A figure slumped over the chipped wooden desk, and a few strands of moonlight streamed through the windows, caked with dirt and grime on the edges. A dim desk lamp illuminated the face etched with furrowed brows; his nose wrinkled as if he had smelled something disgusting.
A cascade of foreign energy slipped through the walls of the room. The old bed with its yellowed sheets and gray pillow, the chipped wooden desk and its papers, and the desk lamp started to float.
Han Wei, who remained unconscious, also floated upwards and was suspended midair. The energy then dispersed into long strings of different colors, blue, red, and green, converging towards him. The colorful strings then shattered into tiny motes and invaded his body, entering through his glabella.
As the unknown force entered his body, Han Wei's eyes opened widely as a myriad of colors had taken the place of his usual black-colored irises. A tingling sensation erupted as the tiny motes surged deep into his muscles.
His blood felt like a boiling liquid surging through his body. The colorful specks danced wildly in his blood, adding a tinge of blue to the deep shade of red. The reddish motes reached his bones and drilled deep into them, adding faint red lines, forming a net-like structure.
The pain was soon reaching an unbearable limit. Han Wei could feel his mind growing more and more faint as the room around him began to distort into an undistinguishable haze.
As if realizing the human's limit, the phenomenon began to fade, disappearing as fast as it had appeared. The colors that decorated the room had also receded. The room was filled with a dim gray once again as streams of moonlight entered the room once again.
All the furniture suspended in the air tumbled down with a loud crash, knocking over a rack of clothing and sending various articles of clothing flying. Sheets of paper with hastily scribbled notes scattered throughout the room like leaves in a hurricane as Han Wei groaned, rubbing his temples in pain.
"I didn't know becoming an [Astralizer] would be this painful," Han Wei muttered, removing a pair of faded black socks from his head. A splitting headache left him nauseous and in agony, as he attempted to ignore the burning sensation pulsating through his brain.
Han Wei felt as if someone had dug tiny holes into his body, but despite the pain clouding his mind, he was curious about the changes happening in him. Han Wei rested for a couple of minutes to allow the majority of the pain to subside before he flexed his arms and stretched his legs a little.
Han Wei could feel a minor improvement, but he wasn't sure of the full extent of the changes. He was a skinny kid, but after being Astralized, he remained skinny despite his muscles expanding slightly and feeling sturdier.
However, years of malnutrition had not done him any favors except saving him a small sum of cash. It had dulled the transformative effects becoming an [Astralizer] would have granted. "Just surviving isn't enough anymore," Han Wei mused. "I'll need to find some actual food and not all these instant noodles."
Turning his attention away from his lack of nutritional food, Han Wei touched his chest and felt a hard object lodged in it. "So this is what an [Astral Core] feels like!" he recognized. "So this is what I nearly gave my life up for!" Han Wei could hear a slight hum from his [Astral Core]. He pressed his fingers against it again and felt his [Astral Core] quiver a little as if it was trying to welcome him for the first time.
Closing his eyes, Han Wei visualized the state of his physique in his mind using his [Astral Core]; it looked like a dark blue crystal with small spikes protruding, encased around his heart covering it entirely.
Han Wei focused on these spikes closely, and he saw faint blue sparks dancing around the tips.
Keeping his eyes closed, Han Wei called upon his [Astral Core] with a brief thought as streams of blue light converged towards and entered into it. Han Wei sensed a faint, yet abundant energy spread throughout his body. He felt a brief cooling sensation wash over him, it was as if someone had turned on an air conditioner; "Mana! I can finally sense mana." Han Wei thought elatedly.
Han Wei opened his eyes again after sensing the mana in the room and saw his bed where his desk used to be. Some of the notes Han Wei had written had flown out the window like a pack of birds.
Seeing his room in complete disarray, his furniture disorganized, and clothing scattered across the dusty hardwood floor, he could feel the headache coming back. "F**K!" Han Wei yelled.
"PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO SLEEP HERE, DAMMIT!" a tenant yelled from below. "SORRY!" Han Wei shouted back. Although he hadn't been in this new place for long, he couldn't wait to move out once he officially became an [Astralizer] and started to earn some money for himself.
Han Wei currently lived in a small room he rented with the bare minimum to save his dwindling funds. The room had no kitchen and consisted of a room with small colonies of mold lurking on the walls and a bathroom with half the tiles missing. The previous tenant had likely taken some of the bathroom tiles with him. Taking a deep sigh, he bent down to start cleaning his room.
"Please give me an amazing ability," Han Wei hoped as he cleaned his room. "I don't want to be the poorest [Astralizer]." The stipend was the only thing that barely kept Han Wei afloat, but it has now expired.
Han Wei was currently living off of a stipend from the governing association for [Astralizers] known as Renetria Cenelix. In the Year 3846 of the Astaralium Calendar, Renetria Cenelix passed the "Astralizer Supportation Stipend Act."
Due to the overwhelming need for [Astralizers] to combat [Astral Rift] disasters, the act was passed to increase the birth rate. This act provided a monetary stipend to newborns for the next 18 years of their life.
After 18 years of age, a person is blessed with Astral Energy, granting magical abilities and other skills.
These people would then be known as [Astralizers].