"I'm back! Come out brother."
Lyanna's cheerful voice announced her arrival home.
"Ha! Yah! Hiyah!"
Curious about the commotion, Vaelor opened his door to find his cousin—still wearing her academy uniform—standing on the living room sofa practicing some kind of martial arts form.
"...What are you doing?" Vaelor asked flatly.
"Practicing martial arts!" Lyanna declared with utmost seriousness.
"Where did you learn that form? It's so..." Vaelor paused, searching for diplomatic phrasing and failing to find any. "...ugly and completely ineffective."
"Senior Cassia taught me! What do you mean ugly? She looks amazing when she demonstrates it!"
"That's because you're doing it wrong."
Lyanna whirled around, glaring indignantly. "I'm not practicing anymore!"
"Then why did you drag me out here instead of letting me train?"
She suddenly froze mid-complaint, staring at Vaelor intently before moving closer to examine him.
Vaelor felt increasingly uncomfortable under her scrutiny. "What's wrong?"
"Brother Vaelor, you're... different somehow."
"Different how?"
"You've become even more handsome than before. And your skin looks perfect." Lyanna circled him like a predator studying prey, occasionally reaching out to poke his arm or shoulder.
Vaelor swatted her hands away. "Probably side effects from the job awakening."
"That's so unfair! I want to awaken my talent early too!" Lyanna pouted dramatically.
8:30 PM
Vaelor sat with his aunt's family around the dinner table, everyone discussing the day's chaotic events while the television played news broadcasts in the background.
[Breaking News: Explosion reported at Dragonspire Tower in Thornhaven City. Emergency services are responding. Residents in nearby sectors are advised to exercise caution—]
"Dragonspire Tower? Isn't that close by?" Uncle Torven remarked with concern.
Lyanna rushed to the balcony. "You're right! I can see the fire from here!"
Vaelor joined her, gazing out at the distant high-rise. Fierce flames painted the night sky crimson while emergency aircraft converged on the scene.
"Today has been absolutely relentless with incidents," Aunt Mira said worriedly. "Lyanna, Vaelor—both of you need to be more careful. Avoid isolated areas whenever possible."
"I knoooow," Lyanna drawled with exaggerated compliance.
Vaelor suddenly remembered his arrangement with Seraphine and checked the time.
Already this late.
He stood. "Aunt Mira, a classmate asked to meet me. I'll be out for a bit."
"Come back early," his aunt reminded him.
"I will."
But as Vaelor turned toward his room to change, Lyanna huffed and returned to her own room, leaving him alone in the living area.
Vaelor paused, then made a decision. He had time before meeting Seraphine—and a theory he desperately wanted to test.
Returning to his room and locking the door, he sat cross-legged on his bed and activated Absolute Insight. Rainbow luminescence filled his pupils as divine comprehension awakened.
He focused his enhanced perception inward, examining his E-Rank origin talent: Emberwood Flame.
Let's see what you really are.
Information flooded his consciousness as Absolute Insight deconstructed the talent's fundamental nature.
[Analyzing Origin Talent mechanics...]
[Understanding achieved: Origin Talents provide accelerated access to Laws, Daos, Rules, and Intents after reaching sufficient life-level thresholds—typically Demigod tier and above]
[Higher-rank talents = faster comprehension and deeper understanding]
[Lower-rank talents = slower comprehension and shallower understanding]
[Intents can be used to upgrade and evolve Origin Talents themselves]
Vaelor's eyes widened with realization.
So Origin Talents are essentially keys that unlock comprehension of universal principles. The higher your talent rank, the easier it is to perceive and master those principles once you reach the appropriate life level.
But...
A revolutionary thought crystallized in his mind.
What if Absolute Insight lets me bypass the life-level requirement entirely?
Normal cultivators couldn't perceive Intents until reaching Demigod tier because their consciousness lacked the necessary refinement and sensitivity. It was like trying to see ultraviolet light with normal human eyes—the phenomenon existed, but you simply couldn't detect it.
But Absolute Insight granted him perfect perception and comprehension of any principle he focused upon.
If I can perceive it, I can comprehend it. If I can comprehend it, I can master it.
"Let's test this theory."
Vaelor extended his hand, manifesting his Emberwood Flame talent. A small orange flame flickered above his palm—weak, barely warmer than a candle.
Then he directed Absolute Insight's full power toward understanding the fundamental principles underlying fire itself.
[Absolute Insight activated - Maximum cognition mode]
[Analyzing fire as universal principle...]
[Comprehending: Fire Intent...]
The sensation was indescribable.
Vaelor's consciousness expanded outward, touching something vast and ancient—the conceptual foundation of combustion itself. Not merely chemical reactions or energy transfer, but Fire as a fundamental force woven into reality's fabric.
He understood oxidation at the molecular level. Heat propagation through matter. The transformation of potential energy into kinetic force. Plasma states and electron excitation. The difference between flame and pure thermal radiation.
But beyond the physics, he grasped something deeper—the essence of fire. Its nature as transformation, consumption, purification, and rebirth. Fire as destroyer and creator simultaneously.
[Fire Intent - comprehension advancing...]
[Level 1... Level 2... Level 3...]
He pushed deeper, his enhanced mind processing information at impossible speeds.
The Emberwood aspect of his talent revealed itself—not just fire, but living fire. Flames that sustained themselves like organisms, adapting and evolving. Wood's patient, steady burn rather than paper's quick flare.
[Comprehending: Emberwood Intent...]
[Comprehending: Plasma Intent...]
Plasma—the fourth state of matter. Ionized gas where electrons separated from nuclei, creating a superheated, electrically charged medium. Stars burned with plasma. Lightning was plasma. It was fire's ultimate evolution.
All three Intent threads wove together in his understanding, each reinforcing and elevating the others.
[Fire Intent: Level 9 (Peak) - MASTERED]
[Emberwood Intent: Level 9 (Peak) - MASTERED]
[Plasma Intent: Level 9 (Peak) - MASTERED]
[WARNING: Law comprehension detected but cannot manifest due to insufficient life level]
[Origin Talent evolution triggered!]
[Emberwood Flame (E-Rank) → Primordial Inferno Concept (EX-Rank)]
The flame above Vaelor's palm transformed.
What had been a weak orange flicker exploded into a blazing sphere of white-gold fire that radiated overwhelming heat and pressure. Yet it didn't burn him—it was him, an extension of his will made manifest.
But the evolution wasn't finished.
The process of comprehending Intent to such depths had fundamentally altered his existence. His cells vibrated at new frequencies. His vitality circulated through previously dormant pathways. His spiritual space expanded dramatically.
His life level was ascending.
[Life Level elevation detected]
[Mortal → Peak Mortal transition initiated...]
Pain and ecstasy flooded through him simultaneously as his body restructured itself at the fundamental level. But Vaelor barely noticed—because he'd already moved on to his second experiment.
The copied Acceleration talent.
"If it worked once..."
He focused Absolute Insight on the mechanics of acceleration itself, deconstructing the talent he'd replicated from the delivery woman.
This one was more complex. Acceleration wasn't a single concept but a convergence of multiple universal principles.
[Analyzing Acceleration mechanics...]
[Comprehending: Kinetic Intent...]
Motion itself. Objects in motion, forces applied, momentum transferred. Newton's laws as universal truth rather than human observation.
[Comprehending: Impulse Intent...]
Sudden application of force over minimal time. The difference between pushing and striking. Instantaneous acceleration that defied normal physics.
[Comprehending: Motion Flow Intent...]
The path of movement through space. Trajectory optimization. The most efficient route between two points considering all variables simultaneously.
[Comprehending: Spatial Displacement Intent...]
Not teleportation, but moving through space so efficiently it approached instant transmission. Understanding space not as empty void but as a medium to be navigated.
[Comprehending: Thought Acceleration Intent...]
The speed of cognition itself. Perception operating faster than reality, creating subjective time dilation. Thinking becoming a weapon.
[Comprehending: Temporal Flow Intent...]
This one was harder. Time itself resisted comprehension, vast and incomprehensible even to Absolute Insight's enhanced perception. Vaelor could only scratch the surface—but even that surface was profound.
Understanding how velocity related to temporal perception. How speed approached but could never quite reach the ultimate limit where time itself stopped.
[Kinetic Intent: Level 9 (Peak) - MASTERED]
[Impulse Intent: Level 9 (Peak) - MASTERED]
[Motion Flow Intent: Level 9 (Peak) - MASTERED]
[Spatial Displacement Intent: Level 9 (Peak) - MASTERED]
[Thought Acceleration Intent: Level 9 (Peak) - MASTERED]
[Temporal Flow Intent: Level 6 - PARTIAL MASTERY]
[WARNING: Time-related Laws cannot manifest due to insufficient life level]
[Origin Talent evolution triggered!]
[Acceleration (A-Rank) → Infinite Momentum Concept (EX-Rank)]
Vaelor's second talent transformed completely. What had been simple speed amplification became something far more terrifying—the ability to manipulate the fundamental relationship between velocity, mass, force, and even temporal perception.
And once again, the process of mastering so many Intents simultaneously catalyzed his life-level evolution.
[Life Level elevation accelerating...]
[Multiple Intent masteries detected]
[Soul sublimation in progress...]
[Body reconstruction in progress...]
[Vitality and Qi transformation in progress...]
Every cell in Vaelor's body ignited with transformative energy. His Inner Chaos Flame roared like a miniature star within his core. His meridians expanded, reinforced, evolved into something far beyond normal human physiology.
His blood turned luminous—literally glowing with concentrated vitality. His bones became denser than any natural material. His spiritual space between his brows shattered its previous limits and expanded into something approaching a true consciousness realm.
The pain was apocalyptic. The ecstasy was transcendent.
Vaelor threw his head back and screamed silently, every nerve firing simultaneously as mortality burned away and something more took its place.
[Life Level: Peak Mortal → Pseudo-Awakened]
[Status: Still technically LV0, but life essence far exceeds normal parameters]
[Warning: Subject has achieved life level typically impossible for unawakened individuals]
[Classification system inadequate for current existence state]
When the transformation finally stabilized, Vaelor collapsed forward onto his hands, gasping for breath. Sweat poured from his body—except it wasn't normal sweat. It was luminous, filled with expelled impurities and residual transformative energy.
His room looked like a sauna, thick with steam that glowed faintly gold.
After several minutes of recovery, Vaelor managed to sit up and access his status panel.
What he saw made his breath catch.
Status
[Character: Vaelor Draeth]
[Race: Human (Evolved)]
[Age: 17]
[Level: LV0 (Unawakened) - ANOMALY DETECTED]
[Profession: Martial Cultivation God (Mythical)]
[Talent:
Unlimited Amplification (Primordial Origin) Absolute Insight (Divine-Tier) Primordial Inferno Concept (EX-Rank) Infinite Momentum Concept (EX-Rank)]
[Physical Strength: 5,000]
[Strength: 5,000]
[Speed: 5,000]
[Spirit: 5,000]
[Luck: 5]
[Intents:
Fire Intent (Level 9 - Peak) Emberwood Intent (Level 9 - Peak) Plasma Intent (Level 9 - Peak) Kinetic Intent (Level 9 - Peak) Impulse Intent (Level 9 - Peak) Motion Flow Intent (Level 9 - Peak) Spatial Displacement Intent (Level 9 - Peak) Thought Acceleration Intent (Level 9 - Peak) Temporal Flow Intent (Level 6)]
[Laws: LOCKED - Insufficient Life Level]
[Passive Special Essence: Limit Break (10x amplification in normal state, 30x when near death)]
[Active Skills: Phantom Step, Celestial Annihilation, Infinite Velocity]
[Practice Method: Vibrational Force Technique, Primordial Chaos Body Refinement Scripture (EX-Grade) - INCOMPLETE]
[Equipment: Crimson Vambraces (Rare)]
[Free Attribute Points: 0]
[Evaluation: An impossibility given form. Classification system failure. Recommend immediate re-evaluation of fundamental assumptions about cultivation.]
"Five thousand base attributes," Vaelor whispered in disbelief. "Fifty thousand effective strength with Limit Break active."
He was still LV0.
Not even Tier 1 Warrior status.
And he possessed combat capabilities that would make Tier 5 Warriors look like children playing with wooden swords.
"And I've mastered nine different Intents—eight of them to absolute peak level."
The implications were staggering. Most Demigod-tier warriors considered themselves fortunate to master one Intent to Level 5 or 6. Vaelor had nine, with eight maxed completely.
His two EX-Rank talents now represented concepts rather than simple abilities—fundamental forces of the universe that he could manipulate at will.
"This is..."
Vaelor tried to find words and failed completely.
He'd broken the cultivation system. Shattered it beyond recognition.
And he hadn't even officially awakened yet.
A knock at his door made him jump.
"Brother Vaelor?" Lyanna's muffled voice came through. "Are you okay? I heard weird noises and there's steam coming from under your door..."
"I'm fine!" Vaelor called back, his voice slightly hoarse. "Just... took a really hot shower. I'll be out in a minute!"
"Okay... but you're being really weird today."
You have no idea, Vaelor thought as he quickly cleaned himself up and changed clothes.
He still had to meet Seraphine for their duel. Though calling it a "duel" now seemed almost cruel, given the ridiculous power gap.
He'd have to hold back. A freaking lot.
But as Vaelor prepared to leave, he couldn't help glancing at his reflection in the mirror.
His eyes had changed again—now containing flecks of white-gold light that pulsed in rhythm with his heartbeat. His skin seemed to glow faintly from within, as if his Inner Chaos Flame radiated through his very pores.
He looked... transcendent. Otherworldly. Like something that had shed its mortal shell and ascended toward divinity.
"I really need to be more careful about hiding this," he muttered.
Because if anyone—anyone—learned what he'd just accomplished?
The Abyss Cultists would be the least of his problems.