Life energy is a universal concept, but its syntax varies drastically depending on the laws of each dimension. Alpha had learned that Ki was the pressurization of energy for physical destruction. Epsilon understood that Chakra was the volatile fusion of stamina and spirit used to manipulate the elements. But on the Yorbian Continent, life energy was not merely fuel—it was a deep psychological language tied to will, desire, and individuality.
They called it Nen.
To compile the perfect Unified Energy, Jonathan needed this link. He needed energy to stop being a simple projectile and become a flexible extension of the soul itself.
That was the primary directive of Theta, the eighth and final avatar inserted into the multiversal network.
At only eleven years of biological age, Theta stood in the center of a polished stone arena. The roar of thousands of spectators filled the stands, but inside Theta's mind the noise was filtered into a dull, irrelevant hum.
He was on Floor 190 of Heaven's Arena, the largest combat coliseum in the world.
In front of him, a fighter two and a half meters tall, nicknamed The Crusher, lay unconscious on the ground with rolled-back eyes and foam on his lips.
The referee, stunned, raised the flag toward Theta.
"K.O.! Competitor Theta advances to Floor 200!"
Theta did not celebrate. He didn't raise his arms or smile at the audience. He simply turned around and walked toward the corridors. His small body did not bear a single scratch.
He had not used brute force to defeat the giant.
During his climb from Floor 1, Theta had relied only on Beta's vast martial database and Eta's asynchronous footwork. A simple redirection of inertia, a precise touch to the carotid artery at the perfect angle—and the giant collapsed under his own weight.
But Theta knew the real objective was not prize money or fame.
Heaven's Arena was an architectural trap, designed to filter ordinary humans from the superhuman.
Floor 200 was the threshold.
As the elevator carried him upward, the atmosphere changed.
The air became heavy, thick, as if the atmospheric pressure had suddenly increased.
But it wasn't gravity like in Alpha's world.
It was something far more sinister.
It was pure hostility encoded in the air.
The elevator doors opened.
The hallway of Floor 200 lay dimly lit. At the end of the corridor, casually seated in the shadows, was a generic fighter acting as an unofficial "receptionist," radiating palpable bloodlust.
It was the infamous Baptism.
An invisible wall of malicious aura blocked the path.
Theta stepped out of the elevator.
The pressure struck him like a wall of bricks.
Critical Alert (Sage Core):
Extreme bio-psychological pressure detected. The environment is saturated with micro-waves of aggression attacking the sympathetic nervous system directly.
Lexical Analysis of Phenomenon (Nen – Ren):
The hostile user is emitting life energy (Aura) aggressively. User Theta's organic hardware lacks open emission channels and is absorbing this radiation passively.
Risk of psychological and physical mutilation imminent.
Any eleven-year-old child would have retreated in terror.
Or worse—tried to advance and lost limbs in the process.
Theta stopped.
His dark eyes fixed on the empty air ahead, analyzing the structure of the attack.
"Turn around, kid," the fighter said from the shadows, his voice dripping with mockery.
"This floor isn't for martial arts games. Take one more step and you'll shatter."
Theta ignored him completely.
"Sage Core," Theta thought, his mind running under Cognitive Acceleration.
"Analyze the output pathway of this energy. If he can expel it, so can I. Map the topology of my own aura."
Mapping in progress…
Results:
The human body possesses release nodes known locally as Shoko (micropores).
These nodes are currently closed, passively containing life energy.
The external attack is designed to force these nodes open through trauma, causing massive and lethal aura leakage.
"I won't let malicious code format my hard drive," Theta murmured.
Instead of retreating, he closed his eyes and lowered his arms.
He adopted a neutral stance.
He would not be baptized by the brute force of a stranger.
He would compile his awakening himself.
Synthesizing Inter-Dimensional Solution
Step 1: Apply Total Concentration Breathing (Gamma) to hyper-oxygenate cells and increase internal aura volume.
Step 2: Use Ki Pressurization (Alpha) to push energy outward from the pores, countering external pressure.
Step 3: Execute Chakra Retention (Epsilon) to form a thin surface layer around the epidermis to prevent aura evaporation.
Theta inhaled.
The air in the corridor seemed to whistle.
The fighter in the shadows frowned, sensing something strange.
Suddenly, the malicious aura flooding the hallway seemed to collide with an immovable rock in the middle of a river.
Theta forced the opening of his Shoko from the inside.
There were no screams.
No dramatic explosions.
The process was clinical, silent, and absolutely perfect.
A soft, dense white light began to emanate from the small body of the child. It wrapped around him like a calm cocoon of life energy.
He had decoded and executed Ten—the Nen technique of aura containment—
in less than five seconds.
The oppressive pressure vanished, washed away by the tranquil stability of Theta's aura.
Theta opened his eyes.
They now shone with a terrifying clarity.
And he began walking down the corridor.
He passed through the barrier of malice as if strolling through a park.
The hostile fighter's mouth fell open. He instinctively pressed himself against the wall, his own aura flickering under the weight of the child's perfect control.
Theta walked past him without even glancing his way.
He approached the registration counter.
"Competitor Theta. I'm here to register for Floor 200."
His voice was neutral as he placed his plate on the desk.
Several meters behind him, hidden in the intersection of another corridor, a young woman with pink hair and cold eyes silently observed the scene.
It was Machi Komacine, a member of the Phantom Troupe, visiting the arena for financial reasons.
Machi was an expert in transmutation and invisible threads.
Out of boredom, she had stretched an incredibly thin Nen thread across the hallway at the height of Theta's neck—a thread so fine it was impossible to see without advanced techniques like Gyo.
She wanted to see if the prodigy who had awakened Nen so unnaturally would survive the trap…
or accidentally decapitate himself.
Theta finished registering and turned toward his room.
He started walking.
Machi crossed her arms and waited.
Intrusion Alert (Sage Core):
Structural anomaly detected along trajectory. Hyper-compressed energy filament located at 145 cm height.
Synchronizing with Instance Eta (Observation Haki):
Source intention classified as lethal curiosity. No active attack—static trap.
Theta did not stop.
He did not slow down.
He did not concentrate aura in his eyes to reveal the thread.
Instead—
One millisecond before the invisible thread touched his throat—
Theta tilted his neck 1.2 millimeters to the left.
The thread sliced harmlessly through empty air beside his skin.
Machi's eyes widened.
Her normally stoic expression cracked for a fraction of a second.
The boy had not reacted with fear.
He had not tried to destroy the thread.
He had simply ignored it with mathematical precision.
Theta reached the door of his room and swiped the magnetic card.
Before entering, he slightly turned his head toward the dark intersection where Machi stood hidden.
He did not smile.
He did not threaten.
He gave a barely perceptible nod.
A silent greeting.
Predator to predator.
Then the door closed behind him.
Machi remained in the corridor, retracting her thread slowly.
A strange chill ran down her spine.
That boy was not normal.
His aura was not the impulsive force of youth nor the bloodlust of a killer.
It felt like an ancient, perfect machine wrapped in the skin of an eleven-year-old child.
Theta… she thought, memorizing the name.
In her chaotic and violent world, encountering something so perfectly ordered was both unsettling…
and strangely fascinating.
Inside his room, Theta sat on the floor and crossed his legs.
"Sage Core," he murmured.
"The compilation of variables is complete."
"We have Ki for explosive force.
Chakra for elemental manipulation.
Falna for structural quantification.
Magic for atmospheric control.
Haki for the imposition of Will.
And now Nen for the malleability of the soul and logical restrictions."
Affirmative.
The data repository has reached critical mass.
Preparing Major Synchronization Event.
All avatars will be drawn into the Asynchronous Dreamspace for the final assembly phase.
Warning: The fusion of these six primordial energies will generate the base code of Unified Energy.
Each avatar's hardware will undergo a drastic evolutionary leap.
Theta closed his eyes, maintaining perfect Ten.
The Architect, fragmented across space and time, finally held all the pieces of the board.
The real game…
was about to begin.