The laughter still rang in Samir's ears long after he left the Awakening Hall. Every step he took out of the grand cathedral felt heavier or as if the whole city's eyes were stabbing into his back. People whispered and pointed on him. someone has smirked in there faces. For them it was a story to share over dinner. But For him it was his whole life which got crushed in an instant.
"Even the System rejected him," someone muttered as he walked past them.
"Veyra blood wasted," another voice sneered.
Samir kept his head down,m and his jaw clenched so tightly with his teeth ached. If he looked up then he feared he might meet Rajin Dharva's mocking gaze again or even worse then that he can face his father's cold eyes.
Lord Varun Veyra walked ahead with his steps steady and full of silent judgment. Not a word left his mouth. Lady Meera followed close to him with her veil hiding most of her face, though Samir had caught the tremble in her hand earlier. She wanted to comfort him but he knew it. but her voice had been choked by her husband's pride long ago.
The Veyra carriage waited outside of the hall.black wood polished to a mirror shine with the family crest carved on its doors. Servants bowed as the family entered, though their eyes lingered on Samir with curiosity and pity. He felt every stare on him like a burn.
Inside, silence ruled. Only the creak of wheels and the distant clop of horses broke the stillness. Samir sat opposite of his parents and staring at the floor. The words on the broken screen haunted him:
[Class: —ERROR—]
[System Stability: Critical Failure]
He had seen Rajin's smirk. He had heard the laughter and He had felt his future closing in around him like a noose.
At last finely Lord Varun spoke. His voice was calm but sharp enough to cut.
"You have shamed the Veyra name."
Samir flinched but said nothing.
"You will not speak back," his father continued. "There are no excuses. Every child receives their fate at sixteen. Yet you…" He paused, as if the word disgusted him. "…you failed."
Lady Meera stirred and her voice soft and pleading. "Perhaps it is not failure. The Pillar—"
"Enough." Varun's gazed to silenced her. "Do not defend him. The city will not understand that or not even the clans."
Samir's hands curled into fists. His father's words hurt him but they also hardened something inside him. He remembered the flicker and the vision hidden in the chaos of the broken screen and Rajin turning against his own clan. No one else had seen it. Only him.
He swallowed the words rising in his throat. He couldn't explain it now and No one would believe him anyway.
The carriage finally reached the Veyra estate, a vast stone mansion built into the hillside. Torches burned along its walls and banners swayed in the night breeze. Normally this sight will filled Samir with pride but Tonight it felt like a cage.
Servants lined the steps as the family entered. Their bows were deep and their greetings was respectful but Samir could hear their whispers once they thought he had passed.
"Is it true? The young master failed?"
"The Pillar rejected him…"
"What will Lord Varun do now?"
His chest tightened so he climbed the stairs quickly and avoiding every gaze or every murmur. The halls of the mansion stretched wide and cold with portraits of proud Veyra ancestors watching him with painted eyes. He felt their silent judgment pressing on him just as strongly as the living.
When he finally reached his room and then he closed the door and leaned against it with breathing hard. His reflection in the tall mirror looked pale and eyes shadowed with shame and anger.
"Pathetic," he muttered to himself.
But then he remembered the vision again. Rajin's face twisted with rage and flames devouring everything. The words burned into his mind:
[Future Event Detected: Rajin Dharva betrays the Dharva Clan.]
He pressed his palm against the wooden desk and his heart racing. What did it mean? Why had he seen it? The others had received classes and stats. But only he had receive an error and hidden within that error was something that no one else had.
Slowly his anger shifted into something sharper. Not hope exactly but a spark.
Maybe the System hadn't rejected him. Maybe it had given him something different.
The night was quiet and yet Samir couldn't sleep. He lay on his bed with staring at the ceiling and the echo of laughter still ringing in his ears. Every time he closed his eyes then the image of the broken screen appeared again.
[Class: —ERROR—]
[System Stability: Critical Failure]
And behind it there was a vision of Rajin's betrayal and flames consuming his clan.
Samir sat up and breathing hard. "Why me?" he whispered into the darkness. "Why did I see that?"
His hand trembled as he reached for the glass of water on his desk. The moment his fingers brushed it then the same glitching energy he had felt at the Pillar sparked inside him. For a heartbeat with the room flickered and it felt like reality itself stuttered. He saw a brief image of the glass tipping and spilling water across the desk.
Then the moment snapped back to normal. Samir froze. Carefully he picked up the glass but His grip slipped and the cup tilted and then water splashed exactly as he had just seen.
His chest tightened. "So it wasn't just at the Pillar…"
It wasn't just one vision. The error had followed him.
He wiped the water with a cloth and his thoughts racing. Could this be his ability? Not strength or not speed or not magic like everyone else hade but glimpses of the future?
The idea was terrifying of it but at the same time, it made his pulse quicken. Maybe the System hadn't failed him after all. Maybe it had given him something different like something that no one else could understand.
But if he told anyone about it they would laugh like just as they had at the ceremony. His father would dismiss it. Rajin would mock him. The whole city would brand him cursed.
For now, it had to stay his secret.
---
The next morning the mansion buzzed with whispers. Servants carried trays and swept halls but their conversations were sharper than usual and dripping with gossip.
"I heard the young master broke the Pillar."
"No, it was worse. The System couldn't even read him."
"What will the Dharvas say? They'll laugh us out of the council."
Samir passed them in silence, though his stomach twisted at every word. None of them dared to mock him openly but their lowered voices carried farther than they thought.
At breakfast, Lord Varun sat at the head of the long dining table and his expression carved from stone. Lady Meera tried to smile at Samir and slipping an extra piece of bread onto his plate but she said nothing to him.
"You will not attend the council meeting today," Varun said flatly. "It is better you remain unseen until this embarrassment is forgotten."
Samir's fork froze halfway to his mouth. "Yes, Father."
His father didn't even look at him.
The meal passed in silence. When it ended then Samir returned to his room with feeling like the walls of the estate were closing in around him.
---
Later that day, he wandered the estate gardens to clear his head. The stone paths wound through trimmed hedges and flowering trees but peace never reached him. His thoughts kept circling back to Rajin's smirk and the nobles' laughter or his father's disappointment.
He clenched his fists. He hated it. He hated being powerless.
Then as he passed near the sparring yard there he saw two young guards practicing with wooden swords. Their strikes clashed in the air so sharp and fast. Samir leaned against the wall and watching them .
For a brief second after the world flickered again. He saw one guard overextend and the other's sword striking him in the ribs.
A heartbeat later.again it happened exactly as he had seen.
Samir's breath caught. His heart pounded. It wasn't a dream. It wasn't chance.
He could see moments before they happened.
A thought came to him with cold, sharp, and dangerous. If he could see the future even small flashes then maybe he wasn't broken. Maybe he could fight in his own way.
Rajin, the nobles or even his father.they all thought he was useless. But they hadn't seen what he had seen. They didn't know.
He tightened his grip on the stone wall with nails digging into his skin.
"Let them laugh," he whispered. "One day, they'll choke on it."
Above him, the sky stretched wide and clear. For the first time since the ceremony Samir felt a strange calm settle in his chest. His System wasn't normal. But normal had never made legends.