The Anomaly's Path

The next few hours were loud and warm and nothing like training.

Seraphina brought out tea and snacks, and everyone settled into the comfortable chaos of family. Mom and Aunt Seraphina talked by the window, their voices low and easy, the kind of conversation that came from years of knowing each other.

Theron stayed by the fire, mostly quiet, but I caught him watching the kids every now and then with something soft in his eyes that he probably would have denied if anyone pointed it out.

Mia held court in the middle of the room, her small hands waving as she told the twins about Sir Hops-a-Lot’s latest adventures. According to her, the frog had learned to catch flies mid-air, which was apparently either impressive or terrifying depending on how you looked at it.

She described the snowball fight she was planning to have with them in elaborate detail, complete with forts and strategies and a ”secret weapon” she refused to explain no matter how much Roran begged.

Roran and Eira listened like she was telling the most important story in the world.

They chimed in with their own tales about the fortress—the soldiers they’d seen training in the yard, the time they’d hidden in the armory and almost got caught, the big snowdrift in the courtyard that was perfect for jumping into.

Their voices overlapped and interrupted and somehow made perfect sense the way kids’ conversations always did.

Later, after the snacks were gone and the tea had run out, Mia announced she wanted to see the city.

”We have to go to the market!” She was jumping up and down now, all that sugar finally hitting her system. ”Roran said there’s a candy shop and a toy shop and—”

”And a sword shop!” Roran added, swinging his imaginary blade through the air.

”And a sword shop.” Mia rolled her eyes like swords were beneath her, which was funny coming from someone who’d spent the past month obsessed with a frog. ”But candy first.”

I looked at Mom, who was watching the scene with an amused smile. She just waved her hand at me.

”Go. Have fun. You deserve a break after all that training.”

Mia was already pulling at my sleeve, and the twins were bouncing on their heels, and Lyra was standing by the door like she’d been waiting for this moment her whole life.

”...Fine.” I sighed, already feeling my wallet getting lighter. ”But we’re not buying everything in the market.”

Mia grinned up at me, her eyes sparkling. ”We’ll see.”

The city was called Frosthollow, and it was nothing like the Celestial estate.

Built into the mountainside, layers of stone buildings climbed up the slope like they’d grown there naturally. Snow covered every roof, every street, every available surface, turning the whole place into something out of a painting.

However, the roads themselves were clear, kept warm by some kind of mana system running under the cobblestones that prevented ice from building up. Steam rose from vents here and there, mixing with the cold air to create a faint mist that hung over everything.

The market was in the main square, busy even in the bitter cold. Soldiers off duty walked alongside families running errands, their breath misting in the air as they passed.

Merchants called out prices from their stalls, their voices carrying over the crowd. The smell of roasting meat and fresh bread mixed with the crisp cold in a way that made your stomach growl whether you were hungry or not.

Mia grabbed my hand and dragged me toward the first stall before I could even take in the scene.

It was a candy shop, small and warm, with jars of colorful sweets lining the walls from floor to ceiling. Pink ones and blue ones and striped ones and ones that sparkled under the shop’s lights like they’d been dusted with actual magic.

Mia pressed her face against the glass case, pointing at everything she could reach.

”That one. And that one. And that one. Leo, can we get that one?”

”Get whatever you want.” I sighed and gave her a hopeless smile. It’s not like I could stop her.

Her eyes went impossibly wide. ”Really?”

”...Yes, but within reason.”

She didn’t know what ”within reason” meant. She grabbed a bag and started filling it with everything she could reach, her small hands moving faster than I’d ever seen them move.

Roran and Eira needed no encouragement—they grabbed their own bags and joined in, pointing and grabbing and occasionally arguing about who saw what first. The shopkeeper watched with an amused smile, probably calculating how much money he was about to make off this single visit.

Lyra stood by the door, watching the chaos with her usual calm expression. I walked over to her.

”You want anything, Lyra?” I asked her.

”I’m fine, Young Master.”

”Mia’s going to share whether you want it or not. You know that, right?”

She smiled, just a little. ”I suppose I’ll manage.”

We hit the toy store next.

Shelves stacked with wooden animals and dolls and puzzles and games, enough to keep a small army of children entertained for years. Mia found a stuffed snow fox with soft white fur and black button eyes, and she held it like it was the most precious thing in the world.

”Sir Fluffington the Second,” she announced proudly.

”Second? What happened to the first?”

”Sir Fluffington the First is at home. He needed a friend.”

I couldn’t argue with Mia’s logic.

Roran found a wooden sword that he refused to put down, swinging it through the air with dramatic swooshing sounds that made other shoppers duck. Eira found a bag of colorful stones that were apparently ”magic” and ”very important” and needed to be arranged in a specific order that only she understood.

I bought all of it without complaint.

Then we found the food stalls. A woman selling hot pastries filled with meat and cheese, the steam rising from them like little clouds in the cold air.

A man with roasted nuts that made your fingers smell amazing for hours afterward. A cart with some kind of sweet bread covered in sugar that Mia ate in about three bites before reaching for another.

We walked and ate and looked at everything the market had to offer. The twins pointed out landmarks they knew—the fountain they’d fallen into last winter, the alley where they’d hidden during a game of hide and seek, the shop where their mother bought their clothes.

Mia asked questions about everything, and the twins answered like tour guides who’d been doing this their whole lives. By the time we reached the far end of the square, my arms were full of bags and my wallet was significantly lighter.

However... Mia was laughing. The twins were laughing. Even Lyra looked relaxed, walking beside us with a small bag of candies that Mia had forced on her despite her protests.

...It feels peaceful.

[Indeed it does, Host.]

Yeah, that’s why you should stop ruining my peaceful mood with your voice.

[Tsk! You ungrateful bastard.]

I smiled slightly.

The sun was setting by the time we got back to the fortress, painting the sky in shades of orange and pink that turned the snow into something almost magical. Mom was waiting by the entrance, wrapped in a warm coat, and she laughed when she saw all the bags we were carrying.

”Looks like someone had fun.”

Mia ran to her, holding up the stuffed fox. ”Look what Leo got me! Sir Fluffington the Second!”

”Second?” Mom gave me a look.

I simply shrugged. I mean, come on? How could I argue with a kid’s logic?

”Sir Fluffington the First is at home. He needed a friend,” Mia said.

Mom smiled and ruffled her hair, then looked at me with that knowing expression she always had.

”You okay?”

”Yeah,” I said. ”I’m okay.”

_

That night, after dinner, I sat alone in my room.

The fortress was quiet now. Everyone had gone to bed hours ago—Mom and Mia in the guest quarters, Theron and Seraphina in their own rooms, the twins long since passed out after their sugar-filled adventure. Even Lyra had finally let herself rest, though I knew she’d be up before dawn anyway.

I should have been sleeping too. Tomorrow we are going back to the Celestial domain.

But I couldn’t sleep.

Not because I was scared—okay, maybe a little because I was scared. But mostly because I could feel it. That pressure in my core that had been building for weeks, growing stronger with each passing day. That sense of being right on the edge of something, so close I could almost reach out and touch it.

Tonight was the night. I knew it with a certainty I couldn’t explain. Could feel it in my bones, in my blood, in the way my core pulsed like a second heartbeat beneath my ribs.

I closed my eyes and took a breath.

Foundation Breathing Art.

The rhythm came automatically now, so deeply ingrained that I didn’t have to think about it anymore. Inhale, pull mana from the air around me. Hold it in my core, let it compress down into something denser. Exhale, release it through my vessels to strengthen my channels.

Inhale. Hold. Exhale.

Inhale. Hold. Exhale.

The warmth spread through my chest, slow and steady, the way it always did during meditation. My core pulsed in response to each breath, that familiar heartbeat rhythm I’d grown accustomed to over weeks of practice.

But tonight felt different.

The mana came faster. Hungrier. Like my core was actively pulling it in instead of just accepting what came. The warmth spread beyond my chest, into my shoulders, down my arms, through my legs. Every part of me felt alive, tingling, buzzing with energy I couldn’t contain.

I kept breathing.

Inhale. Hold. Exhale.

The pressure built. That familiar feeling of my core reaching its limit, getting full, but the technique kept pulling more in anyway. More than it could hold. More than it had ever held before.

Here it comes.

I focused on my core, imagined it squeezing tighter, getting smaller and denser. The pressure built and built until I thought it might burst, until I couldn’t breathe, until—

Pain.

Sharp. Hot. Exploding through my chest like someone had lit a fire inside me.

I gasped. My eyes flew open. My hands clenched into fists on my knees.

The pain didn’t stop. It spread—through my core, through my channels, through every part of me that touched mana. Burning. Stretching. Like my insides were being ripped apart and put back together at the same time.

What the—

[Hold on, Host.] Nova’s voice cut through the haze, sharp but steady. [This is it. Don’t fight it. Let it happen.]

It hurts!

[I know. But you have to push through. Focus on your breathing. Don’t stop.]

I clenched my jaw so hard my teeth ached. Closed my eyes. Forced myself to breathe.

Inhale. Hold. Exhale.

The pain flared hotter.

Inhale. Hold. Exhale.

My whole body shook. Sweat poured down my face, soaking into my shirt. Every muscle screamed in protest.

Inhale. Hold. Exhale.

And then—

Pop.

Not a sound. A feeling. Something inside me shifting, expanding, like a knot that had been tight for years suddenly loosening.

The pressure released, rushing out of my core and through my channels in a wave of energy that made me gasp. The pain faded slowly, leaving behind a warm, tingling sensation that spread through my entire body.

I sat there for a long moment, breathing hard, shaking, trying to process what had just happened.

Huff... huff... huff...

[Check your core.]

I focused inward, reaching for that familiar presence in my chest. And felt it immediately.

My core wasn’t the same. Before, it had felt tight, constricted, like it was always straining against some invisible limit. Now it felt fuller, stronger, like someone had taken the same container and stretched it just a little wider.

Not a breakthrough to Adept. Not yet. But something.

I did it.

[You did. You broke through to Initiate High.]

I let out a breath, some of the tension leaving my shoulders. I pulled up my status screen, watching the familiar blue panels flicker to life in front of me.

---『 STATUS SCREEN 』---

NAME → Leo von Celestial

RACE → Human (High Noble)

AGE → 17

BLOODLINE → Not Awakened

CURRENT RANK → Initiate (Mid) → Initiate (High)

CORE → B-Rank

PATH → Pending

『 TITLES 』

∟ Heir of the Celestials

∟ Scum of the Human Domain

∟ Human Domain’s Failure

∟ Anomaly

『 AFFINITIES 』

∟ Lightning

∟ Space

∟ Black Flame (Dormant)

『 ATTRIBUTES 』

∟ STR (Strength) → F → F+

∟ AGI (Agility) → F- → F

∟ VIT (Vitality) → F → F

∟ END (Endurance) → F → E-

∟ INT (Intelligence) → S-

∟ WIL (Willpower) → A

『 SUB-ATTRIBUTES 』

∟ LUCK → Unpredictable

∟ CHARM → S-

『 ENERGY RESERVE 』

∟ Mana Capacity → F+ → E-

『 MANA BREATHING 』

▸ Foundation Breathing Art

『 WEAPON ARTS & MASTERY 』

▸ Starlight Steps

『 REGISTERED SKILLS 』

▸ Flash Instinct

『 ACTIVE QUESTS 』

▸ [!!!!!]

---『 STATUS CLOSED 』---

I stared at the screen, letting the changes sink in.

Strength went from F to F+. Not much, but something. Agility climbed from F- to F—still garbage, but slightly less garbage than before. Endurance jumped all the way to E-, which was actually decent. That explained why the runs had been feeling slightly less impossible lately.

And Mana Capacity. F+ to E-. The biggest jump of the night. More mana meant more skills, more techniques, more staying power in a fight. It meant I could use Flash Instinct more than once without immediately collapsing.

I should say, not bad? I mean, it’s certainly better than a month ago.

[You’ve been training Starlight Steps for a week. Sixteen percent. For a Grandmaster technique. Do you know how long that takes most people?]

No idea.

[Months. Sometimes longer. You’re doing fine, Host.]

I snorted. Doesn’t feel like it.

[It never does. That’s how you know you’re actually growing.]

I stared at the screen for a moment longer, then closed it with a wave of my hand.

The room felt different now. Quieter. Calmer. Like something had shifted while I wasn’t paying attention, some fundamental part of me had changed and the world was still catching up.

I pushed myself to my feet, ignoring the way my legs protested after sitting cross-legged for so long. Walked to the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face.

The guy in the mirror looked back at me. Same dark circles under his eyes. Same messy black hair sticking up in every direction. Same stupid tattoo on his neck that he still wasn’t sure what to do with.

But his eyes were different. Calmer. More focused. Like he’d finally figured something out that had been bothering him for a long time.

You’re getting there, you idiot. Slowly. Painfully. But you’re getting there.

I changed into fresh clothes—simple shirt, loose pants, nothing fancy—and stumbled toward my bed. The sheets were cool against my skin. The pillow felt like heaven after everything.

I lay there, staring at the ceiling, thinking about everything. About the breakthrough and what it meant. About the trial waiting for me. About Mom and Mia sleeping somewhere in this fortress, trusting that I’d come back no matter what.

I will survive.

[Get some sleep, Leo.] Nova’s voice was quiet, softer than usual.

Yeah.

I closed my eyes.