Chapter — The World That Others Cannot See

  Lux remained standing on the palace balcony long after the memory of the poisoned road faded.

  The wind moved quietly through the royal gardens below.

  Servants crossed the courtyard.

  Knights patrolled the outer walls.

  Everything looked normal.

  Peaceful.

  Yet Lux knew that the moment he returned from the forest three years ago… his life had never been normal again.

  He slowly closed his eyes.

  And another memory surfaced.

  The moment he first woke up after the assassination attempt.

  Lux had awakened slowly.

  His body felt heavy.

  Every muscle ached.

  The room smelled faintly of herbs and burning incense.

  For several moments, he simply stared at the ceiling above his bed.

  It was the ceiling of his room in the royal palace.

  Sunlight streamed through the tall window.

  The soft rustling of curtains filled the quiet room.

  Then Lux noticed something strange.

  Something… floating.

  Near the corner of the room.

  At first, he thought his vision was still blurred from the poison.

  But when he blinked, the thing did not disappear.

  It moved.

  Slowly.

  Like smoke drifting in the air.

  Lux sat up suddenly.

  And the moment he focused on it clearly—

  He froze.

  The creature was small.

  Barely larger than a human hand.

  Its body was semi-transparent, like glass touched by light.

  Its shape was strange.

  Not quite human.

  Not quite animal.

  More like a tiny distorted silhouette.

  And there was something inside its body.

  A faint glow.

  Lux stared in shock.

  Then he noticed something even more terrifying.

  There were more of them.

  Several small shapes floated throughout the room.

  Some drifted lazily near the ceiling.

  Others hovered beside the furniture.

  They made no sound.

  They cast no shadow.

  Yet they were clearly there.

  Lux's heart began to race.

  "What… are those?"

  One of the creatures slowly turned toward him.

  Its head tilted slightly.

  As if curious.

  Lux immediately jumped back.

  "What are you?!"

  He pointed toward them.

  Panic rising in his chest.

  At that exact moment, the door burst open.

  Two servants rushed inside.

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  Behind them came several palace guards.

  "Your Highness!"

  "What happened?!"

  Lux pointed toward the floating shapes.

  "There! Don't you see them?!"

  The servants looked.

  The guards looked.

  But none of them reacted.

  Because to them…

  The room was empty.

  One of the servants spoke carefully.

  "Your Highness… there is nothing there."

  Lux stared at them.

  Then he looked back at the floating creatures.

  They were still there.

  Watching him.

  Moving slowly through the air.

  Lux felt cold.

  For a brief moment, he wondered if the poison had damaged his mind.

  Soon after, the royal physician arrived.

  He examined Lux carefully.

  Checked his pulse.

  Looked into his eyes.

  After a long silence, the physician bowed to the emperor.

  "The prince has survived the poison."

  "But his body endured severe stress."

  The emperor frowned.

  "And?"

  The physician hesitated.

  "It is possible he is experiencing hallucinations."

  Lux remembered that moment clearly.

  The emperor had not looked convinced.

  But there was little else to say.

  Eventually, everyone left the room.

  Lux was alone.

  Completely alone.

  Except…

  He wasn't.

  The small creatures were still there.

  Floating quietly.

  Watching him.

  Lux pulled the blanket tighter around himself.

  His voice trembled slightly.

  "W-what are you?"

  For a few seconds, nothing happened.

  Then one of the creatures slowly drifted closer.

  Its body shimmered faintly.

  And then—

  It spoke.

  "So… you can see us."

  The voice was small.

  Almost like a whisper.

  Lux froze.

  The creature hovered directly in front of him now.

  Up close, he could see it more clearly.

  Its body was made of thin, flowing strands of light.

  They twisted and curled like smoke inside a transparent shell.

  Lux swallowed nervously.

  "You… spoke."

  The creature nodded slightly.

  "Yes."

  Lux stared at it in disbelief.

  "What are you?"

  The creature seemed to think for a moment.

  Then it answered calmly.

  "We are called Vafnir."

  Lux blinked.

  "Vafnir?"

  The creature nodded again.

  "A type of incomplete spirit."

  Lux had heard stories about spirits before.

  Elemental spirits were legendary beings said to exist in ancient myths.

  But those stories described powerful entities connected to nature.

  Not small floating things like these.

  "You don't look like the spirits in the legends," Lux said.

  The creature seemed amused.

  "That is because we are not complete spirits."

  It gestured toward itself.

  "Our bodies are unstable."

  Lux tilted his head.

  "Unstable?"

  Another spirit floated closer.

  This one looked slightly different.

  Inside its transparent body, two colors swirled together.

  Blue and brown.

  The first spirit pointed toward it.

  "This is Ver."

  Then it pointed toward itself.

  "And I am Aru."

  Lux studied them carefully.

  "Why do you look like that?"

  Aru answered,

  "Because of the elements."

  Lux frowned.

  "What elements?"

  Aru floated a little higher in the air.

  "Long ago, the world followed a different system of power."

  "A system far older than the magic used by humans today."

  Lux listened carefully.

  Aru continued.

  "In ancient times, power did not come from mana alone."

  "It came from the fundamental forces of the world."

  He raised a tiny glowing hand.

  "There are many elements."

  "Fire."

  "Water."

  "Wind."

  "Earth."

  "Ice."

  "Lightning."

  "Light."

  "Shadow."

  "Metal."

  "Nature."

  "And many others."

  Lux's eyes widen

  He had studied magic be

  But the human system only recognized a few basic affinities.

  Aro shook his head.

  "Humans have only ever used a system, and that's mana."

  Arrow smiled slightly.

  "We're different."

  He pointed.

  "I possess the elements of fire and ice. The swirling thing"

  Then

  "And Ver possesses Water… and Earth."

  Lux stared.

  "But that means…"

  Ver finished the sentence calmly.

  "It means we should not exist."

  Lux blinked.

  "What?"

  Aru explained,

  "Spirits are supposed to embody a single element."

  "That is the rule of the old system."

  "But when two elements collide…"

  "They create instability."

  "Our forms can never fully solidify."

  Lux looked at their small transparent bodies again.

  So that was why they looked incomplete.

  Like half-formed beings.

  Aru continued,

  "Because of this… even complete spirits cannot see us."

  Lux frowned.

  "What do you mean?"

  Ver answered this time.

  "Spirits perceive the world through elemental resonance."

  "But we exist outside the natural balance."

  "So to them… we are invisible."

  Lux slowly realized something.

  "If even spirits can't see you…"

  "Then humans definitely shouldn't be able to see you."

  Aru nodded.

  "Correct."

  Lux felt a strange tension in his chest.

  "Then… why can I?"

  The room became quiet.

  The two spirits looked at each other.

  For a moment, neither spoke.

  Then Ver said calmly,

  "It is because of what happened during your treatment."

  Lux's eyes narrowed.

  "The healer."

  Aru nodded.

  "Yes."

  Lux leaned forward slightly.

  "What did he do to me?"

  Aru floated closer.

  His voice lowered.

  "He changed the way your body interacts with mana."

  Lux frowned.

  "What does that mean?"

  Ver explained.

  "Mana normally flows in a stable circuit inside the human body."

  "But Mana Poison forces that flow to reverse."

  "It tears the circuit apart."

  Lux remembered what Adrian had said.

  Mana Poison destroyed its victims from the inside.

  "So how did I survive?"

  Aru answered slowly.

  "Because the healer didn't just remove the poison."

  "He rebuilt your internal structure."

  Lux felt a chill.

  "Rebuilt?"

  Ver nodded.

  "He forced the broken mana channels to reform."

  "But not in the normal way."

  Lux's voice grew quiet.

  "What way?"

  Aru looked directly at him.

  "He created a void."

  Lux blinked.

  "A void?"

  "Yes."

  "Instead of restoring your mana flow…"

  "He removed it."

  Lux felt the world tilt slightly.

  "You mean…"

  Ver finished the thought.

  "You no longer possess natural mana."

  Lux sat in silence.

  So that was why the crystal had shown nothing.

  Aru continued.

  "But the void created something else."

  Lux looked up.

  "What?"

  Aru smiled faintly.

  "It allowed your senses to reach beyond mana."

  "Beyond the human system."

  "Into the deeper structure of the world."

  Lux looked around the room.

  The floating spirits drifted quietly through the air.

  "You mean…"

  Aru nodded.

  "You can perceive things that exist outside the normal world."

  Ver added calmly,

  "Like us."

  Lux leaned back slowly.

  Trying to process everything.

  "So I have no mana…"

  "But I can see spirits no one else can."

  Aru tilted his head.

  "Exactly."

  Lux looked at them again.

  The two small spirits floated peacefully in the air.

  For a moment, Lux began to smile.

  Because for the first time since waking up…

  He didn't feel afraid anymore.

  Instead, he felt something else.

  Curiosity.

  "So… what happens now?"

  Aru and Ver exchanged another glance.

  Then Aru spoke.

  "Now?"

  His tiny glowing body drifted closer.

  "Now we teach you."

  Lux raised an eyebrow.

  "Teach me what?"

  Ver answered calmly.

  "The forgotten system."

  Lux leaned forward.

  "The ancient system of power."

  The room grew quiet again.

  And for the first time…

  Lux realized something extraordinary.

  The world everyone else believed in—

  Was only a small part of something far greater.

  And he…

  Had just stepped beyond its boundaries.