The service lift doors slid shut behind Nara with a soft hiss, sealing her into a lift, The corpse, the prophecy, Kaelen it was all momentarily shut out, but the terror she still felt within her bones. The **[Awakening Ceremony: 00:49:18]** pulsed in her vision, a relentless reminder of her fate.
The lift descended swiftly. When the doors opened, a wave of heat and a deep, resonant *thoom- thoom-thoom* washed over her. Sub-Level 3 was filled with machinery . Massive, pulsating mana conduits snaked overhead and underfoot, glowing with contained unrefined mana energy, Catwalks crisscrossed above her the dizzying heights leaving her momentarily nauseous , the air tasted metallic and thick .
**[Proximity Alert: Hostile Signatures Detected]** the System warned, the text flashing red.
Nara didn't hesitate. She sprinted up onto a narrow maintenance catwalk, her body surprisingly agile despite the trembling in her hands. The System flared, highlighting her route,
Follow Catwalk 7 for 200 meters. Turn right at Junction 3. Descend Access Ladder.
The heat was oppressive, sweat beading instantly on her skin, strands of hair plastered to her temples. Every shadow between the massive conduits seemed to hold a lurking shape. Her System pinged again: **[Potential Threat: Movement detected.]**
She ducked low, using the catwalk railing as cover, while crouching she increased her pace. two small, spider like drones skittered out from above and to her left, multiple lenses glowing red. her heart skipped a beat at the sight of the red lasers pointing towards her.
They found her!.
**[WARNING: Directed Energy Weapon Charging!]** her System alerted.
Nara threw herself forward into a roll just as a searing beam of light sliced through the space where her head had been, scorching the metal catwalk and wall. She scrambled to her feet, heart hammering against her ribs. The drone flew after her, nimble and deadly.
**[Obstruction Opportunity ahead Structural Weakness Detected.]**
Nara pushed her legs harder, the System interface zooming in on the highlighted weak spot a massive beam connecting two energy conduits. It looked solid, but the System identified a hairline fracture glowing faintly on it . She reached it just as the spider-drone fired again. She dodged sideways, the beam grazing her shoulder, searing through the fabric of her tunic and leaving a stinging burn. Gritting her teeth, she slammed her fist, channeling every ounce of fear and borrowed strength, directly onto the fracture point the System highlighted.
CRACK!
A sound like splitting rock echoed. Superheated steam erupted from the fractured coupling with a deafening shriek, engulfing both drones in a scalding cloud. The drone exploded violently, its limbs flying, before the rest clattering off the catwalk onto the floor below. Nara stumbled back, coughing, the pain in her shoulder finally catching up to her in pure agony, she pushed past the pain just happy to be alive.
**[THREAT NEUTRALIZED: Automated Spider Drone x2 ]**
**[Vital Signs: Elevated. Major Burn Detected (Left Shoulder).]**
No time to tend to it. The timer read: **[00:28:49]**. She had to keep moving and fast. She found the ladder and descended the rungs , the heat intensifying as she dropped closer to the source. The accessway below was a narrow tunnel running alongside a primary energy conduit, the air shimmering with heat distortion. The System map guided her through a maze of pipes and valves.
**[Optimal Path: Crawlspace 5 meters ahead .]** the System advised.
Nara eyed the narrow, dark opening barely large enough to squeeze through, filled with dust and cobwebs. she had no choice the time was running out. She dropped to her hands and knees and crawled in, the rough surface scraping her palms and tearing her thigh high socks of the academy uniform. The heat was stifling, the air thick with the smell of ozone and dust. She crawled, focused only on the timer ticking down:
**[00:20:17]**.
Emerging from the crawlspace, she found herself near the Spire's foundation entrance, just as Kaelen had said covered in soot and dirt she stood out like a sore thumb. A heavy door stood partially open, revealing a brightly lit corridor beyond – the polished, official underbelly of the Ceremonial Spire. Relief warred with heightened terror. She was close. So close! But the System pulsed crimson,
**[Proximity Alert: Hostile Signatures - Immediate Vicinity!]**
She pressed herself against the cold metal wall beside the door, peering around the edge. Two figures stood guard just inside the corridor, disguised as academy security. Their uniforms were slightly off – the insignia wrong , the fit too loose to be real guards. Their eyes scanned the entrance with cold, deadly detachment, assassins they had to be. Believers in the prophecy perhaps.
**[Targets: Awakened Human x2 ).]**
**[Strategy: Distraction Required. Utilize environmental control panel 2 meters to your right.]**
Nara's eyes darted to the panel a unit covered with blinking lights and switches. Her mind raced. "What should I do? she thought frantically" The System interface flickered, highlighting a specific sequence:
*Toggle Switch Off (Red). Push Override Lever (Up). Hold button (green) for 3 seconds.*
Taking a deep, silent breath, she lunged for the panel. Her fingers flew over the controls, following the System's precise instructions. She flipped the red switch, yanked the lever up, and held the green button.
A deafening alarm blared throughout the accessway. Emergency lights strobed violently. Inside the corridor, sprinklers erupted from the ceiling, dousing the two operatives and filling the space with a excess amount of water.
" Fire Detected ! Sector lockdown!" a synthesized voice boomed.
The operatives cursed, momentarily disoriented going to the panel near them , raising their arms against the strobing lights and the downpour.
**[GO NOW]** the System commanded, the word blazing across her vision.
Nara didn't need telling twice. She darted through the partially open door, running past the operatives whose backs are turned towards the panel on their end , She sprinted down the corridor, the polished floor slippery underfoot, the blaring alarm masking the sound of her footsteps.
The corridor opened into a vast antechamber. Nara skidded to a halt, her breath catching. It was filled with other first-years.
Dozens of them, at least three-hundred, clustered in nervous groups. They wore pristine academy uniforms, their faces a mixture of excitement, anxiety, and awe. They chattered, fidgeted, compared notes on their anticipated abilities. The air buzzed with raw, untapped potential and youthful energy. They were waiting for the grand doors to the Ceremonial Spire's inner sanctum to open her entrance going unnoticed.
Nara stood frozen at the edge of the crowd, a stark contrast. Her uniform was torn and scorched at the shoulder, smudged with grime from the crawlspace. water plastered her hair to her face, her skin flushed and streaked with dust. The burn on her shoulder throbbed. She looked like she'd crawled through hell, which wasn't far from the truth. Eventually eyes turned towards her curious, judgmental, some filled with pity or disdain.
hiding in the crowd was impossible now. She felt like a stain on pristine white cloth
Her System flickered: **[Awakening Ceremony: 00:05:32]**
**[Primary Objective: SURVIVE - CRITICAL]**
**[Secondary Objective: REACH THE CEREMONIAL SPIRE - COMPLETE]**
**[New Objective: PARTICIPATE IN AWAKENING CEREMONY]**
**[Warning: Maintain Low Profile. Hostile Surveillance Probable.]**
Low profile? She felt like a beacon. She could feel the gazes of everyone on her, she saw the operatives she'd slipped past now at the door scanning the crowd,
She pushed deeper into the crowd, trying to disappear within it, keeping her head down, avoiding eye contact. The timer was a drumbeat in her skull: **[00:02:14]**. She needed to be far from harm's way when it hit zero.
A hush fell over the chamber as the massive, intricately carved doors at the far end began to glow with internal light. Symbols etched into their surface pulsed with power. A resonant hum filled the air, vibrating through the floor and up Nara's legs, momentarily silencing the nervous chatter.
The Awakening Ceremony was about to begin.
The doors began to swing inwards with majestic slowness, revealing a glimpse of blinding, swirling light within. The crowd surged forward, a wave of eager anticipation.
Nara let herself be carried along, sandwiched between bodies, her senses screaming. Every brush against her burned shoulder sent jolts of pain. Every unfamiliar face felt like a potential assassin.
The System remained ominously silent about immediate threats, its focus entirely on the timer:
**[00:01:47]... [00:01:46]...**
She was swept through the towering doors into the Ceremonial Spire's inner sanctum.
The sight stole her breath, even amidst the terror she felt she couldn't help but marvel at the beauty of this room, The space was immense, a huge purple mana stone soaring hundreds of feet into the air. The walls weren't stone, but shimmering, cascading energy fields displaying constellations and nebulas that seemed to shift and flow. In the center of the polished obsidian floor, a complex, multi-layered sigil pulsed with pure, blinding white light. The air crackled with raw, unfiltered mana, making the hairs on Nara's arms stand on end. Instructors in flowing, robes stood at intervals around the sigil, their expressions serene yet watchful.
First-years streamed towards the sigil, finding places to stand on its outer rings. Nara pushed forward, desperation overriding pain and fear. The timer blinked: **[00:00:31]... [00:00:30]...**
Nara stumbled onto the outermost ring of the sigil, finding a small space between a boy with muscles bulging out his uniform and a pretty red haired girl. In the crowd she spotted kaelen watching her with a unreadable look on his face, The blinding light from the sigil intensified, bathing her face, warming her skin despite the terror chilling her blood. The mana in the air growing thicker resonating with her changing her all the way down to her very bones, becoming a physical pressure that threatened to crack her ribs.
**[Awakening Ceremony: 00:00:05]**
**[Primary Objective: SURVIVE - PENDING]**
**[Initiation Sequence Imminent…]**
Nara squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the change sure to come, would the ceremony be her shield or paint a brighter target on her back? The assassin's fanatic words flashed in her mind.
The raw mana exploded outwards it felt , transforming into a all-consuming roar that filled the room. The sigil erupted, not just with light, but with control guiding the mana threw the students bodies awakening their potential, No longer did nara feel the pressure on her body she felt a intense comforting chill ,it was an arctic wave, a sensation of absolute zero and crystalline clarity.
As the cold engulfed her, information – vast, complex, and deeply personal – flooded her mind. It wasn't memories, but pathways, possibilities, the fundamental structure of power resonating with something newly awakened deep within her core.
The flickering System interface dissolved into motes of light, then reformed, not as an overlay, but as an intrinsic, intricate lattice woven directly into the fabric of her consciousness.
**[SYSTEM ONLINE - FULL INTEGRATION]**
**[USER: Nara Silvaine - STATUS: Awakened]**
Around her, the ceremony unfolded in a breathtaking display. As the initial blinding radiance subsided, replaced by a softer, multicolored luminescence emanating from the sigil itself, visible changes manifested above each first-year.
Above the muscle boy's head, shimmering golden script appeared:
**RANK: A**
**AFFINITY: Earth Manipulation**
Above the girl with RED hair:
**RANK: A-**
**AFFINITY: Magma Manipulation**
All across the vast chamber, similar displays materialized. **RANK: C - Fire Manipulation . RANK: B+ - Air Manipulation . RANK: A - Telepathy .
Gasps all around heard cries of joy, murmurs of awe rippled from the newly Awakened as they saw their own potential and ability's named for the first time.
For Nara, the transformation was profound, internal, and violently external. The pure, cold energy surging through her wasn't just unlocking power; it was remaking her. The stinging burn on her shoulder vanished as if it had never existed, skin smoothing into flawless, glacial white. Her waist long black hair, from root to tip, bled of all color, transforming into strands of pure, shimmering snow-white, stark against her newly luminous skin that now held the faint, ethereal luminescence of moonlight on fresh powder. Her features, already shockingly beautiful, sharpened with an otherworldly, icy perfection – high cheekbones like carved ice, violet eyes now blazing with an inner, frozen light, lips a pale, frozen rose. She radiated an aura of pristine, untouchable cold.
Above her head, the script that formed wasn't gold or silver. It blazed with a pure, diamond-white light that pulsed with undeniable power, drawing startled glances from those nearby:
**RANK: S+**
**AFFINITY: Frost Domain (PRIME)**
A collective gasp echoed near her. S+? Frost Domain? Such ranks and pure elemental affinities were legends, spoken of in hushed tones, seen perhaps once in a generation. Whispers cut through the chamber's lingering hum: "S+? Is that possible?" "Look at her hair!" "Ice... pure ice..."
Nara gasped as her eyes snapped open. The world wasn't just seen; it was felt. She saw the thermal signatures of the students around her, the residual heat signatures on the floor. She felt the ambient moisture in the air like tiny, obedient crystals waiting for her command. Power thrummed within her, cold and vast and terrifyingly precise.
**[AFFINITY CONFIRMED: Frost Domain (PRIME)**]**
**[RANK CONFIRMED: S+]**
**[Primary Objective: SURVIVE - ONGOING]**
**[New Objective: MASTER YOUR POWER]**
The awe of Awakening was fading into excited chatter and self-discovery among the students. Nara's newfound senses automatically scanned her surroundings, honed by primal instinct her enhanced perception locked onto a point near the towering visitor stands above.
Partially obscured by the dispersing crowd of family and faculty and older students, stood two figures in slightly-off security uniforms. Their eyes weren't marveling at the spectacle of power. They weren't looking at the various Bs and As shimmering above heads. Their gaze was fixed solely on her. On the blazing **S+** and **Frost Domain (PRIME)** hovering above her snow-white hair. Deadly recognition and a chilling mix of murderous intent in their eyes. They had not only seen her Awaken; they had seen her become the very thing their prophecy demanded be destroyed.
The race against the timer was over. She had survived the prelude.
The battle for survival seems to have truly just begun. The ice within her and her need to survive hardening her resolve.