Betelgeuse is an Ash grade. In the world of Manifold, one's destiny is decided by the grade of his Destiny Incunabulum. But at 18 years of age, Betelgeuse Sakar is gifted an ashen-colored Incunabula, the lowest-grade and most common of artifacts. In seconds, his life is decided for him–a one-way trip to the Sylvan Protectorate on the planet Desert, at the very edge of human civilization, where he is expected to war and die against the Chimerae. It was supposed to be his great honor to serve and die for the great Democracy. But In the end, unto the end of all things, Betelgeuse fights for himself! (Think Black Clover at the start, but with a hard sci-fi/linguistics twist!) General tropes: Sci-fi + Xianxia/LitRPG-abstracted power system.  Readers can expect: action, space opera politics, war, science fiction, in-depth world building interspersed with long and occasionally meditative conversations.  This story is about: the shadow politics of great houses, the exigencies of war, the control and exploitation of resources in the name of some nebulous goal; and, caught in the middle of it all, a common and introspective soul fighting like hell to change his received destiny. Nothing is so much as set in stone in the world of Manifold. Release rate: About 2-3 chapters a week. Manifold is intended to be a long journey, and will therefore be a slow burn of interstellar scale; from abused cadet to bloodthirsty warlord and beyond, Betelgeuse' story will take him throughout the universe across locales barren, bursting with life or overshadowed by concrete—in search of the secret to remaking his destiny.  Do comment if possible-any feedback and criticism is welcome!