Chapter 1 – Sparks in the Morning
I wake before the bells.
The palace always exhales at dawn. Mana channels slow their circulation, layered wards loosen their grip, and the constant pressure that presses against the world eases—just enough for clear thought.
That is why I prefer this hour.
Bare feet touch cool stone as I slip from my room into the inner gardens, careful to avoid the servants' routes. The hedges are trimmed into obedient shapes, fountains hum softly with circulating arrays, and everything smells of polish and order.
I am four years old.
That is what everyone believes.
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How Mana Feels
Mana is not light.
It does not glow unless someone forces it to.
Mana is **pressure**—a presence that fills the world the way water fills the sea. Every living being exists *inside* it. No one creates mana. They only draw it, shape it, and pay the cost for doing so.
Most people do not feel mana until awakening.
I feel it constantly.
When I breathe, it presses gently against my lungs.
When I focus, it tightens—like the world waiting for a decision.
That is how I know the priests are wrong.
Mana does not wait for permission.
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• Aethernox
The world is called Aethernox
It is not divided by borders or flags, but by how mana behaves.
Eastern Continent – Valoris (Humans)
Humans are fragile individually. We survive by building systems—laws, ranks, and institutions—to restrain power before it devours us.
Valoris is a continent of order.
That order is fear, carefully disguised.
Northern Continent – Glacieryn (Elvarin)
The Elvarin are born with crystallized mana cores. Cold is not an environment to them—it is structure. Ice remembers their will.
Verdant Expanse – Sylvaris (Sylvari)
Life and mana are the same system here. The Sylvari do not command nature. They negotiate with it—and pay in centuries.
Southern Wastes – Durnar (Dunari)
Mana storms shape flesh into weapons. Survival is evolution. Weak bloodlines vanish without ceremony.
Shattered Isles – Abyssia (Abyssals)
Mana interacts with memory, fear, and perception. Reality bends quietly there, like something trying not to be noticed.
There are other races.
Everyone knows that.
They simply do not matter yet.
---
The Seven Equals
Seven beings define the absolute ceiling of power in Aethernox.
They are not rulers.
They are limits.
If one of them moves, continents respond.
Two are human.
That fact alone keeps Valoris breathing.
The Late Emperor – Authority bound into law-based mana.
The Late Grand Duke – Warfare refined to inevitability.
Both are alive.
Both no longer rule.
The remaining five belong to non-human races—older, colder, and far less forgiving.
Their names are spoken carefully.
---
Mana Awakening & Rankings
Awakening usually occurs between the ages of "three and seven".
Awakening is not power.
It is "permission".
Measured Mana Capacity (MU – Mana Units)
~ 0–50 MU – Unawakened
~ 50–200 MU – Initiate
~ 200–800 MU – Adept
~ 800–2,500 MU – Ascendant
~ 2,500–7,000 MU – Commander
~ 7,000–15,000 MU – Paragon
Beyond this point, instruments fail.
Those beings are called "Transcendents".
The Equals cannot be measured at all.
---
The Fountain
The central fountain predates most of the palace.
Its circulation array overlaps unnecessarily—inefficient, wasteful. I have noticed it before, though I do not know how I know.
I crouch beside it, watching sunlight fracture through falling water.
I wonder—briefly—what would happen if the internal pressure shifted.
Just a little.
The thought does not finish.
"Crack."
Marble splits cleanly.
Water surges across the stone.
I freeze.
My hands are nowhere near it.
Mana ripples outward, subtle but undeniable.
*So thought is enough.*
I do not feel fear.
I feel confirmation.
---
Prince Kael
"Razel!"
Footsteps rush toward me.
Prince Kael reaches me in seconds—golden hair untidy, green eyes sharp with alarm. Mana already reinforces his body unconsciously. Royal bloodlines awaken early.
Profile – Kael
• Age: 4
• Height: 118 cm
• Race: Human
• Mana Status: Passive Awakening (~120 MU)
• Role: Crown Prince of Valoris
His hands grip my shoulders as he searches for wounds.
"Are you hurt?"
I decide instantly.
"I—I don't know…"
My voice trembles. I let it.
Kael exhales sharply and pulls me closer, positioning himself between me and the shattered fountain.
Protective.
Predictable.
I memorize that.
---
The Lie That Works
Servants arrive.
Guards inspect the damage.
Age. Stress fractures. Neglect.
No one looks at me twice.
That is when I understand.
If they ever connect thought to consequence—
They will not kill me.
They will cage me.
So I decide.
---
How My Brutality Begins
Not with rage.
With 'logic'.
I categorize people.
I measure threat.
I practice expressions in my head.
Fear when expected.
Confusion when safe.
Silence when watched.
This is not cruelty.
It is preparation.
---
Profile – Razel
• Age: 4
• Height: 112 cm
• Race: Human
• ManaStatus: Unawakened (official)
• Actual State: Latent Cognitive Resonance
• EstimatedMU: Inconsistent / Unmeasurable
---
The First Rule
I will be harmless.
I will be kind.
I will be small.
Only Kael will know me well.
Only my family will glimpse the truth.
The rest of the world will receive a Razel who never threatens the ceiling.
---
Somewhere Beyond Valoris
Mana shifts.
Not enough for the Equals to move.
But enough for the world to remember.
A contradiction has appeared in Aethernox.
Not a hero.
Not a monster.
A child
who learned—before power—
that deception is the first form of strength.
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