'At the moment I died...'
'I felt my soul being forcefully pulled out of my body.'
'It was painful... excruciatingly painful, more than I could bear.'
'Yet, somehow, I endured it.'
'I remember hearing the sound of water droplets... it was peaceful, soothing even.'
'But... my vision was blurred, and all I can recall are fragments of memories, incomplete quotes from... who again?'
'One thing I do remember is a voice, cold and foreboding, telling me something like: "Your kindness will be your demise."
---
**Click.**
The sound of a door mechanism clicking open snapped Zilon out of his thoughts. His eyes flew open, adjusting to the light after being closed for so long. What he saw surprised him slightly.
Standing in the doorway was a woman—a woman so breathtakingly beautiful that she seemed to defy the very concept of beauty. Her presence was ethereal, almost otherworldly. She had a fairy-like face, with delicate features that seemed carved by the hands of a divine artist. Her brown eyes, though indifferent, shimmered like stars in the night sky. Her figure was nothing short of perfection, with curves that could make even the purest of men falter. She wore a simple white dress that, despite its modesty, did little to hide her alluring physique. Her beauty was flawless, transcendent—more than perfection.
Zilon stared at her, momentarily forgetting where he was or what had just happened. He was so captivated by her presence that he didn't even notice the blue panel that suddenly flashed in front of him.
"What the hell is this?!" Zilon shouted, his voice echoing in the room. He blinked rapidly, trying to make sense of the holographic-like screen that had appeared out of nowhere. The panel was filled with text, glowing in a soft blue light.
He glanced back at the doorway, but the woman was gone. The hallway was empty, as if she had never been there.
"Am I seeing ghosts now?!" Zilon exclaimed, his voice tinged with panic. He looked around the room, confirming that he was indeed alone. His heart raced as he tried to process what was happening.
"Alright, calm down, Zilon," he muttered to himself, taking deep breaths to steady his nerves. He closed his eyes, trying to regain his composure. When he opened them again, the woman was still nowhere to be seen.
"She can't be a ghost," Zilon reasoned, his voice barely above a whisper. "She's too beautiful to be a ghost. She had human-like features, she wasn't transparent, and her eyes weren't dim or dead... She has to be human."
He slumped back onto the bed, his mind racing. "She must have left after checking if I was alright... I think."
Zilon sighed deeply, trying to piece together the events of the past few minutes. The blue panel, the mysterious woman, the strange room—it was all too much to process at once.
"What was that panel? It looked like something out of a sci-fi movie,"Zilon muttered, staring at the ceiling. "If what I saw is real, then where the hell am I?"
He sat up again, taking a closer look at the room. The architecture was a bizarre mix of ancient fantasy and futuristic sci-fi. The furnace, the workbench with strange tools, the bookshelf filled with unfamiliar titles—it was unlike anything he had ever seen.
"There's no clock in here,"** Zilon noted, his brow furrowing. **"For a place this advanced, you'd think they'd have figured out how to tell time."
He shook his head, trying to push aside his confusion. "Forget it. At least I'm alive."
But the blue panel lingered in his mind. "I wish I could see it again. It might have some answers."
An idea suddenly struck him. "Will this work?" he wondered aloud. "Well, it's worth a try."
Zilon sat up straight, crossing his legs in a lotus position. He closed his eyes and took deep, steady breaths, focusing his mind. He blocked out all external distractions, tuning into the rhythm of his heartbeat and the flow of his blood.
"Am I being distracted?" he thought, realizing how difficult it was to maintain his focus. He pushed harder, shutting out everything until his mind was completely clear.
And then, it happened.
The blue panel reappeared, glowing softly in front of him. Zilon's eyes snapped open, and he stared at the screen in awe. The text was clear now, and he read it carefully.
---
**[Welcome to Terra Planet.]**
**[This is The Aetherial Codex.]**
**[This is a test to confirm that mana is present in you and that you are not a mutation.]**
**[Your Status...]**
- **Name:** Zilon
- **Race:** ???
- **Age:** 15
- **Real Age:** ???
- **Level:** 1
- **Strength (STR):** 5
- **Agility (AGI):** 6
- **Accuracy:** 15
- **Magic (MAG):** 130
- **Mana (MAN):** 170
- **Soul Power:** N/A
**[Skills - Active]**
- **Chronico eyes(Unclassified Passive-Active Skill):** A combination of different eye skills from unknown origins. (Description incomplete.)
- **Effect:** Creates a thin red ring around the user, reducing an enemy's movement speed and power output to 0.5% of its original strength.
- **(Locked)**
- **(Locked)**
- **(Locked)**
- **(Locked)**
[More slots will open when you level up to the next rank.]
[Ding... You are currently under the spell 'Bounded 100 Seal.' Your power has been greatly weakened. Break this seal to unlock your true potential.]
[Status of Seals Broken: 0/100]
[Hidden Skills: ???]
---
Zilon's eyes widened as he read the information. "No... this can't be right," he muttered, closing his eyes and reopening them to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. But the panel remained, its text clear and undeniable.
"This is real... This isn't a dream," he whispered, his voice trembling with a mix of fear and excitement.