The heavy doors of the royal vault groaned open, ancient iron hinges screeching against stone.
Daemon stepped inside.
The moment he crossed the threshold, a cold wave of raw mana pressed against his skin — sharp, heavy, alive. It wasn't just the air. The entire room pulsed like the belly of a living creature.
All around him, spiritual stones lined the chamber. Some small and faintly glowing — others the size of a man's fist, locked in ornate silver cases. Each one thrummed with pure Astral energy, the crystallized cores of monsters long dead.
So this is the graveyard of beasts, Daemon thought, brushing his fingers across a sealed case.
A treasury of power, hoarded and wasted by kings too weak to use them.
Spiritual Stones — the byproduct of the strongest monsters. Once the heart of a living creature, now reduced to gemstones soaked in hatred and survival instinct. To absorb one was a gamble between evolution and death.
And Daemon? He wasn't here to gamble.
He was here to grow.
The door creaked again behind him.
Two palace soldiers stepped inside, carrying a plain leather bag. They placed it down gently beside the polished stone table, bowing stiffly.
"Your Highness. As ordered. Dried meat, water, and bandages for your seclusion."
Daemon tilted his head, offering them a faint smile.
"Good. Leave it. And close the door behind you."
Without a word, the two soldiers retreated, the heavy vault doors slamming shut behind them. The world outside vanished, leaving only him and the stones — and the endless thrum of power calling to him.
Daemon stretched his hands out and let his fingers hover over one of the larger stones.
A dark red glow pulsed through it, as if it still had a heartbeat.
In my past life, they kept me from this room, Daemon thought.
Now I see why. One of these alone could've pushed me beyond Gabriel before I even picked up a sword.
He sat down cross-legged on the cold stone floor, the bag of dried meat untouched at his side.
Time to push past the Fourth Star.
His palms rested lightly on the stone.
"Let's see," he murmured, "how long the world lasts once I start using its bones as fuel."
Daemon's fingers hovered over the spiritual stone, its deep crimson glow pulsing against his palm like a second heartbeat.
He exhaled slowly, letting his mind focus.
This was the moment he'd trained for — and gambled his life for.
But before feeding power into his core, his thoughts traced back to the one truth this world lived by:
The Astral Path.
A ladder no one climbed by luck.
———
There are 13 Stages, divided into 4 Realms:
[Realm I: Mortal Core] (1-5 Stars)
The path of the living. Strength beyond mortals, but still bound to human limits.
1. Flicker Star — The first spark. The birth of one's core.
2. Kindled Star — External aura shaping, reinforcing steel and skin.
3. Burning Star — Techniques emerge. Reflexes sharpen. Speed blooms.
4. Radiant Star — Aura takes form; elemental and beast manifestations.
5. Flare Star — Peak mortal strength. Aura projection becomes reality.
[Realm II: Celestial Core] (6-9 Stars)
The realm where the world itself bends to you.
6. Nova Star — Aura distorts space, gravity, even decay.
7. Eclipse Star — Astral Gates open. Mana transcends the flesh.
8. Comet Star — Ambient energy obeys. Short-range spatial movement awakens.
9. Black Star — Core dominion. The ability to crush or devour others' cores.
[Realm III: Sovereign Core] (10-12 Stars)
A realm of monsters, kings, and forgotten legends.
10. Void Star — Aura grows will and sentience, like a second soul.
11. Solar Star — Time manipulation. Mass control.
12. Astral Star — Walking between worlds: underworld, divine, mortal.
[Realm IV: Final Ascension] (13th Star)
13. Myth Star.
The throne no man could earn, only steal from the gods.
————
In my last life, Daemon thought, I never even saw past the sixth Star.
And now, at twelve...
His gaze sharpened on the stone. The road he walked now was darker, crueler — but far faster.
With one deep breath, he pressed his palms to the spiritual stone and let its energy crash into him like a flood.
The moment the raw force poured into his core, his veins screamed. His heart thudded painfully against his ribs, and his vision flickered as the dark, demonic energy from the stone collided with his human body — fighting, twisting, trying to consume him.
Daemon clenched his jaw, sweat running cold down his neck.
If I die here, it won't be from an assassin's blade, but my own hunger for power.
And still, he smiled through the agony.
Because this time, he would not stop until his name was carved into the stars.
The moment Daemon forced the spiritual stone's raw energy into his core, his body buckled. His muscles locked, veins lit up like molten iron under skin, and his mind splintered into fragments of rage and hunger.
It wasn't just power.
It was living will — the last breath and hatred of the monster that birthed the stone, screaming for revenge as it tore through him.
He bit down hard, the taste of copper blooming across his tongue.
This is the difference, he thought, eyes wide but unfocused.
Between wishing for strength... and seizing it.
Time, at first, was easy to track.
Hours. Days. The rhythm of light slipping through the cracks of the vault doors.
But after the first month... the outside world blurred into silence.
The sunrises and sunsets became one endless, suffocating twilight inside his mind.
Pain became his clock.
When his aura throbbed violently, when the stones' power raged like wildfire in his core, he knew another layer had broken. Another step closer to the Fourth Star.
When his body burned so deep even his soul tried to retreat — he knew he was getting close.
And when silence returned, when the hunger and agony settled into a cold, balanced flame, he opened his eyes.
The light from the single torch in the vault flickered against his pale, sharpened face.
His body had changed.
His aura had changed.
And for the first time, the pressure inside his chest was stable.
Radiant Star, he thought, exhaling slowly.
Fourth Star... finally.
But something was wrong.
The silence wasn't peaceful — it was suffocating. His core pulsed with unease, like an itch beneath his bones. It wasn't satisfied.
It was tempting him.
There's more.
"No way.... an opportunity"
His breathing slowed, steady but ragged. His body ached, his skin cracked from the pressure, but the hunger inside him still clawed for the next rung.
Daemon's eyes snapped open, bloodshot and wild.
"Come on... I can withstand pain."
His hands clenched into trembling fists as he forced every last drop of mana to surge into his core, riding the agony higher.
"Damn it come on I need to reach my limit !"
And there, inside his mind, it appeared.
A towering black wall. Cold. Unmoving. A barrier between him and the next level. A gate he'd never crossed, not even in his past life.
His lips pulled back into a snarl.
"I can break through... I will break through!"
Fists flew.
Bone cracked.
Blood splattered against the imagined wall, again and again, until his arms went numb.
The wall shuddered.
A crack splintered across its surface.
One more hit.
He roared, putting every ounce of hatred and hunger into the final strike — and the wall collapsed.
A flood of raw, liquid power poured through his core, and his body gave out. His nose, his ears, even his eyes leaked thin lines of blood as the surge raged through him.
Fifth Star. Flare Star.
The world dimmed. His consciousness wavered.
But before the darkness claimed him, a smile twitched at the corner of his mouth.