Chapter 2: The First Fissure

The tremors racking the Astral Codex Pillar had yet to subside.

Fractured crystal shards lay strewn across the floor of the Grand Hall. Runes etched into the walls flickered with instability, like a system forced far beyond its operational limits. The cheers had vanished. The pride was gone. All that remained was the sound of bated breath and anxious whispers.

At the center of the fading magic circle, Olivia stood frozen. Before her stood the man from her dreams. The same silver-gray hair. The same golden eyes that had stared back at her amidst the ruins.

"You..." she whispered, her voice barely audible. "You’re the one from my dream, aren't you?"

Students exchanged bewildered glances. "A dream?" "She’s in shock." "Have they met before?"

But for Olivia, that face was far too vivid to be a mere coincidence. Noa held her gaze for a few seconds, then looked away without offering an answer.

The instructors immediately moved to seize control of the situation. "Sever the link to the Main Pillar!" "Switch to local readings!"

Analytical circles manifested in the air, attempting to map Noa’s mana. Runes assembled themselves, only to collapse instantly. They reassembled, then shattered again. There was no core. No resonance pattern.

"Impossible..." an instructor muttered. "Even wild beasts possess a soul structure."

Another teacher stepped forward, his voice wary. "Who are you?"

The man surveyed the hall for a moment before answering. "My name is Noa. It seems I was summoned by someone. Now... where exactly am I?"

"Ardentia Academy," the instructor replied cautiously.

Noa frowned slightly. "I’ve never heard of it."

His words sent a fresh wave of tension through the room. If he was lying, he was unnervingly calm. If he was telling the truth—then he did not belong to this world.

On the other side of the hall, a student knelt beside his Fire Wyvern. Something lay on the ground near his feet—a small, black orb. Its surface was smooth and dark, devoid of any symbols.

"Huh? Where did this come from?" he whispered. "Maybe it's part of my familiar's manifestation?"

As he reached out to pick it up, Noa’s head snapped toward him. His gaze turned razor-sharp.

"You. Throw that thing away."

The student bristled. "Why? It’s mine!"

Olivia turned as well. "Noa-san... what is it?"

Noa’s voice was lower, colder than before. "That is no ordinary object." "Then what is it?" "It is an egg."

A few students let out nervous laughs. "An egg? An egg of what?"

Noa didn't blink. "A Void Beast egg."

An instructor repeated the term, puzzled. "Void Beast?"

The term was alien to them. But before anyone could ask for clarification, the orb’s surface cracked. Hairline fractures spread like shattering glass. The runes on the floor flickered again.

The orb burst open. From within, a black shadow surged out like thick, sentient smoke. It was unstable, shifting in form, but within the gloom, two crimson lights ignited.

"What is that?!"

The creature lunged, drawn toward the strongest source of mana nearby. It slammed into the Fire Wyvern. In an instant, the shadow fused with the wyvern’s body.

The wyvern roared—but the sound was heavy and distorted. Its fiery red hue vanished, replaced by scales as black as charcoal. Its wings expanded, tearing at the edges, and a chilling mist seeped from the gaps in its armor. Its eyes turned a hollow, pupil-less red.

The heat was gone, replaced by a piercing, vacuous cold.

"My wyvern?!" the owner cried out, falling to his knees.

The instructors immediately formed a magical barricade. "Second-Tier Defense Formation!"

Golden light coalesced into a protective wall. However, the blackened wyvern shattered it with a single sweep of its wing. Runes broke one by one, and chaos reclaimed the hall. Students screamed. Some summoned spirits retreated into their contract forms to shield their masters.

Noa stepped forward. "Interesting..."

The creature locked onto him. With its target acquired, the wyvern charged. The marble floor disintegrated under the weight of its claws.

But Noa was already gone. He reappeared several meters to the side—his movement was clean and precise, as if space itself had yielded to him.

Olivia stood paralyzed. Those movements... they were identical to the ones in her dream.

As the wyvern lunged again, Noa raised his hand.

"<Eternal Nexus>."

The air vibrated. Silver and blue light crystallized into armor across his body. The Infinity Bond Armor materialized—a sleek, metallic black frame with glowing blue energy circuits flowing like living nerves. His pauldrons were sharp, and a steady energy core pulsed at the center of his chest.

In his right hand, the Nexus Fangblade formed—a long blade with glowing blue edges, its core shimmering like a tiny heart.

Noa took a firing stance. In one fluid motion, he unleashed a concentrated burst of energy. The blue light slammed into the black wyvern’s chest.

An explosion rocked the hall, filling the room with dust. But as the smoke cleared, the wyvern still stood. Unscathed.

Noa clicked his tongue. "Tch... not a scratch." His eyes narrowed. "In that case... <Terra Nova Genesis>."

The armor shifted. The metallic plating ground together, changing into a dark stone texture infused with glowing golden-green lines.

"Earth Resonance Armor—Active."

The ground trembled. From the cracks in the floor, a new weapon took shape: the Geo Saber. A massive, stone-brown greatsword with a green crystal core. Every swing left a trail of swirling earth particles.

The black wyvern lunged again. This time, Noa did not evade.

He stepped forward. One strike. A line of green light cleaved through the air.

The creature’s body froze. Cracks spread across its form. The black shadow fused within it was forcibly ejected, dissipating like smoke caught in a gale. Within seconds, the entire entity crumbled into dark, evaporating particles.

Silence. The hall was in ruins—shattered floors, broken pillars. But the creature was gone.

Noa’s armor and weapon vanished slowly. His body swayed, and he dropped to one knee.

"Noa-san!" Olivia rushed to his side.

"Just... a bit of fatigue," he answered quietly.

News of the incident spread through the campus like wildfire, but the Academy moved even faster. The official report stated: "A wyvern went out of control during the Summoning Exam. No casualties."

The black orb was never mentioned. The term "Void Beast" was never recorded. The Astral Codex Pillar was closed for internal investigation.

In his office, Archmage Alistair Vaelorian—the Keeper of Measured Fate—read the report with a grim countenance.

"Void Beast..." he whispered. He recalled similar reports surfacing from other regions of the Aetherion Continent. Mysterious black orbs. Unclassifiable entities.

"I wish to speak with Noa privately tomorrow," he commanded.

That night, Noa was temporarily housed at the Stuart family estate. Olivia stood outside the guest room door, her face tense with nerves. Noa sat on the edge of the bed, staring out the window.

Olivia cleared her throat. "Why... have you never shared a room with a woman before?"

The moment the words left her mouth, she realized how strange they sounded. "I-I didn't mean it like that! I mean—you seem so indifferent. Not awkward at all."

Noa tilted his head. "I rarely sleep."

Olivia blinked. "...What?"

"I don't particularly need sleep," he said, stating it as a simple fact.

Olivia let out a long sigh. "You really are strange, Noa."

"What’s strange about it?"

"You just arrived in this world. You defeated a wyvern that even senior instructors struggled to contain. And now you say you barely sleep. None of that is normal."

Noa thought for a moment. "In my world... those creatures were very weak."

Olivia fell silent. She was more certain than ever. The man she had summoned was no ordinary human—and she had no idea how she was supposed to handle him.

Meanwhile, at the Holy Cathedral of Ardentia...

A woman with long white hair and clear blue eyes stood before the Altar of Light.

Seraphina Aurelia Stuart.

"News of the man who defeated the wyvern has reached us," a guard reported.

"And my sister?"

"She is well. The man saved everyone."

Seraphina breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness..."

She gazed into the altar's light, her eyes harboring a profound depth. "I knew... you would return eventually." She whispered to the flickering flame. "And I knew you would always find your way back."

The altar’s light trembled softly, as if in response to her words.