The days following the Awakening Ceremony passed in a blur.
My body no longer felt like it belonged to a child. With each sunrise, the system's power amplified me further. My movements flowed with unnatural precision, my sword arm steady even without a blade in hand, my flames whispering at my fingertips like old companions waiting to be unleashed.
If I faced a normal student from any prestigious academy now, I could match them—perhaps even overwhelm them. That thought made my blood burn with pride. But I knew better. This was only the first step on a mountain whose peak was hidden beyond the clouds.
And the higher I climbed, the more I felt the weight of unseen eyes pressing against me.
---
I reviewed the arsenal I had gathered so far:
Eternal Inferno. The flame without end, bound to my will. Once unleashed, no water, no storm, no force of nature could douse it. It consumed until I commanded it to stop.
Phoenix Swordstyle. A legacy art of elegance and fire. Through Selyra's training, I held mastery without effort, able to move as if my very bones had memorized every strike.
Mana Reserves. Tenfold Selyra's. Vast, dense, and pure. Where others struggled to form a spark, I could summon infernos with a thought.
Amplification. My sister's progress became mine—tenfold. Every lesson she absorbed, every advancement she achieved, flowed into me multiplied beyond reason.
Reflex and Perception. A gift of the system itself. I saw openings others could not, felt danger before it struck, and read the rhythm of combat like music on a page.
I was no longer the weakest twin. No longer the mistake. I was something else entirely.
---
That evening, as the sky bled into crimson twilight, the system's voice intruded.
> [Warning: Fate has been breached.]
[Reason: Your existence has created ripples across timelines and probability threads.]
[Recommendation: Enter System Space until Coming-of-Age Ceremony.]
I froze, the words hammering into me.
The system had always been calm, precise—never emotional. But this time, the tone carried urgency. Desperation, even.
"Fate… breached?" I whispered, my throat dry.
The system didn't hesitate.
> [Power-ups suspended. Energy reserves must be redirected to stabilize reality threads. System requires dormancy.]
I sank onto my bed, palms pressed into my face. For the first time since awakening the Inferno, I felt powerless.
I was the reason. My presence—an error in the story—had fractured the path of destiny. The gods who toyed with fate would not ignore this forever.
And yet… I couldn't fight them. Not yet.
---
I looked toward my family gathered nearby.
My mother, the quiet pillar who always carried warmth in her gaze. Selyra, radiant, already carrying the weight of being the clan's rising star. And Razeal, my twin—his eyes sharp but conflicted, his silence betraying emotions he never spoke aloud.
They deserved truth. But what could I say? That I had been born a mistake? That my very existence threatened to unravel fate itself? No. Such words would only wound them.
So instead, I chose a softer farewell.
"Mother… Sister… Razeal." My voice cracked despite my effort to remain steady. "You've always been my strength. Stay safe. Trust in each other. Whatever comes, endure it together."
My mother frowned, sensing something beyond my words. Selyra reached for me, panic flickering in her eyes. Even Razeal, always so controlled, leaned forward, lips parting as if to speak.
But before they could stop me, the system began its pull.
> [System Space entry initializing.]
A strange calm settled over me. I could leave them shattered, confused, perhaps even angry. But it was better this way. Better they thought I was stolen by some unseen hand than know I had walked away by choice.
So I let fear flicker in my eyes, forced a trembling whisper past my lips:
"Someone… is watching me…"
And then, in the blink of an eye, I vanished.
---
The chamber erupted into chaos.
"Atticus!" Selyra screamed, her voice breaking.
My mother collapsed to her knees, her cries raw with terror.
Razeal's fists clenched until blood ran down his palm, his jaw tight as stone.
Guards stormed the halls, elders searched every corner of the estate, but there was no trace. To them, it was as though some higher power had plucked me from their world.
For days, the estate did not sleep. For weeks, the search expanded beyond the clan's walls. For three years, the name Atticus Verian carried sorrow, whispered like a wound that refused to heal.
---
But I was not gone.
The System Space enveloped me, endless and silent. There were no stars, no ground—only streams of light, threads of energy weaving endlessly through infinity. Time stretched strangely here; minutes felt like days, days like years.
I lay within the current, my body dormant, my spirit drinking from the river of energy.
> [System operating on fate-energy reserves.]
[Stabilization ongoing.]
[Accumulating power for host's return.]
I drifted, not truly awake, not truly asleep. My Inferno simmered, waiting. My swordstyle sharpened, waiting. My mana pool deepened, waiting.
And as the threads of fate rewove themselves around me, I felt one truth anchor itself in my heart:
I would return.
Not as a missing child. Not as a mistake.
But as the force fate itself had tried to erase.
And when the Coming-of-Age Ceremony arrived, the world would tremble at my awakening.
---