Chapter 29 - Chapter 29: Those Who Should Have Existed

Neuro stood within the training hall as the pressure of mana continued to press against him from all directions yet his body no longer resisted it consciously his control had reached a point where adaptation occurred naturally without effort but his mind had moved far beyond the physical environment his thoughts were now locked onto a contradiction that refused to disappear no matter how many times he analyzed it "If I am truly the first…" he began slowly "…to reach Stage 5 Beginner at the age of five…" the sentence formed with absolute precision "…then where are the others" the question was not emotional it was structural systems do not emerge from singular anomalies they are built upon repetition upon countless individuals reaching similar thresholds over time "a system of nine stages…" he continued "…cannot exist without history" his eyes narrowed slightly as his internal flow continued stabilizing automatically "which means…" he paused "…there must have been others before me" yet there was nothing no record no mention no trace of such individuals within the known structure of the family or even the wider world "so either…" his thoughts sharpened "…they were erased…" "…or they were never allowed to be recorded" both possibilities were dangerous because they implied control over information at a fundamental level but even that did not fully resolve the contradiction because the issue extended beyond this world itself he recalled the red-haired girl again her presence her unnatural awareness and her words that had once seemed distant "more than a billion beings from different races across all worlds…" that sentence now returned with overwhelming weight if it was true then the system he was analyzing was not global it was local a fragment of something vastly larger "if that is the case…" he thought slowly "…then reaching Stage 5 early is not unique on a universal scale" it might only be rare within this limited structure his thoughts expanded further "which means…" he continued "…there must have been individuals far beyond this level long before me" not just Stage 5