On the main street of Ember City, people dressed in unusual gear mixed in with the crowd from time to time.
A bold woman wrapped in animal pelts, a slender figure shrouded in a black robe, a burly man in heavy armor, and a scrawny old guy carrying two strong skeletons...
They gave off powerful auras, and regular folks automatically moved out of their way, looking at them with longing and admiration.
On a small stone step by the roadside, two kids around 10 years old were standing. The boy kept staring at the passing crowd, his eyes thoughtful.
"Guardians, Concealers, Rangers, Death Heralds...
Did I really reincarnate into The Dark Era?"
Carlos watched the psionics whose outfits matched almost perfectly with his past life memories, confirming once again that he had indeed reincarnated.
In "The Dark Era", humans with mysterious powers were all called psionics.
In this disaster-ridden world, psionics were humanity's strongest defense force.
They eliminated monsters, fought off the dark mist invasions, and used their lives to protect humanity's last flame. Because of this, they held high status and were the highest class.
"Carlos, will we become psionics someday too?"
Next to Carlos stood an adorable little girl with bright, sparkling eyes. She copied Carlos's pose, gazing longingly at the psionics on the street.
Carlos kept watching the street without responding, seeming like he didn't want to deal with the little girl.
Little Kathy puffed up her cheeks in annoyance. Her companion's coldness made her angry:
"Carlos, don't you want to become a psionic?"
Kathy's voice got a bit loud. Carlos scratched his ear and said flatly without turning around:
"We will. We both will."
Getting the answer she wanted, Kathy became happy again and moved closer to Carlos, humming a tune.
Carlos quietly watched Kathy out of the corner of his eye, his feelings complicated.
The reason was simple—this girl would kill "him" later on.
According to his past life memories, he was the only male left in the fallen Valois Duke family, and Kathy was his childhood friend.
But about six years from now, he would meet a human traitor disguised as a handsome, talented guy.
Under that traitor's deliberate manipulation, he would seek power by joining the dark mist, harming many psionics. Eventually, Kathy would lead a team to tearfully kill him with her own hands.
Lost in thought, Carlos temporarily set this matter aside.
He started thinking about what he could prepare before his spiritual awakening.
In this world, you could undergo spiritual awakening as early as 15 years old. Once successful, you'd gain various extraordinary abilities and become one of the psionics.
After thinking for a moment, Carlos smiled slightly. He remembered there was a demigod opportunity in Ember City that he could get right now.
While Carlos was lost in thought, a shadow fell over him, followed by a pair of white jade hands descending from above to pinch his little cheeks.
"Carlos, getting bold now, huh? Learning to skip class!
Still want to awaken and become a psionic?
Still want to inherit our family's honor?"
A girl about 16 years old, wearing silver-white armor and looking very heroic, but currently with a fierce expression.
This girl was Carlos's sister, the current head of the Valois family, Iris Valois.
The Valois family's direct line now only had these two siblings left. Their parents and other family members had all died heroically in that brutal battle seven years ago.
Her gaze shifted to Kathy, who was preparing to sneak away, and she gripped harder.
"Great! Not only skipping class, but bringing Kathy along too!"
"Mmph!"
Carlos wanted to explain himself, but only made muffled sounds. He helplessly pointed at his mouth.
The girl released her grip in annoyance, waiting for her brother's explanation.
"Sister, I admit I skipped class, but Kathy insisted on coming with me. I didn't talk her into it."
Carlos very seriously defended himself, trying to reduce his "charges" a bit.
"Right, Kathy?"
A cool breeze blew by with no response—Kathy had already snuck away.
After hearing her brother's explanation, Iris felt both angry and amused, and lifted Carlos up with one hand.
She said "fiercely":
"Great, deliberately skipping class, huh!"
Carlos, hanging in mid-air, looked calm and completely unafraid, showing a look of resignation.
Iris got even angrier and raised her other hand high. As Carlos expected, it eventually came down gently, and he felt no pain at all.
This was because Carlos, as the only male in the Valois family, bore the responsibility of continuing the family line.
Iris naturally spoiled him to the extreme. At most, she'd scold him a few times—she couldn't bear to hit him hard.
What if she hurt him?
Carlos had seen through all this long ago, which was why he was so fearless.
"Remember, don't skip class anymore."
After lightly patting Carlos's bottom a few times as punishment, Iris put him down.
With that, today's skipping incident was over.
Iris's indulgence made Carlos internally complain:
"No wonder the original timeline version of myself was clearly a genius who awakened a year early, but ended up weaker than his peers and even later students... This is what happens when you spoil someone too much!"
Even so, Carlos still enjoyed Iris's pampering.
On the street, many psionics stopped to watch the Valois sister's daily routine of educating her brother, smiling knowingly.
They weren't unfamiliar with this scene, as it played out from time to time.
...
The next day was sunny, and Carlos skipped class again—this time when Kathy wasn't paying attention.
"Finally ditched that tagalong."
He ran openly toward the center of Ember City.
He wasn't worried about safety while wandering alone.
Although the Valois family had fallen, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse.
Carlos was sure there were guards secretly protecting him.
"It's young master Carlos, skipping class again?"
He inevitably ran into psionics he knew on the road, who greeted him cheerfully.
Some older female psionics even wanted to hug the delicate Carlos and show him some affection.
The Valois family had extremely high prestige among psionics, and they showed Carlos goodwill.
However, Carlos had important business to attend to and no time to respond to everyone. He nimbly dodged and hurried through the crowd.
Finally, he stopped at the city center, facing a huge white sacred oak tree.
The sacred oak was incredibly thick—it would take dozens of people to wrap their arms around it. Its branches and leaves were lush, the leaves pale yellow, and it gave off the scent of oak wood.
They said this white sacred oak existed before Ember City was established, with at least a thousand years of history.
There had always been a legend about this thousand-year oak.
Legend said it was the manifestation of some fallen demigod, containing a legacy that could lead directly to demigod status.
The demigods here weren't mythological creatures from his past life, but ranks in the psionic pathways. Every legendary being who reached the peak of a pathway would be given the title of demigod.