Chapter 29: The Calm Before the Storm
Bright woke up feeling… normal.
No aching muscles. No pounding headache. No overwhelming sense of impending doom.
It was such a rare feeling these days that, for a moment, he just lay there, staring at the ceiling, letting himself enjoy it.
Then, his brain reminded him of everything that had happened over the past few days.
The portals. The fights. The training.
And Emily.
Bright turned his head.
She was still asleep, curled up under the blanket, her face half-buried in a pillow.
A rare sight.
Usually, she was the one waking him up—by yelling, kicking him, or making a suspiciously loud phone call right next to his ear.
Bright considered waking her up for the fun of it. Maybe shake her awake and say something dramatic like, "The portals have exploded! The world is ending!"
But then he thought about the consequences.
Yeah… not worth it.
Instead, he stretched lazily and pulled up his status screen. He hadn't checked it since yesterday's training, and after everything he'd gone through, he was curious.
The interface appeared before him, the blue, semi-transparent text flickering slightly before settling into place.
---
[Status Screen]
Name: Bright Brooks
Ability: Fire Manipulation
Skills:
Common Skills:
Ignition (Advanced) – Generate bursts of flame at will. Power increases with mastery.
Fireball (Advanced) – Condense flames into a projectile.
Flame Bullets (Advanced) – Condense flames into a bullet.
Special Skills:
Elementalization (Advanced) – Partially turn into fire, reducing physical damage and increasing resistance to heat.
Unique Skills:
(None)
---
Bright narrowed his eyes.
His skills had improved. That was good. But the change in the system interface didn't go unnoticed.
The skills were now categorized. Common. Special. Unique.
It made sense. Not all abilities were equal. He had suspected this for a while, but seeing it laid out so clearly was something else.
He wondered what Unique Skills would look like.
Just as he dismissed the screen, Emily let out a groggy groan, shifting slightly under the blanket.
Bright turned, watching as she sluggishly peeled one eye open.
"…You're awake before me?" she muttered, voice thick with sleep.
Bright smirked. "Figured I'd let you have your beauty rest."
Emily squinted at him like she was trying to decide if he was lying.
Then she yawned, rolled onto her stomach, and buried her face back into the pillow.
"Wake me up in five years."
Bright snorted. "Yeah, sure. I'll just let the portals swallow the world while you nap."
Emily lazily flipped him off without lifting her head.
Bright chuckled and got out of bed.
---
The day passed uneventfully.
Bright didn't train.
Not because he didn't want to—but because Mr. Carter had convinced him the portals weren't that urgent.
The portals hadn't broken yet. There was still time. Pushing himself too hard might do more harm than good.
So, he took it easy.
He spent most of the morning wandering around the house.
Mr. Carter was gone.
Bright had barely seen him since yesterday. He had no idea what the guy actually did for work, but given the family's wealth and connections, it was probably something serious. If illegal things were considered serious, that is.
Emily's mother and Elijah had gone out, too, leaving the house eerily quiet.
It wasn't unusual for them to be busy. Mrs. Carter was the kind of woman who was always involved in something. Whether it was business, social circles, or private meetings, she was constantly moving.
Elijah, on the other hand, was mostly left to his own devices.
Bright had only met him a handful of times, but from what he'd gathered, Elijah was smart. Annoyingly smart.
The Carter family dynamic was… strange.
Mr. Carter and Mrs. Carter were both powerful in their own ways, but they rarely interacted in front of Bright. It was like they had separate lives that just happened to overlap when necessary.
Elijah was their golden boy. Talented, well-educated, expected to do great things.
And then there was Emily.
She was different. Less concerned with expectations. More willing to live how she wanted.
Bright respected that.
Even if she was a pain in the ass.
---
Afternoon rolled around, and Bright found himself on the couch, scrolling through his phone while Emily lay on the floor, tossing a stress ball into the air.
Neither of them had gone outside today.
Not because they were scared.
But because there was no point.
Outside, the world was still on edge. People were nervous, waiting for the moment things would finally spiral into chaos.
News headlines were repetitive.
PORTALS STILL A MYSTERY—GOVERNMENTS URGE CAUTION.
MILITARY FORCES REMAIN ON HIGH ALERT.
SCIENTISTS BAFFLED—NO SIGNS OF MOVEMENT BEYOND THE PORTALS.
It was the same thing over and over.
No new information. No developments.
Just uncertainty.
Bright sighed, setting his phone down. "This is getting boring."
Emily didn't look away from her stress ball. "You want something to happen?"
"Not want, exactly. But the waiting is worse."
Emily hummed in agreement. "Yeah… It's like watching a horror movie where the monster just refuses to show up."
"Except the monster might not show up at all."
Emily finally looked at him. "You think it's a false alarm?"
Bright shrugged. "I don't think the system will lie. It said it will surely happen."
Emily frowned, rolling onto her stomach. "So you're saying we should just… wait?"
"Yep."
She groaned, burying her face into the carpet. "Waiting sucks."
Bright chuckled. "Yeah, but at least we're waiting in a mansion instead of out in the streets."
Emily huffed but didn't argue.
---
Evening came.
Bright and Emily were in their room, the soft hum of the TV filling the space.
Emily was scrolling through her phone, feet propped up on Bright's lap, while Bright flicked through the channels, looking for something—anything—that wasn't about the portals.
Then—
A ding.
Bright's system screen flashed with a notification.
Then another.
And another.
At the same time, Emily sat up, her phone vibrating in her hand.
Bright frowned and read the message appearing before him.
---
A cold, mechanical voice echoed in his mind, the words flashing across his vision like they had been burned into reality itself.
[System Notice]
Warning: First Dungeon Break will occur in less than 2 hours.
All individuals on the planet must prepare for immediate danger.
---
Bright sighed.
He looked at Emily.
She was already staring at him, eyes sharp, phone forgotten in her hands.
Another ding. More messages flooded in—news updates, government alerts, people all over the internet reacting at once.
Outside, the world was waking up to the nightmare.
Car alarms blared in the distance.
The calm was over.
---