067. Pathway Landmark
Galactic Era 221, January 15
Azure Star, Red Arrow Empire, Elgar City, Elgar Coast.
As the Empire's southernmost city, Elgar was a late bloomer, liberated by the Empire's forces in 154, driving the Frost-Plated forces across the strait.
Since then, Frost-Plated was no longer a threat to Red Arrow, the natural barrier between them preventing any danger to Red Arrow's capital.
For the Empire's aggressive expansion, a war that doesn't end in conquest is merely liberation, while only total subjugation is considered victory.
Beyond military positioning across from Frost-Plated, with cannons aimed across the sea, Elgar's main contribution was a slight alteration to Red Arrow's national anthem lyrics. Beyond that, it had little claim to fame.
The reason was simple: Elgar lacked resources. Surrounded by mountains and unsuitable for transportation, Azure Star's lack of oceans made port development impossible.
Yet, as a small city of only 700,000, Elgar astonishingly had two universities, a remnant of the Frost-Plated era.
The Empire's attitude toward this city was lukewarm. With a high proportion of Frost-Plated descendants, it was designated as an autonomous state, granting locals considerable self-governance.
Though nominally part of Red Arrow, Elgar suffered from a lack of industry and enterprise, with agriculture making up 67% of the workforce, and Red Arrow's limited social security left people feeling insecure and impoverished.
Leisurely, laid-back, and backward—these described Elgar well.
No one paid attention to any news from this city, and few on the internet knew about this unremarkable town in the Empire's far south.
But all of that changed permanently today.
Cardan Foresi, age 34, was a modest farm owner in Elgar. Farming in the Empire's borderlands was far from pleasant; the soil here wasn't fertile, and without industrialized agribusiness, crops couldn't be processed further and sold only at low prices.
"Good morning, another lousy morning."
Cardan, who lived alone, wasn't optimistic about his work. He'd drive his tractor to deliver hay, munch on rough salt crackers and cheap wheat soda on his way to town, spend an hour in a city with nearly no entertainment, then return to the farm to continue working.
This was his life, year after year, unchanging, forever unchanging.
The farmhands were nowhere to be seen, though they should have started work by now. Cardan looked around but saw no one. He checked his personal terminal, only to find there was no signal.
"Damn service provider! I knew the new signal tower was unreliable!"
Cardan sighed helplessly. With no network, his work would be even duller, as Red Arrow farms relied heavily on mechanization. Drones for pesticide spraying and automated tools all required network access.
Red Arrow's mechanized technology was highly beneficial to most, though it wasn't as friendly to remote regions like this.
But Cardan didn't mind manual labor. He decided to drive the tractor to the market for breakfast and head to an area with a signal to report the problem. It was absurd for newly installed equipment to fail so quickly.
The artificial sun's cold light fell on his shoulders as he pushed open the large barn doors. The warehouse was as bright as a palace, shimmering gold. Just as he was about to start the tractor, he suddenly realized something.
—He hadn't turned on the lights, so why was the warehouse glowing?
Slowly, Cardan turned around to see a massive white obelisk rising through the ceiling, covered in intricate, mysterious patterns radiating a faint golden light. This glow, like broken feathers drifting in the air, had a refined, delicate beauty, soft and refreshing, and exuded a warm familiarity.
The old farmer gaped, unable to believe his eyes.
More surprising than the hole in his barn roof was the transformation the sacred obelisk brought—the nearby soil was being purified inch by inch by the golden feather-like light particles, turning into gleaming crystal.
Without thinking, Cardan approached the White Obelisk, feeling inexplicably safe, convinced that this strange, mystical phenomenon would bring him some extraordinary change.
Cardan stepped forward, reaching out to touch the obelisk.
[You have made the right choice.]
"Who?! Who's speaking?" Startled, Cardan heard a voice echo in his mind.
[Close your eyes and listen quietly.]
Hesitant, Cardan highly suspected the obelisk was speaking to him, but he had no better course of action.
Rather than alert the Empire's police, he felt this was a heavenly gift. Since it appeared on his farm, it belonged to him, and how to handle it was his business.
'Could this really be a divine relic?' Cardan wondered.
Red Arrow had advanced technology, but allowed freedom of religion, and almost everyone had some kind of faith. Cardan, a simple farmer, was no exception. Clutching the pendant around his neck, he offered a silent prayer before pressing his hand against the obelisk, closing his eyes to feel.
[When the stars were yet unborn, and chaos remained unbroken, the Star Abyss emerged. Sensing the arrival of the Destroyer, it summoned six Creators from the primordial cosmos. They each wielded powers of Destruction, Craft, Domination, Redemption, Plunder, and Eerie. Ages have passed, and most of the Creators have fallen, but the Paths to Godhood they forged remain…]
[What stands before you is the Pathway of the current inheritor of [Domination]—Li Aozi.]
[A true pathway to godhood.]
In the next moment, Cardan felt an invisible yet warm power flowing from the obelisk, penetrating his nerves and bloodstream, coursing from his extremities to the top of his head in a rush, raising his body temperature but leaving him feeling energized.
[I've granted you a small gift as a reward for listening.]
Cardan took a few steps back, feeling a strange power spreading within him. He looked at the 5.4-meter, 10.9-ton heavy Nurman tractor nearby, a massive, cumbersome beast.
Cardan raised his hand, a golden glow circling his eyes, and made a gentle pulling motion.
The heavy tractor instantly floated weightlessly, along with every object within a five-meter radius, himself included, as if he were suddenly in outer space.
As Cardan casually waved his hand, heavy objects within the area rose and fell as he pleased. He could lift the tractor barehanded or make a feather heavier than iron. Given the Empire's widespread education, this power wasn't unfamiliar to him.
Omega Energy.
Cardan was certain that he had acquired the supernatural ability known as Omega Energy.
The 34-year-old farmer spent a long time experimenting, even flying himself into the air before falling back down in fright.
Landing on the hay, he lay there, staring at the ruined ceiling for a few minutes in a daze.
Then, he broke into a wide, foolish grin.
Even a simple farmer could understand one thing clearly: Elgar City was about to change forever.