A few hours later Nero was standing in the bathroom of a small apartment the church had given him in the south region of this city. Having just finished a well-enjoyed and needed bath, Nero was looking at himself in the mirror.
He had changed not just internally but externally as well.he had always had a soft face. If not for his anatomy and height, he could be mistaken for a girl from a far.
In other words, he was pretty. His body was still slender, but he was much more toned. His muscles looked like carved stone under his skin. His skin was now so pale as to be nearly white.
And to his utmost surprise, his nails had turned black. Well, to be exact, the skin under his nail had turned black. His hair matched that color and hung just below his chin. Somehow it was even darker than before his awakening.
But there was one thing that he hoped didn't change. Pulling the black contacts from his. Nero looked at himself again, smiling.
His eyes shone a joyful yellow. And then a loving pink, then sorrowful blue. This was a trait he inherited from his father, from the Valdor clan.
But that wasn't why he cherished and also dreaded this part of himself. It was because his mother loved his eyes the way they shone and reflected his emotions back to her, back to the world.
But those same eyes had cost her her life. Sighing, Nero pushed those thoughts down, those memories down…shifting his focus elsewhere.
Nero thought about why the changes to his body had happened.
He knew the answer: Due to their abilities, almost all magically awakened had some changes imposed on their bodies by the shard. So that they could handle whatever abilities they had gained.
This was information Nero had read in one of the information books he had requested from Lady Astoria before he left.
It contained almost all the important information and changes that his body and soul may have undergone.
For example, he understood now that his skin, muscles, organs and bones. Had changed to fit the elements he could wheeled.
Now able to withstand extreme cold and heat. While someone without these elemental affinities would still be affected by those elements. Much less than a normal person would, but still effective.
Leaving the steaming bathroom, Nero stepped out into the small living space, only decorated with a few floating lamps and tables and one seated couch.
On that couch was a set of neatly folded clothes. And the pile of books he had requested. The clothes consisted of an all-black dress shirt and pants, completed with a set of black dress shoes and gloves.
He didn't hold back when he was offered any request he wanted. The quality of the clothes were top-notch, a level of clothing he had never worn once.
But he had a reason for thee all black, after finally having time to slowly digest all that'd happened to him.
He still knew nothing… not why his home was attacked and destroyed, not why he survived. He quite literally knew nothing.
This room, these clothes, everything has merely just been to keep him talking instead of asking. He was more than thankful for everything, but Nero knew better than to trust blindly.
And he was in a completely different place now. How different? He didn't know. But he knew that looking interesting or different garnered attention.
He'd only had a brief glimpse of the "sun sky's" people. And most dressed in bright or slightly muted colors. So his black would stand out in most public spaces.
The more people talked to him, the better he would understand the kind of place he had been taken to.
But there was also a sentimental reason for his wardrobe.
Almost all children look up to their parents with some kind of reverence or longing to be like them. And he was no different; his father quite often dressed in all black.
He was a serious, smart and calculating man.
And Nero needed to channel that part of himself. And he felt that dressing like his father would help with that.
And there was also another thing he needed that part of himself for.
Lady Astoria had set him up to join the church's military in a year's time.
He would be 18 by that time; that was the age most academy students would graduate, so he would be enlisting at the same time as everyone else.
He was given a card listing his name and age. That allowed him to enter the school and attend any class he chose.
But even so, he was still at a major disadvantage.
He had to learn the most important things a magical awakened needed to know, in only a year's time. And that would be his hardest task. He barely knew where to start.
Nero wasn't fond of talking, but he would be doing a lot of it for this next year. Sighing and sitting down on the couch. He leaned back and palmed his forehead.
'I need to eat.