๐ฅ[๐๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ผ๐๐! ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐พ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐จ ๐ฉ๐ค๐๐๐ฎ!]๐ฅ
๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ #๐ญ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฌ๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฉ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ค๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ฃ๐! ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐ฌ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ข๐ค๐ง๐, ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐! ๐๐๐ฉ'๐จ ๐จ๐๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ค๐ซ๐๐ก ๐ฌ๐๐ค ๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ก ๐๐ค๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐๐๐ฃ! โ๏ธ
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The Weight of the Inept
The morning air in Albion was thick with the scent of incense and cold stone as Leonardo and the Old Man approached the Cathedral of the Holy Path. This was not a place of worship for the boy, but a fortress of classification. Under the guise of a "voluntary compatibility test," Leonardo was to be handed over to the Church's researchers. To them, he was a Level 1 Supreme glitchโa biological masterpiece with a broken engine.
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"Remember, Leonardo," the Old Man whispered as they reached the heavy silver-clad doors. "The System is a cage built by those who fear the unknown. They will use Earth Tier and Sky Tier artifacts to probe your soul. Let them see the 'Unfit' boy. Let them believe the vacuum in your heart is a defect, not a weapon".
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Leonardo nodded, feeling the violet stain in his eye throb in the presence of so much concentrated mana. He was led away by two Inquisitors, their white robes embroidered with golden threads that hummed with Level 4 protection spells. He was no longer a grandson; he was "Subject 701".
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The Hall of Silent Anomalies
The research wing was a labyrinth of luxury and suppression. The walls were lined with mirrors that didn't reflect light, but measured the density of one's soul. As Leonardo walked, he passed cells made of reinforced Advanced Earth Tier glassโmaterial designed to hold those whose powers didn't fit the mold.
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In the depths of the wing, he felt a resonance. It wasn't the coldness of the Black King, but a flickering, unstable warmth.
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Inside a specialized containment unit, a boy his age sat on the floor. His form was a blurred mess of biological possibilities: one moment his skin shimmered like elven silk, the next it grew coarse like dwarven stone. This was the portador of the Blessing of Transformation, a Level 1 Supreme whose very existence was a constant mutation.
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"Another one," the boy inside the cell croaked, his voice shifting between a low growl and a melodic hum. "You smell like the silence after a scream, 'Empty Boy'".
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Leonardo stopped, ignoring the prodding of the Inquisitors' staves. "My name is Leonardo," he said, his voice steady. "And the silence you smell isn't a lack of power. It's the space where your chains will eventually break".
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The Inquisitors sneered. To them, these were two broken tools talking in a shed. They didn't see the traitor in their own ranksโthe one who, at that very moment, was carving a forbidden sigil into the city's foundation to invite the Black King's shadow inside.
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The Inquisitors shoved Leonardo toward a circular platform made of Intermediate Earth Tierย stone, engraved with runes that hummed with a hungry, vibrating energy. This was the "Soul Weighing Scale," an artifact designed to force a soul to reveal its true shape and profession.
The First Trial and the Echo of the Traitor
"Step forward, Subject 701," the lead researcher commanded, his eyes fixed on a Sky Tierย monitoring tablet. "We will see if that 'Supreme' potential of yours is a gift from the heavens or a curse from the depths".
Leonardo stepped onto the cold surface. Immediately, the runes flared to life, casting long, dancing shadows against the silver-lined walls. He felt the artifact's mana reaching into him, prodding at his core like a thousand icy needles. Usually, this process would spark a brilliant colorโred for a Warrior, blue for a Mage, or green for a Scout.
But for Leonardo, there was only a terrifying, expanding grey.
"What is this?" the researcher muttered, his tablet flickering with error messages. "There is no resonance... it's like the mana is just... falling into a pit".
Leonardo closed his eyes, remembering the Old Man's warning. He wasn't just "Inapto"; he was an Absence. He focused on his Void State, pulling his existence inward, making the artifact "miss" his actual soul.
Far below the Cathedral, in a forgotten sub-basement, a man in a priest's robe smiled. He wasn't watching the test, but he felt the ripple of the Void. He held a Superior Sky Tierย dagger, its blade carved from the bone of a creature that shouldn't exist. He began to chant, his voice a low, distorted frequency that bypassed the Church's Level 8ย wards.
"The fragment has arrived," the traitor whispered, his eyes glowing with the same violet hue as the stain in Leonardo's eye. "Let the city's slow rot begin".
Back in the lab, the Soul Weighing Scale cracked. The researchers backed away in fear as Leonardo stood in the center of a localized vacuum, the very air around him shimmering with the threat of non-existence.
"Test terminated!" the lead Inquisitor barked, his face pale. "Throw him back in the holding cells. He is not a genius... he is a Calamity".
Leonardo allowed himself to be led away, his mind already calculating the souls he would need to harvest to reach Level 2ย and face what was truly coming for Albion.
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