"This is it... I'm finally getting the Mark!" Nova yelled in his head excitedly as he thought he was getting his mark.
"How naive."
A voice suddenly echoed in his head, and the tone dripped with derision.
The air changed as a blinding white light mixed with a hint of gold flooded his vision, making it hard for him to see.
Then slowly, the light dimmed.
And he could now faintly make out the perfect silhouette of a man, as if sculpted to perfection. A chill of confusion spread through Nova as he couldn't help but ask, "Who are you?"
"... The one you call creator." The voice brimmed with pride and authority.
When the light finally faded, Nova truly saw him.
Long silver-white hair flowed like liquid starlight. His golden eyes shone with power. A radiant halo hovered behind his head, not decorative, but inevitable, like law of existence itself.
His expression was calm, confident and detached, like someone who rules over the universe. The presence around him was peaceful but overwhelming crushing at the same time. He wore flowing robes of violet and gold, layered with luminous armor that pulsed faintly, and at the center of his chest burned a star-like core not glowing, but alive. Its light pulsed like the heartbeat of a newborn star. His arms stretched outward, releasing streams of golden cosmic energy that blended with the stars and distant galaxies around him, as if he was creating or controlling the universe itself.
"Wait... stars?!!" Nova turned in absolute shock. he revelation was baffling. He couldn't comprehend what this mysterious place was. They were surrounded by an endless expanse of galaxies. This wasn't the God's Ruin.
And it definitely wasn't normal space — because he wasn't freezing to death tight now.
"I don't know how… but this isn't the God's Ruin," Nova thought, panic stirring as his eyes scanned the place.
"So... Where am I?" Nova asked, a little worried.
"What kind of fool thinks this is the God's Ruin?"
"You... H-How did you...?"
The man didn't answer him but turned around and started walking forward.
"Hey, I'm still here." Nova shouted "Who are you? And what is this place? More importantly, who the hell are you?!" Nova asked as his voice rose.
He was still suspended in the air, and he couldn't move, as if the air around him had locked him in place. "You asked that three times now, and I told you, the one you call the creator," he said plainly. Then he walked away.
Nova stared at the man's perfectly structured back, even more perfect than most bots he had ever seen.
"But who the hell declares themselves the creator?" Nova thought. If it was an old man, he would have thought he was either mentally deranged or his brain was damaged.
"..."
Though he could hear Nova's thoughts, he just kept walking forward indifferently. Nova felt a little frustrated. He didn't know where he was now or if this place had anything to do with him awakening the Channeler's Mark.
"Come." The voice of the man echoed in this infinite space. Then slowly, Nova started drifting toward the direction of the man unable to resist. Just as he finally arrived beside the man, he wanted to say something, but his words caught in his throat as he stared at the man's serious expression looking forward.
"What is he looking at?" Nova thought as he followed the man's gaze. Nothing Just emptiness.
"I don't see anything…"
"That is because you are looking with your eyes." he paused. "Try looking with your mind."
"..."
Nova almost scoffed buy something in the tone made comply. He inhaled slowly and focused, trying to look with his mind instead of his eyes. It sounded silly, but he did it anyway.
Suddenly, Nova felt the world shift again.
Slowly, he opened his eyes — and his mouth followed, hanging wide enough to fit an egg.
At the center of the vastness floated something immense. A mass of radiant energy, vast beyond scale, pulsing slowly like a colossal heart and it was bound.
Not by crude iron. But by luminous chains carved with ancient symbols. They tightened around it, restricting it
"W-What...? What is this?" Nova asked trembling slightly.
"That is the Cosmic Energy," the man replied calmly. "This whole place you see is the product of it."
"What?!" Nova exclaimed in shock. "Cosmic Energy?"
.Nova swallowed he stared blankly at the Cosmic Energy. It was eerily beating like a heart pulsing with a strange rhythm, that somehow resonated with his.
"Why does it feel…" He hesitated. "Familiar?"
The man said nothing.
Nova's stomach tightened
"Why is it tied up in chains?!"
"Those are not chains," the man corrected, his tone steady. "It is a seal."
"A seal?" Nova repeated, frowning. "What for?"
"That is not why I brought you here." the man said indifferently.
Nova frowned. He stared at the man, irritation rising inside him.
"What it's you who brought me here?" Nova asked. "...Then why did you bring me here? Isn't this where I'm supposed to get my mark or something? Because I don't understand what I'm doing here."
The man looked at Nova. He said nothing. His gaze was calm and indifferent, it was the kind of look someone gives an idiot who just asked a foolish question.
Then he finally spoke, "When you enter the God's Ruin," the man said flatly, "Find an item called the Kale."
Nova blinked.
"And when you find it," the man continued, "Kill a humanoid creature and place the Kale in its heart. Then I will inform you of the second step."
Silence.
Nova's breath caught. "Kill… a humanoid?"
Not a beast, not a monster. A humanoid. Something that walked upright. Something that might speak. Something that might look back at him.
"Are you telling me to murder someone?" Nova's voice hardened. "And why??"
The man's expression did not change.
"f this is a test," Nova continued, "what kind of awakening demands blood?"
No answer. A chill crept into him. And if he refused? What would happen to him?
His thoughts were spiraling again. Nothing was making sense.
The man did not answer his questions. Instead, his voice echoed once more. "Do not forget. The Kale. And a humanoid creature."
Suddenly, Nova felt the world shifted again as reality seemed to bend, then he vanished.
The man remained. He stood there silently, staring at the endless stars before him. His eyes moved then rsted on the sealed Cosmic Energy — still beating like a heart, steady and restrained.
The man's expression was blank and his golden eyes unreadable.
"He did not even realize this was his own mind," the man muttered softly as he stepped forward and touched the chain binding the cosmic energy. "What kind of seal did they place on him?"
Then he raised his other hand. Instantly, glowing cards appeared, floating in thin air. They moved horizontally, sliding past each other as if someone was scrolling through them. The man observed them calmly. "I will grant him one skill," he said as his eyes selected a single card. The card flew toward his other hands.
Without hesitation, he pressed it into the Cosmic Energy. The pulse grew slightly stronger as it then shone brightly. Then faded.
•••
Nova's vision snapped back. He was still standing in front of the massive inscription at the entrance of the God's Ruin. The nine other candidates of Planet Herya were behind him.
Then suddenly, across the entire MPU on active broadcast, the reporter's voice exploded with shock. "Planet Herya's Overall Champion, Nova..."
Nova stiffened, feeling the gaze of many people. He slowly looked around, and everyone was staring at him. He looked behind and saw that the nine candidates behind him each had marks glowing brightly on their hands.
Nova's heart pounded. Did he get his? Something must have happened. He had appeared in that strange place. Maybe, just maybe, he had received something greater. Was he going to be the first person in history to awaken a different or perhaps special mark?
His thoughts spiraled into chaos, his breathing quickened. Then he slowly looked down at his own arm.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
His pulsed roared in his ear. He could feel his heart slamming violently against his chest. It felt like it wanted to burst out of his body.
He waited, he expected warmtha light but nothing happened. No glow, no symbol, no mark just skin. Silence filled the area.
"Failed?" This thought rang in Nova's ears like a scream… and not only in his, but in everyone else's too. Across every screen in the MPU, people went quiet.
Then a whisper.
"Wait… isn't he the Overall Champion?"
Another voice"
Why didn't he awaken the mark?"
Then the ripple spread.
"Is it because he is a lower human?"
"I need to marry a higher human female to prevent this from happening."
"Do you think a higher human female would fall for a deadbeat like you?"
"Is there something perhaps wrong with his genetics…"
"And the worst part? All nine awakened except him."
"That's embarrassing. If it were me I will crawl into a hole and never come out."
"Well, it's not all about being the Overall Champion, is it?"
The words multiplied. Homes, academies, guild halls, public gatherings. Across planets, aross Sects, across the entire MPU. Nova stood at the center of it all. Alone. An Overall Champion a only failure. Though to not awaken a mark was a normal occurrence during the awakening day, but an overall champion not awakening one was very very rare.
His jaws tightened. Failed? The word echoed in his mind like a verdict. Failed. His throat dried, his fingers trembled. For a second he almost laughed, this has to be a mostake. He had trained harder than anyone. He had bled for this. He had endured pressure, expectation... For this? For nothing?
The cameras zoomed in. Closer. Closer. Tomorrow headline writing itself. The lower human who won overall champion didn't awaken the Channeler's Mark.
And this was one of the lower human that gave the others hopes.
Lower humans had always had a lower chance of awakening the Mark. Everyone knew that. And this seemed to prove to the higher humans watching that even if a lower human win the prelims as the overall champion or break records, a lower human was still a lower human.
Nova felt heavy. His body felt stiff and cold. It was as if gravity itself had increased around him.
Far away on planet Helid in the Second Sect a man watching the broadcast suddenly froze.
"No… no, Noah… what did you do?" Grey muttered under his breath. Then he bolted out the door.