"Alvin, listen carefully. While I was healing you… I discovered something."
"There's something wrong with you. No—your existence itself is wrong."
"I've changed your mana veins into cursed veins. You can now use your elements freely, without any resistance."
"You can wield both mana and cursed energy—but don't touch cursed energy until you step into the First Primordial Step."
"You can summon me now… but you can't speak with me. That's the price of forcefully making you enter Half-Step."
"But don't worry. Once you reach the First Step, everything will change."
"You are my new bearer—after thousands of years of silence."
"So don't die on me."
***
Alvin's eyes flew open as his lungs screamed for air.
Instinct took over.
He kicked upward, breaking through the water's surface with a loud gasp. Air flooded his chest. His nerves calmed, his thoughts began to settle.
But something felt wrong.
