Primordial Heir: Nine Stars

After running through a few more tests, Nero finally stopped. He sheathed his sword and settled cross-legged onto the mat he had laid out earlier. Midnight was drawing near, yet drowsiness did not come to him. Instead, his mind was clear, his body restless. He chose to devote the silence of the night to his breathing techniques, seeking to push his second core closer to advancement.

It wasn't out of jealousy that he trained—though his friends had already stepped into the next realm, leaving him technically behind. No, his reason was simpler, sharper: he could feel it. The next step was within reach. To hesitate now would be foolish.

Closing his eyes, Nero steadied his breath and began the delicate process of drawing in ambient prana. Each inhalation was deliberate, his will guiding the gathered energy not into his main core, but toward the second one nestled deep within his being. That second core was dangerous, volatile, and absurdly compressed—handling it required extreme precision.

Using his special eyes, Nero had previously severed its natural instinct to gather prana on its own. Without such control, the core would endlessly absorb energy, eventually swelling to the point of collapse. If that happened, the resulting explosion would not only kill him but also obliterate everything around him.

His primary core was different. It had already reached its final form, a vortex that could hold infinite prana, though its depths remained sealed. He could only access a fraction of that power at any given time. But this second core… it was unnatural. No creature, no race, no legendary monster was ever meant to hold two.

And yet Nero did.

It was a strange twist of fate—circumstances colliding, choices intertwining, accidents piling upon miracles—that had led to this impossible reality. His very existence had defied the laws of the world.

If one were to put it into words, perhaps there was only one way to explain it:

Nero was beloved by prana itself.

The energy that shaped the world.

The current that wove through life and matter.

The force that perhaps even held sway over the universe.

And tonight, under the silent summer sky, Nero sought to prove himself worthy of that bond.

The prana within Nero's second core swelled with every passing second, its pressure steadily increasing. As the core expanded, he immediately compressed it back down, keeping it tightly under control. What had grown to the size of a kidney bean, slightly larger than before, was refined until it shrank to the size of a great northern bean.

Do not be deceived by its small size. Within that minuscule vessel was a storm of compressed prana, a reservoir equal to the might of a full-fledged Red Knight. And the moment Nero refined it to that level, power erupted from him like a broken dam.

A brilliant aura burst outward, fiery crimson laced with threads of gold—like flames twisted with streaks of lightning, warping the air itself around his body.

Nero had stepped into the Red Knight stage.

Calmly, he restrained the flood of energy, suppressing the automatic function of the second core once more with his special eyes. Control was everything—without it, his gift could easily turn into a curse.

Now that he had crossed into the next stage, his body changed instantly. His already formidable strength surged further, his muscles brimming with condensed power. His movements felt sharper, his reflexes quicker. He realized that if he were to face that demonized human again—the one he had barely managed to defeat by pouring out every ounce of his strength—he would no longer be fighting on the edge of desperation. This time, he would win with room to spare.

Nero tested his new limits. He punched the air, each blow cracking against the silence of the night. He moved swiftly across the open ground, every step carrying more speed and force than before. The improvement was undeniable.

He nodded, his expression calm and collected despite the breakthrough. His eyes, however, were different—gleaming faintly in the darkness, sharper, clearer. He could see through the night as though it were day, every detail crisp to his vision. A quiet certainty filled him.

Another stage of his special eyes was close to awakening. And when that happened… his second star would follow.

Speaking of his second star, Nero leaned back, closing his eyes as his consciousness slipped inward. His astral body—his soul—descended into the depths of his Inner World.

As always, the familiar scenery awaited him, though this time it felt subtly different.

The first star—the Red Star—burned brighter than ever, blazing like a miniature sun in the dark expanse. The second star glowed intensely, its golden light almost dazzling, though a single black chain still bound it in place, restricting its freedom. Above it, golden lightning danced and flashed, crackling like a warning of the power sealed within.

"In order to free this star, I'll need to kill a powerful monster," Nero muttered through his astral projection, his voice echoing faintly in the vastness.

His gaze swept across the remaining seven stars. All of them shone dimly, each still wrapped in nine black chains, their light stifled and imprisoned.

"Now that I look closely…" His expression shifted, thoughtful. "The stronger I become, the more beautiful this place grows. One day it will resemble a proper universe, with its own system—the nine stars as planets, orbiting the vortex at the center."

It was a discovery worth noting.

And yet, despite his breakthrough into the Red Knight stage, he could not bring himself to face the vortex. Even attempting to gaze at it for more than a mere two seconds left him reeling—his soul quaked with unbearable dread, his head splitting with pain. He instinctively recoiled, knowing that whatever was sealed within that vortex was far beyond his current reach.

Powerful. Dangerous. Perhaps even fatal if awakened too soon.

"Hah! Now isn't the time to dwell on this. Let's head back."

With those words, Nero's astral projection withdrew from his Inner World, returning to his body. He exhaled slowly, then rose to his feet, gathering his belongings before preparing to head back.

Meanwhile, within the girl's dormitory, in a certain room—

She had just finished bathing after a demanding activity. Yet, sleep refused to come. Her white hair, still damp and clinging softly to her shoulders, contrasted sharply with the sharp glare she cast at her phone.

'Why isn't calling nor testing me yet?'