The great hall was drowned in a heavy silence, its walls sheathed in dark wood that reflected the solemnity of the place. Above the rear wall hung the family banners; at their center shone the golden lion emblem of House Evenhart—the family that had taken Adam in after Grefn's fall.
Leon Evenhart sat behind his wide ebony desk; candlelight on his face revealed creases carved more by worry than by years.
Adam opened the door quietly. His steps were measured, his black eyes like two pits that devoured the room. He was still thirteen, but his cold, silent bearing gave him a weight far beyond his years.
Leon looked up and forced a friendly smile. "Adam? What brings you here at this hour?"
Adam sat across from him, silent for a moment, then spoke in a voice sharp as a blade: "I want a Mana Stone."
Leon's hand froze over the papers. He had not expected those words. "A… Mana Stone? And why?"
Adam answered with deadly calm: "To force the awakening through the Mana Gate."
Leon slammed his hand down on the desk; pens rattled and scattered. "Impossible!"
He leaned forward, his eyes flaring with an unforgiving severity. "Do you know what you're asking for?! Mana is not training — it is an immortal fire that burns the blood from within. Before awakening, the body is brittle… weak… and if you try, your veins will boil and your bones will melt until you are ash. I saw it with my own eyes!"
Flashback — seven years earlier The Mana chamber, ringed with glowing crystals. An eager youth from House Drakfen sat at the center — not yet fifteen. At first he screamed from the pain; his skin ran with sweat, boiling; his veins reddened as if fire flowed inside him. His screams tore through the ceiling as Mana poured through him without mercy. Suddenly… an internal explosion. His body ruptured from within; his flesh charred before everyone's eyes. All that remained was the smell of burning meat and ash scattered across the cold floor. That day was carved into everyone's memory: Mana shows no mercy to those who awaken unready.
Back in the hall Leon shouted, "If you enter the Mana Chamber now… you will meet the same fate. Your body will explode, your name erased before it even begins!"
But Adam's features did not waver. "If I don't take risks… I will remain nothing. The elite children awakened at nine. I've reached thirteen and I'm still in darkness. They look at me like a weak survivor of Grefn, a ghost without a future… I won't stay like that."
Flashback — three years earlier The great plaza, the elite children celebrating the awakening of their Mana jewels; their blue, red, and green lights filled the space amid applause. Adam stood far away… without a light. Whispers slid behind his back: "Is that the survivor from Grefn?" "He doesn't even have Mana… what a disgrace." "Even if he lives, he won't carry any of Grefn's strength." Adam did not reply, did not flare with anger; he only stared at them with coldness and left.
Return to the present He raised his gaze to Leon, his voice laced with coldness: "I will not accept remaining a disgrace."
Leon was silent for a long moment, then whispered in a broken voice: "Stubborn… stubborn as if you were truly of my blood."
He closed his eyes, then lifted his head. "If this is your will… I won't stop you. But on one condition: Talia will accompany you. She alone can catch you if you fall."
"I agree," Adam replied without hesitation.
At that moment the door opened suddenly. Elise entered carrying a tray of tea with trembling hands. She set it down and froze when she heard the conversation.
She stepped forward slowly, as if the floor pulled her feet, then bowed before him, staring at his small, stony face. "Adam… why?" she whispered, voice shaking. "You wouldn't even accept the simple training with the instructors. You refused the training grounds as if it meant nothing to you. Why now…?"
She reached out to his shoulder, trying to wake him from a nightmare. "You don't need to prove anything. Leon and I love you as you are. It doesn't matter if you awaken or not… you are our son."
His features froze; the candlelight reflected in his black eyes like a dark lake. Her words struck inside him like a stab.
He did not remember Grefn, nor the blood, nor the curse. Instead he saw the smile of a little daughter, raising her hands and saying in a childish voice: "Daddy… don't leave me… our family will stay together, won't it?"
The memory pierced him, yet he did not allow his face to tremble. If I were stronger… I would have held on to you.
He clenched his fist under the table, then said with lethal cold: "Your love… will change nothing. The world does not recognize the weak."
Elise's tears fell to the floor; before her stood only a wall of ice. Leon, staring into Adam's eyes, saw a small flicker… not pride nor rage, but a distant recollection: a warm woman, an absent embrace.
His heart gave a shudder, and a lightning thought ran through him: He remembers his biological mother.
He turned his face away so Elise would not see his eyes quiver, and blamed himself bitterly: I was blind… I thought my protection was enough. But I left his wounds to bleed alone. I did not embrace his past… and now he seeks strength in fire and ash rather than finding it in my arms as a father.
He squeezed his hand until his knuckles ached; his eyes shone with bitter remorse: My fault… I was not a whole father to him.
Adam remained seated like a stone statue, unmoved by Elise's tears or Leon's regret.
The narrator's voice closed the scene: Adam saw no one. His heart was a barren desert without warmth. But… in the depths of that desert, two small oases remained: — the smile of the little daughter. — and the lone survivor of Grefn… his last mirror. Beyond that… everything was mere shadows without value.