“I’m so sorry…”

Sokram murmured, his voice soft but deliberate.

Before he could say more, Hilda pulled him into a tight hug, her trembling arms betraying the storm of emotions she was trying to contain.

An instant later, he felt her shaking with sobs.

“It’s not your fault, dear. Mommy’s just happy nothing bad happened to you,” Hilda murmured, her voice breaking between her tears.

“Don’t worry, darling,” Hannah chimed in, appearing behind him with her characteristic calmness. “Your mom is just being dramatic. Reaching enlightenment is always a blessing. Now let Nana check on your progress.”

Hannah’s tone suggested reassurance, but the urgency in her actions betrayed her underlying worry.

She didn’t wait for him to say another word before beginning her inspection.

“This…” Hannah paused, her brow furrowing deeply as she studied him. “What did you do? What level of comprehension did you achieve? I’ve never seen energy like this before, not in an intelligent humanoid.”

“That’s Chaos Energy, Nana,” Sokram admitted hesitantly, his tone careful. He knew what kind of reaction this revelation would provoke.

For the first time in this timeline, Sokram saw Hilda genuinely angry.

The shock in her expression mirrored the disbelief radiating from everyone else.

Before Sokram could offer any explanation, Hilda erupted. “Have you gone insane?! Don’t you know how dangerous it is to consume Chaos Energy, much less cultivate it?! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!”

Her voice cracked with a mixture of anger and fear. “Do you even care about us? Or has your talent finally gone to your head?!”

Hilda’s words came out in a torrent, each accusation cutting deeper than the last.

Sokram, however, remained quiet.

He wasn’t just enduring the scolding.

He was waiting.

He knew something monumental was about to happen, as it always did when someone achieved a significant achievement that surpassed the known boundaries of the Path of Evolution.

It happened then: a galactic-wide system notification.

Though Sokram couldn’t see it directly as the Primordial Infinium Records’ screens were invisible without the recipient’s consent, the reaction of his family confirmed its arrival.

The message appeared before their eyes, short but profoundly significant:

[I, Nhiria, First of the Grey Dragons and Sovereign of this Galaxy, extend my commendations to the exceptional young one, _________, on the planet _______ within the Awakened Zone.

You stand as the first in my galaxy to attain perfect cultivation and Core Formation with the harnessed power of Chaos Energy.

In honor of this remarkable feat, I bestow upon you the title of Pioneer of Chaos.

Though you are not yet fully awakened and thus cannot wield its full privileges, I am confident your path will soon lead you to Tier 1.

Proceed with unwavering resolve along the Path of Evolution, for I shall be watching over you.

Perhaps one day, our paths will converge within the halls of the Star Palace.

Godspeed.]

The only difference between what his family saw and the rest of the galaxy was that Sokram’s name and planetary origin weren’t censored. Hilda finished reading it once, then again, and then again, her hands trembling.

Her legs gave out, and she collapsed to her knees in the snowy backyard.

Around her, Hannah, Astrid, the other women, and even Alain had also taken seats on the ground, stunned into silence.

“Uh… did something happen, guys? Am I in trouble?” Sokram asked, blinking at their reactions. “Because if that’s the case, it’s not fair!”

Sokram complained and turned to Hannah seeking her defense, “What I just did is amazing, isn’t it?” But in her dazed state, her words failed her as he continued to plead, “Nana, back me up here!”

But no one spoke.

The enormity of what they had just witnessed left them speechless.

The first to barely recover was Astrid, who suddenly burst into laughter, her voice bubbling with a mix of hysteria and disbelief.

“Hahaha! A message from Nhiria!” Astrid gasped between bouts of laughter. “Mom, I think you gave birth to the next Paragon! Hahaha!”

“Message? What message?” Sokram asked excitedly, his curiosity piqued.

Hannah, the most experienced among them, had seen something similar before, though it was over seven thousand years ago.

Back then, Empress Meriande had become the first to achieve the Exalted Level of Existence.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

That event had, however, warranted only a planetary notification, not a galactic one.

“First in the galaxy…” Hannah murmured, her voice tinged with pride as she hugged him. “Not bad for my first and only grandson. You’ve made Nana very proud. And I believe the others would agree. Isn’t that right, Hilda?”

Hilda took a deep breath, trying to steady her swirling emotions.

Her energy was still in disarray, and her thoughts raced, but she managed to force out a dry, strained response. “Yes. You and Hannah are right. What you’ve done is incredible, darling.”

Her voice softened, but Sokram couldn’t hear the pride in it yet.

She was still processing, struggling with a conflict inside her.

A whirlwind of relief, disbelief, and worry.

Her dry response was an attempt to keep it together, to shield him from seeing how much she was truly feeling.

‘He did that? My son?’ she thought to herself, ‘He truly did that, right?’

But even as she thought it, her mind wandered to the bigger picture. Sokram wasn’t just a child.

His achievement, his path, was something beyond her comprehension.

She wasn’t ready to voice her pride just yet, not until the enormity of this moment sank in.

“Now, go read one of your books. We all need some time to process this,” Hilda's voice, now calmer, was still shaky with the weight of what had just happened.

“All right!” Sokram answered brightly. “But can I see the message?”

Astrid, now calmer, waved her hand to conjure a glowing screen in front of him.

Sokram’s eyes flickered over the glowing screen, his excitement almost palpable.

His eyes lit up as he read the text, particularly Nhiria’s name, which brought him his own swirl of emotions for entirely different reasons than his family. ‘One day…’ he vowed silently, ‘This time I won’t fail, I’ll become a Grey Dragon!’

Sokram muttered, loud enough for the others to hear, "Pioneer of Chaos..." his eyes sparkled, his lips curled into a grin, and he jumped up, his excitement spilling over in the way only a child could.

“A galactic title? I knew it was going to be amazing, but this…” Sokram cheered, his voice full of joy. “It’s even more than I expected!”

He spun in place, his small form a whirlwind of energy as he reveled in the moment.

Sokram danced around the yard, his childlike joy infectious.

His family couldn’t help but smile.

But Sokram’s mind wandered inwardly.

He had received many titles before, in his previous timeline, a life where such titles had lost their significance.

He had been hailed by beings far greater than Nhiria; his name whispered among the stars.

But this time, the recognition hit differently.

Though he outwardly wore the mask of a child thrilled by his accomplishment, inside, a quiet reflection took over his mind.

Nhiria’s name stirred something deep within him, nostalgia for the roads he had traveled and the battles fought alongside her.

And again, Pioneer of Chaos was an ancient title to him, one he had once earned eons before coming to the past.

But in this timeline, it marked a new beginning.

‘I won’t lose anyone this time,’ he thought to himself, his gaze hardening for a moment before he returned to his joyous façade. ‘Never again, no matter the cost!’

His family, still processing the magnitude of the galactic message, watched him with mixed emotions.

A child who had just potentially altered the fate of their planet, celebrating so innocently, was a heartwarming sight.

Still, they knew this was only the beginning.

Sokram, only seven years old, was already walking a path of legends.

But Sokram knew better.

This was merely the beginning of a journey he had already walked.

After some time, Hilda sent Sokram inside to bathe, reminding him that hours of cultivation had purged impurities through his pores.

Obediently, he scampered off, leaving the adults to talk.

But as Sokram reveled in his moment, far beyond the yard, the galaxy was already reacting.

Many had tried and failed to cultivate Chaos Energy.

The masters in the Transcendental and Ascendant Zones couldn’t believe that a child who had not even reached Tier 1 in the Awakened Zone had done what they had declared countless times to be impossible.

The message sent by Nhiria shook the core of many kingdoms, empires, sects, and organizations.

Agents were dispatched to search for the child in the Awakened Zone, knowing that one day he would emerge.

And then it wouldn’t be too late to extract the secrets of Chaos Energy cultivation from him by any means necessary.

What they didn’t know was that Sokram had no intention of keeping it a secret for long.

Chaos Energy was merely a placeholder until he and his family were strong enough to handle Soul Force cultivation.

A few hours after the galactic message had been sent...

In the Central Continent Elven Empire, Empress Meriande stood by the window of her grand office.

At 1.8 meters tall, she was a vision of elegance and power, her long golden waves cascading over her black silk dress.

Her deep green eyes, like emerald gems, reflected the vast expanse of the imperial gardens.

She was joined by three advisors, handpicked by the Elder Council, to discuss the galactic message.

“Milady, what makes you think the message refers to someone from our world?” asked the eldest advisor, his tone measured. “Has the Sacred Tree spoken?”

“Just a hunch,” Meriande replied, her voice calm but cryptic. “I don’t think we need to worry. Perhaps this will even become a blessing to us one day.”

Her gaze turned distant, and her words hinted at meanings beyond the empire’s interests.

Before the advisors could probe further, the door to the chamber swung open.

Princess Miralyn strode in, her pale skin flawless and unblemished, her silvery-gray hair shimmering like starlight, and her athletic frame clad in a fitted leather light armor that accentuated her toned form.

The advisors exchanged uneasy glances as Princess Miralyn burst into the room.

Her striking presence was impossible to ignore.

Merely stepping into the chamber, Miralyn exuded an aura of controlled power.

Even as the eldest advisor squared his shoulders, he couldn’t entirely mask the flicker of fear in his eyes.

“Leave. I’ll speak with the Empress,” Miralyn ordered with authority.

“Princess Miralyn, how dare you barge in here when we are holding council with her Majesty?! Especially when you’re not even the crown princess anymore!” snapped the eldest advisor, his voice thick with indignation.

Yet, his words barely had time to hang in the air before a crushing force pressed him to his knees, slamming his forehead against the polished floor.

The other advisors froze, terror seizing them as they dared not lift their eyes to the Empress.

She hadn’t so much as twitched; it was her will that had brought the offender down.

A single thought imbued with the mastery of Force, or as the elves called it, Gravity Magic.

“It seems some people have misunderstood something,” Meriande's voice sounded coldly, laced with venom. “It is not because Miralyn is no longer the crown princess that scum like you can speak to her as you wish. Am I clear?”

Her green eyes gleamed faintly, radiating an oppressive aura of pure authority as her killing intent filled the chamber.

The other two advisors stammered their apologies, bowing low, shaking in fear.

“Good, you two can leave.” As the words left her mouth, the two advisors hurried out of the room, not even daring to look back.

But just as they passed through the doors, a gory sound echoed in the room. “Splash!”

The eldest of the advisors, who had been forced to his knees, was crushed and turned into a puddle of blood, minced flesh, and crushed bones.

“Tell those old fools of the Elder Council that no one disrespects the imperial family, not even them,” Meriande added, her voice echoing through the corridors of the palace as the two survivors rushed away from her office.

Even before the door closed, the remains of the dead advisor had turned into ashes as the Empress had willed it to burn.

“Ugh… High Elf barbecue, one can never get used to it.” Mocked Miralyn with disgust at the smell of burnt meat turning into ashes.