SOURCE CODE
That night, exhaustion took Ethan quickly. His body welcomed the embrace of sleep, but his mind knew better.
The moment his consciousness faded, he found himself somewhere else entirely.
The Dreamworld.
A vast expanse of endless stars stretched around him, shimmering in the eternal void. Ethan stood on what felt like solid light—a shifting plane of celestial energy.
And there she was.
Sophia.
His twin sister, cloaked in an ethereal glow, standing before him with a warm, knowing smile.
“You’ve done well, Ethan,” she said, her voice both gentle and powerful. “Three fragments.”
Ethan exhaled, his breath forming golden mist in this unreal space. “Yeah, but I can feel it… There’s still more. A lot more.”
Sophia nodded. “The Fallen Sun shattered into many pieces, and gathering them will only get harder from here. You are growing stronger, but the trials ahead will test you in ways you cannot yet imagine.”
Ethan clenched his fists. “I’ll be ready.”
Sophia’s gaze softened, but there was something deeper behind her expression. A silent sadness.
Before he could ask, Ethan remembered something else—his failure in class to control the particles.
“The transmutation of air particles,” he said, his voice laced with frustration. “I tried. I really did. But I couldn’t even see them. Why?”
Sophia studied him for a moment before stepping closer. “Ethan, what do you see when you use your Leo sight?”
He furrowed his brows. “Codes. The essence of everything. The way things are built, the way they can be rewritten.”
She nodded. “Exactly. But not everything is made from solid matter. The air around us—space itself—is filled with what we call untethered essence. You cannot see it the way you see other materials because it does not exist in a fixed state. It flows freely, unseen by the eyes of those who are bound to the physical world.”
Ethan absorbed her words carefully. “So… I can’t modify air because I can’t see it?”
She smiled. “Not yet.”
Ethan frowned. “But I saw the professor do it. He didn’t seem to have trouble.”
Sophia chuckled. “That’s because he has spent years refining his aura control. You, however, have something different—your Leo sight grants you vision beyond the physical, but it is limited by the strength of your aura.”
She lifted her hand, placing a glowing finger against his chest.
“Your heart is the key, Ethan. The stronger the fire in your heart, the clearer your vision will become.”
Ethan’s breath hitched as warmth spread through him.
Sophia continued, her voice turning softer, more like an older sister teasing her younger brother. “You’ve barely scratched the surface of what your Lion’s Heart can do. If you want to see beyond what others can, you need to channel more of your aura—not just into your eyes, but into your very being.”
Ethan closed his eyes, trying to focus on her words.
“More aura… into my heart.”
The idea made sense.
His Leo abilities had always been instinctual, tied to willpower, and raw energy. But if he could refine that—control it with precision—then maybe…
Sophia stepped back, her form beginning to fade like mist under sunlight. “Practice, Ethan. The next time you try, don’t just look outward. Look within.”
Ethan reached for her, but the dream was already breaking apart.
The stars blurred.
His sister’s voice echoed as she disappeared into the void.
“Find the balance. That is the true power of the Lion’s Heart.”
Ethan jolted awake, his breath steady but his mind racing.
The room was quiet, the soft glow of dawn creeping through the curtains.
Sophia’s words echoed in his chest.
Focus deeper. Channel more aura. See beyond what others can.
He sat up, pressing a hand over his heart.
The fragments he had gathered—they were making him stronger. His connection to the Leo aura was growing. But he was still missing something.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
If he wanted to reach the next level…
He needed to push himself further than ever before.
And he knew exactly where to start.
With a determined glint in his golden eyes, Ethan rose from his bed.
It was time to truly master what it meant to be Fireborn.
Ethan stepped into the cool night air, the academy grounds bathed in silver moonlight. The world was silent, save for the rustling leaves and the distant chirping of nocturnal creatures.
He walked toward the secluded training ground where he had first glimpsed the world’s hidden code with his Lion Sight. A place where, for the first time, the fabric of reality had whispered its secrets to him.
Sitting down, he took a deep breath, his sister’s words looping in his mind.
Your heart is the key, Ethan. The stronger the fire in your heart, the clearer your vision will become.
Ethan closed his eyes, pressing his palm lightly over his chest.
He focused.
Gathering his Leo aura wasn’t the difficult part—it was refining it, controlling the way it flowed. The raw power of the lion surged within him, but it was like trying to hold onto fire itself. It flickered wildly, resisting control, yearning for release.
He gritted his teeth, pushing further.
The more aura he concentrated, the heavier his body felt. Sweat beaded along his forehead, trickling down his temples. His veins pulsed, golden script flashing across them—living equations, ancient and powerful.
The pressure in his chest built.
And then—
His eyes snapped open.
The world before him had changed.
For the first time, he didn’t just see the code of things—he saw the movement of existence itself.
The air, which had once seemed like an empty void, was alive. Tiny, unseen particles drifted and collided in chaotic yet beautiful patterns, shifting like an invisible ocean. Every molecule of oxygen, every speck of dust—nothing was truly still.
The wind itself wasn’t just blowing; it was a dance of atoms, transferring energy, shifting pressure, creating currents that moved like unseen rivers through the night.
He turned his gaze downward.
The soil beneath him pulsed with hidden life. Water molecules wove through the earth, slipping between tiny pockets of space, drawn upward by the unseen force of capillary action. The roots of nearby trees absorbed them greedily, their vascular systems acting like intricate networks, pulling liquid from the ground to nourish their towering forms.
This… this is the world’s breath.
Ethan’s heart pounded. This was far beyond simply reading the structure of an object—he was seeing processes, the natural systems that governed existence.
His sister was right.
The deeper he channeled his aura, the more layers of reality unfolded before him.
He shifted his focus to a single leaf, hanging from a low-hanging branch.
Its surface shimmered—not with light, but with unseen energy.
Photosynthesis.
The moment the thought entered his mind, he saw it. The leaf absorbed the moonlight, its microscopic structures converting energy in real-time, fueling its growth. Carbon atoms from the air merged with water molecules inside its cells, forming the sugars that sustained its life. Tiny openings on its surface inhaled and exhaled, cycling gases between itself and the world.
It was alive—not just in the way all living things were, but in a way Ethan had never truly understood before.
Everywhere he looked, there was motion.
Life.
Patterns.
It was like staring at the source code of existence itself.
His breath came in short gasps, overwhelmed by the sheer enormity of what he was witnessing.
The world wasn’t made of solid, unmoving things.
It was a system—a network of constantly shifting matter, energy, and forces.
For a long moment, Ethan just sat there, absorbing the overwhelming beauty of it all.
Then, realization struck.
If everything was made of moving particles…
Then, theoretically, everything could be influenced.
Changed.
Rewritten.
Ethan’s hands trembled.
This changes everything.
His previous understanding of alchemy, of transmutation—it had all been surface level.
Now, he had seen something deeper.
Something fundamental.
This was no longer just about modifying objects.
It was about altering the very flow of existence itself.
And Ethan knew—this was only the beginning.
His heart pounded as he clenched his fists.
He needed to test this. Experiment. Push further.
Because if he could learn to control what he had just seen…
Then the limits of alchemy didn’t exist.
And neither did his.
As Ethan sat in the quiet night, his mind reeled with the implications of what he had just seen. This wasn’t just about magic anymore—this was something far greater.
His Lion Sight had allowed him to witness the very fabric of reality, the smallest particles shifting, colliding, and interacting like lines of unseen code. It was all structured, governed by a deeper logic. The way molecules behaved, how energy transferred between them, how nature itself followed a set of unseen rules—it all reminded him of something familiar.
Programming.
The realization sent a shiver down his spine.
Back in his original world, he had spent years coding—writing lines of logic that governed digital landscapes, manipulating data, creating automated systems. Everything in coding followed a structure: input, process, output—a logical sequence where small changes could create complex, powerful effects.
And now, he saw that reality worked the same way.
The wind didn’t just blow—it was the result of differences in air pressure, molecular motion, and energy exchange. Trees didn’t just grow—they processed water, carbon, and sunlight in a structured reaction.
He wasn’t just seeing the world.
He was seeing its source code.
Back in the classroom, when Professor Greybourne had explained transmutation, Ethan had thought of it as rewriting the “code” of an object—taking what existed and modifying its structure.
But now, he understood something deeper.
Alchemy wasn’t just about altering objects—it was about rewriting how they functioned. Instead of simply changing a piece of wood into stone, he could reprogram it to absorb impact differently, redirect energy, or even interact with the environment in unexpected ways.
Just like in coding, where a few changes in a script could alter the behavior of an entire program, Ethan realized he could apply this concept to matter itself.
If he could learn to modify the behavior of atoms like variables in a program…
Then he could create things no alchemist had ever imagined.
Ethan’s original world had advanced technology—machines that could process immense amounts of data, energy sources that could power entire cities, tools that could accomplish in seconds what once took hours.
What if he could combine that knowledge with the fundamental laws of alchemy?
? Energy Storage & Manipulation: Instead of using traditional enchantments, he could modify how energy was transferred within a material, creating objects that stored and released power like advanced batteries.
? Programmable Weapons: Just as digital systems could be given conditional commands, Ethan could write conditions into the code of physical objects. A weapon could shift its form or properties based on who wielded it, the amount of aura infused, or even environmental factors.
? Self-Repairing Materials: In programming, self-healing code could adapt and correct errors. What if he could design materials that could regenerate their structure over time by reabsorbing particles from the air?
? Networked Objects: The way the particles in the air connected and interacted… Could he link multiple enchanted objects together like a wireless network, allowing them to communicate and synchronize their effects?
He was no longer just an alchemist.
He was a Reality Programmer.
Ethan took a deep breath, the cool night air settling around him.
He needed to prove this theory. To push beyond traditional alchemy and apply what he knew from his past life—logic, structure, and programming principles—to the very foundation of this world.
He glanced around and spotted a dry leaf resting on the ground. Light, fragile, a perfect test subject.
Picking it up, he activated his Leo Sight, focusing on the microscopic interactions within its structure. The veins of the leaf were a network of natural channels, designed to transport nutrients and water. But they were inactive now, dried and brittle.
An idea sparked.
What if… instead of simply hardening or altering the leaf’s properties, he could reroute how it interacted with the air itself?
He closed his eyes, concentrating.
In programming, circuits carried signals—data traveling along a predefined path. If he applied the same principle here… he could turn the leaf into a natural conduit, a material that conducted aura the same way wires conducted electricity.
Carefully, he rewrote the structure of the veins inside the leaf, adjusting their density, increasing their capacity to channel aura like a living circuit. Then, he infused it with a pulse of his energy—just enough to test.
The moment his aura entered, the veins glowed faintly, like a network of golden threads.
Ethan’s heart pounded. It worked.
He willed the energy to move—and the glow shifted, flowing along the veins like a signal through a processor.
This… was beyond simple enchantment.
This was coded alchemy.
With this principle, he could create wearable enchantments, self-sustaining tools, even living materials that responded to aura like machines responded to electricity.
His mind reeled at the possibilities.
He clenched his fist, excitement thrumming in his veins.
This… this is just the beginning.
