Chapter 24: The New Journey in the New World

The sun shone brightly over Asterion, a world of magic where the Awakener held absolute power.

Within Asterion, several different empires and races lived together in harmony. However, they had not been united from the very beginning. Thousands of years ago, before the world was connected to the ’Ascension Realm’, there used to be a massive, endless confrontations between the different nations. Races actively discriminated against one another in a futile war without end.

The bloodshed lasted for millennia.

Everything changed when the world of Asterion forcefully connected with the Ascension Realm via an interdimensional link.

That was the exact moment the concept of ’Mana’ first appeared in the world. Today, everyone considers mana to be ’life energy’—the source of the magical power they draw from the world. But at the very beginning, it was a terrifying curse planted on Asterion.

It spread like a virus and swallowed the whole world. Normal people had no way of knowing what was happening. They breathed in the air, thinking it was perfectly normal. They didn’t know they were consuming raw, unfiltered mana that was internally destroying their bodies.

As the people inhaled the mana, their normal bodies slowly became more and more frail until they died from the illness. Nowadays, that plague is famous under the name ’Mana-Poisoning’.

For a normal person back then, absorbing mana was an immediate death sentence. As they absorbed mana their lifespans decreased rapidly, and the global population declined at an exponential rate. Every single race suffered from this plague.

But as an ancient proverb once said: When a calamity is born into the world, its solution is born along with it.

Eventually, the first human was born with a body naturally compatible with mana. This human was able to safely absorb and control it, becoming what was known as the First Awakener.

After that, more and more people were born with compatible bodies. The idea that organisms adapt to their new environments was not just a scientific theory; it became a literal ’Law’ of the world, known as the ’Law’ of ’Adaptability’.

As generations passed, Asterion turned into a magical society with mana as its new driving life force.

However, the existence of common people didn’t vanish. Because of the ’Law’ of ’Adaptability’, even those who weren’t born with the compatibility to control mana were still given a chance to survive. These people were called ’Non-Awakener’. Even though they didn’t possess magical power or meet the requirements to climb the Ascension Realm, they were still a vital part of the world.

Among the Non-Awakener, several geniuses were born. They engineered technology and built advanced weapons that could kill even high-ranking Awakener instantly. Because of this, the world respected the common folks, and they were given equal authority to live and govern in society.

With the terrifying manifestation of the ’Ascension Realm’ looming over everyone, the different empires finally stopped fighting. Treaties were discussed because their constant internal wars were leaving them vulnerable to the trials of the realm. A grand alliance was built between the nations.

At first, racial discrimination still lingered. But as time passed, those prejudices faded. People became friendly, found soulmates across different borders, and rebuilt their broken world together.

...

Year 2150. The Human Empire. Vale City, Outer District.

Location: The Gate of Dimensional Link.

A massive whirlpool of mana floated vertically in the air. It emitted an incredibly dense amount of energy. This was a Dimensional Gate, the very portal that linked Asterion to the Ascension Realm. There were many links just like this one scattered in different places all over the world.

Suddenly, a bright light flashed from the whirlpool, and thousands of people began to walk out of it. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

These were Awakener who had entered the different dimensions of the ’Realm of Challenge’. Even though the timeline of their individual trials varied wildly, they were all summoned back to this common drop-point at the exact same time once their respective trials were completed.

A man stood near the gate, dressed in a sharp black suit. His hair was slicked back and graying at the edges.

He was Matthev, the Assistant General of the World Government Association. He was a powerful man holding 1 Orange Star, having successfully conquered Stage 1 of the Ascension Realm. He wasn’t just a powerful fighter; he was a key political figure. The World Government was the largest organization in Asterion, controlling the delicate alliance between the different races.

Usually, a figure of his status wouldn’t be caught dead waiting around a public Dimensional Gate. However, he had been sent by the highest authorities because an ’important’ VIP had gone into the trials. Matthev had been given the personal task of securing that person upon their return.

Finding a single person among a vast, chaotic crowd was difficult, which was why they sent someone with his specific tracking capabilities.

As thousands of exhausted Awakener flooded out of the gate, the area grew incredibly loud. Everyone’s face looked deathly pale. It wasn’t difficult to tell that they had all just barely escaped death’s door. The trials were designed to kill people in the name of Ascension; if someone frail went in, it was nearly impossible for them to survive.

Matthev stood up straight and looked out over the sea of survivors.

He imbued his mana into the artifact resting on the bridge of his nose, which took the form of sleek spectacles. As the mana absorbed into the artifact, his visual senses increased tremendously. His vision zoomed and scanned, searching the crowd for the specific face matching the photograph provided by the Government.

As he searched, he saw different people in horrific conditions. Some had lost limbs, and some had lost their eyes. It was a tragic thing to lose vital organs. If they had reached a high enough Stage, they might get special clearance to be treated by the elite Healers of the World Government. But for most, that was an impossible luxury.

As he scanned through the swarming survivors, his gaze paused on a boy standing near the back.

The boy had striking silver hair and bright blue eyes, and he looked quite young. But what caught Matthev’s attention was that while everyone else was crying, hugging, or limping along with their surviving teammates, this boy stood entirely alone.

’It seems his team died in the trial... What a pity,’ Matthev thought.

But the silver-haired boy didn’t match the description of the person he was looking for, so Matthev quickly turned his gaze away to continue his search.

’Did the VIP the Association mentioned die in the trial? Well, that’s highly possible...’

’I’ll have to notify the Association... but first, I need to check the crowd one more time to confirm.’

On the other side of the courtyard, Alen stepped fully out of the Dimensional Gate and immediately closed his eyes against the bright, glaring light of the sun.

Months had passed since he had last seen natural sunlight in that dark forest, so it took a while for his eyes to adjust.

As he finally opened his eyes and looked at the modern surroundings and the thousands of living, breathing people bustling around him, a massive wave of calmness finally settled deep within his soul.

"Finally.... I can see living people again."