Liam stood on the endless blue ocean, his reflection shimmering as though the water were a mirror of the universe itself. When he first entered the system space, he was a frightened child in a baby's body. Now, though still physically an infant in the outside world, his soul had matured far beyond.
The system space was no longer a quiet refuge.
It had become his crucible.
The blue sun above flickered once.
The system's voice echoed across the empty world:
**"Tier Progression Protocol Initiated. Begin."**
The ocean split apart like a curtain, revealing an arena of floating runes, spinning hexagons, and crystalline energy nodes orbiting one another like planets. Liam inhaled—a habit, unnecessary but grounding—and stepped forward.
His training began.
And continued for four long years.
---
# **YEAR ONE — SHATTERING LIMITS (Tier 2)**
During the first year, the system focused on shaping Liam's understanding of energy itself—not magic, not elements, but the *fundamental physics* behind existence.
The arena generated an opponent: a humanoid figure made of fire.
The system spoke:
**"Objective: Neutralize without using opposing elements."**
Liam raised a hand instinctively to summon water—but stopped.
Instead, he reached into the flame's structure.
He felt it.
Heat. Motion. Vibration.
*All energy.*
He imagined pulling the heat away.
The fire sputtered.
Dimmed.
Collapsed into a pile of inert ash.
A chime echoed:
**[Enemy neutralized. +5 Aether Credits.]**
The system pulsed:
**"Tier 2 achieved."**
Elements trembled around him like obedient soldiers.
"Not bad," Liam murmured, already hungry for more.
The first year ended with him mastering:
* Thermal Manipulation
* Kinetic Conversion
* Pressure Control
* Photon Refraction
His movements grew faster, his senses sharper, his mind more precise.
Outside, the world descended further into darkness—but Liam was unaware.
Inside, his legend began.
---
# **YEAR TWO — THE BIRTH OF DOMAINS (Tier 3)**
The second year brought brutality.
The system materialized entire armies of elemental constructs—fire berserkers, wind assassins, water serpents, stone giants. They attacked in coordinated waves, cutting off escape, striking from blind spots.
Liam learned to dance between explosions.
Not with grace—
But with dominance.
A fire berserker roared and charged.
Liam flicked his wrist.
The thermal energy in its body cooled to zero.
It froze mid-stride and crumbled.
A wind assassin launched from above.
Liam increased the air pressure around it.
The assassin imploded with a dull pop.
A stone giant swung its fist.
Liam pulled the kinetic energy from the blow.
The giant's arm slowed dramatically—
he then redirected that stored momentum into a counterattack.
**BOOM**
The giant exploded into pebble-dust.
A chime echoed:
**[Multi-Elimination Bonus: +50 Aether Credits.]**
The system's tone vibrated:
**"Tier 3 achieved."**
Domains began forming around him by instinct.
A shimmering field of energy spread around Liam, a meter at first, then two, then five. Inside this field—
Heat shifted as he willed.
Light bent.
Gravity tilted.
Kinetic flows obeyed.
His Domain was not elemental.
It was *fundamental*.
**Energy itself bowed.**
---
# **YEAR THREE — LAW SCULPTING (Tier 4)**
At Tier 4, the system no longer generated humanoid constructs.
It generated *phenomena*.
Earthquakes. Tornadoes. Solar flares.
Reality glitches. Explosive shockwaves.
Vacuum zones meant to rip him apart.
This was no longer training.
This was evolution.
An artificial black hole formed at the center of the arena—
its gravity twisting the environment.
"System—you're insane," Liam muttered.
**"Host must learn to handle cosmic forces.
Avoid or counter."**
He countered.
By imposing a counter-gravitational field through his Domain, he destabilized the singularity.
The vacuum collapsed.
Another test:
A beam of pure gamma radiation shot toward him like a spear of extinction.
He bent the photons.
The beam split and scattered into harmless motes of light.
**[Danger Neutralized. +100 Aether Credits.]**
More followed—each more overwhelming than the last:
* Magnetostatic storms
* Chains of plasma
* Reality fractures
* Temporal distortions
He began to understand how cosmic laws manipulated energy.
And through that—
He began to impose his own.
The system spoke reverently:
**"Tier 4 achieved."**
By year three, Liam no longer reacted with fear or shock.
He reacted with *precision.*
---
# **YEAR FOUR — OMNI-SOVEREIGN (Tier 5)**
The final year was different.
No enemies appeared.
No disasters manifested.
The system simply said:
**"To reach Tier 5, enact your own Domain."**
Liam closed his eyes.
What was energy?
Not fire.
Not water.
Not sunlight.
Not sound.
**Everything.
Every force.
Every motion.
Every vibration.
Every interaction.**
Energy was the thread of existence.
He breathed out—
and his Domain expanded like a shockwave.
The ocean beneath him rippled as though acknowledging its ruler.
Gravity bent in gentle arcs around him.
Light spiraled into fractal patterns.
Heat reversed and flowed upward.
Pressure stabilized at his command.
Electrons hummed in orbit.
Space itself vibrated.
He opened his eyes.
The system spoke, its voice almost hushed:
**"Tier 5 achieved.
Domain: Omnienergia."**
Liam stood not as a child—
not as an elf—
but as a ruler of all energy.
Everything that existed
bowed to the law he embodied.
---
# **THE STORE, PHYSICS, & CREDITS**
After reaching Tier 5, three system functions activated fully.
## **1. The Store**
A digital marketplace unfolded before him.
Artifacts floated like stars:
* **Vector Crown** — dictate directions of any energy within 50 meters
* **Entropy Edge** — a blade that generates infinite decay
* **Omni-Resonance Cloak** — hide his true law signature
* **Isolate Core** — store excess energy safely
* **Stasis Rings** — trap enemies in frozen time bubbles
Skills glowed like constellations:
* **Silent Collapse** – erase spells by targeting their energy origins
* **Absolute Vector** – redirect attacks mid-flight
* **Energy Severance** – cut the flow of mana from a core
* **Inverse Pulse** – send energy back at an amplified rate
Everything cost Aether Credits.
By now, he had earned well over **150,000 Credits**.
He purchased nothing wasteful.
Power required efficiency.
---
## **2. Physics**
The Physics function expanded into a massive holographic interface.
It analyzed everything:
* Flow equations for mana
* Thermodynamic structures
* Elemental conversion pathways
* Energy-to-matter thresholds
* Weaknesses in living beings
* Spell architecture
* Barrier pressure points
* Domain resonance diagrams
Physics was not a tool.
It was an insight into the operating code of existence.
Liam used it as a scholar uses a library.
As a warrior uses a blade.
As a god uses a law.
---
## **3. Coins (Aether Credits)**
Every enemy defeated—simulation or real—dropped recoverable energy in the form of **Credits**.
They weren't money.
They were purified fragments of laws and reality.
He could shape them into upgrades, artifacts, or even new subsystems.
The system whispered:
**"Credits will matter greatly outside.
Hold onto them."**
Liam obeyed.
---
# **OUTSIDE — THE WORLD BLEEDS**
As Liam trained, unaware of time, the world outside fell into darkness.
### **Elvish Empire Campaign Record — Year 1 After the Prince's Disappearance**
The **Elvish High Council** declared full mobilization.
Demons launched abyssal sieges.
Humans deployed mana-cannons powered by enslaved elemental spirits.
Dragons burned forests that had existed for centuries.
Thalorien fought like a force of extinction—
moving faster than arrows, cutting through demon hordes like grass.
Seraphielle turned the eastern barrier into a slaughterhouse.
Her Moonlight Spears left entire valleys frozen in crystal death.
Elvish losses were catastrophic.
But so were the losses of their enemies.
---
### **Year 2**
Human cities collapsed under retaliatory strikes.
Dragons lost a brood of 20 to Seraphielle alone.
Demon princes fell to Thalorien's starfire blade.
Tens of thousands died yearly.
Blood irrigated the soil.
Magic scorched the sky.
The world grew darker.
Colder.
Quieter.
Because the dead do not scream.
---
### **Year 3**
The elves regained half their territory.
The three races retreated, not from mercy—
but fatigue.
Rumors spread:
**"The elves fight like they want death."**
**"Their king and queen have lost something… terrible."**
**"Perhaps sorrow makes them strong."**
No one knew the truth.
Only the stars did.
---
### **Year 4**
A weary peace emerged.
No one won.
No one surrendered.
Everyone simply… stopped.
War had turned the world into a half-burned graveyard.
And throughout these years, every night without fail—
Seraphielle returned to the empty nursery
and placed one hand on the cold cradle.
Thalorien placed his hand on the doorway
but never walked inside.
They lived.
They fought.
They endured.
But they did not heal.
After completing Tier 5, Liam stood on the ocean once more.
The system spoke:
**"Host. Your training period has ended.
External time synchronization beginning."**
The ocean reflected images.
He saw fire.
War.
Blood.
His parents standing amidst ruin.
Their armor cracked.
Their eyes empty.
He whispered:
"System… how long?"
The answer arrived like a blade.
**"Four years."**
Liam staggered backward.
"No… that can't be…"
**"Four years have passed in the outside world."**
Images unfolded:
His mother weeping silently over the balcony.
His father ripping through demon armies alone.
The nursery left untouched, waiting for a child who never returned.
Liam's hands shook.
His soul trembled.
They suffered four years…
Because of him.
Because he was gone.
His voice grew quiet, but the ocean trembled at the sound.
"I will never let them cry again."
Energy surged around him—
raw, violent, divine.
The system hummed.
**"Host… your return will reshape the world."**
Liam breathed deeply.
"When I return…"
His eyes glowed with every color of existence.
"…the world will know the prince they tried to erase."
The ocean parted.
A light tore the sky open.
His next step—
would take him home.