The transition from the cool, pressurized air of Professor Thorne's lecture hall to the humid, industrial corridors of the Academy's lower levels felt like stepping from a sanctuary into a furnace. As Roman walked, his mind wasn't on the whispers of his classmates or the looming shadow of Brent Carter. Instead, he was mentally auditing his own skeletal structure.
The Star Cultivation Manual was unlike any technique found on Terra. While the standard manuals—the Fire Drake Scripture or the Wind Wyvern Path and many other cultivation techniques that are centered on bloodlines—focused on expanding the volume of spiritual energy a cultivator could hold, the Star Manual focused on Density. It treated the human body not as a tank to be filled, but as a star to be collapsed.
I'm at Stage 1 Bone Refining, Roman thought, his eyes narrowing as he watched a maintenance drone spark fitfully in the ceiling. In the Normal Class, that's average. For an Elite, it's the baseline. But my bones aren't just harder; they're becoming conductive.
He knew he had reached a bottleneck. To move to Stage 2, he needed more than just ambient energy; he needed a "System Shock." On Terra, students used Profoundrank Bone-Strengthening Serums—expensive, chemically synthesized liquids. But the Star Manual suggested a different path: high-frequency friction. He needed his blood to boil against his bones to temper them.
I need a catalyst, he realized. And I need it before Brent finds a way to move our 'family matter' into an unmonitored zone.
His musings were cut short as he reached the Practical Combat Hall. Unlike the Elite tiers, which utilized high-fidelity virtual reality pods that simulated pain without real injury, the Normal Class used the "Physical pits." It was a massive, circular arena of reinforced concrete and energy-dampening fields, smelling of old sweat and ionized air.
The instructor for this session was Sergeant Vane, a man who looked like he had been stitched together from spare parts. He had a cybernetic arm that whirred with every movement and a scarred face that suggested he had spent more time in the Forbidden Zones than in a classroom.
"Form up, trash!" Vane roared, his voice amplified by a throat-implant. "Today isn't about form. It's about resistance. You'll be paired up. No bloodline abilities allowed—this is pure physical 'Flesh and Bone' conditioning. If I see a single spark or a gust of wind, I'll personally throw you out of the Spire."
Roman's heart skipped a beat. A physical-only spar was exactly what he needed for his foundation, but it was also a death trap.
"Roman Carter," Vane barked, glancing at his tablet. "Since you're so fond of 'surviving' cliffs, you'll spar with Kaelen Jax."
The class went quiet. Kaelen Jax wasn't an Elite, but he was the "King of the Normals." He didn't have a bloodline, but he was a high-tier Ability User specializing in KineticEnhancement. His body was a refined engine of Stage 3 Flesh Refining, and he was known for his brutal, uncompromising style.
Roman stepped into the ring. Kaelen stood opposite him, a mountain of lean muscle with buzzed hair and knuckles calloused from hitting steel plates.
"Nothing personal, Carter," Kaelen said, his voice a low rumble. "But a Level 2 shouldn't have been talking about supernovas in Thorne's class. It gives people false hope."
Kaelen moved faster than Roman's current Stage 1 eyes could fully track. A heavy, kinetic-charged fist slammed into Roman's ribs.
Crack.
Roman gasped, the air leaving his lungs as he was sent skidding across the concrete. The pain was white-hot, but deep in his marrow, the Star Cultivation Manual flared to life. The vibration of the impact was being absorbed by his bones, turning the kinetic energy into a refining heat.
"Stand up," Kaelen commanded, stepping forward.
Roman pushed himself up, his face a mask of neutral calm. He could feel a trickle of heat running down his chest. His ribs weren't just bruised; the skin had broken. He reached up, his fingers brushing against a hidden object beneath his uniform—a small, soot-blackened necklace he had worn since he woke up in this world. It was a relic from the original Roman's mother, a cheap "Mortal-rank" trinket that Damien had refused to sell even in their darkest hours.
As his blood—rich with the residual Earth-rank potion—smeared across the cold metal of the pendant, something happened that the Academy's sensors couldn't detect.
The necklace didn't just get wet. It drank.
Roman felt a sudden, violent suction. The necklace wasn't just taking his blood; it was pulling the excess "Lightning" energy from his veins, acting as a secondary processor. For a split second, his forest-green eyes flickered, the white dots within them spinning at a manic speed.
"More," a voice—not his own, but an echo of the stars—whispered in his mind.
Kaelen lunged again, a roundhouse kick aimed at Roman's temple. This time, Roman didn't just brace for impact. He leaned into it.
The kick landed on his shoulder with the force of a falling crane. Roman felt the bone fracture, but instead of collapsing, he grabbed Kaelen's leg. The necklace against his chest grew searingly hot, vibrating at a frequency that matched the "Cosmic Frequency" he had discussed with Thorne.
"My turn," Roman whispered.
He didn't use a bloodline ability. He didn't manifest a spark. He simply released the kinetic energy the necklace had filtered back into his fist.
The punch hit Kaelen in the center of his chest. There was no explosion, just a dull thud, followed by the sound of Kaelen being launched twenty feet backward, his kinetic shield shattering like glass.
The arena fell into a vacuum of silence. Roman stood in the center of the ring, his shoulder hanging at an odd angle, blood dripping from his chest onto the hidden, glowing pendant. He looked broken, beaten, and weak—the perfect low-key victim.
But inside, his marrow was singing. The necklace had processed the trauma, and he could feel his foundation clicking into Stage 2: Bone Hardening.
Sergeant Vane stared at the "Level 2" boy, his cybernetic eye whirring as it tried to calculate how a Stage 1 student had just floored a Stage 3 Kinetic user without using a single watt of energy.
Roman simply wiped the blood from his lip and bowed slightly. "Thank you for the lesson, Kaelen."
As he walked toward the locker rooms, the necklace went cold against his skin again, becoming once more a silent, soot-covered trinket. But Roman knew the truth. He wasn't just a vessel anymore. He had found his catalyst