Chapter 308: Ch 308 : Morning Star

Tower of Eternity, Floor 1: Town #16930.The atmosphere in the Starting Town was a mixture of shouting merchants, clanking armor, and the sizzle of spells.

It was a place of giants, Orcs with biceps the size of boulders, Dragonborn towering over the crowd, and Humans decked in high-grade magitech gear.

But amidst this sea of warriors, a small, quiet voice whispered.

"So... this is what they call a beginner town."

The speaker was barely waist-high to a normal human. He was a boy, roughly ten years old, with skin like porcelain and hair that cascaded down his back like gold.

Two small, downy white wings were tucked neatly against his shoulder, marking him as a fledgling of the Angel Race.

This was Lucious.

He wasn’t just any Angel. He was the son of the First Apostle of Gaia, born with a silver spoon in his mouth and the mana of the heavens in his veins.

"It’s..." Lucious tilted his head, his eyes sparkling with the clarity of a cloudless sky, scanning the massive architecture. "It’s many times bigger than the pictures."

He took a step forward. His boots, made of soft enchanted leather, made no sound on the cobblestones.

He walked with a strange mix of childish wonder and regal determination.

The crowd around him parted. At first, it was subconscious. People simply moved out of his way. Then, they noticed him.

"Hey, look down there," a Human swordswoman nudged her partner. "Is that... a kid?"

"What the hell?" The partner, a massive Beastkin, frowned. "Where are his parents? Who lets a ten-year-old enter the Tower? This isn’t a nursery; it’s a battlefield!"

"Maybe he’s an NPC?" someone else whispered. "A quest giver?"

"No, there is no Npc title over his head. He’s a Climber."

Whispers spread like wildfire. Concern, confusion, and outrage rippled through the onlookers.

In a world where death in the Tower meant permanent erasure after nine lives, sending a child here seemed like the ultimate act of cruelty.

But Lucious was oblivious to their pity. He didn’t hear the murmurs. His focus was singular. He looked toward the massive Northern Gate, the exit that led to the Endless Forest.

His small hands clenched into fists. He didn’t come here to play. He came here to ascend.

The Throne Room, City of Gods.

Sunny sat on the Throne, reviewing the influx of faith from the Tower’s opening hour. The success was overwhelming; quadrillions of lifeforms had already entered.

Suddenly, he was pulled back from his thoughts by the melodious voice of Thea .

[Master, Hero Lucious is beginning his journey as a tower climber]

"Oh?" Sunny sat up straight, his eyes widening behind his mask.

He leaned forward, intrigued.

Thea had mentioned the birth of this child a decade ago while Sunny was wandering the subspace universe.

At the time, he hadn’t paid much attention. But seeing the tag Hero changed everything.

According to Adam, the God of Growth, the concept of a "Hero" was a universal constant.

In every world with a sufficiently large population and mana density, the Laws of the Universe would converge once every 1,000 years to create a singularity, a being born with innate SS-Grade potential.

"Veridia has been under my rule for over 1,400 years," Sunny mused. "It makes sense. The other worlds are too young, too fresh. But Veridia... Veridia was ready for a hero because of the time acceleration."

Sunny had honestly forgotten about Heroes.

Why? Because of his own talent: Divine Growth.

In a normal world, an SS-Grade talent was a miracle. But in Sunny’s empire? He could take a random farmer, make him enter the God-Maker realm and turn him into an SS-Grade monster in a week’s time.

"I thought Heroes were redundant," Sunny admitted to the empty room. "Why wait a thousand years for a ’Chosen One’ when I can mass-produce them?"

But as he pulled up Lucious’s status panel, Sunny realized his mistake. A manufactured genius and a born genius were two very different things.

[Name: Lucious]

[Race: Angel (High-Seraph Bloodline)]

[Age: 10]

[Profession: Mage (C-Grade) | Body Refiner (D-Grade)]

[Talents: Magic Affinity (SS-Grade), Morningstar (SS-Grade), Angelic Beauty (SS-Grade), Mana Sovereign (S-Grade), Lightbringer (S-Grade)]

Sunny whistled low.

"C-Grade Mage at ten years old?"

To put that in perspective, most prodigies on Veridia reached D-Grade in their late twenties. Even Vel, the Elven Archmage, had taken centuries of grueling study to reach SS-Grade proficiency.

But Lucious?

"With Magic Affinity (SS-Grade)," Sunny analyzed, "he doesn’t ’learn’ magic. He just need to go with the flow. The mana loves him. He could probably reach S-Grade before he hits puberty."

But it was the second talent that caught Sunny’s eye.

[Talent: Morningstar (SS-Grade)]

[Description: The user is the Herald of a New Era. Possesses unmatched Wisdom, Comprehension, and ’Fate’s Favor’. Events will naturally conspire to aid the user’s growth. Allies will gather. Enemies will falter.]

"Protagonist Halo," Sunny deadpanned. "He literally has plot armor."

And then, the third talent. The most dangerous one.

[Talent: Angelic Beauty (SS-Grade)]

[Description: A passive aura of absolute charisma. The user’s appearance transcends aesthetics and targets the soul.

Childhood Evokes overwhelming protective instincts. Adults will die to protect the user.

Adolescence Evokes admiration and loyalty. Peers will naturally seek to serve the user.

Adulthood Evokes Worship. To look upon the user is to see the face of a God]

Sunny shivered slightly.

"That’s scary," he whispered. "That isn’t beauty. That is mind control wrapped in a pretty face."

He imagined a future where Lucious grew up corrupted. With Morningstar guiding his fate and Angelic Beauty enslaving the masses, he could easily overthrow Gods. He could start a cult.

He could become a tyrant that the people loved even as he oppressed them.

"If he becomes evil..." Sunny muttered, his finger hovering over the armrest of his throne, "He could be a disaster."

But then, he shook his head and lowered his hand.

"No. Not in my world."

He thought about the nature of evil. Why did people turn dark?

Usually, it was tragedy. A mother killed by bandits. A lover betraying them. Poverty. Hunger. The feeling of powerlessness.

"But in my territory," Sunny smiled coldly, "tragedy is an endangered species."

"Thea monitors everything," Sunny reminded himself.

His empire was a paradise, but it was a paradise built on absolute surveillance.

Thea didn’t just watch everything; she monitored the mind too.

Every citizen in Sunny’s territory was connected to the System. If a man walked down the street and thought, ’I want to murder my neighbor,’ Thea will flag him. If he started planning it, Thea alerted the authorities.

If he took a step to act on it?

The Apostles of Cerberus, terrifying enforcers of the underworld would appear from the shadows.

The would-be criminal would be dragged into a portal to the Hell Dimension for "Rehabilitation" before he could even lift the knife.

It was Pre-Crime Justice.

To an outsider, it might seem dystopian. But to the citizens of Veridia? It meant they could walk down dark alleys at midnight without fear. It meant no child was ever kidnapped. It meant no woman was ever assaulted.

"There are no tragic backstories here," Sunny whispered. "There are only happy endings, enforced by the state."

"Lucious will not turn evil because he will never know true suffering. He will know challenge, yes. He will know struggle in the Tower. But he will never know the despair that breaks a man’s moral compass."

Still, Sunny believed in insurance.

"Just in case..."

Sunny raised his hand, channeling his Divine Blessings talent.

"I bless you, Lucious," Sunny intoned, his voice carrying across the dimensions. "I bless you with Absolute strength"

A golden light flashed on the screen, settling invisibly into the boy’s soul. It wasn’t really a blessing; instead it was a subtle tilt of the compass, ensuring that Lucious’s "Morningstar" always pointed towards Sunny.

"Now," Sunny leaned back, relaxing. "Let’s watch."

Back in the Tower.

Lucious stood at the precipice of the Town Gate. The safety barrier shimmered like a heat haze in front of him. Beyond it lay the Endless Forest, dark and foreboding.

He took a deep breath.

"Hey! Kid!"

A rough hand grabbed his shoulder.

Lucious turned. A large, scarred Orc warrior was looking down at him.

The Orc’s face was gruff, but his eyes were filled with the unnatural softness caused by the Angelic Beauty talent.

"You can’t go out there alone," the Orc grunted, his voice unusually gentle. "It’s dangerous. Where is your party?"

Lucious smiled. It was a smile that could stop a war.

"I don’t have a party, mister," Lucious said, his voice ringing like a silver bell. "But I have to go."

"Why?" the Orc asked, mesmerized.

Lucious pointed his small staff toward the distant horizon.

"Because the view from the top must be beautiful," Lucious replied. "And I want to be the first to see it."

The Orc blinked. He felt a sudden, inexplicable urge to drop everything and follow this child. To protect him. To see that view with him.

"I..." the Orc stammered. "Then... then take this."

The Orc pulled a high-grade Healing Potion from his belt, an item worth a fortune on the first day, and pressed it into Lucious’s hands.

"Be careful, little one."

"Thank you!" Lucious beamed.

He turned and stepped through the barrier.

As he crossed the threshold, the wind caught his golden hair. The monsters of the First Floor roared in the distance.

The First Hero had entered the stage. And the Tower would never be the same.