Cosmic Ascension

CH 3: A star fell

Crouching down, Noah observed the alien robot he had just captured with curiosity evident in his eyes.

Everything had started just fine this morning. He couldn’t help but sigh as he remembered the sequence of events.

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.

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In a small house made of ice, resembling an igloo, a young man slept peacefully, his pale body exposed to the chilling temperature with not even a stitch to cover his nakedness. With a handsome face and long, silver hair and eyes blue like the sky, he emanated an air of fragility.

"Ugh..."

His body stirred as he turned and tumbled out of the ice bed, hitting the ground with a thud, finally awakening.

Groggy and disoriented, his golden eyes surveyed his surroundings until he remembered where he was.

Rising to his feet, he inhaled deeply and exhaled, preparing himself for the day ahead.

"Time to start a new day."

An unusual statement, considering the world outside was enveloped in impenetrable darkness through and through.

It was a darkness so deep that it should have rendered everything invisible to one’s eyes.

Yet, he was used to this very darkness already and his sight was nearly unobstructed in the void that was outside. Just as he had grown accustomed to the biting cold and thin air that was perpetually trying to reap his life.

A gust of frigid wind swept by, causing him to shiver ever so slightly. Being completely naked posed a minor issue for him. But he had no more clothes that could fit him and the knowledge he had was not helpful in creating a set of clothes for himself. Nor did he think, in fact, that he had any need for them in this desolate plain.

"It's time to hunt for breakfast."

He moved, his steps cracking the icy ground beneath him as he started running with force, each stride propelling him forward.

Far on the horizon, a source of light could be seen— it was his target for today.

He ran without hesitation in his stride. The darkness surrounding him from all sides progressively receded with each of his steps on the icy ground, going from pitch black to a more visible world, until he finally emerged from the darkness, stepping into a world bathed in radiant light.

Steam billowed from his body as the stark temperature difference hit him like a tsunami.

Whoosh~!

The surroundings gradually transformed from an icy landscape to a cracked, scorched ground. He knew very well that if he ran for a few more minutes, he would reach a place where the wind was so hot that heat waves danced in the air.

But the other side was not his target for today.

Sensing his internal clock while looking up at the three suns in the air, he was able to figure out that his prey would be out for its own hunt very soon.

He stood in the perfect spot— the only place where creatures, unlike him, could survive. A place that balanced the extremes of heat and cold.

It was a spot filled with beautiful wildlife, a lush forest, and the cry of beasts and insects.

He inhaled deeply, feeling the stark difference in air quality. His lungs filled with the purity of oxygen.

This was his world. His zone.

A world where no one like him existed.

A world where everything but him was food to be devoured and used by him.