Forward

  The station hummed with a strange harmony, suspended in the void like a shard of crystal against the stars. Its towering spires of metal and mana-reactive glass stretched toward the infinite black, their surfaces etched with runes that pulsed in tandem with the station’s core. Within its many tiers, life unfolded in a perfect blend of magic and technology.

  Hovercraft zipped through the mid-levels, leaving trails of glowing blue light, while the lower decks bustled with the chatter of markets and workshops. Here, mana flowed like a lifeblood, coursing through conduits that powered everything from streetlights to the colossal reactors keeping the station aloft. For the people of Eidolon Station, magic and machines weren’t just tools—they were survival.

  For over two centuries, the System had been the station’s silent overseer. Created by an alliance of mages and engineers, it was a marvel of programming and enchantment, blending logic and intuition into a sentient guide. It managed everything: resetting dungeons with temporal magic, distributing resources, and rewarding acts of heroism with power. Adventurers sought fame and fortune in its dungeons, while those like Karyth worked tirelessly behind the scenes, blending the arcane with the mechanical.

  The balance between mages and engineers was fragile, and trust was often in short supply. But Karyth had never cared for politics. To him, the station wasn’t just a home—it was a puzzle. Every glowing rune, every hum of a mana engine, every flicker of light held a secret waiting to be uncovered. And he would uncover it, no matter the cost.

  Chapter 1: Shards of change

  The air was thick with the scent of ozone and old leather as Karyth moved through the bustling streets of Eidolon Station’s lower market. The energy of the station was palpable here, a blend of life, magic, and the sharp tang of industrial smog. Stalls and kiosks stretched as far as the eye could see, each brimming with wares that seemed to defy the boundaries of imagination. Vendors called out, their voices rising above the steady hum of mana-powered gadgets and the background noise of haggling shoppers.

  The market was alive, a microcosm of the station itself. Everywhere Karyth looked, he saw the fusion of technology and magic in countless forms. Hovering signs advertised everything from mana-purification amulets to elementally-etched weaponry, their shifting glow catching his eye as he passed by. Magic ran through the station’s veins like lifeblood, and here, in this sprawling bazaar, it was on full display.

  Karyth’s gaze drifted from one stall to the next, eyes glinting with curiosity. One booth displayed rows of finely crafted weapons, their hilts engraved with intricate runes that shimmered in the ambient light. The air around them seemed to hum with power, as if the very blades were alive. A vendor, wearing a thick leather vest, leaned forward as Karyth slowed his pace.

  “Custom durability enchantment,” the vendor boasted, tapping one of the gleaming blades. “Never chips, never dulls, and slices through mana shields like butter. Perfect for adventurers like yourself.”

  Karyth eyed the blade and smirked, speaking quietly to Eirys through his earpiece. “Durability’s nice, but I’m looking for something more... versatile.”

  “Versatile and overpriced,” she teased. “We’re not here to collect swords, anyway.”

  Karyth’s grin widened as he moved on to the next stall. Here, the wares were more eclectic—a mix of tech and magic that wasn’t immediately obvious. An old woman in a flowing robe stood behind a counter, offering glowing orbs and strange, shifting crystals.

  “These are wind elemental cores,” she explained, her hands cradling one like a delicate treasure. “Ideal for imbuing weapons, or even upgrading your spaceship’s propulsion system. Guaranteed to add speed.”

  “Can it power a long-term mana battery?” Karyth asked, inspecting the core with mild interest.

  The woman hesitated, clearly uncertain. “Maybe, but not for long. Those are meant for quick bursts of power, not sustained use.”

  “Pass,” Eirys commented flatly. “We need something that lasts, not just looks impressive.”

  Karyth gave a nonchalant shrug. “I agree. Too unstable.”

  As he continued deeper into the market, he stopped at another stall—a mix of tools and gear that caught his attention. This time, it was a floating wrench, its sleek surface reflecting the ambient glow of mana lines running through the market. The vendor, a wiry man with slicked-back hair, grinned at Karyth’s interest.

  “Mana-reactive grip,” he explained. “Syncs with your personal mana field for precision work. Makes calibrating sensitive enchantments a breeze. Works with most tools.”

  Karyth picked it up, feeling the faint pulse of mana from the handle. “Not bad,” he said, testing the weight of the tool. “But I’m not in need of a new wrench today.”

  “Of course,” the vendor replied, clearly undeterred. “Come back when you’re ready for quality gear.”

  Karyth smiled politely and moved on.

  The next stall was less crowded but drew Karyth’s attention for a different reason. The items here were far less refined—rusted gears, cracked gems, and partially dismantled drones. But it was the faint, pulsing glow from beneath a pile of scrap that caught his eye.

  He approached cautiously, fingers brushing over the surface of the pile before coming to rest on a jagged shard of crystal. It was no larger than his palm, but it shimmered with an inner light that made it stand out among the junk.

  “That’s the one,” Eirys’s voice buzzed in his earpiece, her tone shifting from indifferent to intrigued. “You should take it.”

  The vendor, a grizzled man with an unshaven face, looked up as Karyth picked up the shard. His eyes narrowed, but he said nothing, simply watching.

  “How much for this?” Karyth asked, holding it up. The crystal pulsed faintly in his hand, an almost living rhythm that matched the beat of his own heart.

  The vendor considered him for a moment, then gave a shrug. “Fifty creds.”

  Karyth raised an eyebrow, then set the shard down. “Too much.”

  The vendor’s eyes twinkled, sensing the negotiation. “Forty.”

  “Make it thirty, and I won’t tell the regulators about that cracked elemental orb in your display,” Karyth said, gesturing toward a faintly glowing sphere with a fracture running through it.

  The vendor’s scowl deepened, but after a beat, he sighed. “Fine. Thirty creds. But no complaints later.”

  Karyth slid the shard into his bag, resisting the urge to grin. “Deal.”

  As he walked away, Eirys’s voice flickered in his earpiece again, laced with her usual sarcasm. “Oh, yes. A glowing, ominous crystal from the black market. What could possibly go wrong?”

  Karyth chuckled, his fingers brushing the shard in his bag. “It’s within parameters. Nothing’s going to blow up. At least, not today.”

  The aroma of freshly brewed coffee wafted through the air as Karyth stood in line at a small café stall tucked into a quieter corner of the market. Despite the chaos of the surrounding bazaar, this spot was a haven of calm, with baristas deftly operating mana-powered espresso machines that hissed and steamed.

  “Two credits for the usual,” the barista said with a friendly nod as Karyth stepped up.

  Karyth handed over the payment and watched as the machine poured a rich, dark liquid into a sturdy ceramic cup. He took the first sip with a satisfied sigh, feeling the warmth seep into his system like a comforting spell.

  “Coffee: the one true constant,” Eirys remarked in his earpiece, her tone playful.

  “Without it, I’m not sure I’d still be alive,” Karyth replied, settling onto a nearby bench. He pulled the shard from his bag, holding it up to the light for a better look.

  The crystal seemed to pulse faintly, its inner glow shifting subtly with each beat. It was jagged and imperfect, its surface marked with faint fractures that glittered like starlight. Karyth set it on the bench beside him and pulled out a handheld scanner, letting its mana probes sweep over the shard’s surface.

  “What do you think?” Eirys asked.

  “It’s promising,” Karyth said, watching the readings scroll across the device’s screen. “High mana density, stable structure... No obvious contaminants. If it can handle sustained extraction without destabilizing, it might just work.”

  Eirys hesitated before replying. “You’re sure it’s worth the risk? You know this kind of shortcut usually comes with strings attached.”

  “Strings, chains, whatever,” Karyth said with a shrug. “If it works, it’s worth it.”

  He paused, staring at the shard as it continued to glow faintly. “You know why I’m doing this, Eirys. The current mana batteries are too expensive for the people who need them most. A small household battery costs more than most folks make in a year, and the big ones—the kind you need for spaceships or industrial work—might as well be relics of the gods.”

  “Still cheaper than running everything on fusion cores,” Eirys pointed out.

  Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

  “True, but only because fusion’s resource-intensive. Mana is supposed to be renewable, abundant. It’s everywhere.” Karyth gestured vaguely at the air around him. “But the refining process eats up so much raw mana that it’s practically theft. The poor sell their mana to make ends meet, and then they have to turn around and save for years just to afford a battery. All so they can work harder and make someone else rich.”

  Eirys was silent for a moment. “So, what’s the plan? Ambient mana collectors?”

  “Exactly,” Karyth said, his voice tinged with determination. “If I can design a cell that collects and stores ambient mana efficiently, it would change everything. No more refining bottlenecks, no more selling mana just to get by. Everyone would have access to power—real power. For their homes, their drones, their transport. Even for wearable tech and mana-armor suits.”

  “Big dreams, Karyth,” Eirys said softly. “You always were a sucker for the underdog.”

  He smiled faintly, running a finger along the shard’s edge. “If I pull this off, no one will have to choose between survival and ambition anymore. This shard... It’s a long shot, but if I can replicate its properties, it could be the key to breaking the cycle.”

  He packed the shard and scanner back into his bag, finishing the last of his coffee in a single gulp. Standing, he glanced at the market one last time.

  “Time to get to work,” he muttered.

  Karyth stepped into his lab, the door hissing shut behind him. The space was an organized chaos, a testament to his relentless curiosity and restless mind. Shelves lined the walls, crammed with tools, half-finished projects, and mana-infused components that hummed faintly with residual energy. A massive workbench dominated the center of the room, its surface scattered with blueprints, crystalline components, and a collection of meticulously labeled jars containing strange, glowing substances.

  Above the workbench, a drone hovered silently, its sleek, beetle-like frame reflecting the soft glow of the lab’s ambient lighting. More drones flitted about the room, carrying tools and adjusting equipment with practiced precision. Each was custom-built, their mana cores pulsing softly as they worked in sync with Eirys, who oversaw their actions.

  “Do you ever clean this place?” Eirys asked, her voice edged with mock exasperation. A flicker of light heralded her appearance on a nearby console, where her holographic form materialized.

  Eirys was striking, even as a projection. Her long black hair fell in a sleek cascade down her back, and her almond-shaped eyes glinted with intelligence and amusement. A traditional yet modernized Japanese yukata wrapped around her, accentuating her curvaceous, busty figure. Her appearance was as much a product of Karyth’s preferences as her programming, though he’d never admit it aloud.

  “I don’t clean because you have drones for that,” Karyth retorted, gesturing at the busy machines.

  Eirys raised an eyebrow. “The last time I organized this place, you had a tantrum because you couldn’t find your ‘favorite mana wrench.’”

  “It’s not a tantrum,” Karyth muttered, setting his bag down on the cluttered workbench. “And it wasn’t just any mana wrench. It was calibrated perfectly.”

  “Right,” Eirys replied with a smirk. “Next time, I’ll leave the chaos intact. Don’t say I didn’t try.”

  Karyth ignored her, pulling the shard from his bag and placing it onto a pedestal connected to an intricate array of conduits and wires. The setup bristled with mana, a faint hum already emanating from the conduits as they synced with the shard’s energy. He moved with purpose, calibrating the equipment and double-checking the flow patterns on a nearby monitor.

  “This is it,” he muttered. “If this works, we’re one step closer to the prototype.”

  Eirys folded her arms, her holographic form leaning against the edge of the display. “And if it doesn’t?”

  Karyth glanced at her, his eyes flashing with determination. “Then we learn what not to do.”

  “Famous last words,” she muttered, though there was an edge of concern in her tone.

  The crystal began to glow as the conduits came to life, its light pulsing in sync with the mana flowing through the system. The hum of energy filled the room, growing steadily louder. Karyth’s hands flew across the controls, monitoring the readings with growing excitement.

  “It’s stabilizing,” he said, a grin spreading across his face. “Eirys, it’s actually working!”

  “Don’t celebrate yet,” Eirys warned, her tone sharp. “The output’s spiking.”

  Karyth frowned, his fingers dancing over the controls. “It’s just a fluctuation. I can compensate—”

  The hum shifted, turning into a high-pitched whine. The shard vibrated violently, faint cracks spidering across its surface.

  “Karyth,” Eirys said sharply, her holographic form straightening. “Shut it down.”

  “No, I can fix this,” he insisted, sweat beading on his brow as he tried to stabilize the system. “It’s just a matter of—”

  The crystal shattered in a blinding explosion of light and mana. The force of the blast threw Karyth across the lab, his body slamming into a workbench before crumpling to the floor. Shards of the crystal rained down, embedding themselves in the walls and scattering across the floor.

  For a moment, there was silence, broken only by the faint crackle of mana discharges from the damaged equipment.

  “Karyth!” Eirys’s voice rang out, panic lacing her usually calm tone. Her hologram flickered erratically as she tried to assess the damage. “Drones! Emergency protocols! Now!”

  The lab’s remaining drones sprang to life, their sleek forms darting toward Karyth. Eirys’s hologram glitched, her usual composure crumbling into raw urgency.

  “You reckless idiot,” she whispered. “Don’t you dare give up now.”

  As the drones struggled to stabilize him, the flickering light of the damaged lab cast an eerie glow over Karyth’s motionless form.

  The world was a haze of pain and flickering light. Karyth's consciousness swam in and out, fragmented memories breaking through the darkness.

  A sharp, sterile glow lit the room-Eirys's hologram casting diagrams of intricate mana pathways onto the walls. Her voice, calm but tinged with urgency, explained the delicate process of stabilizing an experimental core. The lab had been so clean back then, Karyth thought dimly, his mind struggling to focus. He could almost feel the smooth surface of the freshly scrubbed workbench beneath his hands as he worked, fine-tuning the connections with the precision of a surgeon.

  Another memory: a quieter moment. Eirys's laughter-warm, almost human-echoing as one of the drones bumped into her projection, disrupting its smooth grace. "Clumsy thing," she had teased, adjusting the drone's programming with a deft virtual touch.

  But these memories were far away, dissipating like smoke as agony jolted him back to the present.

  His body felt like a ruin. Burns seared across his skin, the sharp tang of charred flesh mingling with the metallic taste of blood in his mouth. His fingers, once so sure and steady, now lay mangled and blackened, the skin cracked and blistered. Where the explosion's light had kissed his arms, jagged scars cut upward like rivers of molten metal, etching their way to his chest and neck.

  The scars didn't stop there. They traced the curve of his jawline and shot up his cheeks, ending in crescents just beneath his eyes. Their glow-an eerie, otherworldly purple- shone faintly even in the dim light. It wasn't a harsh glow, but soft and pulsing, as though alive, mirroring the rhythm of his faltering heartbeat.

  Drones hovered over him, their movements efficient and purposeful. The lead drone emitted a low hum, scanning his injuries and projecting a status report into the air. The prognosis was grim: critical condition, multiple fractures, severe burns, organ damage.

  "Get him stabilized," Eirys's voice commanded, calm but razor-sharp. Her holographic form flickered erratically, her normally composed demeanor cracking. "Administer the serum. Priority override."

  The drones complied instantly. One injected a vial of shimmering blue liquid into Karyth's neck, the serum spreading warmth through his veins even as the pain roared louder. Another drone sprayed a layer of nanite gel over his wounds, the microscopic machines knitting torn tissue together with painstaking precision.

  "Idiot," Eirys muttered, her voice trembling slightly. "You absolute, reckless idiot. Why do you always have to push things too far?"

  She leaned closer, her holographic hand ghosting over his mangled form, an almost human gesture of concern. Her projection flickered as the lab's damaged systems struggled to maintain her presence.

  Karyth's consciousness wavered again, dragging him back into another memory. This time, it was of a heated argument with Eirys, her holographic face inches from his as she berated him for working too many hours. "You're not invincible, Karyth!" she had snapped, her concern masked as anger.

  Now, those words felt like a cruel echo.

  The lead drone beeped urgently, its scan completing with a directive: Immediate relocation required. Medbay transport en route.

  "You'd better not die on me," Eirys said, her voice cracking for the first time. "You still owe me a proper lab cleanup."

  The drones lifted Karyth carefully, their mechanical arms steady and unyielding. As they carried him out of the shattered lab, Eirys's holographic form lingered for a moment, staring at the wreckage-the broken shard, the scorched equipment, the faint wisps of mana still crackling in the air.

  "What have you done?" she whispered, her words a mix of anger and fear.

  The first thing Karyth noticed was the sound—a faint, rhythmic beeping that seemed to echo inside his skull. He groaned softly, his throat dry and raw, and tried to move, but his body felt heavy and uncooperative. Slowly, his eyes fluttered open, greeted by the soft, sterile glow of the medical pod’s interior.

  “Welcome back, sleeping beauty,” Eirys’s voice broke the silence, her tone carefully light but tinged with relief. “You’ve been out for... about three days. Thought you were going to sleep through your own recovery.”

  His mind was sluggish, struggling to piece together what had happened. Then it hit him—the explosion, the shard, the searing pain. He inhaled sharply, instinctively lifting a hand to his face, only to freeze as he caught sight of his arm.

  Jagged scars traced their way from his fingertips to his chest, pulsing softly with an otherworldly purple light. The glow mirrored the faint crescents beneath his eyes that he could see reflected in the pod’s curved glass.

  What... the hell?” he croaked, his voice hoarse.

  “That’s... complicated,” Eirys admitted, her hologram flickering to life on a nearby console outside the pod. She leaned against the edge, her posture casual but her eyes watching him closely. “The good news is you’re alive. The bad news is... well, you’re a bit more... unique now.”

  Karyth’s stomach churned as he tried to sit up, wincing at the residual aches in his muscles. The pod hissed softly, its systems adjusting to support his movements.

  “I had the med pod delivered while you were out,” Eirys continued. “It’s top of the line. Don’t ask how much it cost.”

  “I can’t afford this,” he muttered, glaring at her.

  “Consider it an investment. You’re no good to me if you’re dead.”

  Karyth scowled, leaning back against the pod’s padded interior. A sharp chime drew his attention to the faint shimmer of the System HUD projected in the air before him.

  “System updates are ready,” Eirys said. “I think you’re going to want to see this.”

  With a gesture, Karyth activated the display. Lines of text and glowing icons filled his vision, detailing his current status:

  ---

  Name: Karyth Elsan

  Class: Fusion Architect

  Level: 1

  Stats:

  Strength: 4 (Injured)

  Agility: 5 (Injured)

  Endurance: 6 (Injured)

  Intelligence: 12

  Mana Capacity: 20 (Enhanced)

  Mana Regeneration: 15 (Enhanced)

  ---

  Abilities:

  1. Arcane Nexus (Passive):

  Description: Grants dramatically increased mana capacity and regeneration. Mana flows through your body at an unparalleled rate, enhancing the power and efficiency of your spells and constructs.

  Current Effect: Mana capacity doubled. Regeneration rate tripled.

  2. Mana Ingot Forge:

  Description: Condense raw mana into durable ingots, usable for crafting, weaponizing, or powering constructs. Requires focus and consumes mana proportionally.

  Current Effect: Produces 1 ingot per 10 units of mana.

  3. Mana Construct Control:

  Description: Utilize mana to create and control small constructs for utility or combat. Constructs have limited durability and require sustained mana input.

  ---

  Karyth’s eyes lingered on the stats, his mind struggling to process the changes. “Fusion Architect,” he murmured. “What the hell kind of class is that?”

  Eirys crossed her arms, her expression unreadable. “One that doesn’t exist... at least, not in the System’s usual catalog.”

  He clenched his fists, wincing as the motion stretched his glowing scars. “So this is it? My old life, my old class... gone?”

  “You’re still you,” Eirys said softly, her voice uncharacteristically gentle. “You’re just... more.”

  Karyth stared at the HUD, his jaw tightening. “This wasn’t what I wanted.”

  “No one’s asking you to like it,” Eirys replied. “But you don’t have a choice. You can either wallow in self-pity or figure out what to do with what you’ve got.”

  Her words stung, but he knew she was right. Slowly, he dismissed the HUD, the faint glow fading from his vision.

  “I’ll figure it out,” he said, his voice low but steady. “But first... coffee.”

  Eirys smirked. “Now that’s the Karyth I know.”