The red horizon stretched endlessly before him, jagged and raw, like the shattered remains of a forgotten world. Marcus—no, Mardust—stood at the edge of a rocky plateau, the dust crunching beneath his boots as he surveyed the barren land. He had been awake for what felt like an eternity, though the System reminded him time was measured differently here. Seconds stretched into hours, and hours into days. Yet, he was alive. And stronger than ever.
Still, the questions burned in his mind.
SYSTEM, REPORT. CURRENT STATUS.
A faint hum filled his skull, a presence that was not voice, not thought, but a collision of both.
HOST STATUS: EXCEPTIONAL.
ENERGY LEVEL: MAXIMIZED.
PHYSICAL CONDITION: SUPERIOR TO EARTH BASELINE.
POWERS DETECTED: GRAVITY MANIPULATION, ENERGY MANIPULATION, MATTER RESTRUCTURING, TEMPORAL AWARENESS—INITIAL STAGE.
Mardust frowned. "Initial stage? That doesn't make sense. I can lift boulders. I can… shift the air like water. I've felt things I can't even describe, yet this system treats me like I'm a beginner?"
HOST EXPERIENCE AND CONTROL NOT FULLY SYNCHRONIZED.
POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR ADVANCED STAGES.
UNLOCKABLE SKILLS REMAIN.
"Unlockable skills? You mean I can… what? Become stronger? Faster? God-level?"
TERMINOLOGY 'GOD' INACCURATE.
HOST POTENTIAL: UNLIMITED WITH SYSTEM MATURATION.
LIMITATIONS EXIST ONLY AS PROGRESSION OBSTACLES.
Mardust clenched his fists. The pulse of raw energy beneath his skin hummed in resonance with the System. "Obstacles, huh? That sounds like a challenge. Tell me—are these obstacles external, like enemies, or internal, like… me?"
INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL.
EXTERNAL OBSTACLES: PLANETARY ENVIRONMENT, HOSTILE SPECIES, COSMIC EVENTS.
INTERNAL OBSTACLES: EMOTIONAL STABILITY, CONTROL OF ENERGETIC OUTPUT, STRATEGIC THINKING, SYSTEM SYNCHRONIZATION.
He exhaled slowly, a mist of red dust swirling in the dry air. "So… my own mind could kill me before the planet does?"
ACCURATE.
SYSTEM RECOMMENDS HOST MEDITATION AND ANALYSIS.
EMOTIONAL CONTROL DIRECTLY INFLUENCES POWER OUTPUT.
Mardust sank to the ground, legs crossed. He closed his eyes and focused. The weight in his chest—the lingering pull of his family, his memories, the lives he had left behind—settled into a manageable rhythm. The System spoke again.
**HOST CONCIOUSNESS STABILIZING.
NEW OBSERVATIONS:
HOST RESPONSE TO STRESS INCORRECTLY LINKED TO ENERGY OUTPUT.
SYSTEM CAN TEACH ADVANCED MANIPULATION OF COSMIC FORCES.
LIMITS OF GRAVITY AND TIME MANIPULATION UNKNOWN.**
"Cosmic forces, huh?" Mardust murmured. His fingers flexed, and a stone in front of him floated lazily, spinning in the dry air. "If I can control gravity, energy, matter, even time… what am I capable of?"
HOST POTENTIAL: UNKNOWN.
SYSTEM RECOMMENDS EXPLORATION.
HOST CAPACITY MAY SURPASS MOST KNOWN INTELLIGENCES.
Mardust laughed softly, the sound echoing across the plateau. "Most known intelligences? That's… terrifying." He stretched his arms, feeling the air vibrate with the power he barely understood. A dust storm swirled around him, yet he did not flinch. He could feel every grain, every shift of wind, every pulse of the planet itself. It responded to him, bending slightly toward his focus.
ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCE DETECTED.
HOST IMPACT ON PLANETARY ECOSYSTEM: MODERATE.
CAUTION ADVISED WHEN EXPERIMENTING.
"Moderate?" Mardust muttered. "That's your definition of moderate? I could flatten continents by accident." He shook his head. "Okay, calm down. One thing at a time."
He closed his eyes again and focused on gravity. A pebble hovered, then a boulder, then a craggy shard of rock the size of a small building. He flexed slightly, feeling the immense strain in his arms, his chest, his spine, but he did not falter. "So, the System is saying my limit is… what? I can become a planet-level threat if I… keep training?"
POTENTIAL: YES.
PREDICTED PROGRESSION: PLANETARY—GALACTIC—UNIVERSAL.
SYSTEM CAUTION: UNCHARTED POWER MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO HOST.
Mardust stood, letting the floating rocks orbit him lazily. "Uncharted power," he repeated. "I could literally be walking a path where no one—not even me—knows the destination."
HOST UNCERTAINTY: EXPECTED.
SYSTEM FUNCTION: GUIDE AND PROVIDE FEEDBACK.
HOST DECISIONS REMAIN PRIMARY.
He took a step forward. One foot. The air shifted. The plateau trembled slightly under the combined force of gravity manipulation and atmospheric control. He looked down at the spinning rocks. "I don't know if I should feel proud or terrified."
EMOTIONAL RESPONSE: MIXED.
SYSTEM RECOMMENDS FOCUS ON MASTERING ONE ABILITY BEFORE MULTI-LAYER SYNCHRONIZATION.
Mardust groaned. "Of course. Baby steps. Just like Mom used to make me when I couldn't lift my own bodyweight in training." He shook his head, smiling faintly at the memory of Caroline's sharp scoldings, the warmth in her eyes behind the discipline.
HUMAN EMOTIONAL RESPONSE DETECTED.
STRONG EMOTIONAL MEMORY INCREASES SYSTEM COMPATIBILITY AND POWER SYNCHRONIZATION.
"Really? So my love, my memories… even my nostalgia… this feeds my power?"
CORRECT. EMOTIONAL ENERGY CAN AMPLIFY COSMIC MANIPULATION.
STRONG BONDS AND STRONG EMOTIONS CREATE NEW ABILITIES WHEN PROPERLY CHANNELLED.
Mardust's eyes softened. "Family… Caroline… the kids… every single one of them… I can't fail them." He clenched his fists. "If the System is right, if I can grow beyond even planetary levels… then I have a responsibility. Not just to survive, but to protect."
HOST PRIORITY SET: PROTECTION OF PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS AND HOST PLANETARY ENVIRONMENT.
SYSTEM NOTES: HOST EXHIBITS STRONG MORAL COMPASS AND LOGICAL REASONING.
He paused, taking in the expanse before him. The jagged rocks, the distant mountains, the red dust swirling into storms… it was alive to him. He could feel the pulse of the planet beneath his feet, the subtle shifts in the crust, the resonance of gravity.
OBSERVATION: HOST POTENTIAL HIGHLY COMPATIBLE WITH PLANETARY MANIPULATION.
CAUTION: HIGH ENERGY OUTPUT COULD DESTABILIZE LOCAL ECOSYSTEMS.
Mardust exhaled slowly, letting the tension leave his body. "All right, System… show me everything. Teach me, guide me… but I will make the choices. I'm not your puppet."
ACCEPTED. SYSTEM WILL PROVIDE GUIDANCE, NOT DECISION.
SUGGESTION: BEGIN TRAINING WITH SMALL SCALE MATTER MANIPULATION, THEN GRAVITY, ENERGY, TIME.
He took a deep breath, letting the alien air fill his lungs. He focused on the small rocks around him. One floated, another followed, then the entire small plateau lifted slightly from the ground, spinning slowly as if the world itself were a toy.
"Good. Baby steps," he muttered. He laughed, louder this time. "God… this is amazing. I don't even know what I can do yet. I could—"
He paused. Power thrummed beneath his skin, more than he had ever felt, and yet… he sensed a barrier. A subtle resistance in his mind, as if the System itself were challenging him to discover something beyond instinct.
RESISTANCE DETECTED.
UNLOCKED SKILLS MAY REQUIRE COGNITIVE AND EMOTIONAL BREAKTHROUGH.
HOST ADVISED TO EXPLORE LIMITS THROUGH PRACTICE AND OBSERVATION.
Mardust shook his head. "All right. Let's explore. Let's see what this planet wants me to do. Let's see… what I want to do."
He began walking. Slowly at first, his boots pressing into the alien soil. Dust swirled with each step. Rocks floated slightly above the ground as he passed, caught in gravitational eddies. A small storm brewed in the distance, responding subtly to his presence.
OBSERVATION: HOST MOVEMENT IMPACTS PLANETARY ENVIRONMENT.
HOST CAPACITY FOR ECOLOGICAL SYNCHRONIZATION UNTESTED.
Mardust chuckled softly. "This place… it's alive. It responds. It's like the planet is waiting… waiting to see what I'll do next." He extended a hand. A shard of red crystal hovered obediently beside him, spinning slowly. He felt its energy, raw and chaotic. "All right… let's see how far we can push this."
He walked across the plateau, stepping over fissures, moving around jagged cliffs, and observing every detail. Wind howled around him, carrying fine particles of dust, and he felt the pull of gravity shift as he focused on each step. With every breath, he realized: this was no longer just survival. This was training.
HOST INSIGHT: PHYSICAL MOVEMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL OBSERVATION ENHANCE POWER SYNCHRONIZATION.
Mardust stopped at the edge of a deep canyon, staring down into the swirling red dust below. "I have… possibilities," he murmured. "Not limits. Possibilities. I can become… something beyond what I ever imagined."
The System pulsed quietly.
CONFIRMED. HOST POTENTIAL IS UNLIMITED. CONTINUE EXPLORATION.
He nodded slowly, lifting a hand to summon a rock the size of a boulder. It hovered in the air effortlessly. "Then let's see… what else I can unlock."
With that, he continued walking. Across plains, through dust storms, around jagged cliffs. He experimented, observed, questioned, and learned. For the first time in five years, Mardust felt truly alive—not as Marcus Hale, not as a missing soldier, but as a being standing at the threshold of godlike power, the Galaxy System whispering, challenging, and guiding him.
Mardust paused at the top of a ridge and looked back at the jagged Martian horizon stretching endlessly. The red sun burned low. Shadows stretched long across the valley below. He inhaled the dry, metallic air deeply.
"This planet…" he whispered. "It's alive. And so am I. Let's see what I'm really made of."
The dust swirled around him. Rocks hovered. Wind obeyed his focus. A distant storm trembled at the edge of the plateau. Mardust lifted his arms, feeling the hum of energy in every fiber of his being.
The System pulsed softly.
HOST READY FOR ADVANCED TRAINING.
BEGIN EXPLORATION OF GRAVITY, ENERGY, MATTER, AND TIME.
Mardust smiled faintly, silver hair glinting in the red sunlight. He turned, and with a calm, measured step, began walking again across the plateau. Each step was deliberate, each motion an experiment, each breath a new lesson.
He was alive. He was powerful. And he was only beginning.