Inside the Soulspace
In that timeless black void, Lucien rose slowly, his breath uneven, his face still streaked with tears. The storm of pain and confusion was fresh in his eyes—the echoes of his mother's dying breath, the crushing weight of his past trials, and the haunting pull of memories that weren't just memories.
But now… now there was resolve.
His eyes, once dim with grief, blazed like twin stars—white, yet tinged with red, a mirror of the very mana surging through his soul. The mysterious woman stood before him again, cloaked in darkness, a silhouette against the vast abyss.
"Who are you?" Lucien's voice trembled, not from fear, but from the raw weight of emotion still choking his throat. "Why do you keep appearing in my dreams? Why do you… why do you have access to my soul space?"
She said nothing at first. The silence stretched—thick, pressing, nearly suffocating.
Then she stepped forward. Her voice, when it came, echoed as if it had traveled across galaxies. "Collect the Seven… and you shall know."
Lucien took a breath to speak again, but her figure began to dissolve like mist under moonlight. And with that, his soulspace vanished.
---
Outside the Chamber
The Awakening Chamber stood like an ancient sentinel, carved from stone so dark it swallowed light. Its massive obsidian doors were covered in ancient runes—once dim, now ablaze with golden brilliance. The lines danced with energy, pulsing and shifting like they were alive.
The runes spun faster. Faster.
Then—
BOOM!
The chamber exploded outward in a blast of blinding energy. Stone shattered. Dust surged like a storm. Braziers flickered violently, and every torch in the hall bent toward the shockwave as though drawn by an invisible force.
And from that blinding light… emerged Lucien.
He walked out of the collapsing chamber like a force of nature given form. His shirt had been incinerated, revealing a torso carved from relentless training, but now it radiated with mana unlike any had seen. Silvery-white energy shimmered around him, swirling with streaks of vibrant crimson. The light didn't just radiate from him—it was him. His hair shimmered like starlight, windless yet shifting. His eyes gleamed with something ancient. Something divine.
For a moment, he looked almost… celestial.
Maeve gasped quietly, her mouth slightly agape. Her hands instinctively clutched the hilt of her blade—not in hostility, but in awe. "That mana… that's not normal," she murmured. "This isn't just an Awakening."
Caelum stood utterly still, his hands behind his back, his expression unreadable. But his jaw was clenched so tightly it seemed like it might break.
Because what stood before him… wasn't just his son.
It was a miracle.
Or a curse.
SSS-rank Awakenings were rare. Caelum had seen two in his lifetime—none had ever destroyed the chamber's doors. Those structures were embedded with stabilizing runes, designed to withstand the backlash of ten Awakenings at once.
But Lucien shattered it. Like it was paper.
No ceremony. No delay. Just raw power.
The radiant aura continued to swirl around Lucien, his body half-leaning forward like a predator just risen from slumber. But before anyone could speak—
The light collapsed inward.
Mana, once wild and vivid, was suddenly sucked back into his body like a great vacuum. His skin stopped glowing. His hair dulled. His breathing grew shallow. And with a quiet gasp, Lucien's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed.
"Lucien!!" Caelum's voice thundered across the silent chamber.
The cold general broke formation. In a blink, he was at Lucien's side, dropping to his knees, one hand cradling his son's head, the other checking for a pulse.
His fingers trembled.
"Steady," Maeve whispered, kneeling beside him. "He's alive."
Caelum exhaled—long and slow—as if releasing years of fear all at once.
But as he looked down at the unconscious boy in his arms, his mind wasn't in the present anymore.
(Its a memory)
The room had smelled of lavender and iron. Blood and herbs.
Elira had been lying in their chamber, her breath shallow, her eyes dim. The Healers had already given up. Even Caelum, with all his influence, couldn't buy her more time.
He remembered the way she looked at Lucien then—a mere child clutching her hand, not understanding the finality of that moment.
"Promise me," she had whispered, her fingers cold against his. "If he survives... if he inherits it—don't be afraid."
"I'm not afraid," Caelum had whispered back.
"You will be."
---
Back to the Present
He looked down at Lucien again.
And for the first time in years, Caelum felt something terrifying claw at his heart.
Dread.
Because that mana… that silvery-crimson light… it was exactly as Elira had described. Not S-rank. Not SSS.
Something beyond all those meaningless letters.
He laid Lucien's head gently on his lap, brushing back damp hair from the boy's face. "You better not die on me," he whispered. "Not now."
---
Across the Room
The evaluator—Master Urien—stood stiffly at the far end of the hall, his face pale.
He had been assigned here by the Awakening Council, meant to observe and record the ceremony, provide guidance, and ensure the process was by the book.
But what he'd seen? That wasn't in any damn book.
Urien clutched his records tablet, hands shaking slightly. The mana readings were spiking past the upper limit. The records couldn't process it. No algorithm could quantify it.
He was about to speak—maybe to ask what rank this boy was—when he noticed Caelum approaching him with deliberate steps.
Each footstep echoed.
"Master Urien," Caelum said, voice low. "We will speak."
Urien stood straighter, swallowing hard. "I—I was only doing my job, Lord Caelum. I swear I'll make a full report to the Council—"
Caelum's eyes flared. "No. You won't."
Urien blinked. "Pardon?"
Caelum stepped closer, stopping just an inch away. The air around him was suffocating—like being buried alive under ice.
"You saw something you weren't supposed to see," he said coldly. "Something that should never reach the ears of the Council."
"But… I'm sworn to report all anomalies—"
"You want to keep breathing?" Caelum's voice was quiet, calm. But it felt like the edge of a blade resting on Urien's throat. "Then you'll forget what you saw today. You'll log it as an S-rank Awakening with unusual instability. You'll say the explosion was a chamber malfunction."
Urien was sweating now. "But the Council—"
Caelum leaned in slightly. "I'll handle the Council."
There was a long pause.
Urien licked his lips nervously, then nodded. "Understood… Lord Caelum."
"Good." Caelum's tone dropped like a stone. "If I so much as hear whispers of this spreading, I'll know where it came from."
Urien bowed quickly, retreating without another word.
---
A Few Moments Later
Maeve stood beside Lucien now, her eyes softer than usual.
"He looks peaceful," she whispered, glancing at Caelum.
Caelum exhaled slowly, his fingers brushing Lucien's arm. "He shouldn't be. Not after that. That Awakening… it wasn't just a surge of mana. It was a reaction. Like something inside him was released."
Maeve nodded. "Didn't feel like his mana alone."
"No," Caelum agreed, his voice almost reverent. "It felt like hers."
"Elira," Maeve said, eyes widening.
He nodded once.
The silence stretched.
Then Caelum stood up slowly. "Get the best physicians. And no one talks about what happened here."
Maeve gave a short nod. "What about the chamber?"
"I'll say it was my doing. The backlash was too dangerous. The chamber needed rebuilding anyway."
Maeve hesitated. "Caelum… what if this changes everything?"
"It already has," he said.
He looked at Lucien one more time, lying unconscious on the floor.
The boy who shattered the chamber. The boy with a woman's voice in his soulspace. The boy who glowed with forbidden mana.
Caelum's fists clenched.
"He's not ready," he whispered. "But he will be."
---
Later That Night
The chamber was being reconstructed, but no mason spoke above a whisper.
In Caelum's private quarters, Lucien was kept under a watchful eye. Rune circles for mana stabilization surrounded his bed. His breathing was steady now, though his body still glowed faintly beneath the skin, as if something inside him had been permanently altered.
Maeve stood watch by the door.
Caelum remained seated at Lucien's side.
He didn't speak. Didn't sleep.
Just watched.
And remembered.
Elira's final words echoed again.
> "He will change the world. For better or worse… depends on who reaches him first."
Caelum reached out, gently grasping Lucien's hand.
"I won't let them have you," he said quietly. "Not the Council. Not the other kingdoms. Not the monsters who'll come sniffing the moment they sense what you've become."
He leaned closer, whispering into the silence.
"I'll protect you. Even if I have to become a monster myself."