During his time at the academy, Dante realized one important thing — not everyone here came from Eden. As far as he knew, only he and Lina were from that world. Most of the others were natives of this strange and vast world called Velgrath.
Take that brown-red-haired cutie, for example. She said she was from a place called the Frontier. At first, Dante had assumed it was just a country back in Eden he hadn't heard of — but he was dead wrong. The Frontier wasn't a nation. It was an entire region — a wild, untamed land once home to mythical beasts, exiled criminals, alien species, demi-humans, and anything that didn't belong to the New World or the Empire.
Even more shocking was what he learned next: there was a planet literally stuck to the surface of this world, called the Water Planet, entirely covered in ocean. It sounded impossible, unbelievable even, and Dante's curiosity burned. He had to learn more about it.
'But for now… I need to get stronger,' he thought. 'Professor said that to venture outside, you need to at least complete half of your framework and have some basic means of self-defense. So I'll do just that.'
Before entering the Foundation stage, the professor had recommended that everyone train to unlock the power within them. This power came from the gene — a legacy of ancient genetic modifications humanity underwent long ago, performed by the engineers of the Lexmachina Concord with assistance from the gods.
The Lexmachina Concord. The name alone carried mythic weight. Rumors said they could build entire worlds, bend the rules of reality, and perform godlike feats — creating megastructures, controlling weather, terraforming worlds… and rewriting the human genome.
Dante remembered what he saw last night — an underground city hanging from the ceiling of an endless cavern, with another entire city on the floor below. He had seen the horizon stretch endlessly inside that abyss. 'If they can build something like that… of course they can rewrite human genes too.'
When a human unlocked their genes — a process called Awakening — their body and mind transformed. Physically, they would become far stronger, more durable, and quicker — like magical beasts. Mentally, they would awaken new abilities tied to the power of the mind.
There were three basic abilities that every Awakened gained:
Mind Protection: A mental shield that protected them from abilities like mind-reading or mind control. It was the reason Dante could no longer read others' thoughts.
Three Heads, Six Hands: Their enhanced brain function allowed them to control an extra four eyes and four limbs. In his eye it just a trait to enchane brain power, though Dante still wasn't sure what exactly six eye and six hand was for. Their senses were also boosted across the board.
Beast Body: A full-body enhancement that dramatically improved strength, speed, durability — all stats — making the Awakened body stats comparable to low-tier magical beasts.
Back in Eden, Dante had never been able to grow this strong. That was because the Eden realm had forcibly locked everyone's genes, preventing Awakening. Some people, however, had managed to awaken their mind talents despite that. And the response from Eden gorvement was immediate: banishment.
Eden was a perfect utopia. Peaceful. Comfortable. A place where war and survival struggles were unknown. In such a world, exceptional individuals with raw potential were considered dangerous — unneeded. That's why Dante had always felt out of place. His talents were wasted there.
Now that he was out of Eden — already Awakened — he didn't need any resources for now to grow stronger. He just needed training.
That was a gift.
Having power for the first time… it was exhilarating. He liked the way it surged through his body — a raw, flowing energy that made him feel alive.
Beyond the basic abilities, there was something even more precious: Talent.
Talented individuals were rare — though not that rare in a galaxy with billions of people. There were probably tens of thousands of them scattered across the worlds.
Talents were ranked. The higher the rank, the rarer and more valuable the talent.
Dante had an A-tier talent. That was impressive — elite, even — but there was someone in his class with an S-tier talent.
'Is it really that rare?' Dante wondered. 'Why is someone like that even in my class?'
That person had declared openly that he would become a Champion — The most powerful Artificer. With his potential, it didn't sound like an empty boast. Good for him.
Other students were more secretive. Some hid their talents. Others likely didn't have any — like Kaela, or that quirky girl, Solène.
'Especially her… Solène,' he mused. 'She definitely has something. I can feel it — a warm aura when I'm near her, but I have no idea what it is.'
'And Kaela… she looks strong. So how can she not have any talent? Strange. But I guess the professor was right — talent isn't everything.'
Finally, the day came.
Dante returned to the Academy and entered a special meditation chamber, designed specifically for students about to awaken their Foundation.
Following the professor's instructions, he began the process. For those with Talent, the Foundation was seeded inside them. Those without it were given an artificial seed at birth by gorvement — or could buy one, at a monstrous price, if they some how lost their.
The process itself was straightforward: focus on your inner world. Crack open the seed. From it, the Foundation would bloom — like a flower at dawn, unfolding in brilliance. Eventually, the energy would cool and stabilize, forming a solid base.
And that was it.
He was now a Roomborn — someone who had completed their Foundation.
Next came building his Framework, and learning to construct Components — starting with a basic shield component like the one being used in the Arena fight. To build any Component, you needed Essentium.
Essentium was a form of energy generated passively by all living beings — even trees. Artificers could also extract it from Essentium Crystals.
Those crystals could be excavated from deep underground — or, strangely enough, grown on trees.
'Crystals… growing on trees? That doesn't make any sense,' Dante thought. 'Aren't crystals supposed to come from mines?'
Then an idea struck him.
'Wait… what if those trees are dead — like, millions of years old — and got fossilized underground? Maybe that's what they're excavating. That would explain it.'
To build a framework, a Roomborn needed gear, and gear was forged from Essentium Crystals. Without crystals, you couldn't trade for gear. And Dante?
He was broke.
But then, just as he finished forming his Foundation, something strange happened.
A physical mail envelope arrived — no sender, no details, just his name.
His curiosity flared instantly. He tore it open.
'What is this…?'
He had no idea that this letter — this simple, mysterious envelope — was about to change his life forever.