It was a hot summer night, and Elias was not sleeping. Lying in bed, he could not help but stare at the ceiling of their small hut. His stomach was still full as he had just eaten the meat that his mother had given him.
His mind was distracted. He wondered what he would do now that he was stuck between his two gifts. Unfortunately, eating the meat did not seem to affect his aperture much. Although Elias could feel that his talent decreased a little, it was surely not a viable solution.
'Even if I keep eating this meat for years, it would still not be enough to allow me to use my rune. Perhaps if I find some higher-ranked beast meat…'
His aperture remained a battleground, torn between the influence of his rune and his innate talent. Elias wracked his brain for any details that might offer another solution but found himself drawing a blank. While there were myriad ways he could potentially decrease his talent faster, none seemed viable in his current position.
Elias had some information about perfect potential, though it was minimal due to his lack of interest in them during his previous life in the game. At most, he regarded them as an early-mid game threat, as they would typically die on their own before reaching rank 4.
'As for runes...'
Unlike manifestations, a rune was unique and, while sharing a similar essence to manifestations, was exceedingly precious due to its passive effects.
This means that, unlike manifestations that required aether to activate, runes were always active if certain criteria were met. A single rune had the potential to enhance a cultivator's overall fighting power by several times. It was particularly true when harmonized with a fitting manifestation.
Across many playthroughs, it was widely believed that a rune could shape one's destiny.
As for the rune of the End, he regrettably possessed even less information about this rune than about the perfect potential aperture. The Rune of the End had a unique existence, even among other runes. Despite conducting research during multiple gameplays, he found that little to no information was available on the origin of this rune.
As he pondered, he suddenly sensed a shadow approaching him. Opening his eyes, he noticed that it was his mother.
"Elias, are you awake?" the woman asked.
"... Yes. Mother,"
"Good, we're leaving this place," his mother suddenly said in a tone he had never heard her use before.
"What…did you just say…?" asked Elias with a confused look. He found himself at a loss of words at this sudden announcement and did not really know how to react.
"We are leaving," she repeated with a small smile on the corner of her lips.
Suddenly, he saw the animal skin that had served as the door being opened. His mother was standing near the rough doorframe, illuminated by the moonlight. However, what surprised Elias was that there was actually a man wearing a white uniform with a distinctive cloud symbol waiting behind the door.
'White uniform and this symbol... a cultivator from the White Smoke clan?'
The man was wearing a white robe, the uniform of the White Smoke clan, clearly part of the same clan that owned this smoky flower plantation where he and his mother had been toiling from dusk until dawn for the past years.
"Come out, kid. We're going to take you somewhere else," the man said with a strangely patient voice.
"What's going on, mother?" Elias asked, his eyes narrowing.
"Hm...Trust me, my love. I will tell you everything later," his mother announced with a bright smile as she patted Elias' head.
"..."
Without much of a choice, the boy got up and followed his mother, still with his wooden horse in hand.
As they walked, Elias looked around, trying to find any clues. He was surprised that no one was around. Even the guards were nowhere to be seen, which was impossible in most cases since they had to prevent any slave from escaping.
'What is happening? Why isn't there anyone?' Elias wondered, his mind racing through every possible scenario. He was unsure if he should trust this person, but his mother showed no intention of stopping, so he could only follow her.
Moreover, even if he wanted to resist, what could he ultimately do? Bite the cultivator? Throw his wooden horse? He had no manifestation in his aperture, nor could he use his rune, so it wouldn't be wrong to say he was as defenseless as any other 4-year-old child.
After walking for a few minutes, they arrived at the center of the village. At this time, the stone building that was used to store the smoky flowers was wide open, and several people were busy carrying the flowers out.
A large carriage parked in front of the warehouse was used to store smoky flowers. Several horses were attached to the carriage, ready to move. Surprisingly, multiple white-robed cultivators stood nearby.
Elias soon noticed that all the cultivators were glaring strangely at his mother and him. It was an odd stare of disgust and ... envy?
Soon enough, another much older man wearing the same white uniform appeared.
"Greetings, Elder Xiangor. It is them," the man escorting Elias and his mother said, bowing slightly as he pointed to them.
Looking at them with a cold gaze, the old man nodded."Get on the carriage," the man ordered.
"..."
Elias hesitated for a moment. He looked at his mother, who nodded and gestured for him to get on the carriage. Sitting next to him, his mother gently patted his head, then held his hand.
"Don't worry, we are going to a better place," the woman said with a smile.
Elias remained silent. He did not know what to think or what was going on, but he was not stupid. He already had some theories of what was actually happening. Before he could make up his mind, the carriage suddenly started moving.
"So... I owe you an explanation, right?" his mother suddenly said.
Elias simply nodded and waited for her to continue.
"A week ago, the overseer used something called an aperture awakening stone on me as a joke. And I actually awakened a rank 4 red potential, which means that I can become a cultivator!"
"A rank 4 red potential?" the boy asked, slightly puzzled.
"Yes, a rank 4 red potential. You probably don't know, but apparently, it is incredible!" his mother said, nodding.
At this moment, Elias understood everything. They were dragging her away because of her talent and because she was still young enough to start her cultivation.
The potential is categorized into ten distinct ranks, with each rank represented by a specific color. Rank 0 black potential as the lowest and rank 10 white potential, or also called perfect potential as the highest. When someone awakens their aperture, they gain a certain color corresponding to their talent to absorb aether into their aperture.
The higher the potential, the purer the absorbed aether would be. Having a pure aether had multiple benefits.
Firstly, purer aether enhances the power of manifestations. Therefore, higher potential cultivators have stronger and more effective manifestations.
Secondly, Cultivators with purer aether require less of it to activate their manifestations. For instance, if a manifestation demands 100% of a black 0 potential's stored aether, a red 4 potential would only need 20%. This efficiency allows talented cultivators to perform more manifestations without exhausting their aether reserves.
Thirdly, the purity of aether facilitates faster progression through the ranks of cultivation. Cultivators with higher potential can ascend to higher ranks faster and with fewer bottlenecks.
As for aperture awakening stones, they are special items used to unlock a human's potential.
Unlike Elias, who awakened his aperture by ingesting a rank 1 Smoky Flower, using this stone is the conventional method for awakening one's aperture without degrading the potential.
"Is that so? So is rank 4 red potential really that good?" the boy asked, despite already having the answer.
"Yes! We can live in a nice house and eat meat every day!" the woman said, her voice full of excitement.
"Does that imply that you will have to marry a member of the White Smoke clan?" Elias asked with a perplexed face.
"Huh? How did you know? Ah, yes, I will need to marry someone, but it's not a big deal," his mother answered without much care.
'So that's why they're trying so hard to conceal her identity and move us at night with little to no witeness. No one would marry a former slave; it would be a tremendous loss of face. But if it's kept secret, she can start anew and marry a clan member without issue,' deduced Elias as he coldly tapped on his wooden horse. 'That's also why she didn't tell me before. If word got out, it would complicate things...'
'They'll likely give her a new identity and marry her off to a clan member to ensure loyalty and a sense of belonging. A classic strategy used by clans'
Elias was not surprised. No matter which run he played in Forgotten Games, the strong ruled the weak, and any group would do anything to obtain talented people under them.
"I understand," he ultimately replied.
The woman looked at Elias, a bit astonished by how easily he seemed to have grasped the situation—perhaps even more so than she did. Despite being only four years old, Elias's comprehension was uncanny, almost alarming for his age. Sometimes, she felt that Elias even seemed to be more mature than her, which made her quite proud but also a bit embarrassed.
'My son is probably one of those geniuses,' she thought.
"Anyway, this will be a new start for us! Don't worry. This time, I will finally be able to protect you," she said warmly, hugging him for a long time.
Instead of replying, Elias asked, "Did you know about the Direfang meat's effect when you made me eat it?"
"Uh? How did you know about the effect of the meat?" she asked, surprised. After a moment of thought, realization dawned on her. "Yes, I did. I heard that eating a lot of Direfang meat can awaken your talent. That's why I gave you my share earlier... Since I was already awakened, I didn't need it. I hoped that you could awaken your talent too…."
"Yes. I heard one of the guards saying that, too," lied Elias. "But Mom, where did you hear that?"
"Well, I heard them saying that while talking among themselves. Perhaps they are giving everyone a fair chance to become cultivators by giving meat for everyone to eat," his mother concluded naively.
Hearing this, Elias's expression darkened. His fears were confirmed.
'So they indeed want to lower my talent...'
Elias was not a fool. He had played countless runs and knew that big shots wouldn't rely solely on strength; they often employed plots and schemes, like this time, for example.
By "accidentally" telling his mother that eating Direfang meat could awaken talent, the White Smoke clan exploited her love for him and made her think that by giving her portion of ranked meat to Elias, there would be a chance he would awaken like her.
Since she didn't know that eating ranked beast meat would ultimately diminish his potential if he ever awakened his aperture, she unknowingly ensured that he would need constant protection. This would make it easier for the clan to control her through him. Even if she later discovered the truth, who could she blame except herself? Moreover, if the clan correctly manipulated their words, she could even become grateful.
'Sadly, I can't tell her,' Elias thought, glancing at his mother, who continued to smile warmly at him. 'She might get angry at the clan, and that would only complicate things further for everyone. I also must not push the clan too much... Otherwise, they might resort to more drastic measures. What a cunning bunch.'
Elias forced a smile in return, determined to hide his true thoughts for both their sakes.
As the carriage faded into the night, his thoughts were once more drawn toward his aperture problems.