Cedric pulled the hood of his black sweatshirt over his head. The fabric was slightly damp from the humidity in his room, but it felt like a shield. He stepped out of his apartment and locked the door with a quiet click. He didn't take the main streets. Instead, he slipped into the narrow alleyway behind his building. The metal fire escapes above him were rusted, dripping condensation onto the cracked pavement.
He stopped for a moment and focused his mind. The screen appeared instantly, hovering in the air.
[Name: Cedric]
[Race: Human]
[Class: Necromancer]
[Level: 1]
[Exp: 0 / 100]
[Strength: 3.6]
[Agility: 2.1]
[Constitution: 0.6]
[Intelligence: 5.3]
[Attribute Points: 0]
[Skills]
Revival (Level 1)
Undead Summoning (Level 1) [Unique Talent]
[Evolution] (Passive): You possess the ability to evolve your summons and your skill tree through specific criteria.
Cedric stared at the numbers. His constitution was embarrassingly low, sitting at 0.6. It explained why his ribs hurt so much from a fall that most Awakeners would have laughed off. His intelligence was his highest stat at 5.3, which made sense given his academic history.
'It looks exactly like an MMORPG,' he thought. 'There is a level bar, stats, and even a skill tree. But how do I actually use these?'
He reached out to touch the text for [Revival], but his fingers just passed through the light. There were no instructions. No tutorial popped up to explain the mechanics. He realized he would have to figure this out on his own. He needed a target. He couldn't exactly go to a cemetery in the middle of the night without attracting the police or high-level hunters who guarded those areas.
He began to walk toward the outskirts of the district. There was a patch of dense woods that bordered the industrial zone. It was a neglected area filled with overgrown weeds and old machinery. People rarely went there because of the proximity to the mana-waste runoff from the factories. It was the perfect place to test a skill that felt as illegal as necromancy.
The walk took nearly forty minutes. Cedric kept his head down, his hands buried in his pockets. Every time a car drove past, he tensed up, expecting the police to stop him. But nobody cared about a lone teenager walking toward the woods.
When he reached the edge of the tree line, the air grew noticeably cooler. The smell of damp earth and rotting leaves filled his nose. He pulled a small flashlight from his pocket and clicked it on. The beam of light cut through the trees, highlighting the twisted trunks of oaks and maples.
He started searching the ground. He looked near the bases of trees and under thick bushes. If this worked like the games he played, he needed a corpse. He didn't know if it had to be human, but the skill name was [Revival], not [Human Revival].
After ten minutes of searching, he found something. Near a large gray rock, a small bird lay on its side. It was a common sparrow. Its feathers were ruffled, and its neck was bent at an unnatural angle. It looked like it had flown into the rock during the storm earlier that evening. It was cold to the touch and stiff.
Cedric knelt in the dirt, his knees staining black. He felt a bit ridiculous.
'Okay. Let's try this!' he thought.
He focused on the sparrow and tried to manifest the energy he felt in his stomach. He didn't know what to say. The system didn't give him a prompt. He remembered the fantasy novels he used to read to pass the time in the orphanage.
"Arise?" he whispered.
Nothing happened. The bird remained dead. Cedric felt his face heat up. Even though he was alone, he felt embarrassed.
"Wake up. Return. Rise."
He tried every word he could think of, but the sparrow didn't move. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He stopped thinking about the words and tried to feel the connection between himself and the bird. He pushed that cold, heavy energy from his chest down through his arms and into his fingertips.
A notification flashed on his screen.
[Please select a command name for the skill: Revival]
Cedric paused. He had to choose the word that would trigger the power. He wanted something simple, but everything felt a bit too dramatic.
'I guess I'll just go with the classic,' he thought. 'Even if it is a bit cringy.'
"Raise," he said clearly.
The moment the word left his lips, a pulse of energy erupted from his palm. a vibrant, neon green aura began to leak from his skin. The light was thick and looked almost like liquid. It flowed over the sparrow, seeping into its feathers and into the cracks of its broken neck.
The bird's body began to twitch. Cedric watched in awe as the bones snapped back into place with soft popping sounds. The dull, lifeless eyes of the bird suddenly opened. They didn't have pupils anymore. They were glowing with that same intense green light.
The sparrow flipped onto its feet. It looked healthy, but its feathers were now tinged with a faint green shimmer. It tilted its head, looking up at Cedric with an intelligent gaze.
[Revival Successful]
[Summon: Undead Sparrow (Level 1) has been created]
[Note: Once you earn Attribute Points, you may spend them to evolve your summons or your skill tree.]
Cedric reached out a finger, and the bird hopped onto it. It didn't feel cold like a corpse anymore. It felt warm, but the heat was different from a living thing. It was a humming, mechanical kind of heat.
"You're actually alive!" Cedric whispered.
The bird let out a sharp chirp and flew up, landing on Cedric's shoulder. It tucked itself against his neck, its tiny claws gripping the fabric of his hoodie. Cedric stood up, a massive grin spreading across his face. He felt a sudden rush of happiness that wiped away the lingering pain in his chest.
He turned around and headed back toward the city. The walk home felt much shorter this time. He felt lighter, more confident. The bird stayed on his shoulder the entire time, its green eyes scanning the surroundings. A few people passed him on the sidewalk near his apartment, but they didn't seem to notice the bird. It was as if the green glow was only visible to him, or perhaps they just thought it was a strange pet.
When he got back to his apartment, he didn't even take off his shoes. He sat down at his small desk and grabbed his phone. His heart was still racing. He opened a browser and went to "The Hunter's Board," a massive anonymous forum where people discussed everything related to Awakening.
He created a new thread using a burner account named 'User9921'.
Title: Question about Awakening
UI Post: Does everyone see a floating screen with stats like an RPG when they awaken? Or is it just a feeling? Asking for a friend.
He hit post and leaned back in his chair. He watched the screen for a few minutes, but there were no immediate replies. He set the phone down and looked at the sparrow, which was now perched on top of his computer monitor.
'I have a lot to learn,' he thought.
He walked over to his bed and laid down. He didn't feel the crushing weight of disappointment that had haunted him for years. He felt like he had finally started his life. He looked at the ceiling, the green bird watching over him from across the room. He closed his eyes and, for the first time in a long time, he fell asleep with a smile on his face.