Darkness…
Complete darkness surrounded his body, unable to move. It was as if he had returned to the place where everything began while floating in this void. But he felt something different…
He felt that energy flowing from his body, a brown aura swirling around him, with a texture resembling jelly. His mind became sharper, his muscles more solid, as he soared through this void.
In the end, he woke up and jumped from his bed, taking a sharp gasp to regain his breath.
The darkness filled the room, and his personal servant was asleep beside him until he heard his master's movement. Beads of sweat dripped from his face, his eyes filled with shock, as if a massive weight had been lifted from his chest.
"My lord, you've finally woken up!" His voice carried the worry that had burdened his heart.
If anything happened to his master, he would suffer the consequences, but he didn't care about that. Instead, he cared about his health, watching him cautiously.
"I was so worried about you… I-I'll call the doctor right away." He tried to stand up, but that hand stopped him in place.
"No need for that."
Immediately, he noticed that his master's aura had changed. It wasn't his usual aura but something slightly stronger. At that moment, he realized something important…
"My lord! You've broken through the limits of your talent!!!" His eyes widened completely upon realizing this.
Every talent limit increased a person's training speed, and any person was born with a talent that would never change, no matter what happened—except in extremely rare cases, but those came with other downsides.
The talents in the world were as follows:
Broken Talent (Black Color): Allows you to use energy.
Low Talent (Brown Color): Grants greater ability and speed in training.
Medium Talent (Green Color): Common among knights and mages.
Advanced Talent (Blue Color): Extremely rare.
Even rarer talents such as Superior Talent, King's Talent, Emperor's Talent, and others.
Each talent speeds up a person's training, allowing them to break through ranks more quickly.
Although Valerian had obtained a better talent, it was still weak. As for Zeke, he had lost his talent forever.
"My lord, did anything else happen?" His question was not ordinary—he was asking about skills.
In extremely rare cases, when someone breaks their talent, they can acquire a unique skill instead of searching for one.
Valerian understood the meaning of this question, so he shook his head in denial.
Carlos, the servant, sighed in relief upon realizing that his master had at least improved.
"Please, my lord, get some rest." His voice carried genuine concern for his master's health. He didn't know what might happen to him next.
Valerian felt something warm in his heart and couldn't find words to describe his feelings.
All his life, he had been hated, but this person seemed to care about him despite his harsh features.
Valerian returned to his dreams, smiling.
---
Dawn
A few hours later, the first rays of sunlight shone on Valerian, marking the beginning of a new day.
As soon as he woke up, he found a variety of food in front of him, from luxurious desserts to refined coffee and fruits from various places.
"All this?"
He didn't know what to say… Was all this food for him alone? He thought he would never be able to finish it.
He looked at Carlos and found him gazing at him with an unusually bright expression. He didn't care much and started eating, savoring every bite, with flavors that awakened his taste buds.
For the first time, he felt he might be able to finish all the food.
But in the next moment, a girl with white hair and silver eyes, with a slender body, entered. She was extremely beautiful, so much so that he was shocked by her arrival.
It was his sister, Clair Lockard, known as "Moonbow."
She possessed an advanced-level talent, and a skill was granted to her that suited her perfectly.
Valerian felt nervous about her arrival, but then he heard her cold question:
"Are you alright?"
"As you can see, I'm in the best condition." He tried to make a smile while trying to figure out the reason for her visit.
"I heard you managed to break your talent." Her face and tone remained unchanged as she got straight to the point.
Valerian looked directly at Carlos, who turned his face away as if he wasn't the culprit.
"Damn you," he thought to himself but chose not to say it aloud.
"I don't know how it happened, but I just felt something inside me, and then I lost consciousness." He answered briefly, trying to avoid going into details.
In a fleeting moment, she disappeared from his sight, only to find her hand gripping his, sensing something within him.
She felt that his energy had changed—it had become stronger.
While he was thinking about it, a question crossed his mind…
What if he stole her talent? What would happen?
He knew that the theft ability wasn't a skill for assistance, but rather a skill based on selfishness.
If you were willing to steal from someone and destroy their future, this ability would be the best for you.
But he thought that he didn't want to do that.
She had done nothing to him—she simply ignored him like most people. Also, he wasn't prepared for the consequences that came with theft.
To steal a skill and have it for only ten minutes, then suffer the consequences while not even using it? That seemed like a foolish act.
Moreover, he remembered that the skill only allowed him to steal weak skills temporarily.
But… what if he possessed a strong skill?
All he remembered about her skill was that it allowed her to create arrows from moonlight.
His thoughts stopped when he heard her speak:
"Your energy is chaotic, and you need time to rest to control it."
"Oh, I see… Thank you, sister." He maintained his smile the entire time.
"You don't have much time left here, so breaking your talent came at the right moment for the Selection Ceremony."
Valerian knew what she was referring to…
She was talking about the Skill Selection Ceremony to go to the academy.
As an ancient family, his family possessed many skills, whether high-level or low-level.
Each skill consumed something in exchange for activation: some consumed energy, some consumed lifespan, and others required even more.
Like Valerian's skill, which depended on consequences.
The greater the theft, the harsher the consequences.
"I think I'm ready for this."
He looked into her eyes with confidence.
Clair, of course, noticed this, then left.
"Hmm, why wasn't she surprised? Is she that emotionally numb?"
"It seems you've forgotten who your sister is, my lord," Carlos spoke before Valerian silenced him.
"Did you really have to say that?"
"Of course, it's my duty."
Outside the room, Clair walked while feeling something unusual…
"He has changed…" she muttered in a low voice.
---
Later…
Valerian woke up again, but this time, he felt a different energy—a stronger and better energy than before.
Every movement he made was faster, and his physical strength had increased significantly.
He decided to test this new power, so he went to an isolated place for training. And when he started moving his body, he noticed the huge difference…
"This is truly amazing…"
He smiled as he felt the remarkable improvement in his abilities.
He could see the energy flowing around him, as if his body had become more capable of absorbing and converting it.
"So… this is the effect of talent."
He felt excited, and as he continued his experiment, he suddenly heard the voice of his servant, Carlos, who was terrified by his master's disappearance.
"My lord! Come back immediately, you are still sick!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.
Valerian looked in the direction of the voice, then thought to himself:
"It seems I'll test my speed now."
The moment he was about to take a quick step, he felt something stopping him.
"Huh?"
He was shocked to find Carlos holding him tightly before he could move.
He looked at him in surprise, then thought to himself:
"Even his level is higher than mine… I just hope I reach that level someday."
He stood still, realizing that he had a long road ahead of him…
A road to power,
Or perhaps…
A road to stealing the fate of others.