Chapter 10 – The Road Between Stars and Shadows
Aurora trudged along the winding dirt path, her sandals caked with dust. The world stretched vast and unfamiliar around her—rolling plains that shimmered under the afternoon sun, forests that whispered with unseen eyes, and distant mountains crowned in mist.
Every step felt heavy.
She touched the side of her chest, where the sealed bloodline pulsed faintly like a chained heart. That divine power—hers, yet not hers—was locked away so tightly she could barely sense it. When she tried to call on it, the seal would sting her veins, leaving a cold burn under her skin.
And yet she remembered.
The golden ornaments, the blazing miniature sun, the stormclouds. The goddess she had unwillingly revealed herself to be. For a fleeting moment, she had stood as something vast and untouchable. Now she was just a fragile girl, one unlucky strike away from death.
"System," she whispered, her voice low. "Why… why did you have to seal it all away?"
The familiar chime responded, clinical and unfeeling.
[Answer: Direct usage of divine bloodline exceeds host's current vessel capacity.]
[Sealing protocol ensures survival. Without it, host's body would collapse under cosmic strain.]
Aurora bit her lip until it hurt. So that's all I am? Too weak to even own my own power?
She pushed herself to keep walking. The path was long, but she didn't dare stop.
At night, she camped under the stars. She'd stare up at them, wondering if the supreme goddess of the cosmos—her so-called benefactor—was watching. Sometimes, she thought she felt a gaze pressing from above, warm and cold all at once.
But no voice ever answered.
Instead, there was only the system.
[Reminder: Mission – Reach Avalon Academy.]
[Failure Condition: Remaining isolated beyond given timeframe will result in system penalty.]
[Reward: Unknown...]
A penalty. Always punishment for straying, never comfort for suffering.
She hugged her knees, firelight flickering against her pale face. Her mind slipped back to Silvia—the crimson-eyed girl with a lonely smile, who had called her "friend."
Aurora pressed a hand against her heart. "I'm sorry," she whispered to the flames. "I don't know if fate will really let us meet again… but I couldn't stay. Not in that castle. Not when I'd just end up hurting you more."
Her voice cracked at the last word.
The next morning, she kept walking.
On her third day of travel, a band of highwaymen blocked the road, blades glinting. Aurora froze. The old her—Ren, the betrayed and beaten—would have cowered. But this time, she clenched her fists.
"System," she breathed. "Open rewards for the mission "
The chime rang again.
[Reward unlocked: Astral Veil (Low-tier) – a defensive cloak woven from sealed starlight.]
A shimmer of silver wrapped around her just as the first bandit lunged. His blade struck sparks against the veil, sending him sprawling backward with a scream. The others faltered, fear flashing in their eyes.
Aurora's heart pounded, her legs trembling, but she held her ground. She wasn't the same powerless boy who had lost everything.
She was Aurora now. She had to walk forward—even if it meant carrying the weight of a sealed divinity, even if it meant breaking her own heart.
When the bandits fled, she collapsed to her knees, gasping for air. The veil shimmered faintly, then faded, leaving her exhausted.
And yet, she smiled faintly.
It wasn't much. But it was something.
The road to Avalon still stretched ahead, vast and uncertain. But Aurora walked it anyway, each step a vow.
Because she wasn't going to let fate crush her again.