『 Mission 00: Find Gaèbolg and the Lost Ego 』
Kul-Kain had been tossing and turning ever since dinner, unable to escape the strange message echoing in his mind.
Those words—cryptic, heavy, unfamiliar—clung to him like a fever.
"What could they possibly mean…? Ugh, my head still hurts."
He pressed a hand to his forehead, sprawled on his bed with no intention of sleeping. His thoughts spiraled, trying to piece together the events of the day—until another sharp ring stabbed directly into his skull.
『 To complete Mission 0, you must fulfill the following conditions:
· Meditate for 7 days, 30 minutes per day
· Practice swordsmanship for 7 days, 2 hours per day
· Win the coming-of-age ceremony and earn access to the family treasury
Time limit: 6 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds
Penalty for failure: death 』
This time, the voice wasn't alone.
A shimmering violet panel materialized in front of him—its glow eerily similar to the etheric holograms produced by imperial communicators.
"What the hell?!~ This better be a joke. And if it is, it's a terrible one!"
He tried to look away, tried to blink it out of existence—but the panel stayed firmly in place.
Minutes passed.
The screen refused to fade.
Only the timer at the bottom continued to fall… second by second, then minute by minute.
That was when Kul-Kain understood.
It wasn't a dream.
It wasn't a prank.
This was real.
And the penalty was as real as anything he had ever known.
Panic seized him. Kul-Kain launched himself out of bed and scrambled to his bookshelf.
Magic books—nothing.
Swordsmanship manuals—nothing.
"My last chance is…"
He turned toward a stack of old mythology tomes. The hope he felt was microscopic.
"What are the odds any of this is related to divine blessings?"
But then—he found it.
Buried in a chapter about the Divine Triad was something unmistakable.
A description of a divine blessing that manifested through floating panels and enhanced learning to supernatural levels.
Ancient theologians had once named it: Eliùs.
"Oh no—no no no. This isn't a fake book, right? Wait—it's signed by the original author—DAMN IT. So this… this is real."
The realization crashed over him like a tidal wave. His breath grew shallow.
If Eliùs was real, then in one week he had to win the coming-of-age ceremony and enter the family treasury.
He didn't even know why.
Suddenly, new letters appeared.
The panel shifted from violet to gold.
『 Good luck 1\1\3 』
The words resonated in his chest as if spoken directly to his soul.
Kul-Kain slapped his cheeks hard.
"Wake up! This is your chance!"
He slammed the book shut, grabbed his battered training sword, and sprinted out of his room toward the training grounds.
"Two hours of sword practice every day… great, just great," he muttered, panting as he reached the nearest training dummy.
But something was wrong.
The dummy looked… different.
Its shape seemed sharper, more defined.
And then—impossibly—it moved.
[CLANK!!!]
Kul-Kain slashed from the right, but the dummy didn't budge.
It stepped forward and swung straight for his neck.
[THONK!!!]
His blade rose instinctively to block it.
"This… this is the Mind's Eye."
Realization struck him like lightning.
The Mind's Eye— an advanced combat state only attainable by those who had reached the four stars inside ones Heart in aura cultivation.
Yet here he was, achieving it by pure instinct and coincidenze.
The dummy unleashed a barrage:
Chest slash — hit!
Wrist thrust — hit!
Kick to the knee — hit!
Punch to the chin — blocked!
[clink!!]
Kul-Kain deflected the punch, swept his foot—
[swoosh!!]
The dummy collapsed, clattering like falling metal.
But it immediately lifted itself using one hand and launched a vertical strike.
[clink!]
Sparks flew as their blades scraped together.
Kul-Kain felt the world slow.
Not figuratively—literally.
Every motion, every sound, every breath stretched into clarity.
"So this is Eliùs…? Maybe I can win the ceremony."
He didn't realize the truth—these abilities weren't granted by the System.
They were his own dormant talent, now forcibly awakened.
Lost in thought, his guard dropped.
The dummy struck him repeatedly, exploiting every blind spot.
Then it shifted into a stance he had never seen—yet something about it felt oddly familiar.
" {←Light↑↓slash→} "
Kul-Kain heard the words echo directly into his mind.
[THWOCK!!!]
He hit the ground hard.
Defeated.
The dummy fought like a flawless one-star aura user.
From the shadows, someone watched.
Atlas Kulainn—his father.
"The boy… is finally cultivating his talent."
Expectation and pride glimmered in his eyes.
After a brief rest on the cold ground, Kul-Kain returned to his room. He drew a spiritual chalk circle—his meditation zone.
Swordsmen used such zones to compress Ethere and reduce energy loss.
The chalk, made from the cores of beasts rich in Naturæ, was a relic of the Divine Prehistory, when gods and mortals still walked side by side.
Kul-Kain opened the ancient family manual:
" Aurum Triskell "
Unlike ordinary techniques, this one tripled blood circulation and energy output.
A fusion of sun, earth, and wind—the foundation of the Mirror Aura, one of the six aura types:
Blood, Fierce, Swift, Fist, Shadow, and Mirror.
Fist belonged to the Martial God's Hall.
Shadow to the Ashashin family.
Mirror—to the Kulainn clan.
"Ugh… these manuals are so detailed it hurts," Kul-Kain groaned, shutting the book and sitting cross-legged.
"This technique made the Kulainn clan one of the greatest in the Three Empires. I can't fail… I won't fail."
Though for two centuries, talent in the clan had steadily declined.
As he meditated, heat ignited within him.
Lightning raced along his nerves.
Fatigue melted away.
This was Aurum Triskell—the unity of heaven, earth, and energy.
"This is basically a miracle… bordering on steroids~.
Without Eliùs, my body would've collapsed. Meditating in a zone was never like this…"
His body glowed faintly with aura—the first time it had ever done so.
Eliùs intensified his absorption.
His heart's first valve was nearly filled—something that should've taken weeks.
The coming-of-age ceremony drew closer.
The road ahead was long.
Gaèbolg—the lance of the Kulainn—awaited.
And so did the violet secret eye that had watched him this entire time, ever since he was born…
— To be continued —