Cold air bit into my naked skin, a brutal contrast to the warm, silent dark I had inhabited for the last nine months of my gestation. Gasping for breath, I forced my tiny, untried lungs to expand, letting out a sharp, high-pitched wail that echoed off the polished titanium-alloy walls of the medical bay. Bright, blinding neon lights pierced through my half-closed eyelids, filtering through the high-tech glass of the delivery room. Gentle hands, smelling faintly of sterile antiseptic and warm ozone, lifted my shivering body from the operating table. "He is perfect, Arthur," a soft, trembling voice whispered close to my ear, filled with pure emotion. Warmth enveloped me as I was pressed gently against a soft, beating chest, the rapid thrum of her heart calming my racing pulse. Looking up through blurry, tear-filled infant eyes, I tried to focus on the face of the woman holding me. Elena Hex looked down at me with exhausted, fiercely loving eyes, her long silver hair spilling over her shoulders. Standing right behind her was a towering man with eyes like polished steel, his broad shoulders carrying the quiet authority of a seasoned conqueror. Energy rolled off both of them in waves, heavy and dense enough to bend the air around their bodies like a physical force. These were my parents, Tier-19 warriors of the legendary Hex clan, individuals whose names alone made entire planets tremble. Power of that scale could level mountain ranges with a single strike, yet they held me as if I were made of fragile glass. My past life as a sick, dying twelve-year-old on Earth flashed through my mind, a stark reminder of what it felt like to be completely helpless, a financial burden to those I loved. Never again would I be a useless weight dragging down the people around me. Quietly, I let my eyelids flutter shut, pretending to fall into a deep, innocent sleep to hide the storm raging inside my young mind. Inside my consciousness, a cool, mechanical chime echoed with beautiful, crystal-clear precision. *[System Initialized. Host has successfully crossed the threshold of physical birth.]* *[Unlocking System Mall. Special 99.99% discount applied to all novice purchases.]* Blue light mapped out a holographic interface in my mind's eye, displaying endless rows of god-tier items that normally cost millions. Rows of physical enhancers, ancient bloodlines, and passive skills lined the virtual shelves, all priced at practically nothing. Danger was already knocking at the door of this new world, and I knew I couldn't afford to waste a single second of this second chance. Beyond the massive reinforced glass window of the nursery, towering neon spires pierced the smog-choked sky of 60,000 AD. Crashing waves of red light flickered in the upper atmosphere where the city’s defensive energy shields struggled to hold. Weakened by constant dimensional breaches, those shields were the only thing separating us from the extraterritorial battlefield. Monsters, Gornes, and cosmic threats lurked in the dark void just beyond the horizon, waiting for a single crack to appear. My newborn body was incredibly fragile, but my spiritual core was already a ticking bomb of compressed cosmic energy. If my Tier-19 parents detected the massive anomalies in my mana signature, they would immediately investigate. Questions would arise, my secrets would be exposed, and my absolute need for self-reliance would be compromised. Searching the discounted mall, I quickly found a passive skill that could solve my immediate problem. *[Mana-Shielding Aura (Passive - God Tier): Completely conceals the host's energy signature, making them appear as a normal human. Cost: 1 System Point (Discounted from 1,000,000 Points).]* "Purchase," I thought, pushing my spiritual will against the glowing virtual button. *[Transaction successful. Integrating Mana-Shielding Aura.]* Instantly, a cool, soothing sensation wrapped around my spiritual core, sealing the leaking cosmic energy deep inside me. My massive, compressed energy reservoirs vanished from outer perception, leaving behind only the weak signature of a normal baby. Knowing that my true power was safely hidden behind the system’s god-tier passive skill, I took a moment to study the family I had been born into. Luck, it seemed, had finally decided to smile on me after the tragedy of my previous life. Chronicles of the Hex family's achievements lay scattered across the data-slates on the nearby nursery table, easily readable even to my enhanced infant eyes. Ancestors of our lineage resided deep within the ancestral grounds, powerhouse entities who had reached Tier 25 and beyond, commanding respect on the multi-universe battlefields. My father and mother were both Tier-19 vanguard commanders, possessing Saint-level talent that made them practically invincible in this sector of the galaxy. Siblings of mine, two older ones, also inherited this monstrous Saint-level talent, already reaching Tier 13 and Tier 15 respectively despite their incredibly young ages. Even my mother's family boasted an identical, terrifying background, controlling legions of armored troops with several elite generals sitting comfortably at Tier 7. Born into such an absurdly powerful clan, my life here should have been a smooth, luxurious journey of effortless cultivation and absolute protection. But my soul, forged in the silent void of space and scarred by the memory of my earthly death, refused to rest easy in the shadow of giants. Hours passed as I was carried to a private, high-tech nursery on the top floor of the Hex estate. Soft, automated lullabies hummed from the hidden walls, designed to soothe my infant senses. Outside, the neon-lit spires cast long, colorful lines of light across the plush floorboards of my room. Sleep began to pull at my consciousness, a natural physical reaction of my newborn body's limited stamina. Suddenly, a violent tremor shook the floorboards, making the hanging mobile above my crib sway wildly. Alarms didn't sound, but my hyper-vigilant senses, honed by my system-boosted core, screamed in warning. A low, wet scratching sound echoed from the balcony glass, vibrating through the cold metal of the window frame. Looking toward the glass, I saw a jagged crack spider-webbing across the reinforced pane. Something had bypassed the mansion's outer security wards, slipping through a micro-tear in the city's perimeter defense. Black, oily fluid dripped down the outside of the glass, sizzling as it came into contact with the metal sill. A minor Gorne beast, looking like an oversized, multi-eyed spider with a single glowing green horn, squeezed through the gap. It hissed, its razor-sharp mandibles clicking together in hungry anticipation as its yellow eyes locked onto my crib. Cold sweat broke out across my tiny forehead as I stared at the creature. I was a six-month-old infant in a wooden crib, completely defenseless in the eyes of any normal observer. If I yelled for my parents, they would arrive in a fraction of a second, destroying the beast easily. But my past-life trauma flared up, burning hot and angry in my small chest. Relying on others was a weakness that had killed me once before, leaving me a helpless burden in a hospital bed. If I let them protect me now, I would always be the weak child waiting to be saved. "No," I resolved, my tiny fists clenching the soft fabric of my baby blanket. Focusing my mind, I tapped into the space-type abilities locked within my compressed spiritual core. Gravity in a tight, three-foot radius around the creeping beast began to warp, the air shimmering like a desert mirage. It took a step forward, its multi-jointed legs twitching as it prepared to spring across the nursery. Click. I slammed my mental hand down, releasing a localized gravity pulse directly onto the creature’s head. Heavy, invisible pressure crushed the beast instantly, slamming its body flat against the floorboards with terrifying force. Bones snapped, and black blood sprayed outward, only to be instantly pulled down by the intense gravitational field. A dark, terrifying satisfaction bloomed in my chest as I watched the monster struggle under the crushing weight. My own strength had saved me, proving that I didn't need to depend on anyone else to survive in this hostile world. Yet, terror quickly followed the triumph as I realized the thin line I was walking. If I wanted to keep my family safe without exposing my secrets, I would have to become their silent protector. Footsteps thundered down the hallway, vibrating through the heavy wooden door of the nursery. Panic surged as I realized I had to cover my tracks and hide the evidence of my system-granted power. Quickening my breath, I squeezed my eyes shut and began to wail, pretending to be a terrified, helpless infant. His mother, Elena, rushes into the nursery to find the beast's severed, glowing green horn resting inches from Lukus's crib, its tip dripping with a fast-acting corrosive acid that is eating through the floorboards.

Chapter 3: First Breath under Shattered Skies