended up getting repelled by the mass that gathered inches away from where Litei's soul core was located . They rose from the chest and began to circle his head , some even sprinkled down on his head .
[♦]
Even though his eyes were closed , he could still sense it ; the notification was soon followed with a sound that shook him away from the trance he had fallen in.
[Congratulations! . Child Of Destiny , You have passed the first half of the trials.]
[And thus , you have been awarded the innate affinity of Dreams , 'Quinciple Magic']
[The next half shall proceed immediately.]
[Good Luck]
'Status...'
Type : Probationary
[Name] : Litei Frost
[Core Level] : Lost
Progression. : [0%---------------110%-------------200%]
[Attributes] : Dream
[Grade] : Quinciple Magic
[Mastery] : Beginner
[Innate Skills] : None
[Weapons] : None
––––––––––––––––––––
===========
Author's Note❄️~
Early release as promised thanks to Kazi_Arite , thank you for the review as such a perfect reward .
If some of you noticed I threw in some power system points in there and I will drop some of them in the future chapters but the more detailed versions I'll drop in the aux chaps.
But here goes :
For a basic recap , with _Frost :
Over a millennium ago , in the age of technological supremacy the first Calamity fell on humanity.
Tectonic plates shifted ruining most of the known and unknown world. Those who disappeared came back with abilities known as Destinies which by the name you can probably guess.
So the world is basically made up of 7 continents like pre-Earth but with more mystery as to the inhabitants.
So the awakened humans whose names I'll mention later would have to traverse the vast Collapsed Realm in order to Explore and Subjugate threats known as Void Creatures or The Collapsed.
-[}End Of Lesson{]-
What to expect in the next Chapter:
There's probably gonna be some crashing out from the protagonist. How would you feel if you were screwed over by your own system.
Not great.
Unlike chap 3 , there won't be any comedy , so instead I give you Trauma!!!!!!!!!!!
PS : The next chap will also end with his status.
Litei needs something in his arsenal so Vote , collect and vote.
Next update will be on Monday unless you add to your library and share