[SOUL RECORD NOTIFICATION]
{ Hell Hound killed! 10 Soul points gained }
{ Soul Loot dropped! }
{ Congratulations! You have gained a skill tome! }
Franklin stood frozen. The notification hung before his eyes in glowing, golden letters that pulsed faintly in the air, each word radiating a low hum that vibrated inside his skull. The metallic scent of blood clung to the back of his throat, thick and nauseating. Steam rose from the charred corpse of the creature sprawled across the cracked Brooklyn asphalt—a grotesque mix of muscle, bone, and melted fur.
The Hell Hound's body twitched one last time before going still. Its black blood sizzled when it touched the pavement. The stench of burnt flesh mixed with gasoline and smoke from the nearby wreckage.
Franklin's chest heaved. His arms trembled from exhaustion and adrenaline. The jagged pipe in his hand—the same one he'd swung in a blind panic—was slick with blood. His reflection shimmered faintly in the pool beneath him, eyes wide, face streaked with grime and disbelief.
"What… the hell," he muttered. His voice came out hoarse, shaking. "Was I actually just having a nightmare all this while?"
The thought was absurd. He could still feel the burn of the creature's claws that had torn through his side minutes earlier. But the pain was gone now—completely. His body felt… light. Alive. Like something deep inside him had been unclogged, awakened.
He pressed a palm against his ribs, where a gaping wound had been. Smooth skin. Not even a scar.
"This pain… it felt real," he whispered, staring at his trembling hands. "Then how am I healed?"
The light from the floating notification reflected in his eyes as he slowly looked back up. The message hovered, patient, waiting—as if it had all the time in the world.
"This is actually real… like, for real," Franklin breathed.
[SOUL RECORD NOTIFICATION]
{ Would you like to view your Skill Tome? }
He hesitated for half a heartbeat before replying, "Yes."
[SOUL RECORD NOTIFICATION]
{ SKILL TOME NAME: GENESIS }
{ TYPE: CULTIVATION }
{ GRADE: PRIMORDIAL }
[SOUL RECORD NOTIFICATION]
{ Would you like to learn the skill, GENESIS? }
His throat was dry. His mind screamed that this was insane—video game prompts appearing in real life—but something inside him whispered yes. Something ancient and instinctive, like his soul already knew the answer.
He focused his will. "Yes."
The instant he spoke, the world shattered.
Reality peeled away like paper burned from the edges. Sound vanished first—sirens, fire, wind—replaced by an infinite, ringing silence. Then the light faded until only darkness remained.
Franklin no longer had a body. He was awareness suspended in a void, a single spark of consciousness adrift in a sea of nothing.
Then—light.
Not gentle or warm, but violent. A raw eruption of power that tore through the void like the birth of a sun. It wasn't a light seen by eyes but felt by existence itself. It burned, expanded, consumed. Stars ignited and died in an instant before his mind, galaxies swirling into existence and collapsing again in a cosmic heartbeat.
He was there when the first atom formed. He could feel the weight of gravity carving space, time itself stretching and folding. He felt creation—the brutal, unstoppable beauty of it. The first explosion of life in an endless dark.
A presence older than eternity seemed to whisper across his soul. It did not speak words, but truth. The truth of creation: that everything began as nothing, and nothing could become everything.
The light consumed him.
When he came back, he was gasping on the cold Brooklyn street. His vision was blurred, but the world felt sharper, more alive. Every gust of wind carried weight. Every flicker of fire shimmered with faint, invisible threads of energy.
[SOUL RECORD NOTIFICATION]
{ Congratulations! You have learned the Soul Cultivation Art: GENESIS (Primordial Grade). }
{ Your Soul is now a vessel for Aether. }
{ Aether Capacity: 1 / 100 }
Aether. The word echoed in his mind, heavy and alien. Somehow, he understood it—not through explanation, but through instinct. It was the raw material of creation itself. The same force he had witnessed in that endless void.
Tentatively, he focused inward. He closed his eyes and searched for something unfamiliar within himself—a spark, a core, anything. For a moment, there was nothing. Just the faint hum of his heartbeat and the dull roar of flames in the distance.
Then, deep inside him, something stirred.
A flicker of light—small, defiant, alive.
It was faint, but it pulsed with purpose. A single spark, buried in his soul, echoing that same blinding light of creation he had just seen. It was the Genesis Spark.
Franklin gasped. The air around him quivered. Dust and ashes stirred faintly, drawn toward him by a force beyond physics. The energy seeped through his skin, cold yet invigorating. His blood tingled as though infused with electricity.
[SOUL RECORD NOTIFICATION]
{ Aether Capacity: 2 / 100 }
The notification vanished, leaving him in the dim glow of twilight. The city around him was dead silent except for the distant crackle of burning cars. He slowly rose to his feet. His body no longer ached. His movements were fluid, precise. Even his heartbeat sounded steadier.
"This… is insane," he whispered. His voice came steadier now, stronger. He flexed his hand, watching faint wisps of energy coil around his fingers before fading.
He could feel it now—power. Not the kind that came from muscles, but something deeper, purer. His entire being hummed in rhythm with an unseen current that connected him to everything around.
The dead Hell Hound lay nearby. The once-terrifying beast now looked small, insignificant. A remnant of something primal he had already surpassed.
Franklin exhaled. The adrenaline was gone, replaced by a strange calm. He turned his focus back to the one thing that started all this.
"Show my Soul Record Status," he commanded.
The air shimmered. Then came the familiar tone—like the ringing of celestial chimes—and the transparent panel unfolded before his eyes.
---
[SOUL RECORD – STATUS]
SOULBEARER: Franklin Hayes
SOUL CULTIVATION ART: [GENESIS] – (Primordial Grade)
SOUL CORE STATE: [Genesis Spark – Unignited]
AETHER CAPACITY: 2 / 100
SOUL POINTS: 10
<< ATTRIBUTES >>
· Strength (STR): 9 (+4)
· Vitality (VIT): 9 (+4)
· Agility (AGI): 9 (+4)
· Spirit (SPI): 11 (+6)
<< GENESIS ADVANTAGES >>
· Primordial Ascent: +2 STR/VIT/AGI, +3 SPI per Aether integrated.
· ???
· ????
<< ABILITIES >>
· Genesis (Passive): The foundational art of creation. Allows for the conversion of Soul Points and environmental energy into Primordial Aether. Continuously refines the user's body and spirit.
· Active Skills: [None – Await Soul Core Ignition]
---
Franklin stared at the glowing panel. His reflection shimmered faintly within it, eyes full of disbelief and awe. Each line of text felt heavy, divine—like a law of reality etched directly into his soul.
Primordial Grade. Even without knowing what the ranks were, he understood instinctively that this was something beyond ordinary. The title alone carried weight. The word "Genesis" lingered on his tongue, both foreign and familiar. It wasn't a spell or a system cheat. It was origin.
He took a slow breath and let the cool evening air fill his lungs. The city skyline in the distance was fractured—broken glass, shattered towers, firelight painting the clouds red—but for the first time since the world fell apart, Franklin didn't feel fear.