Among all the members of my family, I was the only one who hadn't awakened. Yeah, it sucked.
Being the fourth child out of five was already bad enough, but being the useless one? That was worse.
My little brother, Labyrinth, had his awakening on his second birthday. Two years old, and already blessed by the gods. Meanwhile, here I was—sixteen, still empty, still powerless.
The outsiders mocked me. My father despised me. My brothers ignored me, save for the occasional pity from one or two of them. I couldn't even blame them. Sixteen years with no awakening? To them, I was already a lost cause.
So I fought the only way I could. I trained. I bled. I mastered every form of martial art I could learn—kicks, punches, stunts, the works. If I couldn't awaken, at least I could fight with my body.
My mother was the only one who believed in me. She told me everything had its time, that power didn't define worth. She accepted me, loved me—even though I was her only daughter, yet treated like an outcast among her children.
My family tree of power looked something like this:
Phynyx (Firstborn, Male) – Fire Sage
Sapphire (Second, Male) – Golden Bird
Blinx (Third, Male) – Explosive (One-for-All)
Azhurla (Fourth, Female) – Nothing… yet
Labyrinth (Fifth, Male) – Raven Sage
And then there was me. Azhurla. The one with nothing.
But nothing was about to change.
Mother's life was fading, and the only thing that could save her was the Zephyr's Heart. No one else dared attempt it—the journey was too dangerous, the cost too high. But I couldn't stand by. She had given me everything when I had nothing. The least I could do was try sacrificing something for her to live.
Maybe then, my father would finally look at me with pride instead of disgust. Maybe then, I'd matter.
Around me, the Jinko trees began to vanish, one by one. Their glowing trunks dimmed, crumbling into nothingness. My chest tightened. That meant the dimension was closing, and I would be sent back to the Dragon's Cove—the battleground I had barely escaped.
My heart thudded. Too late to turn back. The Jinko tree that had carried my message was gone.
Finally, the last tree disappeared.
Blinding light consumed me. My stomach dropped—I was falling, plummeting from the sky back to the Cove. Below, a dragon waited, horn raised, ready to pierce me and draw my blood into its weapon.
For a heartbeat, my entire life flashed before my eyes. My childhood face shimmered before me as though reflected in a mirror. My failures, my exile, my fight, my journey—all of it spiraled past. The thrill, the horror, the adventure. And strangely… it had been fun.
A smile tugged at my lips as I closed my eyes.
It's worth it. Totally worth it.
A single tear escaped, glinting in the light as I whispered a final sigh.
---