Wait.
Manifestation?
The Authority of Manifestation?
Then—
A bold idea suddenly popped into Aether's mind.
Although he still had no idea what kind of world this actually was, that didn't stop a daring thought from taking shape.
If the Authority of Manifestation could manifest all things in the world—
If what he imagined could truly become reality—
Then… could he manifest a body for himself?
It seemed… possible. Maybe it could actually work!
In ancient times, Nuwa created mankind. Today, I, Aether, will create my own body.
I'll give birth to myself!
Aether began envisioning the appearance of his new body in his mind. First and foremost—
"It has to be handsome!"
Ahem—but being purely handsome felt a little shallow, lacking depth, which would actually make it less appealing.
After all, there was a saying: extremes reverse themselves.
Applied here, that logic still seemed valid.
So the new body couldn't be too handsome. It had to include other elements as well.
Hmm… this body…
Handsome with a hint of elegance, elegance mixed with a touch of refinement, refinement carrying a trace of cuteness, cuteness infused with a bit of dazed innocence, that innocence paired with delicacy, and that delicacy still rich with substance.
A white-haired teenage male body gradually took shape in Aether's imagination.
Next, he added clothing—flowing and ethereal, primarily white, accented with gray, and finished with a touch of pale blue as the final flourish.
In short—beautiful.
"Mm, facial features, physique, clothing… all of that's settled."
"But it still feels like something's missing…"
Aether examined the body he had imagined in his mind. To him, it was already perfect, highly satisfying.
Yet he couldn't shake the feeling that something was lacking.
"Right!"
He suddenly realized what it was.
Power.
This body was too weak. It had no power at all.
The enormous meteor crater he was currently in looked terrifying enough on its own, and he himself possessed the Authority of Manifestation.
Who was to say that others in this world wouldn't have even greater powers?
If he wanted to ensure his own safety, he absolutely needed powerful strength to protect himself.
So how strong should he make himself?
Aether decided to find a reference point.
"At the very least… I should be about as strong as Morax from Genshin Impact, right?"
If he could have that level of power, then establishing himself in this world should—probably—be no problem.
Alright!
Let's do it!
Aether confirmed everything one last time.
Now, he was ready to manifest his body.
Manifest!
"Urgh!"
Pain! So much pain—tearing, ripping pain!
Aether instantly felt as if a massive amount of something was being drawn out of him.
Then, within the enveloping mist, a body began to form.
From an initially pure-white silhouette, it gradually condensed into solidity, almost like a 3D-printing process.
Aether had no idea why it hurt so much.
Most likely, the cost of manifestation was simply too great. But why did it feel like something was being torn apart? Had he damaged his own origin?
As a boy who had only just arrived in this world, Aether naturally didn't understand such things.
All he felt was that he was getting so sleepy… so very sleepy…
"Damn it… I overexerted too much power… I'm about to fall into slumber…"
From the excessive depletion of his strength, Aether felt his consciousness rapidly growing heavy, on the verge of blacking out.
But he still forced himself to hold on.
Within the mist, his true form was a hexagonal crystal—
The Manifestation Crystal.
At the final moment before losing consciousness, Aether guided the Manifestation Crystal with his will, sending it flying toward the body he had just created.
It sank into the body, embedding itself in the heart of the youthful form.
Then, before Aether could even savor the joy of regaining a physical body, he completely passed out from the severe overexertion.
Out in this perilous wilderness,
A young man lay quietly on the ground.
It was practically a gift from nature itself.
All it would take was a single hungry wolf to drag the unconscious Aether away.
Fortunately, no wolf came.
Instead, a streak of golden light flew toward this area.
This place had once been the site of a falling star. When the celestial body crashed into the ground, it had blasted the vast plains into this massive, profound abyss.
Later, the star departed from the land, leaving behind this immense crater.
Earlier, Morax had happened to pass by this region and witnessed a white meteor plunge into the abyss. He had sensed the aura of a kindred existence and decided to come take a look.
"Disperse."
After arriving at the destination, Morax didn't see any white meteor. Instead, he found a mass of white mist at the center of the abyss.
That white meteor from earlier was likely connected to this mist.
With a casual wave of his hand, Morax easily dispersed the white fog using his power.
As the mist fully cleared, a young demon god appeared lying on the ground.
Morax could clearly sense the aura of a demon god emanating from him.
However, it seemed he was currently in some kind of trouble.
"Well then… since I've come across him, I may as well lend a hand."
At this time, Morax was still quite willing to befriend others.
Seeing a fellow being lying unconscious before him, he naturally couldn't just ignore it.
"Has his origin been damaged?"
Morax stepped forward to examine the young man's condition and quickly discovered that his origin had indeed been harmed.
He didn't know what exactly had caused it.
Generally speaking, there were only two reasons for origin damage.
The first was being injured by someone else to the point that one's origin was harmed.
The second was overexerting one's own power, resulting in self-inflicted damage to the origin.
The young man didn't look like he had gone through any battle.
So… he damaged his own origin right after being born?
What a strange demon god…
Didn't he know that overdrawing his origin like this would permanently weaken his strength? If he were to encounter danger out in the wild, what would he do then?
Morax shook his head, not dwelling further on the matter.
Raising one hand, he held it suspended above the youth's body. Streams of golden light flowed down and infused into Aether.
All he could do was replenish the young man's depleted strength and help him awaken.
As for the origin itself, there was nothing he could do.
Something like one's origin could only be repaired by oneself.
Each demon god's origin was different, so even Morax was powerless in this regard.
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