Silas stood there, smiling confidently at his opponent. Then, without a word, he raised his hand and made a grabbing motion in the air. Meanwhile, Jerek stood frozen. His eyes widened in disbelief at what he had just witnessed, and a pained grunt escaped his mouth.
"Arrgh!"
"I caught you, Jerek. Now take this!" Silas shouted, before charging forward and landing a powerful punch straight into Jerek's face. Blood and teeth flew from Jerek's mouth as he was sent flying, a deep impact mark left where the blow landed.
The commentator saw it unfold and shouted loudly into the mic, voice echoing across the arena.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Jerek got caught right there—the match is overrrr!"
The sound of the referee's whistle blared through the stadium, officially announcing the end of the match.
The crowd erupted into cheers, clapping their hands with excitement. The audience was thrilled.
Among them, a young man named Dante clapped with equal enthusiasm, stars practically sparkling in his eyes.
'Oh, how curious. How did Silas catch Jerek like that? I want to know more about it. This is interesting.'
He was so engrossed in the match that by the time he left the arena and began walking home, he hadn't even noticed that the sky had turned dark. And even then, his mind was still replaying the scene over and over—until he felt something was... off.
Elsewhere, far from the arena but still within the vast city of Tessarune—deep underground...
In a quiet office, an old man sat at his desk, holding a clipboard with a sheet of paper. At the top was a name: Dante Karling.
"Dante Karling... 17 years old, just arrived here 26 hours ago. Is it him this time?" he muttered to himself. "Now I must carry out the mission. Damn, these missions take forever..."
He reached behind, pulled open a drawer, took out a set of keys, and left.
Back to Dante.
He was lost.
"I can't believe this... I got lost? Really?" he muttered in frustration.
"Ughhh, damn it! Where's my dorm? I remember it being this way... what the heck??"
Unwilling to accept that he was lost, he kept walking in circles, retracing his steps repeatedly for nearly ten minutes—until finally, he spotted someone in the distance.
"Oh, I've seen that guy before... he must be in my class. Uh... what was his name again? I forgot. The tall guy... yeah. If I follow him, I'm sure I'll get back to the dorm."
But instead of heading to the dorms, the tall student—Orrian—turned down a narrow passage leading underground. Dante hesitated.
'A passage underground?'
He felt disappointed but didn't want to embarrass himself by calling out. He was shy, and part of him wanted to prove he could find his way on his own. He watched as Orrian stepped into an elevator and vanished below.
'An elevator that goes... underground?'
Dante looked around and found a nearby elevator. Curious and slightly desperate, he stepped in. Before him were over a hundred buttons—labeled 1 to 99.
He froze, confused.
'What? What am I supposed to press?'
After a moment of hesitation, he pressed the number 20—his birthday. It felt like a harmless number. Surely nothing bad could happen...
The elevator began its descent. As it moved, he noticed something strange: this elevator had a window. He turned and looked out—and what he saw left him speechless.
Hanging from the cavern ceiling was a colossal, modern city suspended upside down. Buildings plunged downward into open air like stalactites. Neon signs and glowing digital glyphs danced across mirrored glass facades. Bullet-rail transit lines weaved between the skyscrapers, some clinging to physical rails, others floating on magnetic or arcane fields. Drones buzzed past cafés nestled on narrow platforms. Roads spiraled along the outer walls like glowing veins. And the hum of movement was unending.
Dante stared, wide-eyed.
'I... I can't believe this. So the medieval-style town above... was a lie?'
The elevator came to a smooth stop at floor 20—or was it -20? It didn't matter. Dante was overwhelmed.
'That's enough for today. Too much information... I need to rest.'
He pressed the 0 button and rode the elevator back up. When he stepped out of the underground tunnel, he miraculously stumbled upon the path back to his dorm—without knowing how. He made it home and slept deeply that night, dreams filled with upside-down cities and glowing glyphs.
A few days later, after orientation and settling in, the students were finally introduced to the process of Foundation opening.
To reach the Foundation stage, one had to enter a deep meditative state and ignite their inner dimension—essentially "burning" a portion of life energy to activate their inner world. This process required immense mental discipline, or else it could result in premature aging, fatigue, or even permanent vitality loss.
However, those born with awakened talents found the process easier. Their talent served as a seed, a core that could be nurtured and evolved.
For Dante, his talent was finally revealed.
Thought Echo—a unique-grade, Tier A talent. Its awakening granted him the ability to read minds of non-awakened beings, sense intent and emotion, and project or edit mental signals. With use, it could evolve to develop constructs such as mental familiars, mind layers.
The professor, Thamus, guided each student using specific mental cues to help identify their talent. Dante's signs were clear:
'I can hear the surface thoughts of those nearby.'
'I can sense emotional states... their motivations too.'
With this understanding, Dante began nurturing his seed—his talent—through daily meditation and training. However, he couldn't see the current state of the seed directly. Only the academy's scanner could reveal its current growth stage. Beyond that, it was up to him to feel and nurture it into a proper Foundation.
Physical training was also mandatory. A weak body couldn't support a powerful mind. Students trained daily to strengthen their physique.
Dante quickly felt the difference.
"The world you came from—Eden—puts limiters on your true self," Professor Thamus explained one day. "But here, those limits are removed. Your body and mind can evolve... though they still need systems and resources to go further."
Now, Dante could lift 70kg with one hand—something unthinkable in the previous world. And after just a month of training?
He could lift 300kg with ease.
'Man, this is insane... I can't believe I did this. Maybe what the professor said is true. I still have so much to learn.'
According to history, humans started from nothing 3,000 years ago in this magical world. Surrounded by mythical beasts, they were forced to evolve—genetically, mentally, and spiritually. Only the strong survived, shaping humanity into the dominant species.
Now, Dante had finally reached the day he would enter the next stage: Foundation.
The Foundation wasn't the end goal—just the beginning. A platform. A core.
The real magic would come during Framework Building Period and beyond.
And Dante was ready to begin.