Hours slipped by in silence as the group slowly adjusted to the idea that humanity was not alone, even in form. Other humans walked the galaxy.
And then curiosity turned them toward the smooth spheres in their hands.
The Nodes. Their key to the galaxy.
Like children with a new toy, they activated them one by one, their names registering into the unseen weave of the Galactic Net.
Adrian turned the smooth orb in his hands. Its surface shimmered faintly, covered in a lattice of runes so intricate that at first glance it looked like a pattern of stars.
He narrowed his eyes, Source mist coiling upward to sheath his vision.
The runes shifted. No longer symbols, but words, fragments of sentences in the Language of Mana. Tens of thousands of them, layered so tightly they spiraled inward like a galaxy etched into sphere.
And then, pain.
A sharp headache stabbed into him, the weight of knowledge crashing like a flood. He staggered, clutching his temple.
"Adrian?" Elara's voice cut through the haze of his concentration.
"I'm fine," he managed, though sweat beaded on his forehead. "The Node... it's not just technology."
The Node contained not hundreds, but tens of thousands of runes compressed in a way no human hand could replicate. Trying to comprehend them all at once was madness.
Even so, he marveled. How could someone inscribe this much into something so small?
"What do you see?" Elara asked.
Adrian tried again, slower this time. Just enough to glimpse pieces. He saw runes that fetched data from somewhere far away, runes that bent to act like storage themselves.
"It's all inscription," he whispered. "The entire device is made of compressed runes."
The Node was not technology alone, it was inscription. The runes themselves carried the knowledge, the mana-stitching acting as both vessel and key.
Adrian could not comprehend it all. Not yet. His Source gave him the ability to read, but he lacked even the foundations of galactic concepts.
Still, the sheer audacity of it left him awed.
At last, he exhaled and stopped. Forcing it further would give no results.
Instead, he opened the Net itself.
His vision filled with light, threads of discussion, archives upon archives of runes. The interface responded to his thoughts, categories expanding with barely a mental nudge.
One forum argued for 50,000 comments over whether a newly discovered symbol meant soul or breath. Adrian glanced at it once.
This book was originally published on NovelBin. Check it out there for the real experience.
His Source whispered the answer instantly, it meant heated air.
He stared at the screen in silence. Entire empires were fumbling in the dark, while his Source translated all the mysteries to him.
He closed his eyes, the realization sinking in. The galaxy is still crawling in the dark. Scraping at fragments while the full language lies beyond them.
Across the chamber, Selena sat absorbed in her own search. She browsed runic forums, sifting through discussions on strengthening runes, combat inscriptions, and void survival theories.
Thousands of scholars debating, experimenting, chasing scraps of meaning.
Not one mention of tattoo runes.
Her fingers curled tightly around her Node. "If I revealed it here... if I proved tattoo inscriptions were possible... I'd be remembered forever."
The thought sent a thrill through her. One of the greatest Rune Masters alive, her name echoing across empires.
Seeing Selena's smirk, Aurelia's voice cut across her thoughts, calm but edged with warning.
"Careful, child. Revelations don't crown you with glory. They paint targets on your back."
Selena's smirk faded. She understood.
...
Meanwhile, Kael browsed differently. He dove straight into war reports. Lists of battles against demons across star systems.
Casualties numbering in the millions. Strategies written in cold, clinical detail. Tactical breakdowns of fortress worlds falling to demons.
The numbers blurred together, entire populations erased, planets stripped bare, fleets of thousands reduced to scrap in hours. Each report catalogued horror with the detached precision of a ledger.
Compared to even the weakest galactic clans, Earth was an insect clinging to a stone.
He leaned back slowly, eyes grim. "Earth isn't even a shadow compared to a minor galactic clan."
"This can't be real," he muttered, scrolling through another report of a demon horde consuming three star systems in a week.
...
Thomas and Elara shared a single Node, sifting through combat archives. They watched duels between peak SSS-rank warriors, blows that shattered moons, strikes that scarred entire planets.
One recording showed a warrior splitting an asteroid with casual ease. Another displayed a woman redirecting a comet's trajectory with her bare hands.
And these duels, these apocalyptic displays, were spoken of on the Net as if they were training spars.
Elara's hand tightened into a fist. Thomas's eyes hardened. The gap between them and the galaxy was staggering.
Both shook, not from despair, but resolve. "Then we must break through. We have to."
"Look at this," Thomas said, voice strained. "They call this a 'minor skirmish.'"
...
In the quiet moments, Aurelia drifted among them, her tone both guiding and sharp.
"Knowledge on the Net is truth and lies tangled together. Learn to separate them."
She paused behind Selena, watching the woman's fascination with runic debates. "Do not assume what you read here is the whole story. Empires decide what you see, and what you never will."
Then Kael froze. His eyes widened as he found something, an entire section devoted to the Galactic Rankings.
"Look," he said, voice tight.
The others gathered around as he projected it. The holographic display materialized before them.
The Galactic Rankings. Lists of the strongest clans, the most renowned scholars, the most feared warriors.
Names scrolled endlessly, clans with histories spanning millennia, warriors whose legends echoed across empires, scholars whose single discoveries had reshaped entire civilizations.
Earth was, of course, nowhere.
SSS-rankers were treated like common soldiers. Stellar warriors numbered in the thousands.
"We're not even footnotes," Elara whispered, scanning the military rankings where beings she couldn't comprehend sat at the bottom tiers.
The clans of the Lexarian Empire sat atop the scholarship ranks, their monopoly on knowledge unshakable. Other empires' clans dominated military rankings, their reputations carved through war.
Adrian watched names flash by, Clan Voidrender, Clan Starforge, Clan Infinitus. Each carried weight that dwarfed entire planets.
Selena's brow furrowed. "Clans aren't just strength. They're legacy, influence, recognition."
Clans were pillars, entire civilizations wrapped around their banners. Some commanded fleets that numbered in the hundreds of thousands.
And somewhere in that endless list, Earth would have to carve its place.