Ashburn Estate, Earth City Sector "UNIX"...
The buildings of modern Earth remained divided into different sections, each section connected to the others through carefully designed transportation routes and massive elevated platforms. However, the architecture of UNIX was unlike anything that could be found in the cities of the old world.
Towering structures rose hundreds of meters into the sky, their surfaces covered in seamless layers of transparent material that reflected the lights of the surrounding city. There were no exposed cables, pipes, or mechanical systems running across their exteriors, as every necessary system had been integrated directly into the structures themselves.
The result was a city that looked almost unnaturally clean despite the enormous amount of technology operating within it. Some of the buildings had entire sections extending outward from their main structures without any visible support, while others were connected through narrow bridges reinforced with Astrine technology.
Even the transparent surfaces could change their properties whenever necessary, becoming completely opaque to provide privacy or transparent enough to offer an unobstructed view of the city outside.
Yet what immediately separated UNIX from the other sectors was not the height of its buildings.
It was the swords.
Between two enormous skyscrapers, a gigantic sword floated in midair. It was not being held by anyone, nor was it attached to either building, as the weapon simply remained suspended between the structures with its enormous blade stretching across several hundred meters.
Its dark surface reflected the lights of the city around it while its tip remained pointed toward the sky above, giving the entire weapon the appearance of a monument rather than something meant to be used in battle.
Unlike an ordinary weapon, its edges were not designed merely for cutting. The entire sword had been constructed from a specialized material capable of conducting and stabilizing Astrine, turning what would normally be a weapon into a massive technological structure.
Several smaller Astrine conduits ran along its surface, glowing faintly as energy moved through them and circulated throughout the structure.
Similar swords were positioned precisely between each pair of major buildings, leaving wide-open spaces beneath them where flying vehicles passed through without interruption. These enormous weapons had become one of the defining features of UNIX, and their presence made the connection between the sector and the Ashburn Family impossible to ignore.
Because UNIX was not merely a technological sector.
It was the heart of the territory controlled by one of the most powerful Noble Families on Earth.
The Ashburn Family.
At the center of UNIX stood the Ashburn Estate, a structure so enormous that calling it a simple building would have been an understatement. The main structure rose high above the surrounding buildings while its lowest section spread across an area extending for more than two miles in both directions, with countless smaller structures integrated directly into its foundation.
Offices, research facilities, training grounds, storage areas, living quarters, and other facilities existed within the enormous complex, all connected through systems that allowed people to move throughout the Estate without ever needing to leave the building.
Neolan could be seen entering the main Estate inside a sleek magnetic floating car. Nathan sat beside him in the back while the vehicle moved entirely under the control of its artificial intelligence, with no manual steering system or traditional driver’s seat anywhere inside it.
The smooth movement of the vehicle made it obvious just how far Earth’s technology had advanced, especially when the AI automatically adjusted its speed and route without requiring either passenger to give it any instructions.
After several moments, the vehicle entered through the enormous main gate without stopping for identification.
The gate had already recognized the people inside.
It silently opened before them, and the car passed through into the lowest floor of the Estate before gradually slowing down. The vehicle finally came to a stop, and both Neolan and Nathan stepped out as the surrounding systems immediately returned to their previous state.
Neolan looked around the enormous interior for a moment, and an unfamiliar sense of nostalgia suddenly struck him, ’It doesn’t even feel like I died. It feels like it was just yesterday...’
The workers and Elites of the Ashburn Family moved through the massive white interior in different directions, each carrying out their own responsibilities.
Some were dressed in formal clothing while others wore specialized equipment related to their duties, but nearly all of them noticed Neolan as he passed. They didn’t stop him or question his presence, merely giving him a respectful gesture before returning to their work.
Nathan finally broke the silence, "Young Master, we should go now. The Patriarch had to stop the ceremony for a few minutes because of this meeting."
Neolan’s expression changed slightly, ’What’s so important that he wants to talk about? He actually stopped the ceremony itself, this isn’t going to be a simple talk then...’
He immediately understood that whatever his father wanted to discuss was important enough to take priority over the Awakening ceremony. That alone made Neolan more cautious, because in his previous life, his father had never summoned him like this on the day of his Awakening.
"Alright, lead me to where he is. Must be on the topmost floor, right?"
Nathan simply smiled and nodded before gesturing for him to follow. The two walked toward the far end of the enormous white interior, where several circular platforms floated above the ground. They had no surrounding walls, glass barriers, or visible support structures, and at first glance they looked like nothing more than simple circular plates suspended in the air.
These were the Estate’s lifts.
Each platform could carry only a few people, but that limitation barely mattered because the lifts didn’t travel upward in the conventional sense. Neolan stepped onto one alongside Nathan, and the butler calmly issued his command.
"90th Floor, Patriarch’s Room." The moment he finished speaking, the surrounding space suddenly distorted.
There was no sensation of acceleration, no movement of the platform, and no passage through dozens of floors. Instead, the space around them seemed to fold inward for an instant before everything returned to normal.
A moment later, they were standing directly in front of a black door.
Neolan stepped off the platform and stared at it for a brief moment. He remembered this sensation quite vividly from his previous life. The technology was based on the old Wrap Drive theory, which had eventually developed far beyond its original purpose and become one of the most common methods of rapid transportation between fixed locations.
Nathan stepped aside and gestured toward the door, Neolan nodded before taking a slow breath.
He had not seen his father in ten years.
Yet despite the time that had passed, he couldn’t allow himself to become distracted by the emotions that came with seeing a familiar person after death. He needed answers first.
He stepped forward.
The black door automatically opened.
Inside, the room was considerably darker than the rest of the Estate, with only a few faint sources of light illuminating the enormous space. At the far end of the room sat a man in a floating chair behind a small desk, his back facing Neolan as he looked toward the massive transparent wall overlooking UNIX.
Neolan entered, and the door closed automatically behind him, ’It’s been ten years since I’ve seen him...’ His gaze remained calm, ’But I don’t have the time or situation to simply stand here and look at his face.’
He immediately bowed slightly, "I greet the Patriarch, you called for me?"
The man sitting at the far end finally turned around, his eyes settled on Neolan.
For several seconds, he said nothing as he simply looked at his son.
Then his voice finally broke the silence, "Today is your Awakening, the awakening of your Astrine Blade. You know that if you fail... you will be discarded from the family, right?"
He remembered those words immediately, although the situation and timing were different from his previous life, the words themselves were exactly the same. His father had said them before his Awakening back then as well, and Neolan had already expected some version of the conversation.
"Yes, I know, Patriarch." He didn’t waste any more time, "But could I know the reason you went as far as stopping the Awakening ceremony?"
The Patriarch remained silent for a moment, then he leaned slightly backward in his floating chair.
"You are to stay away from that Empire’s princess from now on."
[A/N: The Year at the first Chapter had been updated as it was a mistake from my part, It would be 2720]