Nova stared at the door with a confused look on his face. His hair was messy, and he felt a bit curious about what had happened. It wasn't the first time Miyu had done something like this, but it was always strange.
"...?"
He heard a couple of flaps beside him and looked in that direction, finding Poki. The little animal smiled at him as he glanced back and forth between him and the door. It seemed like the reptile was trying to communicate something.
"What? Do you want to tell me something? Even if you do, you know I don't speak the Ryutanin language."
Poki shook in disappointment, as if only it understood what had just happened.
Nova rolled his eyes and went back to sit down.
"You're just as weird as my uncle."
Then he stared at the chair in silence.
'Well, there's no one else here. And it's always so quiet when no one else is around...'
He closed his eyes and allowed himself to rest.
'It's like the battlefields in the Calem mountain ranges.'
This time there were only thoughts. Well, Nova isn't a person who is used to talking much, so he thinks most things instead of saying them. It's a small flaw he's had since he was a child.
He never spoke more than necessary. Usually, when he is surrounded by people, he is forced to talk, but that does not make him antisocial, as he has always been a man who says what needs to be said when it needs to be said. However, because of this, some people consider him strange, although that never bothered him.
All humans are strange in their own way. From those who have Anger as their Spectrum to those who use Serenity as a weapon.
No one in this world is normal, and that's not necessarily a bad thing.
When he opened his eyes, he looked at the yellow sun radiating its glorious life-giving light above the green leaves of the trees dancing to the rhythm of the wind's song. It was a very everyday scene for Nova, as he was no longer surprised by the beauty of his world.
'Okay. Time for a quick check.'
This was the interesting part.
When he concentrated hard enough, looking at the landscape outside, a faint black glow formed in front of his face. Immediately afterwards, an ethereal rectangle appeared, displaying words in the current language of humanity.
'I finally learned it. Personal Information.'
Personal Information is a skill that Faction Masters teach their recruits so that they can keep an effective and orderly count of their own skills. It works perfectly because the skill uses the person's memories and experiences to catalog the information in a floating window.
The window displayed the following:
[
—Name: Nova Asmodai.
—Age: 21 chronological years.
—Rank: Seventh Level Empath.
—Spectrum: Serenity.
—Spectrum Skill:
Attenuate: Ability to greatly diminish the impact of the other seven emotions in the Emotional Spectrum. It is considered a passive ability.
Spectrum Enhancement: Ability to amplify Spectrum and Physical abilities for both other people and the user themselves.
Fluctuation of Serenity: Ability to imbue Serenity in other people. It has the effect of calming the Specters of others. It also grants some understanding of the target's emotions.
—Calem Energy Control:
Low control of Calem energy.
Medium manipulation of the Plantae Kingdom.
Low resistance to status effects.
—Personal Skills:
Martial Arts (Basic)
Knowledge of Botany (Advanced)
]
Nova, bored, reclined his head on the back of the sofa.
'Huh. This thing is still the same.'
Everything the skill showed was stuff Nova already knew.
He learned all that over the years. However, unlike Calem energy control, which are based on manipulating the planet's energy, Spectrum skills which appear over time based on a person's experiences, not something that is learned as such.
In total, there are eight branches of the Emotional Spectrum. Each branch descends from a primitive emotion: Ecstasy, Admiration, Terror, Amazement, Grief, Loathing, Rage, and Vigilance.
Each branch has its secondary and tertiary emotions. And between the primary emotions are the intermediate emotions that arise from the combination of the primary emotions.
Serenity, the Spectrum of Nova, is the third emotion of the Ecstasy branch after Joy.
As such, the entire branch of Ecstasy is extremely rare in humans. The same is true of the branch of Loathing. This is because it is very uncommon for a human to feel these emotions in the first decade of their life. By that time, another emotion may have taken over.
'It's still not a big deal, but if I keep this up, I'll soon become a Sixth Level Empath.'
He smiled slightly, proud of himself.
'Three years fly by. There's a big difference between being Tenth Level and Seventh Level...'
He had worked hard for the last three years for this. He started in the Dimension faction at age 18 as a Tenth Level Empath, and now he was in his uncle Viktor's rising faction as a Seventh Level Empath.
'If I want to climb even higher, I just need to work harder.'
Hard work makes the man, and Nova works hard.
"Hm?"
Because he was so distracted looking at the ethereal window, he barely noticed the weight on his lap.
"Poki?"
It was that little winged reptile, who had fallen asleep there.
Seeing how adorable his reptilian friend was, Nova scratched the scales on its head with a slight smile.
Poki smiled, snuggling closer.
"You sleep a lot, Poki. Let's go home."
Getting up from the sofa, he carried Poki as if it were a baby and left the room. The ethereal window vanished into thin air afterwards.
***
Later, he walked through the busy streets of this city covered in nature. Cars moved in an orderly way through intersections, and civilians chatted with each other as they swarmed toward their destinations.
Each person looked different in their own way. Some had colorful, feathered wings tucked behind their backs so as not to bother others, while others had ears and tails of different types, sizes, and colors. Most, however, were ordinary humans with no special conditions.
Nova greatly enjoys the diversity of this continent—its sights and its people. He was born and raised here. How could he not love such a beautiful and peaceful home?
This peace, aside from the Dimensional Portals and Aberrations, is something he cherishes with all his being. Since he had a very turbulent life and childhood, these small parts of life are precious.
Several hours had passed since noon. The sky began to turn crimson, staining the roofs and rooftops of buildings with its mysterious hue.
The clouds take on random shapes in the sky that sometimes coincide with things that exist in real life. The giant birds flying across the skies made it seem as if the day was finally being covered by the blanket of inevitable night.
With Poki back home, this boy could finally reunite with his friends in Lux Valley.
As for that specific place: Lux Valley is the most famous bar and restaurant in Luminaris, the capital of the country of Nemoria on the continent of Calem, where the asteroid crashed more than a thousand years ago. Many wealthy people and some well-known Empaths often gather there.
Nova heads to that place.
'Hm... Where do you get those stickers?'
He looked amused as he walked down the sidewalk, looking at the communicator in his hand. Miyu's messages were pouring down like torrential rain in the group chat. Repeated sounds of drops bounced off the speaker.
MiyuMiyu:
[Where are you guys?]
[I'm going to die of loneliness...]
[Nova? Are you still alive?]
[Elara!]
[*Sticker of Poki impatiently biting its tail*]
Nova Asmodai:
[I'm on my way.]
[Anyway, why did you arrive so early?]
[*Sticker of Poki with a question mark above its head*]
Ellie:
[I'm going to be a little late. Sorry. Start without me.]
MiyuMiyu:
[Hurry up!]
[Some weird guys want to hit on me!]
[It's getting hard to get rid of them!]
[*Sticker of Nova with a poker face*]
'Seriously... Where do you get these stickers?' he thought, making an uncomfortable face.
Nova couldn't remember anyone ever taking a photo of him where he looked less than physically attractive.
To hurry up, he put the communicator in the pocket of his dark trench coat and jumped to land on top of a traffic light, then jumped again and reached the roof of a two-story store.
'Let's see how long it takes me to get there this time.'
He ran as fast as his legs would carry him, jumping between buildings as night colored the scene alongside the beautiful light of the full moon breaking through the silvery clouds.
***
The Lux Valley is always crowded. It is a large three-story establishment that stretches from one corner of the street to a quarter of the block. It was made of black bricks, with flowering trees on the sidewalks. The three large doors on the first floor were open, revealing dozens of tables filled with people of all kinds inside.
At the entrance, three people dressed in black uniforms guarded the establishment.
One of them was a burly man with two large pointed horns on his head and a gold ring in his nose. He was the man guarding the central door.
On either side were two men who looked very similar in appearance; twins, surely. Both had blond, tousled, very long hair. Both had thin ponytails with messy hair at the ends.
Their eyes showed an unnatural ferocity.
'Just look at that. The cave of drunk people.'
It is. Is a place like that bad? Come on, people gather in bars to hang out and escape their busy, stressful lives. It can't just be a 'cave' of drunk people.
If anything, Nova would be just like those drunk people.
Anyway. The boy approached the central door after seeing the sign on the street. The place was crowded, certainly, but those with a powerful reservation could skip the line.
The man with the horns looked at Nova and recognized him immediately.
"Oh, boy. How are you? Do you have your reservation?"
He was very friendly despite his large stature and face that looked like he wanted to hit something at any moment.
"Miyu Hoshino is already inside. She's supposed to be the one with the reservation."
"Oh, of course, that loud girl. You're right. Come on in and have fun."
"Sure. Thanks, man."
Due to the intimidating man's unnatural friendliness, Nova felt relaxed.
He had been to this place many times before. From time to time, he would meet up with his friends to celebrate and have a good time.
The interior of the place was very large. The interior walls were made of dark, round stones with various patterns that matched well with the yellow color of the columns. The ceramic floor shone white, and the tables and chairs that stretched along it contrasted the whiteness of the floor with the black color of the Dark Tree wood.
As expected, the place was crowded with diverse people, but there was an empty table in the back.
As soon as he entered, someone appeared and grabbed his hand tightly. It was Miyu, obviously.
"You took too long, Nova. I was about to get drunk all by myself."
She complained with her cheeks puffed out. It made her look like one of those extinct animals that used to store nuts for winter. Her clothes were the same as before, but in inverted colors.
"Getting drunk all by yourself? How sad..."
"It's even sadder that you're late."
Nova sighed inwardly. Trying to win an argument against a woman would be like finding a Category 0 Aberration in the corner of the bathroom. It was theoretically impossible.
Besides, he glanced at the time on his communicator. It was seven o'clock, damn it! That was the agreed time! Nova is always on time, and if he's not on time, it's because something probably killed him.
But apparently, Miyu doesn't care.
'I don't want to be so childish. I'll let it go.'
Says the guy who scratched his friend's face with a marker, as revenge.
People weren't wrong when they said Nova is weird. He is. Very much so. He almost always seems extremely calm. Even if someone is torn to pieces in front of his eyes, he will remain cold and serene as always. That was the flaw in the emotion that dominates his heart.
Although Nova's Spectrum is Serenity, which leads him to always be calm, he was also capable of feeling other emotions to a lesser extent, although he learned this over time. That's what made this guy so strange. Something that would be very funny or tragic for someone else would be no big deal for Nova.
He was dragged to one of the tables and forced by Miyu to sit down. The feline girl also sat down, in the chair next to Nova's.
'God. What a fierce woman.'
"Okay. Now we just need Elara. Shall we order something until she arrives?"
'And as always, her mood is as changeable as the weather,' he thought, too tired to run away, too calm to complain.
"Well, I'll have a Dark Flame, how about you?" said Nova, with all the confidence of a guy who knows how to drink alcohol.
Miyu bit her finger with her fangs as she looked at the card the waiters had left on the table, then decided with a relaxed smile.
"I'll have a Scarlet Flower. I'd order the same as you, but the Dark Flare is too much for me."
"Okay, I guess."
A few minutes later, Elara arrived in a bit of a hurry, as she was running late. What stood out most about her arrival was her outfit. She wore a long, elegant black dress with a low neckline, with a white coat over it to cover the neckline.
She also wore heels, which made her even taller.
Elara is the tallest member of the team, and also the most gifted. With her blonde hair elegantly tied back, she looked like one of those princesses from ancient tales. Her mere presence attracted the attention of many people in the restaurant.
"Show-off," Miyu muttered when she saw her friend arrive.
But she was the one who told Elara to bring nice clothes. Elara was simply dusting off a dress she had in her closet.
Nova raised his eyebrows slightly.
'Wow. She looks great. Approved.'
Putting aside that slightly out-of-place thought from a very strange guy, Elara took a chair and sat down while apologizing.
"Good evening. I'm a little late. Sorry. I had to drop my sister off at home after picking her up from school."
Miyu shook her head, swallowing her envy. Nova noticed that, but decided to ignore it, hoping the cat girl wouldn't notice his gaze.
"It's okay. I'm sure you were busy with your family. It's normal. Don't be embarrassed about being a little late," said Miyu.
A vein bulged in Nova's forehead. What this cat girl was saying made no sense at all.
'What...? What about me?! Can't I be late or early?!'
Women. Even after the impact, they remain a mystery.