The world as humanity once knew it had withered away during the event now whispered as the "Great Pulse." In its place, a new, primal hierarchy had sprouted from the ruins of civilization. The laws of physics, once thought to be immutable, were rewritten by the arrival of the Aura Fruits—mystical, pulsing flora that held the very essence of the universe within their vibrant rinds. To eat one was to gamble with the soul; one could become an 'Awakened,' a god-like being of immense power, or remain a 'Dreg,' destined to serve in the shadows of the strong.
In the outskirts of the remote village of Oakhaven, the annual Fruit Selection was underway. It was a day of desperate hope and crushing heartbreak.
"Look at this, Lloren! My father spent three years of savings at the capital's auction for this!" Elvis, the son of the village chief, held up a glowing, violet plum that radiated a faint, humming pressure. "It's a B-Tier Gravity Plum. By tonight, I'll be able to crush stones with a thought. What do you have? Still looking for scraps in the dirt, you little Dreg?"
Five-year-old Lloren Lor didn't look up. He was a quiet child, far removed from the petty rivalries of his peers. His eyes were always fixed on the subtle movements of the world—the way a leaf shivered before the wind hit it, or the rhythmic thrum of the river against the rocks. While the other children clamored around the expensive, glowing fruits brought by merchants, Lloren felt drawn to the silence of the Forbidden Thickets at the edge of the village.
"Lloren, wait for me!" a soft, melodic voice called out.
It was Lin, a girl with eyes as bright as the morning dew and the only person who didn't mock Lloren's obsession with the "worthless" parts of the forest.
"I found something," Lloren whispered, parting a cluster of thorny, grey vines that seemed to hiss as they were moved.
Deep within the shadows sat a fruit that defied all logic of the Aura hierarchy. It wasn't glowing. It wasn't beautiful. It was a dull, leaden sphere, about the size of a fist, with a surface that looked like cracked, weathered stone. But as Lloren reached out, he felt it. The air around the fruit wasn't still; it was shivering. A low, tectonic hum vibrated through the soles of his feet, reaching into his very marrow.
"It looks... dead," Lin said, a shiver running down her spine. "Lloren, don't. The village elder said the dull ones are poisonous. They're called 'Cursed Seeds.' You'll die if you eat that!"
Lloren didn't listen. A strange, irresistible resonance was pulling at him. It felt as if his heart was trying to match the rhythm of the fruit. He picked it up—it was surprisingly heavy, like holding a piece of a fallen star—and took a massive bite.
The taste was atrocious. It wasn't sweet like the Gravity Plum; it was bitter, metallic, and freezing cold, like swallowing a mouthful of rusted needles.
"Lloren!" Lin cried out as the boy collapsed to his knees, clutching his throat.
For a moment, his entire body was being torn apart at a molecular level. His vision blurred into a jagged mess of lines and frequencies. He didn't erupt in flames like the legendary Fire-Users, nor did he float like the Wind-Walkers. To the outside world, he simply looked like a boy shivering violently in the dirt.
Within his consciousness, the world shattered. He saw the "song" of the universe—the vibration of every atom. The tree was a low bass; the wind was a high-pitched flute. And he... he was the conductor.
"Are you okay? Do you feel any power?" Lin asked, her voice trembling with worry as the violent shaking subsided into a microscopic thrum beneath Lloren's skin.
Lloren stood up slowly. He felt... heavy, yet incredibly light. The world no longer looked solid to him. He could see the vibration in everything. He reached out and placed his small, trembling hand against a massive, moss-covered boulder that had sat in the thicket for centuries.
Find the frequency, a voice in his mind whispered.
Lloren didn't push. He didn't punch. He simply let the vibration in his hand synchronize with the internal rhythm of the stone. He felt the exact point where the stone's molecular bonds were held together. And then, he increased the frequency.
"SHHHH—"
There was no explosion. No loud crack. In a terrifying display of absolute silence, the massive boulder simply dissolved. It turned into a cloud of fine, grey dust that drifted away on the breeze, leaving nothing behind but a circular indentation in the dirt.
Lin gasped, her hands flying to her mouth in shock. "Lloren... what did you do? The rock... it's just gone!"
Lloren looked at his palm, which was still humming with a faint, silver light. He realized then that he hadn't just gained a power. He had gained the key to the foundation of reality itself. In a world obsessed with flashy flames and roaring thunder, the Master of Vibration had quietly awakened.
As the sun set over Oakhaven, the village was busy celebrating Elvis's new gravity powers. No one noticed the small boy in the thicket who had just unraveled the very laws of nature. Lloren Lor looked at the dust on his hands and made a silent vow. He wouldn't be a Dreg. He wouldn't even be an Awakened. He would be the Sovereign.
"The world is just a song, Lin," Lloren said, his voice sounding deeper, echoing with a strange resonance. "And I've just learned how to change the lyrics."