Max Joules and the Weight of Anomalies
Max's body arced through the air, propelled by a flick of the teacher's finger — a casual use of elemental force, as if swatting away a fly. Air screamed past Max's ears, his limbs flailing helplessly before gravity reasserted itself.
He crashed through the academy's aero-glass dome, his body shattering through layered barriers designed to withstand rogue wind elementals. His fall ended face-first into the academy's central training field, cratering into the dirt with a wet, muffled thud.
For a moment, all was still.
Then, a collective gasp rippled through the open-air plaza. Students stared down from balconies and windows, their forms illuminated by the twin suns of Gaia — Sol Prime and its phantom twin, Umbra Nox, the second star only visible in dimensions just beyond mortal sight.
Max groaned, spitting out a mouthful of dirt and grass. His bones realigned themselves audibly, his skin already knitting back together.
"Perfect physique, my ass," he muttered, sitting up.
The Curse of Perfection
Max Joules. Age: 14 years, 11 months, and 21 days.
In just 9 days, he would turn 15 — the official age of awakening.
Every child born after The Merge developed innate abilities during adolescence. Some could command flames, others bent gravity itself. The bloodlines of old heroes and forgotten titans ran through them.
All except Max.
Max's body was too perfect. His cells optimized regeneration and adaptability so aggressively that any attempt to awaken an ability was rejected outright. Form energy couldn't take root. Spells fizzled near him. Even divine blessings skidded off his soul like raindrops on glass.
He was unawakenable.
The Weight of Reputation
To make matters worse, Max wasn't just a nobody.
He was a legend in all the wrong ways.
The "Unawakened Playboy of Gaia Academy." A kid so good-looking, even dryads blushed when he passed by. But without powers, Max was easy prey for the heirs of noble families — especially the Four Great Elemental Clans, who treated him like a walking punching bag.
Yet Max endured it all with a smile. Not because he was particularly brave — but because he had a secret.
The Hidden System
The first time Max heard the voice, he was 7. It whispered into his mind like cold fingers trailing down his spine.
[System Initialization… Error.]
[Host Anomaly Detected: Perfect Being Physique.]
[System Adaptation Protocol Activated.]
[Custom System Protocol: CHAOS WEAVER ONLINE.]
From that day forward, Max had what no one else possessed — a System. Not a power, not an ability, but an ancient mechanism thought to be a myth even among the highest tiers of elemental bloodlines.
The Chaos Weaver System didn't give Max strength directly. Instead, it allowed him to borrow, rewrite, steal, and improvise abilities from the surrounding world — but only if reality itself agreed to the narrative logic he proposed.
If the story made sense to the universe, it would allow it to happen.
If not? The System rejected it.
The catch?
The System never gave him exactly what he wanted.
Aftermath of the Crash
As Max climbed out of the crater, his classmates were already laughing. Among them stood Authur van Terra, heir to the Terra Empire and future patriarch of the Magma Dragon Clan.
"Still breathing, Joules?" Authur smirked, flames curling around his fingertips.
Max dusted off his uniform, already calculating how to rewrite this situation in his favor.
[System Inquiry: How do I turn this humiliation into a personal advantage?]
Narrative Proposal:
Max is secretly training in advanced combat techniques by letting stronger opponents treat him as a living target.
Each public humiliation adds to his mysterious legend, fueling rumors that Max's true power only activates after his 100th public defeat.
Current defeat count: 99.
[System Approval: 68%. Requires embellishment for believability.]
Max straightened his back, spat out blood dramatically, and smirked at Authur. "That's 99, Dragon Boy. One more, and I awaken my true form."
The crowd went silent.
Even the teacher paused, mid-lecture.
Rumors spread faster than wildfire in Gaia Academy, and Max knew exactly how to pour fuel on them.
Authur's smile faltered. "That's not how awakening works."
"Are you sure?" Max tilted his head. "Because my Perfect Being physique might have its own rules."
[System Validation: Rumor Initiated.]
Somewhere deep beneath the academy, a sealed folder flickered open, reading Max's words, adding them to the fractured script of Gaia's unstable fate.
The Four Great Heirs
The incident quickly caught the attention of the other heirs present in the academy:
Aqua Lysandra Marin of the HydroForm Dynasty, whose bloodline allowed her to shape water into sentient serpents.
Ignis Ral Zefyr of the Pyriform Court, a descendant of flame titans.
Sylphie Aero Noctis, crown princess of the AeroForm Spires, whose control of wind made her practically untouchable.
And, of course, Authur van Terra—the golden boy of the Terran Empire.
Together, they represented the Elemental Vanguard, the academy's top students — and the direct inheritors of Gaia's elemental fate.
Max was a pebble in their shoe, a nobody with a famous face and no power. Or so they thought.
Beyond the Curtain
Beneath the academy, in a vault sealed by ancient magic and quantum locks, a folder labeled "Folder Zero: Forbidden Legacies" opened itself for the first time in decades.
Within it lay records of heroes who fought in the AI War, villains who betrayed humanity, and anomalies like Max—beings who should not exist, yet persist due to some cosmic loophole.
And now, Max's name was written among them.
A Field Trip Unveiled
The next morning, a surprise announcement rocked the academy.
"All second-year students will participate in an Interdimensional Field Trip," the headmaster declared, his voice echoing across every classroom.
"The destination? A newly stabilized fragment world, designated Vesperia-9—a realm untouched since The Merge."
Max felt the System stir in his mind, whispering possibilities.
[New Scenario Detected: Interdimensional Field Trip.]
[Plot Threads Available: 7]
[Hidden Objective Unlocked: Encounter a Forgotten Hero.]
Max smiled to himself. Field trips were usually boring.
This one was about to change his life.