Echoes of the Fallen Gods: The Astra System

Pain. That was the first thing Agastya felt when he regained consciousness. A dull, pulsing agony throbbed in his abdomen where he had been stabbed, a cruel reminder of his betrayal. He should have been dead. The amount of blood he had lost was far beyond what any normal person could survive. And yet—he lived.

He blinked his eyes open, expecting to see the snow-covered ground where he had collapsed. But instead, he was surrounded by vast emptiness—a sea of endless black, speckled with stars that burned like distant flames.

"I'm… in space?"

Panic surged through him, but before he could react, something huge loomed before him. A colossal white entity, pulsing with energy like a dying sun. It wasn't just light—it was something alive. It had no defined shape, shifting like a mirage, both there and not. It radiated a presence so overwhelming that Agastya felt like an ant staring up at the heavens.

Then, it spoke.

"I do not know who I once was." The voice was neither male nor female, neither kind nor cruel. It simply was. "But if you have made it here, then you are fated to wield the Sacred Treasure of the Devas."

Agastya could only stare. Was this a dream? Was he dead? His mind scrambled for answers, but nothing made sense.

The entity continued, its voice resonating inside his very soul.

"If you are the one who awakened me, then you must be the fated spirit the Seven Great Sages created me for."

Agastya barely had time to process those words before the locket in his pocket—the very one Vibhav had slipped to him before being taken—began to glow once again. A warm golden light poured out of it, wrapping around his body, filling his veins with a strange, pulsating power.

Then, from within the locket, a voice emerged—calm, steady, and oddly familiar.

"My name is Yami," it said. "I will serve as your guide from henceforth."

Agastya's breath hitched. "Guide?"

The entity of light pulsed once, as if nodding.

"The knowledge of the sages—the wisdom of all those who came before—is stored within this locket," the voice continued. "You have inherited it. You are now bound to the Astra System."

Agastya's mind was spinning. "Astra System? What the hell is that?"

As if reading his thoughts, the entity of light spoke one last time.

"The fate of Devas' will now rests in your hands."

And with that, it vanished—dispersing into a thousand shimmering particles, leaving him utterly alone in the void.

A heartbeat later, everything collapsed around him—his vision darkening, his body feeling as though it were being ripped apart. He gasped, struggling for air as the universe itself seemed to fold inward— Agastya's eyes snapped open.

He gasped heavily as if he woke from the nightmare. But then as the surroundings change, Agastya looked around.

He was no longer floating in space. He was lying on the rocky floor of a cave, dimly lit by a flickering fire. Stalactites hung above him, dripping water onto the stone below. The scent of damp earth filled his nose, grounding him back to reality.

"What… the hell just happened?" he muttered, sitting up. His hands instinctively pressed against his abdomen, expecting to find the wound still fresh.

But—it was gone.

His shirt was still torn and stained with blood, but his skin underneath was completely healed. No scar, no lingering pain—nothing.

Before he could think further, a mechanical chime echoed inside his head.

Ding!

A translucent blue holographic screen suddenly appeared before him, floating in midair.

Agastya froze. "What the…"

The screen flickered, and a series of words materialized.

[ASTRA SYSTEM ACTIVATED]

*Ding! The divine core has been unlocked.

Host: Agastya

Race: Neo-Human

Class: ???

Title: ???

Energy Core: None (Divine core Detected)

Rank: Tier-0

Status: Awakened

Special Abilities: [Locked]

Agastya blinked. His breath quickened.

"What is this?"

*

Agastya sat still, his eyes locked onto the glowing holographic screen floating before him. His heart pounded against his ribcage, his breath uneven. The words [Divine Core Unlocked] flickered at the top of his stats, standing out in contrast to everything else.

He had spent his entire life believing he was born without any energy core. Despite being trained in the arts of martial arts since young, he couldn't progress because he had no core. It was like he was defeated right from the moment of his birth. It had always made him inferior to the rest, incapable of rising beyond his station. And yet—here it was. A Divine Core—something only celestial bloodlines can have.

His hands clenched into fists. "Why is that I have no energy core then?" Agastya couldn't help but fall into thoughts. He didn't understand something. If he is a celestial bloodline, how come he wasn't born with any energy core at all, when all those hunted celestial bloodlines usually not only are born with an energy core, and also awaken even elemental cores, some even said to possess multiple elemental cores.

He took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment. The events that had led him here flashed through his mind—Vibhav's betrayal, the ambush, the pain of the blade tearing through his body, the mysterious entity of light, and the voice of Yami speaking to him from the locket.

Then came the rage. "Vibhav…"

"Those damn bastards captured Vibhav…" Agastya clenched his fists tightly, anger seeping into his bones and veins popping out.

The Nova Guild had taken 1,000,000 credits in exchange for handing over Vibhav to that noble. And chances were, they had already delivered him to the Moon.

Agastya gritted his teeth. Vibhav was an idiot. A selfish, reckless fool who had put himself in this situation. But that didn't change the fact that he was family. And Agastya wasn't going to stand by and do nothing.

"I'll get him back." His grip tightened even more to the point that his wrist went pale. "And I'll make sure every single one of them pays for what they did."

His rageful thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a soft ding!

A new notification popped up in front of him:

[Starter Pack Available]

Congratulations, Host! As the chosen wielder of the Astra System, you have received a Starter Pack! Would you like to open it?

[Yes] / [No]

Agastya raised an eyebrow. "A starter pack?" he muttered. It felt strange, almost like he was playing some kind of game—but at this point, he had already witnessed too much insanity to question it.

He extended a hand and pressed [Yes].

The moment he did, the system screen shimmered and transformed into something new. Two glowing icons appeared before him—both question marks, floating in midair.

Choose one.

Agastya hesitated for a moment before reaching out and tapping the left one.

FLASH!

A bright golden light exploded from the icon. Agastya instinctively shielded his eyes, but when the light faded, he saw something falling from the air—

A bow.

The weapon landed on the ground with a soft thud. It was unlike any bow he had ever seen before. Its body was sleek and dark, shimmering with golden engravings that pulsed faintly. The moment his eyes landed on it, its name appeared automatically in his mind—

Sharanga.