(A/N Big thank you to
Pedro_Henrique_3128
Mist_vibe22
ayush_Rahane
For the power stones, it means a lot. There will be another chapter later today, for now, ENJOY)
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Weeks passed, Erevan took over his duties, settling into a familiar rhythm, and so did everyone. Orion continued his library exploration with Isolde watching over him, and he got closer to his father during meal times using his baby charms to keep everyone amused.
His resident vacuum was starting to show minor signs, sometimes he'd feel discomfort like he wanted to release with nothing coming out, and other times he'd feel like his whole body was being bathed in warm water and being rejuvenated.
The family was excited; Lyrielle's awakening would come any day now. He could read the nervousness on her face, like him, she didn't want to disappoint their parents.
Since he found out Lyrielle's awakening was coming soon, he'd sought out books about awakening, although there wasn't one specifically, he could understand the parts he needed from other closely related books.
From what he'd read, the awakening of an individual was the continuous accumulation of mana from the atmosphere over a period of five years from birth into the solar plexus, and once the mana was saturated enough, you would form your NEXUS.
The formation of the nexus is usually accompanied by the individual's ability to sense mana. Once you could sense the ambient mana in the atmosphere, you had awakened.
It was subtle as compared to what one expected, though it was impossible to hide one's awakening, at least through normal means, as another awakened could tell the difference.
After reading all this, his initially dispelled worry returned, and why wouldn't it?
He was different and not just I'm red, you are blue different, we're talking I'm a black animal, you are an abstract concept different.
Everything was way off; he had been able to sense mana since he was four months old. He was probably going to have his awakening soon, and he could already do things as mysterious as see the future without even awakening.
Next, he'll find out he doesn't have a nexus.
Although he wanted to be special, it wasn't to this extent; if he were too different, he'd have no steps to follow in.
Being a pioneer might sound nice, but that meant he might never be able to reach his full potential, a truly terrifying thought.
'System!, where are you when I need you, damn it?' He screamed with frustration in his mind.
The system had brought him here and left, not a single word of advice or anything, just abandonment.
The days went on, and on one special day.
"Mom!!" Orion heard a shout from outside. He was currently trying out various types of meals, yes, after much resistance, his mother had finally decided to start weaning him.
Although he was a bit reluctant to part with that milky goodness, it was just a bit.
Lyrielle burst into Aurora's chambers, lathered on her face with a single piece of cloth wrapped around her and a big smile on her face, it was clear she had run all the way from the bath house.
"I can feel it.. I can feel it, it feels so nice and warm and fuzzy and and…"
Lyrielle finally noticed something was wrong; her mother's reaction wasn't what she expected. Instead of a smile, she was met with a blank stare from her mother and brother.
She wondered what was wrong before she saw a drop of lather fall from her head, her eyes widened.
"Young lady, what is the meaning of this?" Aurora asked with visible anger on her face.
Isolde came inside a second later, panting after being made to chase after Lyrielle.
"I'm so sorry, my lady, I tried to stop her but-"
"Go take care of yourself this instant." Aurora didn't even face Isolde, her anger still directed at the dripping mess of lather in front of her.
Lyrielle immediately took off, embarrassed by her lack of restraint.
Orion was amused by this scene; he was definitely going to remind her for years to come.
A few hours later, the family of four gathered in Erevan's study. They were about to check for Lyrielle's affinity.
"Alright, just place your hand on the tablet, don't be nervous, the tablet is not going to change anything," Erevan told his daughter while holding a stone tablet resembling a glyph with various signs and symbols.
Lyrielle complied and placed her hands on the tablet with uncertainty in her eyes.
As soon as she placed her hands, the tablet shone with a resplendent silver light, with some parts of the symbols glowing.
"Congratulations, young lady, you have an impressive affinity for the space element, second only to mine. You have no limits," Erevan told her with a proud smile on his face.
Lyrielle beamed, a wide smile appearing on her face. For months, she'd been worried she'd get a terrible talent; lucky for her, her parents' genes were no joke.
The whole family was ecstatic.
All of a sudden, someone's belly grumbled.
In his past life, Orion would have definitely felt some degree of shame, but his experience as a baby had built him a thick skin. Shame had become second nature to him in this body.
"Oh, right, you didn't get to finish your meal. Should we go back? You seemed to enjoy that custard." Aurora turned toward him with a sympathetic gaze.
Lyrielle's awakening had interrupted his earlier meal, and his baby stomach was starting to complain.
"Or would you like me to feed you right here?" She said, already moving her hands towards her chest.
Orion was just about to nod when he heard his mother's last comment. He quickly shook his head while waving his hands, trying to refuse.
He suddenly felt something change within him; the vacuum was gone, and he could no longer feel the usual draw of mana he had gotten used to for the past couple of months.
"Haa.."
He was about to examine what was wrong when he heard a startled yelp from his mother. He quickly turned towards her, and what he saw left him stunned.
In front of his outstretched hands was broken glass, or at least what looked like one. The edges of the crack fused perfectly with the surrounding.
He moved closer and examined it with great scrutiny. It looked like a crack.
'A crack? It certainly looks eerie.'
'Wait a minute, a crack! Is this like all those cracks in reality? Is something going to jump out?'
He was about to freak out when he noticed another change in his body; for some reason, he was getting weaker, like something was being drained from him.
'My mana! My mana's being drained. It has to be this thing.'
"A spatial crack, albeit very small, it's undeniably a spatial crack. He's awakened his nexus," Erevan exclaimed with wide eyes.
Erevan couldn't believe his eyes. He held pride in his composure; not many things could truly surprise him, he'd seen a lot in his short number of years of living.
Yet his son had repeatedly caused cracks to form in his unshaken façade, a truly surprising feat.
His family all looked at him with astonished gazes, but Orion couldn't notice, and even if he did, he'd have ignored them because what he'd been waiting for had finally appeared.
[EMISARRY OF TIME SPACE]
MANA AWAKENING DETECTED
SCANNING PROCEDURE ACTIVATED…
0%...1%...100%
ZERO ABNORMALITY DETECTED
BEGINNING SEED AWAKENING
0%...1%...2%....100%
SEED AWAKENED
SYSTEM FEATURES ACTIVATING..
WELCOME HOST.
Orion couldn't describe how he felt right now, since he arrived in this world, he'd been curious about the system that brought him.
At some point, he'd started to believe he'd been abandoned.
Who would have thought all he required to activate it was his awakening?
'I would have had to wait five years had I been normal,' he thought with a visible grimace, Yh maybe being special wasn't so bad after all.'
Before he could continue his internal monologue, a sudden wave of exhaustion hit him, and he fainted.