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Freedom City, as the name suggests, is a city with absolutely no laws created by the government whatsoever.
Yet, unlike one would expect from such a city, it was not a ruin of buildings where crimes occurred at every corner. The reason for such order was a skyscraper that stood in the center of this land.
It was colored white, with a drawing of a phoenix painted on its top. Its surroundings featured a large garden filled with burning trees. Strangely enough, the fire did not burn the trees or emit heat. In fact, it seemed as if the fire was a natural part of the trees. Most importantly, it radiated an aura of healing that could cure any kind of normal burns. These trees were not ordinary—they were a manifestation of a domain.
But we don't really care about that, so let's return to discovering the reason for this land's order.
This building was the headquarters of the Soaring Phoenix Guild, the third most powerful faction on a planet that was a hundred times the size of Earth. Using a simple tool called fear, this guild ruled this unwanted piece of land and turned it into a respectable bastion capable of warding off stray attacks from SS-rank demons.
Now that we're done with these unimportant matters, let's find our protagonist.
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Inside a room in the skyscraper's orphanage stood a one-year-old boy.
The boy was odd, and not just because he was butt-naked, but because of how he looked. His hair was dark purple and reached his waist, his skin was as pale as a sheet of paper, and his eyes were transparent. His mouth resembled that of a vampire, and his delicate features made him appear otherworldly.
Today, Asmodeus was bored. He decided to review all the information he had gathered about the lower dimension.
"Let's see... It has been exactly 58 years since my fight with Jin, 1 year since my reincarnation. I reached one year old yesterday. The reason I don't remember being born is that children of Awakeners spend one week in a coma after birth to absorb mana. All children who reach the age of one are required to go through an event called Awakening, where they receive mana washing to facilitate cultivation and activate their talent.
The cult leader of the most powerful faction created a function called The System that attaches to Awakeners during the Awakening event, which was also created by him—or her. Although, I'm quite sure it's a man; after all, the bastards worship me... well, the previous me.
I also recall giving a man from Earth a shard of the Fate Stone because he gave me a couple of thousand souls of angels. The cult I was born into is one of his cult's branches. Oh, and it turns out I am a special bloodline Awakener. These are people born with powerful bloodlines belonging to high demons, archdemons, angels, or even deities."
Today was a special day for Asmodeus. After all, today, he would experience Awakening.
In fact, the main reason the guild brought him back and gave him a home was that, with their technology, they discovered he was likely to awaken an A-rank talent.
Although that was nice and all…
BAM!!
A woman, whose attire should not be seen by children, barged into his room. At that moment, he suddenly remembered why he was naked.
In her hand was a set of clothes made of void strings. She began dressing him up. This was Elizabeth, the creator of the orphanage branch of the guild. She was ranked as the 12th most powerful Awakener with the SS-rank talent "Semi-Omnipresent".
As the name suggested, she existed everywhere at the same time within her domain.
Ah, you don't know what a domain is in this story? Well, for now, you don't need to know.
After dressing him up, Elizabeth nodded in satisfaction before vanishing, leaving Asmodeus alone.
After closing the door and ensuring no one was watching, he held his head in frustration.
"For Athab's sake, acting like a child is harder than killing myself! Well... not really..."
Sighing at his misery, he walked out of the room and headed toward the classroom.
Since we're waiting for him to reach the classroom, let's explain how this singular building is so large as to house an orphanage, a school, and several other facilities. Well, that's thanks to another Awakener, the holder of the S-rank talent "Builder", which allows its user to create large permanent stretches within existing space.
Another thing one might wonder is—
Oh, it seems Asmodeus has reached the classroom.
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Taking a step inside, he was suddenly teleported to a large, 100 by 100 square meter room filled with desks. The room was shaped like half a circle. Where the rectangular wall should have been, there was a massive screen spanning the entire wall, and a teacher floated beside it.
He was a tall man with a skinny build, wearing a business suit. His skin was pale as the moon, and his eyes contained nothing but pools of darkness. His short black hair seemed to move like shadows.
This was Mr. Null, the holder of the S-rank talent "Shadow Monarch". He was the only teacher in the guild and the creator of its school branch.
After the couple of thousand children took their seats, he spoke. His hoarse voice traveled effortlessly across the room:
"Good morning, children. As you may know, today is a special day."
Chatter broke out among the little ones. The teacher didn't bother stopping it; after all, who could silence thousands of one-year-olds without violence?
In fact, if not for them being children of Awakeners with far higher intelligence than normal, the noise would have been much greater.
Once the chatter quieted, the man spoke again.
"Although you all know what Awakening is, I will explain it once more.
Awakening began after demons broke through their cage and started attacking humans. It first occurred due to mana exposure, causing humans to open their meridians. Initially, no talents existed. Over time, humans learned to manipulate mana, and eventually, talents were born.
However, it was only with the introduction of the Awakening Ceremony—created by the first ranked Awakener and leader of the strongest cult—that talents became standardized. Talents are tied to one's personality or, as some call it, the soul. They are unique to each individual and shape not only their abilities but also their nature. Creating a talent is a complex process, but you can think of the ceremony as an AI tasked with creating a talent using you—your very existence—as its blueprint.
For further understanding, you'll need to wait until you're older."
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Asmodeus muttered in annoyance, "I still can't believe they teach such complicated stuff to one-year-olds. And I was called a demon... The strangest part is that all these brats actually understand this!"
His thoughts were interrupted as a man clad in white armor appeared beside the teacher. The man's voice rang through the room:
"Greetings. I am the Vice Guildmaster, White Fire, the 10th-ranked Awakener. I will be your escort to the Awakener Realm."