Chapter 74: The City That Sees All
The reach of a magically tech-advanced society? Lei Feng blinked slowly, his crystalline blue eyes reflecting the soft interior glow of the dining hall.
"That's right," Ling Mei replied with a calm smile, as if she were explaining a common truth. "You might not know it, Brother, but Volaris City embarrasses every other city in the Eastward Federation when it comes to tech and magical integration."
Lei Feng tilted his head slightly, his brows knitting. "That's not what I meant." His voice lowered, laced with curiosity. "Reach of magically tech-advanced... What do you mean by that?"
Eira gently placed her cutlery down, the soft clink of polished metal against fine china sounding deliberate, almost ceremonial. She lifted a linen handkerchief to her lips, dabbing delicately, her golden eyes gleaming with a depth that suggested more than she let on.
"I'll tell you," she said, her tone smooth and unwavering. "But listen closely—I won't be repeating myself."
Lei Feng nodded with quiet enthusiasm, his entire attention sharpening like a blade being drawn. Ling Mei, too, leaned forward, her emerald eyes now locked onto Eira with anticipation. The air around the table shifted subtly as if the very room was bracing for the weight of the truth.
Eira adjusted her posture with deliberate grace. She crossed one leg over the other, her back straightening. The silk of her robe caught the light, accentuating her poised figure. Her expression transformed—no longer the familiar warmth of a companion, but now the precise elegance of a scholar. Her voice lowered slightly, becoming both intimate and authoritative.
"Volaris Prime had not always watched with such unblinking eyes…"
Her words rang clear, pulling them into a past not often told.
"There was a time—just a century ago—when magic flowed through its crystal-lined streets like wild rivers of starlight. Unchecked, raw, beautiful. Back then, Volaris wasn't a city. It was a dream. A haven where spellcasters and mages carved wonders from the air, and arcaneforgers bent space through sheer will. The air thrummed with incantations, and even the architecture pulsed with ambient mana."
She paused, her gaze drifting to the table's polished surface, as if she could still see the past etched into the reflections.
"But then came the ArcoTech Revolution."
Her voice turned solemn.
"The world shifted the moment magic and machine stopped fighting... and began to merge. It was humanity's second awakening—perhaps its final one. The first Mana Core Integration Engine was created in the Arco Research District owned by Arco J. Lucas. A core where spell matrices were layered over neural-threaded circuits. The result? A fusion of logic and miracle."
Her words painted vivid scenes in their minds.
"What followed was swift and unrelenting: sentient surveillance arrays capable of analyzing every mana fluctuation; arcane biometric mapping that could record your soul signature; omni-frequency towers that intercepted communication spells and mental links. In under ten years, Volaris ceased being an ordinary city…"
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"…and became a sentient organism. A living network of glass, light, and silent judgment."
A beat passed.
"No secret stays buried in Volaris Prime," she said. "No step goes unseen."
---
Ling Mei's lips parted slightly in awe. "Woooah... I didn't know Volaris had such a history."
"Well, that's not surprising." Eira exhaled lightly, almost amused. "Magic academies these days focus only on combat, mana manipulation, and skill mastery. They neglect heritage—ignore the soul of the world."
She glanced at Ling Mei, a smirk forming. "You would know this if you visited the history archives once in a while."
"W-What!?" Ling Mei's face turned red. "If I did that, I'd fall behind my classmates! I have to study skill books or I'll be left in the dust."
She crossed her arms with a huff. "There's this girl in my class who's obsessed with history and science. Everyone calls her weird. She's like… a super nerd."
Eira shook her head with a chuckle. "That's exactly the problem with your generation. You can't see the future without knowing the past."
---
On the far end of the table, Lei Feng sat quietly, his expression unreadable. His eyes reflected neither amusement nor concern—only thought.
"All these terms… all this tech. None of this existed back on Earth. If I want to survive in this world, then accumulating strength alone won't cut it."
He clenched his fist beneath the table.
I'll need knowledge. Context. Adaptation.
"Hey… Brother Feng?" Ling Mei's voice pierced his thoughts. "You've been awfully quiet."
Lei Feng smiled faintly, rubbing the back of his head. "N-Nothing… just thinking."
Ling Mei grinned. "Oh really? And what were you thinking about?"
Lei Feng's smile faded. "How much I've neglected knowledge, I suppose."
"I see…" Ling Mei nodded, her smile softening.
Eira studied him silently, her chin resting gently on her hand. She really changes around him, Eira thought. "At home, she's cold—detached. But outside, she's light-hearted. Joyful. He brings out something in her… something real."
---
"Hey, Brother…" Ling Mei's voice grew more serious. "Now tell me, how did you grow so much, so fast?"
Her eyes locked onto his, all amusement gone.
Eira paused mid-sip. Her ears perked. Her head tilted subtly in Lei Feng's direction, intent clear in her golden gaze.
Lei Feng inhaled deeply.
"…It's nothing special. After the incident, I woke up in ApexHealth Hospital. I couldn't level up, but I resolved to train… physically. Push-ups, sit-ups. Running."
"…What?" Eira blinked.
Lei Feng shrugged. "Basic body training. That was all I had."
"You're telling me… exercise got you to this point?" Eira's eyes narrowed, her brows drawing together. "Don't lie to our faces."
"Sister Eira—please." Ling Mei's tone was sharp. "Let him finish."
"As I was saying…" Lei Feng continued, his tone calm. "The training helped. Not in big leaps, but slowly… my body became stronger. Day by day. Then I visited the Whispering Hollow, just to test my growth..."
His gaze sharpened. "It was there I learned I could level up by killing magic beasts."
---
"WHAT?!!" both girls exclaimed in unison.
Eira rose to her feet, eyes wide with disbelief, palms slamming against the table. "That's impossible!"
Lei Feng remained still, face impassive. Inside, however, his heart thundered like war drums. "Please… don't dig deeper."
Ling Mei spoke calmly, though she, too, looked stunned. "I believe him."
Eira dropped back into her seat, her expression hollow.
"…Could it be true?" she whispered. "He doesn't seem like he's lying… but he's hiding something. I can feel it."
She looked up. "Lei Feng… this 'ability'—this system of yours… it's unheard of in all recorded history. I can't explain it."
She paused. "But there's a term for people like you."
"A term?" Lei Feng echoed, his heartbeat slowing.
"An Anomaly."
---
Lei Feng's mind reeled.
She knows the term? Who… exactly is she?
"What's an Anomaly?" Ling Mei asked.
Eira's expression grew grave. "An Anomaly is an individual who breaks the laws of this world. They awaken the impossible—power that transcends logic, talent, even the magic laws itself."
Ling Mei's eyes widened. "So… my brother's one of those powerful beings?!"
"Yes," Eira nodded. "But don't celebrate. Anomalies are unstable… unpredictable. And because of that, they're seen as threats."
Ling Mei's excitement faded into a nervous gulp. "T-Threats?"
Lei Feng gave a bitter smile. "So it's the same everywhere, huh?"
"Yes." Eira's tone darkened. "The world will try to control you… or destroy you. Before it's too late."
Ling Mei gripped the table. "Then we'll protect him. No one can find out. Ever."
"I'm already taking steps," Eira said, her voice returning to steel. She turned to Lei Feng, her expression firm.
"No matter what… stay low. No showoffs. No unnecessary risks."
Lei Feng nodded. "I understand."
But Eira's eyes narrowed, searching his face.
So calm… unnaturally calm. He's still hiding something. I just hope… I'm not wrong about him.
---
Within the sterile, luminescent chamber of the Sentient Eye, the heart of Volaris City's arcane surveillance nexus, silence was an atmosphere of its own. Crystalline panels floated midair, rotating slowly as if guided by unseen hands. Streams of data—arcane glyphs fused with binary code—drifted through the air like spectral constellations, bathing the room in shifting hues of violet and cyan.
A soft mechanical hum thrummed beneath the translucent floor, pulsing like the heartbeat of a sleeping leviathan.
Then, one screen flickered.
>> BEGIN VISUAL FEED: VOLARIS SECTOR 12 - PRIORITY CHANNEL LOCKED
[Timestamp: 14:43:27]
[Initiating Playback – Combat Clip, Source: Urban Node 113-A]
The curved monitor lit up with a grainy slow-motion replay. Through the lens of the city's arcane-sensory array, a boy stood on the glistening streets of Volaris. energy glimmered around him like suspended crystals. The camera panned closer—
No, this was no boy.
In the eye of a brewing storm, Lei Feng stood cloaked in writhing shadows and lightning. The footage distorted for a moment as black lightning flared—static skittering across the display—before stabilizing again. Energy rippled through the air, warping it like heatwaves off scorched metal. The atmosphere itself recoiled as ozone thickened.
Crackling arcs of black lightning lashed around him, living serpents birthed from chaos and command.
Then—he moved.
From the storm formed a blade. Jagged, obsidian, elemental. Lightning compressed into a single form, pulsing with wild violence. The camera auto-focused on his expression:
His eyes burned.
Not like any ordinary flame.
But like twin stars—furious, boundless, ancient.
In front of him, another figure—Lucas Tan—stood frozen in pure terror. His mouth opened but no sound escaped. The feed flickered again as volatile mana warped the lens.
A string of red alerts appeared beneath the footage:
> [Subject: Lei Feng]
[Priority Code: Crimson-7A]
[Classification: UNKNOWN ANOMALY DETECTED]
[Magic Affinity: Dark Lightning (Mutation Confirmed)]
[Strength Parameters: Incompatible with known power baseline for his rank]
[Status: OBSERVE & CONTAIN – Discretion Advised]
The screen zoomed in again. A moment captured, frozen. Lei Feng's gaze pierced through the lens as if he could see the one watching.
From beyond the display, a figure stood in silence, clasping gloved hands behind their back. Cloaked in a robe etched with radiant glyphs, they remained hidden in the shadows cast by the violet rune-lamps of the chamber.
The voice that broke the silence was smooth, almost reverent.
"…So, this is the boy. The one with a dual-variant affinity—Darkness and Lightning. Rare… no—unprecedented. And yet the system flagged him."
The figure tilted their head slightly, gold eyes barely visible beneath the hood.
"Prepare C-Rank Watch Protocols. Mark his node under sentinel observation. If his growth trajectory continues…"
They didn't finish the sentence.
Another agent seated nearby nodded silently, already tapping in arcane inputs to modify surveillance thresholds.
On the main monitor, Lei Feng stood still in the aftermath of his clash, storm fading around him.
Yet the image lingered, as if even the city's will hesitated to look away.
> Final Entry Logged
[SUBJECT LOCKED | WATCHLIST UPDATED]
And as the feed dimmed, one truth remained.
The city had seen him.
And now—it would never stop watching.