The boy lay on the cold stone street, staring blankly at the gray sky above him.
His clothes were torn, his body thin, and his face carried the exhaustion of someone who had struggled far longer than someone his age should. He was only sixteen years old, yet life had already carved deep marks into his existence.
People walked past him every moment.
Merchants shouting about prices.
Children laughing as they chased each other through the street.
Workers carrying tools after long hours of labor.
None of them paid attention to the boy lying there.
To them, he was nothing more than another beggar.
Sometimes someone would toss a coin beside him. Not out of kindness, but simply out of habit. In this city, beggars were common, and charity was often given without a second thought.
A copper coin clinked near his hand.
Another landed near his shoulder.
The boy slowly turned his head and stared at them, but he didn't bother picking them up yet.
Instead, he continued watching the sky.
Then he heard it.
A whisper.
Soft.
Ancient.
It felt like the wind itself had learned how to speak.
"Time to be chosen."
The boy froze.
His eyes widened slightly.
For a moment he thought he had imagined it. Hunger had made his mind wander before.
But the whisper came again, clearer this time.
"The Realm of Sorcery calls."
The air above him suddenly twisted.
At first it looked like heat waves bending the sky, but the distortion grew stronger, spinning slowly like water circling a drain.
Then it appeared.
A dark orbit.
It hovered in the air above the street like a miniature galaxy. Black energy spiraled around its center, mixed with streaks of violet and silver light.
The boy felt something pull at his body.
An invisible force lifted him from the ground.
The coins scattered across the stone as he rose slowly into the air.
People nearby glanced in his direction.
A woman carrying a basket barely paused before continuing her walk.
A merchant sighed and shook his head.
A group of guards didn't even bother looking.
No one panicked.
No one tried to help him.
Because this was normal.
In this world, the Orbits appeared every day.
They chose people.
They swallowed them.
And those chosen were sent to the Trials of the Realm.
Some returned stronger than legends.
Most never returned at all.
The boy tried to grab the ground as he rose higher, but his fingers grasped nothing but empty air.
The orbit expanded.
Darkness swallowed him.
And then—
He disappeared.
The orbit closed instantly, leaving behind only the scattered coins on the street.
Life in the city continued as if nothing had happened.
The Realm of Trials
When the boy opened his eyes again, he was no longer on the street.
He stood on a vast floor made of glowing white stone.
The air felt strange.
Heavy.
Alive.
Hundreds of people surrounded him.
Some were children.
Some were adults.
Some were warriors who clearly had more experience with combat.
Everyone looked confused.
Above them rose an enormous circular hall made of crystal pillars and floating runes.
In the center of the chamber floated a massive sphere of light.
Then a voice echoed through the hall.
Deep.
Ancient.
Powerful enough to shake the air itself.
"Welcome, chosen ones."
The voice belonged to the Realm Sorcery.
"You have been selected to undergo the Trials."
Symbols suddenly appeared in the air.
Glowing runes arranged themselves into a massive list.
The boy stared upward.
These were the Ranks of Power.
The path every sorcerer followed.
One by one, the ranks revealed themselves.
Aspirant
Initiate
Exalted
Sacred
Sovereign
Divine
Empyrean
Omnireign
Supremacy
The hall trembled as each name appeared.
"All chosen begin as Aspirants," the voice declared.
Small spheres of light descended from above.
Each one flew toward a chosen individual.
When one reached the boy, it dissolved into his chest.
Warmth spread through his body.
A faint energy awakened within him.
Weak.
Unstable.
But real.
"Aspirants possess dormant power," the voice explained. "Their abilities are merely fragments of their true potential."
They were beginners.
People who carried only a drop of the power they might one day wield.
Initiates
The next symbol glowed brighter.
Initiate.
"When an Aspirant proves worthy, they ascend to Initiate."
Initiates were very different.
At this level, power was no longer dormant.
They could control Spirit Essence.
Spirit Essence was the fundamental energy inside every living being. It existed within the Spirit Soul, the core that connected a person's body, mind, and existence.
By controlling this essence, Initiates could enhance their strength, speed, senses, and abilities.
Compared to Aspirants, they were far stronger.
The Exalted
The hall darkened slightly as the next rank appeared.
Exalted.
A huge gap separated Initiates from Exalted beings.
Exalted sorcerers awakened something far more powerful than simple energy.
They awakened Will.
Their personal force of existence.
Once that will was strong enough, it formed a legendary power source known as the Infinity Core.
The Infinity Core was a condensed sphere of spirit essence that allowed an Exalted sorcerer to grow endlessly stronger.
Their power reserves increased dramatically.
Their abilities evolved.
Their presence alone could overwhelm weaker ranks.
To an Aspirant, an Exalted was almost godlike.
The Sacred
Next came the rank of Sacred.
Sacred beings were extremely powerful.
To Aspirants and Initiates, they appeared almost like gods.
Many Sacred individuals lived peaceful lives within the cities of the world.
Their role was often to train new Aspirants.
Since Orbits appeared daily across the world, countless new chosen needed guidance.
The Sacred served as teachers.
Some worked for governments.
Others served the Divine.
The Sovereigns
Then the next rank appeared.
Sovereign.
Sovereigns were rulers of immense power.
In the past, there had been many Sovereigns protecting the world.
But after a mysterious war decades ago, most of them had perished.
Only a few remained.
Two of them were especially famous.
The Sovereign of Ice.
And the Sovereign of Shadows.
The Sovereign of Ice
The Sovereign of Ice possessed absolute control over frozen elements.
She had created an entire miniature world of ice.
Inside that world, countless Initiates and Exalted warriors trained.
Snow-covered mountains stretched endlessly across her domain.
Blizzards obeyed her will.
Her frozen world had become both a kingdom and a training ground for future warriors.
The Sovereign of Shadows
But the most feared Sovereign was another.
Her name was Linda.
The Sovereign of Shadows.
Those who carried the Shadow Mark were known to be the strongest fighters.
Their shadows were alive.
They could attack, defend, and move independently.
Linda commanded the terrifying Shadow Legion.
Her soldiers appeared and disappeared like darkness itself.
Whenever war broke out between realms, she was the one sent to the battlefield.
And every time she fought—
She won.
The Divine
Above the Sovereigns stood the beings known as Divine.
They were incredibly rare.
In fact, only one Divine was widely known to exist.
Divine Krill.
A mysterious figure said to possess power beyond imagination.
Even Sovereigns respected him.
Governments listened to him.
And the Realm Sorcery itself seemed to recognize his authority.
Whenever Linda returned from battle, she often met with Divine Krill in secret conferences.
No one knew what they discussed.
But those meetings often decided the fate of entire nations.
The Unreachable Ranks
Above the Divine were three ranks that had never been reached in recorded history.
Empyrean
Omnireign
Supremacy
Legends described them as beings capable of ruling realities themselves.
Empyrean beings were said to stand among the heavens.
Omnireign entities could command multiple realms.
And Supremacy…
Supremacy represented absolute transcendence.
A level beyond gods.
But no one had ever reached those heights.
Not yet.
The Boy's Beginning
Back in the trial hall, the boy clenched his fists.
Energy flickered weakly in his palms.
He was only an Aspirant.
The lowest rank.
The weakest of the chosen.
But for the first time in his life—
He possessed power.
He looked up at the glowing ranks again.
Aspirant.
Initiate.
Exalted.
Sacred.
Sovereign.
Divine.
Empyrean.
Omnireign.
Supremacy.
His heart pounded with excitement.
Maybe the streets had not been the end of his life.
Maybe being swallowed by the orbit was not misfortune.
Maybe it was destiny.
The voice of the Realm Sorcery echoed one final time.
"Trials begin now."
The crystal floor cracked.
Portals opened across the hall.
Monsters roared from distant dimensions.
Ancient ruins appeared within swirling gateways.
Deadly labyrinths formed from pure magic.
The boy was pulled toward one of the portals.
Darkness swallowed him again.
And as he vanished, a strange symbol briefly appeared on his chest.
It looked like threads.
Invisible threads weaving through his mind.
But he didn't notice.
Not yet.
Because his first trial had already begun.