LONE: The Journey Beyond

It had been three months since the creation of the UEA.

The time for the first batch of Awakenings was closer than ever.

The UEA has been working tirelessly on this incident to make sure nothing goes wrong.

One month ago, the people of Earth were fully Assimilated with Ardor. Now, they were completely able to manipulate Ardor according to their will.

Though they couldn't move it as explained in the fantasy novels, they were still able to use it to some extent.

The scientists figured that they needed methods, or scriptures, and a cultivation system to accumulate the Ardor for use.

Research was going on in that direction too, and many different cultivation systems were tried, from Western Mana-based systems to Chinese Qi-based systems, but nothing worked.

The reason for this was that humans on modern Earth didn't have any Dantian or Energy Cores to gather Mana or Qi. Also, the World Energy covering the Earth didn't show any properties of Mana or Qi.

So a new system was needed!

This is where Reven and his team came in. The MHS had already studied these systems during their training and knew much about them.

So, after extensively studying the properties of Ardor, Reven, Aleena, and Vera, along with Hana Croft and Luciel Croft, who also invented the Seven-Link technology, which revolutionised communication and information, came to a conclusion.

The conclusion was that Ardor was much more similar to Prana or Zeal, which was the source energy of the Chakra System, than Qi, Mana, Essence, Spirit, or anything else.

They devised a completely new system using the Chakra System as the base and named it the Chakra/Cog System of Ardor Regulations, or CSAR for short.

This system could be used by every Ardor-Assimilated individual, regardless of whether he or she had an Awakened Ability or not.

There was no need for a Dantian or Energy Core either, as CSAR depended on Meditation and Yogic stances to create the Seven Prime Energy Centres along the Brain to the end of the Spinal cord.

This new system of Cogs used the Central Nervous System (CNS) as the base to form the Prime Energy Centres. This made the system extremely strong and stable.

Finally, they donated it to the UEA after discussing it with the President. They knew that without it, humanity had no chance of surviving the upcoming calamity.

After that, the information regarding the Awakening was also made public.

Contrary to the government's expectations, this didn't cause mass shock, and people accepted the fact and got ready for what was about to come.

Everybody hoped to Awaken an Ability, as it could definitely give them some perks. But, since the CSAR could be used by everyone, whether they have an Ability or not, it helped to appease the citizens.

Now, only one problem remained, and that was the cultivation scriptures. This was much more complicated, as nobody had any idea regarding it.

Technically, the CSAR could be followed without any scriptures, but everyone knew that if they cultivated it without a proper way, then it would take years to even finish the initial stages.

So many scientists, yogis, and mystics came together to create a new scripture.

Their work was not unrewarded, and soon a totally new cultivation scripture was formed. It was named [Basic Ardor Gathering Art].

This scripture was soon going to be made public through the UEA after testing it and making sure that it was safe.

Reven and Co. also checked this scripture and approved it. Though it had some problems, they didn't have anything else.

Reven decided to try and see if he could enhance this art, but that was a problem for another time.

Back to the present.

Today was a very important day, as the first batch of humans were going to Awaken.

Talos was one of the people who showed symptoms of Awakening. Along with him, many of Reven's colleagues were also there. There were also many civilians here who showed the symptoms.

Everyone, including Reven, the President, and many important people from the ISC, were also here to witness this miracle.

Talos and the others were sitting cross-legged. Many pieces of equipment were attached to their bodies to study any changes happening to them during the Awakening.

Soon, Talos and the others started sweating profusely.

Ughh!

A moan escaped from Talos's mouth. He started to sweat profusely. His body got hotter and hotter, and soon his body started glowing.

The glow increased exponentially.

Then…

Woosh! Woosh!

The Ardor concentration around Talos increased, and…

As if a small Black Hole opened around his Root Cog, located at the end of the Spinal Cord, all the Ardor was directly sucked into the Root Cog as the glow around his body receded.

Slowly…

Talos opened his eyes, glowing with brilliance!

He has finally Awakened!

Everyone's focus was on him as Dr. Giovanni asked him, "Are you alright?"

"Absolutely fine, sir."

"That's good. Now then, tell me, do you have any idea what kind of Ability you have Awakened? Or you don't have any idea about it?" Dr. Giovanni asked with anticipation.

"[Weapon Control]!"

Talos just replied with those two words.

"Huh! What do you mean by that?"

"It is exactly what I said! Wait, let me show you." Talos went to the side of the room and brought a sword. Then he raised the sword and...

Released it!

To everyone's surprise, the sword didn't fall down but was levitating.

Everyone watching felt their eyes bulging out of their sockets. Though they were expecting something like this, it still amazed them.

Soon, the others also started to Awaken!

Most of their Abilities were not as amazing as the ones Talos had, but there were still some that stirred discussion.

Such as the [Pyromancy] Ability of Emma Flanck,

the [Mind's Eye] Ability of Ankan Sashtri,

the [Golden Finger] Ability of Jack Evergreen,

the [Sweet Talker] Ability of Michael Simon,

the [Super Sensitivity] Ability of Valey Giovanni and

the [Analytical Thinking] Ability of Luciel Croft.

All the people who Awakened were advised to stay for some tests to see if there were any side-effects.

The rest of the people who were watching left, lost in their own thoughts.

-----

Reven left the place with the President.

"Congratulations, sir, on your daughter." Reven congratulated the President.

"Thank you, Greh." The President replied with a grin on his face.

"Now then, has the UEA approved the request of the 'Empress AI Program' and the 'Credit Points (CP) System'?

We and the US have spent billions on it. So you better say they have."

"It's good news, sir. They have agreed to the request."

"I knew it. There is no way; they won't allow the only way to save the current economic conditions.

The CP System will enable the use of a single currency throughout the world, and the Empress AI will make things much more efficient.

Plus, now we have a way to commercialise the Seven-Links too.

Greh, today is really our lucky day."

"Indeed, it is, sir."

Reven and the President discussed as they entered the car and left.

…..

Author's Note:

>> What do you think about this entirely new cultivation system that I have introduced?

Express you opinions in the comments below.

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