It's been weeks.
Since the incident.
Since I fell apart like some fragile thing pretending to be strong.
Since I saw those eyes.
Now?
I don't cry. I don't scream. I barely talk.
It's not healing. It's just… quieter.
Like something inside snapped and the sound, well It never stopped echoing, It just got muffled in my monologue.
Every day, I've kept doing the quests
Push-ups. Slashes. More slashes.
Eat. Sleep. Bleed. Repeat.
Feels like I'm trying to punch a hole through something I can't see.
And Maybe that's what I am just trying to do.
And yet, nothing's changed.
My arms still ache the same.
My mind still drifts when it shouldn't.
If I'm stronger, it's not the kind anyone would love to be, atleast I wouldn't.
Today's different, though.
Barely.
Another awakening.
This time it's my cousin. Turning sixteen. His big moment.
The family will be there, smiling, measuring, hoping.
And me? I decided I'm going too.
Don't ask me why.
Maybe to prove I'm fine.
Maybe to watch it all burn.
I don't know whether I'm Noah anymore.
Kael sounds more like me now…Or maybe neither fits.
I walked through the Vermillion Hall like a ghost wearing shoes that don't belong to it.
The corridor was full of faces painted, carved, frozen in glory.
Powerhouses. Ancestors. Legends.
And me?
A walking mistake.
White walls. Gold inlays. Everything looked expensive and sterile.
Like even the air had pedigree.
I reached the chamber. The room where everything changes or ends.
The Awakening Room.
Overhyped, honestly.
But still… you walk in, and something buzzes under your skin.
Like the room knows things about you even you don't.
It's stupid. And real. And I hate how both can be true.
And Then I walked in.
Stepping into the room, all gazes fell on me but by now, I had experienced the same situation multiple times, so It wasn't much difficult for me to ignore their gazes and that's just what I did.
The energy in this room was thick but the anticipation won by a high margin. The usual, elders, direct bloodlines and those who liked to pretend that they mattered were here.
Before I entered, The room was full of talks, but when I entered.
It was total silence,
The one that happens when you see a ghost,
The way silence shits when a shadow walks in.
I stood at the back having no desire to keep up with their bullshits, only to witness, how this actually worked.
Noah's cousin stood in the center, nervous and barely holding it together. The awakening crystal was a large ball like shaped thing, and when he placed his hands on the crystal.
The crystal lit up, there was a pause.
Then a wisp of violet light rippled through the air.
"A-rank," someone muttered and then applause followed, polite and restrained.
And well the moment came which we had anticipated, "That's still better than... certain disappointments," someone said, just loud enough to reach my ears.
Then, like a fuse being lit, everything exploded.Laughter.More laughter.Mocking laughter.
I didn't move. Not outwardly.But inside? I was in turmoil.After all, I'm just a regular human.And I was tired.
"Not everyone needs to be a legend," another voice added, more venomous. "Some serves better as what was it? mortals?"
A chuckle. A snort. All of it petty, rehearsed.
Then an older man stood up one of the councilors. Sharp jaw. Sharper tongue.
"We can't keep wasting potential just because they're comfortable within these halls. Why not send our youth to the Imperial Academy?" he asked, tone feigned as casual. "and test them against the youth of our continent."
Another agreed, "Let the weak break. Let the strong rise."
Of course, it wasn't about training.
It was exile.
Polished and packaged like opportunity.
All eyes, suddenly, drifted toward me.
No words were spoken.
Yet I knew.
They wanted to send me
And I was ready.
As It had been many days since that moment[1].
That day,
The one on which I broke down on the cold stone floor, screaming until my voice gave out. A voice had called out me jolting me out of the vision
"Young man, till how long are you going to act like a spoiled brat?" The voice that had jolted me out of the despair said
I barely whispered, "Who?"
The voice answered not aloud, but in my mind.
"My identity? That doesn't matter. What matters is that you reach the peak and do what's needed. This is our last chance to win."
"What chance? What win?" I asked, still lost in the shadows of my thoughts.
"Train. Train harder than you ever have," it said. "You'll find your answers when you reach the 6th rank in both Magic and Physique. And then… I will tell you how to meet your brother."
The voice faded.
That was how I accepted this opportunity knowing full well I couldn't expect care or support from my family. Especially after my father's death, when respect was laced with silent hatred.
[1] the day when our protagonist finished his first quest, where he broke down and had a vision of his brother's lifeless eyes staring at him and questioning him.