Anon had stored all the necessary materials in his storage space.

He now just needed to find someone that owned a CO2 laser. He wasn't trying to do skin resurfacing or use it for any weird purposes. He just wanted to create almost a bullet proof fiber using it to cut his materials.

You might wonder why he didn't just do what he did before? Trick someone into purchasing it by 'haunting' them. Hell, he could even target the same person again...

Except. This wouldn't work.

A CO2 laser system could cost anywhere from $20,000 to $!00,000. This was considered cheap! Even if Anon spent decades homeless with no expenses. He could hardly raise so much money. It may be possible, but he was unwilling to do so.

Anon wasn't sure how well his axiom state could handle damage. It seemed to lack organs, so he wasn't sure how durable it was. This is why he wanted a bulletproof material. Most importantly, it was flame resistant! It wouldn't melt, or support combustion.

While Anon was searching online for any traces of this laser system so he could 'borrow' it. He also needed to design the helmet.

"Should I go with a helmet, or a mask?"

The main concern he had was that his facial structure was nearly identical to his base form. The only difference was his white hair and eyes.

The kevlar he had was black.

Anon needed to decide the theme of his outfit and mask.

He called his transformed state his 'axiom' state. But what exactly was axiom? It had a lot to do with how Anon saw himself. Before Anon had gained supernatural power. He had lived a normal life. He never pushed himself, because he didn't consider anything attainable interesting.

He had three conditions he set for himself that he often called the 'protagonist halo'. He had made these conditions for himself at quite a young age.

The first condition was that it had to be something only he could do. Axiom itself came from the greek word 'axíōma'. This meant 'to require' or 'to deem worthy'. It was only when Anon was worthy that he would act. Now he had met this condition!

The second condition was that it had to be mechanically interesting. The greek word 'axiōs' could be said to describe two things of equal weight or value. In other words... balance!

Just like how 'Sovereign's Timekeeper' and the fake artifact complemented each other. They struck a balance that allowed both of them to remain hidden from all sorts of weird existences. Both of these things gave him a unique power that was interesting to him. He had met this condition!

The third condition was it couldn't be temporary power! What is the point of having interesting powers or being the strongest when you will just die a few years later?

"I am Timeless!"

When Anon triggered this rule from his declaration in his hourglass. He no longer was experiencing temporary power. Even now as he mastered his axiom state. He was slowly drifting away from the requirements of spiritual energy. He had met this condition!

So what did this mean? It meant he met EVERY condition he had as a child to give it his all! There were no more excuses. If before, he could say he didn't try due to his values being different from the rest of society. While some aspire to become rich or acquire power. He knew it was pointless and fickle.

But now he wasn't simply Anon.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

He had been transformed into 'Axiom'.

This was the start of his legend.

Truth. Balance. Being 'worthy'.

He was Axiom!

But now wasn't the time for a debut. He still didn't know what he was capable of. He felt there were so many secrets hidden within. He wanted to understand himself before taking the world by storm.

Anon sat down at his computer desk. The only furniture he had in his apartment. He then looked in his sea of consciousness.

"It is just a ball of potential. I had been saving a declaration for when I was stronger. But now I already have locked one in. But it is fundamentally different from my timekeeper."

"It is time to name it!"

This was an important moment for Anon. Not because it would determine his power. But because it was time to take this 'potential' and sculpt it!

Anon used to use his hourglass in his domain to do similar things. Shaping potential in his consciousness was a trivial matter for him. But for anyone else, it could be extremely dangerous!

After 10 hours of shaping the ball of potential. It looked like a neutral mask. It was simply a face that was neither happy or sad. This artifact wasn't alive like the hourglass. So it had no resistance to changes. He couldn't transform the hourglass even if he wanted to.

Anon had the idea of manifesting the mask into reality to not have to craft his own. But he was unable to do so at the moment. He then needed to name it.

A mask is often used to hide the truth. So having a 'mask of truth' Anon felt was quite interesting.

"I shall name you 'mask of truth'!"

Anon now had two complete artifacts:

Sovereign's Timekeeper and Mask of Truth

"Am I truly worthy of these powers? It was my alternate self that gave me this opportunity..."

But then Anon thought about his close call with death and his luck. He had always called his conditions the 'protagonist halo' because it was a ridiculous excuse to not give it his all.

He refused to play the game that was life. Not because it was hard. But because he found the rules were too boring!

Anon then realized something as he was still researching the laser system.

"What if I use space to cut the materials?"

Anon had learned how to use his mask of truth and axiom state to open a space in his soul. This space was not infinite and was only a cubic meter in size. He wasn't sure if it could grow.

But what if it could shrink? What if he manipulated it in such a way that the boundaries did a sort of 'reality slash' on the materials. The cuts would be impossibly perfect then? Right?

Anon realized he wasn't a normal person. Why manufacture things in a normal fashion?

He started to train his storage space into a weird state.

Just like that 5 years passed...

Seal 9: Concentration

Seal 8: True Vision

Seal 7: Extraordinary Sense

Seal 6: Deification

Seal 5: Divine Sense

Seal 4: Materializer

Seal 3: Virus

Seal 2: False/True

Seal 1: System Integration

Seal 0: Administrator

He still hadn't unlocked any of the other nine seals...

After his apartment was destroyed and he became homeless. He had lost contact with most of his past coworkers. He also noticed that nobody wanted to associate with him anymore. But these past years he had gotten a job in sales at a car dealership. He was paid not hourly, but based on each sale.

He used his 'aura' to his advantage and 'persuaded' people into buying cars. He made quite a decent salary and had a lot of free time. In combination with not needing to sleep. He always had time to train his axiom state.

During these years. He had essentially become what he called a 'spacesmith'. He could fold space in his soul and transform materials into shapes. They had no extraordinary functions. But it was quite easy to make his own clothes. He could even shape metal.

He made what looked like a mask of comedy as the mask he wore in his axiom state. Since years had passed. He had long stopped worrying about the source of his clothing for his axiom state.

There were a few things Anon was trying to figure out how to do. But nobody had powers in his world. So he had to make the path himself.

For example, he had tried to split himself into two entities. What would happen if he separated his axiom state from his normal state? But he had failed to pull it off.

He had wanted to do this primarily to be able to be in two places at once. During these five years, Anon had made new friends and was living a rather normal life.

But people were a little suspicious of him.

He gave off the impression that he wasn't normal. But his friends couldn't put it into words. Something about him was 'off'. Anon had realized he had 'scary' eyes. So he often wore sunglasses to avoid stunning people.

He even wore them when inside. But this made people even more suspicious. Anon hadn't yet made his 'debut' as Axiom yet. He felt the time wasn't right.

Anon realized an issue. It had only been a few years since he recovered from losing it all. But his appearance was stuck at his prime. He was timeless!

People probably wouldn't notice anything weird for another decade. But after that...

Things could become problematic!

But the world was about to usher in a change...