Heaven's Child Project

"Do you want to guess what might've happened to my memories?" Henry raised his voice, chillingly friendly.

Nathan shook his head. "I'm still too young to trick you, Henry… I confess, everything I said was made up. Whatever consequences and punishment there are for me, I will take them without complaint. But before that, I would like to explain the intention behind my actions."

"No, no, no…" Henry shook his head in disagreement. He rested his hand on his chin. "I don't care about what truly happened, nor do I want to judge the righteousness behind your actions. You understand as well as I do, it's never about what's right and what's wrong; it's about who's right and who's wrong. And in this academy, in my territory, boy, whatever you do will be considered true, and resolved to be right."

Nathan's expressions were blankly empty as his heart raced. Such was the best outcome that could come out of his scheme. However, the attitude of Henry Nox was still shrouded in a thick mist.

"I don't quite understand…"

"Yes, you do." Suddenly, the hand of Henry Nox, who was supposed to be in front of him, rested gently on his head. "Don't worry, Nathan. Apart from your parents, I'm the one you can rely on the most. And I'm going to prove it with my actions, not words."

This was a familiar sentence. Nathan could barely keep calm under such a tense atmosphere, but Henry's hand comforted him, as if his body and soul trusted him even when his mind didn't.

"Henry, who are my parents?" he asked out of nowhere.

Henry paused, and a reserved laughter rang across the room.

"Your mother is the First Seat of the Rune Arts Federation, Viviana Modernson. That, at least, you are familiar with. And as for your father… let's say that he is a figure that… was never supposed to exist in this world. But I'm glad he did, just saying."

"You are right, my attitude towards you is greatly influenced by your parents. But a decent portion also comes from my observance."

Nathan turned around, his eyes sharp.

"I trust you, Henry."

"I hope I can trust you too, then," Henry responded with a grin of happiness. "Since we can trust each other, I must warn you about something I'm concerned with."

Nathan tensed up once again. There weren't many things in Runalond that could concern someone like Henry Nox, be it the Rune Arts Federation or Royalty itself.

"That girl, your mentor, Lily, unlike me, should not be trusted," he started smoothly.

Nathan lifted his eyebrows. "But from what I can tell, she holds no ill intentions. I couldn't have caught up to my Rune Arts Mastery without her."

Henry nodded. "Spot on! She displayed only kindness. Lily holds no ill intentions towards you at all. If we both think so, it must be true."

"But that's literally the problem."

"The fact that Lily would have no ill intentions towards someone, especially someone like you, is terrifyingly concerning."

Nathan asked with uncertainty, "She seems to know my mother. Could that be the reason?" In his heart, Nathan refused to believe that the playful, childish mentor of his was the same figure Henry described.

"For quite some time, her personalised Rune Art, Constructive and Destructive Rebalancing, had been considered the most impactful Rune Art across all history. Though she never put it into righteous use, Lily was still highly respected as a resilient prodigy in this field," Henry continued. "It's better for you if her identity remains hidden from you, but one thing stands crucial: your mother's appearance was like an eclipse, one that overshadowed her brilliance completely.

Nathan lowered his head slightly. A sudden tightness in his heart perched as a profound warning to his circumstance.

"What was my mother's personalised Rune Art? How powerful does it have to be to… outshine Lily's?"

Henry cleared his throat. "I still remember the day when she introduced the idea to me."

"Despite my persistent effort in persuading her to choose a more inspired and creative name, she insisted on simplification over naming for the sake of naming." Strolling around the room at an unobservable pace, he continued his reminiscence of the past. "She eventually kept the name she initially had:"

"Human-Creation Rune Art."

Nathan blinked. "As in… summoning a human out of thin air?"

Henry nodded. "Precisely, but it gets more complicated than that. The created human would be no different from a biological, sentient human being. The only difference is that everything is customizable by the creator."

"She is confident that once this technology is fully developed, these artificial, but also biological humans could be used for mass production. The significance of such power cannot be underestimated. The customizable age, personality, elemental trait, and absolute loyalty to the creator pushed such art into an almost divine power—one that mortals should never possess."

"But your mother, Nathan, is not a mere mortal." There was an almost lunatic light shining in Henry's eyes.

"However, the development of human creation in Rune Arts was difficult due to the same reason. The first model was created at this academy. She utilised her five elements to manufacture a physically perfect human, but due to the lack of the light and darkness elements, the product couldn't experience human emotions as anticipated. Viviana set him free to roam around Endnest. She said that wherever the wind blows him to, wherever his home should be."

"The second edition was infinitely close to success. With the assistance of two light and darkness element Rune Artists, the human created possessed all the supposed features. However, this world seemed to have attempted to deny this divine power from revealing its brilliance. Everything was perfect, too perfect. The elemental trait surged and exploded into an eruptive energy that devoured everything in its way, resulting in the death of her assistants and the distortion of half her face. The product itself remained as a supernatural being. His current identity is…" Henry paused to build tension, finger tracing across his chin.

"The Spirehead of the Tower of Discovery, the Indescribable."

Nathan had an urge to gasp at this information. It was unbelievable that a "failed experiment" could already achieve so much. How powerful will the complete product be?

"To prevent such incidents from ever occurring again, she halted her research for 10 years to master the five elements she possessed, climbing her way effortlessly to the First Seat. Though the flame in her heart had never vanished, the production of the third edition product began three years ago."

"Its codename is 'The Heaven's Child Project.'"

The name rang continuously inside Nathan's head as he walked out of the Central Tower. 

He turned around and looked up. The spire of the tower, which was usually above the clouds, was surprisingly low and visible. Nathan couldn't help but murmur to himself as his eyes fixed onto the principal's office window, weirdly tattered and undersized.

"I swear it's bigger than that…"

…

Rune Arts Federation, Central Headquarters — Zilch.

It was a large chamber covered in runes.

Two solitary figures stood in concentrated silence, surrounding a massive altar onto which all the runes on the wall converged. The colourful light of the runes was unable to alleviate the seriousness on the old man's face. The other person was covered in an elegant robe, her face sunk into the shadows of her hood.

"Heaven's Child Project, trial 1043," a cold, feminine voice declared. "Commence."

A soaring energy exploded beneath their feet. Levitating from the ground, the two figures drifted across the corners and edges of the hollow chamber like professional dancers, their hands flushing across any runes they happened to pass. The control of the elemental energy in their palms was intricate, yet almost perfect. The incomprehensible patterns started to glow and distort, eventually crossing their path toward the central altar. The ribbons varied in shape, brightness, and colour. Mirror and V, the Second and First Seat of the Rune Arts Federation, could almost already taste the elation of success.

The strongest Rune Art had room for debate, but the Human-Creation Rune Art came out on top of the leaderboard of complexity, and it wasn't even a close competition.

The beams fused in a controlled yet chaotic manner. A silhouette of a human figure started to slowly take shape.

"Stabilise the elemental energy!" V shouted toward the Mirror across the storming prism. "You ensure the balance between light and darkness; History shall not repeat itself."

Mirror nodded calmly. Holding one of his wands in both hands, he steadily coasted his hands in midair. It seemed almost as if his movement was slashing the air in half. The rune emitted a much gentler light that was split into two beams—one blindingly white, one suffocatingly black.

The rays once again converged on the figure on the altar, causing his body to twitch and vibrate vigorously. Expecting such reactions, Mirror stared at it without blinking, yet V's expressions were still invisible.

Until eventually, the illuminating being ceased to move. The luminous light covering his body began to shatter and fade. None could say how long the process took—they didn't have spare minds to think about the time.

A human materialised on the altar.

It was a youthful boy, whose hair was so golden it could compete against the sun. His features were skinnier than regular boys his age, though the streaks on his smooth skin were elegantly lined up. It was nowhere close to the description of perfection. His eyes carried a mixture of ancient knowledge and childhood innocence. The crimson shade added the final touch, a fitting tone of danger.

"Is it a success?" V murmured to herself, surprisingly calm under the significance of the circumstance. Mirror remained silent, though the excitement on his face was impossible to hide.

The boy looked up, his head spinning between Mirror and V.

"Who am I? Why am I here?" he blinked.

V walked up and rested her hand on the boy's head, her movement elegant and reserved as always.

"Do not concern yourself. Everything will be explained to you, and you will understand everything," she declared slowly. "You represent the coming of a new era in the world. Therefore, I will bestow upon you a name that carries both power and responsibility."

"Genesis, your name shall be Genesis."

V herself didn't know how long it had been since she came up with that name in her head. Perhaps even before she decided to dedicate her life to Human-Creation Rune Arts. Perhaps even before she awakened her elemental traits at all.

"My name is… Genesis…" the boy repeated thoughtfully. "I like it… Thank you… How should I address you?"

V turned around and walked toward the exit. Mirror followed suit with a trembling body. "Mistress, the first step is finally complete! Our achievement will be recorded in the historical records of Runalond. The brilliance of our product will be exalted across the entire realm—from now to the furthest eternity."

V paused. "Mirror, I couldn't have done it without you, don't ever call our mutual effort a 'product' again."

The old man's eyes lit up again, even brighter than before, and he fidgeted with gratefulness and relief. "My apologies, Mistress." He looked back at the confused boy sitting on the altar. "Let's give him a moment to process his birth. But what about a last name? For him to be enrolled in the Imperial Academy, a last name cannot be missing."

Genesis nodded energetically in response.

But V continued toward the exit, without the slightest sign of turning back. It seemed as if she was never involved in the project she started at all, as if the Rune Art-created human behind her was a stranger who didn't matter.

Her words echoed across the chamber, cold yet gentle.

"Genesis, you are an artificial human, a child created with Rune Arts, not other lifeforms."

"If you prove yourself to be more artificial than human, then a simple code is merely enough."

"But if you prove yourself to be more human than artificial… then I hope you can decide your last name of your own free will."

"Be it Modernson, Runaria, Helmander, last names no one has heard about, or just a combination of letters in your conscious imagination, you get to choose."

Genesis watched as V and Mirror pushed the door open, leaving him in this dark chamber called the world.

In his fuddled memories, he could still faintly catch a quiet voice from the outside.

"Mirror, I heard that our sons were involved in an unfortunate dispute."

"Mistress, the fault is on my son. I will ensure to apologise to Nathan on my Edgar's behalf."

"Appreciated."

"Anything for you, Mistress. I'm only a mirror, I don't know much, but I'm aware that the finest mirrors must reflect what the owner wants to see…"