After initial penetration into the network, Silas set a trigger in the system to add 9.99 gold cards to a number of accounts under his control every thirty minutes.

He couldn't go for a one-time payment since he didn't have enough firmware to protect his location.

He set the trigger to dissolve in three days. He didn't want to risk his position.

Moreover, he can have as much money as he wants after he gets proper equipment.

Then, Silas went to sleep. He had money now, so he rented a room for two nights in a motel nearby.

Silas rested the whole night since he had to wait for the money anyway.

After about eight hours, Silas went to a different internet cafe to continue his endeavor.

Silas didn't need any more money for now. What he wanted to do was buy paid information on the dark web.

This was a gamble since there is a good chance the information will be fake, so a little extra money didn't hurt.

It took Silas two and a half days to compile a satisfactory information report on magic. People really liked to lie on the internet. So, most of his time was spent fact-checking the information he got.

The most important piece of information he found was the existence of three hidden schools of magic in Terra. One in Britain and two in Rus. These schools were said to be immensely powerful and even beyond the reach of the powers.

This news gave Silas hope in the potential of Magic. But what solidified it was the fact that the current emperor of Rus, the Blood Emperor, was actually a student of these schools.

So, Silas decided to give magic a chance. If it turned out to be a bust, he could always take the Metahuman Pathway. That, combined with his foundation in the Technological Pathway, Silas was sure he would reach far.

Not much else was known about these schools except for their location and acceptance prerequisites. Fortunately, the Britain location was close to New York so he wouldn't have to go far.

This was good since he wouldn't have to create an elaborate identity for himself and waste years of his time to be eligible to learn magic in the other magic schools.

Their acceptance prerequisites were extremely lenient. Anybody could apply to these schools. As for what their acceptance conditions were, Silas didn't know.

Since he couldn't find any more information, he went to the location of the magic school without wasting any more time.

Meanwhile, in a hidden dimension where time stood still, a pair of eyes opened. Just this act seemed to crack reality itself.

Wreathed in silence and shadow, the ancient being stirred. Its form was incomprehensible - neither matter nor energy, but a convergence of both.

It had sensed something. It had sensed the universe activating its defenses.

But it wasn't the only one who felt it.

In the heart of a collapsing neutron star, a being of silver flame blinked into awareness.

Far beyond the edge of known space, a slumbering entity buried within endless darkness stretched a limb.

Beneath the crust of a world that had no name, a mountain exhaled dust and trembled.

And drifting silently between timelines, a humble-looking monk paused mid-step. He turned, as if listening to a melody only he could hear.

But it was the shadow being who stirred first.

The last time such an event happened was hundreds of thousands of years ago during the second cosmic war.

A thought, ancient and heavy with memory, formed within the shadow being

"So. It begins again."

The thought rippled outwards, passing through countless dimensions and realities to reach the others, "The universe has sensed a threat. An Anomaly has been born again."

Just then, another voice filled with solemn gravity descended upon the void.

"It seems," the being whispered into the silence, "a PROTAGONIST is about to be created."

And with that, the eyes closed once more.

But the stillness did not return.