“Hey, boy!” Marco heard a shout.

A young man strode through the crowd, weaving between the dazed participants with surprising agility. Marco had always been tall—in both his previous body and his current one—but this man was something entirely different.

Reaching almost seven feet, his white hair shone with a luminescent glow, styled short around the sides and longer on top, as though a permanent breeze kept it tousled. His features were sharp, lending him a certain wolfishness, but there was something kind in his eyes, a warmth that made him approachable despite the stark hair colour.

Marco shifted slightly to the left, narrowly escaping the unwanted hug that had almost buried him. The young man froze for a moment, then laughed heartily.

“My name is Zero—yes, that’s actually my name. My father had a flair for the dramatic.” He extended a hand.

Marco returned the handshake tentatively.

“Marco,” he murmured.

The crowd around them continued to buzz. Some people shouted, thrilled with their successful attunement. Others sobbed—perhaps because their attunement had failed, or because they sensed they had received the wrong element. Or maybe they were simply overwhelmed by the dizzying influx of new sensations.

Marco had no idea. He felt nothing but emptiness.

Zero continued, “the old man is Elder Orlin. Don’t worry about him for now. He just oversees the initial ceremony. He’s not actually the one in charge of us day-to-day.” His grin deepened.

“Anyway, let’s get you out of the chaos.”

Before Marco could object, Zero hooked an arm around his shoulder and guided him off the wide stone platform. It was then that Marco truly took in the setting for the first time. An enormous courtyard paved with swirling silver lines in intricate geometric patterns.

The silver lines seemed to sparkle with the faintest hint of lingering elemental energy, possibly remnants of the ceremony. Beyond the courtyard, the towering spires of a grand academy rose into the sky, each capped with symbols he instinctively recognized.

Not from his original memories, of course.

One spire bore the symbol of a shield. Opposite it, another rose with a sword. To the left, a tower loomed with a flame symbol, and so on.

“Surprised?,” Zero flaunted his wavy hair, “the academy teaches us to control the properties of our elements, not just the elements themselves. And the path to mastering properties follows the same structure, so classes are divided by properties, not by elemental groups.”

That helped a lot. Marco nodded.

For example, Rubidium (Rb) and Cesium (Cs) ignited instantly in air—just like Phosphorus when exposed to oxygen. But they weren't in same periodic group. They just had some properties common.

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From the old Marco’s memories, he knew that people attuned to elements could control the properties of their attuned elements rather than simply wielding the elements themselves.

“Oh, by the way, what’s your attuned element?” Zero asked casually.

Marco felt his heart skip a beat. He had no idea.

Zero turned to look at him, curiosity flickering across his face.

“Ah, you never attuned to one, right?”

What did that mean again? Marco kept his expression calm, but his mind reeled in bitter, guilty panic. How could he answer?

'It seems my element was eaten by something unknown?' No, no… That would make him a freak. Marco mentally burned through possible answers when Zero patted his shoulder.

“It’s okay, boy. Look, I don’t have an attuned element either. So what’s the big deal if you don’t? It’s not something to be ashamed of. At least we can manipulate any element we want, not like those attuned who are forever bound to just one.”

Zero pulled a small cubic bar from his pocket and inhaled deeply. Marco smelled sodium, then the scent vanished.

The next moment, an overwhelming heat rushed into his face. Marco stumbled back, staring in surprise as Zero raised his hand.

A pale blue flame flickered in his palm.

“Oh… sorry.” Zero hurriedly clenched his fist, and the temperature disappeared, vanishing like it had never been there in the first place.

Marco studied Zero’s intact hand in awe. Between his fingers, Zero held a small lighter.

Marco had a vague idea of what had just happened. The smell of sodium peroxide confirmed his assumptions.

The white-haired man before him had controlled sodium to react with the air, producing sodium peroxide and hydrogen gas. Then, using the lighter, he had ignited the hydrogen.

Still… how had he managed to burn hydrogen without hurting his hands?

Marco had no idea. But one thing was certain. He absolutely loved the notion he could also do the same.

Fantastic!

Absolutely, physically, chemically and realistically fantastic.

Excitement shone in his eyes, more intense than the heat of burning hydrogen. Zero studied him with a knowing smile.

“So don’t worry about not having an attuned element. Sure, we can’t generate elements on our own, but as long as we have a tiny amount of an element, we can control it. There is no elements money can't buy...well except some rare one's. So, Marco… Unattuned aren’t useless. In fact, we’re flexible—more flexible than carbon ever was in forming compounds.”

Zero led Marco to registration. There, Marco received an armband. At first glance, it looked ordinary. But it wasn’t.

“Here, click there…,” Zero pointed at a black dot on the band.

Marco pressed it. Instantly, the band disappeared, leaving behind a small, star-shaped tattoo on his forearm. The next instant, a blue screen flickered before his eyes.

“This is called Star Z. You can find anything on it. It contains e-formats of the library, so feel free to use them. Your class schedules are also here…” Zero continued, explaining the uses of Star Z as they walked along the cobbled paths.

Marco watched students of various ages moving along the pathways, smiles plastered across their faces. The academy’s atmosphere reflected that of Earth, and he felt an odd sense of satisfaction.

In his past life, he had always been buried in research, missing out on the joys of his academy days.

But this life would be different. Sure there was still many secrets and wonders waiting to be explored. Yet, he was certain, his time he wouldn’t let it overshadow the life he had missed. Because this life was intertwined with everything he had ever wanted to explore.

Marco took a deep breath.

The air here was perfect. His lungs greedily accepted it without any protest. Every step he took carried something… something he had never felt before.

Almost like floating.

No...almost like the air moved away from him without resistance.

His gaze landed on Zero. He was talking, laughing—his words blurred into the background. Then, Marco lost focus.

Now, Zero wasn’t speaking, rather he was the one speaking. It’s just in his gaze it wasn’t Zero, but himself.

His legs wobbled. His body staggered and the sight returned as before.

“What happened to you?” Zero quickly reached out, supporting him with worry in his eyes.

Marco exhaled sharply.

But this time—

His breath contained something he never had before.

Sodium.