"Who was that guy? Sending weirdos day by day, I swear," Elora muttered under her breath, her brow furrowed in suspicion. The strange man who delivered the food had set off an unease within her.
As she sat down to eat, Elora couldn't shake the feeling. Recalling the suggestion about the noodles, she decided to follow it, despite a gnawing unease. Her gaze kept flickering towards Jayden, who remained motionless on the bed, focused on absorbing mana.
The meal before her could have easily fed a family but Elora, a self-proclaimed food enthusiast, found herself devouring it with surprising speed. Focused on the task at hand, she savored each bite of the noodles, the delicious flavors momentarily pushing aside her thoughts. Finishing the noodles in record time, she moved on to a freshly baked pie, the aroma promising a delightful taste.
Taking a generous bite, a wave of dizziness washed over her after few seconds. Her vision blurred at the edges, replaced by a creeping fatigue that seemed to seep into her very bones.
With a final flicker of resistance, she instinctively reached for the pendant around her neck, a desperate attempt to send a distress signal to Ruele. But it was too late. The pendant fell from her grasp as her body succumbed to the potent poison, collapsing lifelessly onto the floor.
An eerie silence descended upon the room, broken only by the soft sounds of Jayden's breathing but it didn't last long. The door creaked open a bit, and the intruder entered with a sickeningly smug smile plastered on his face.
He surveyed the room quickly, his gaze falling on Jayden's unmoving form and then Elora's crumpled body on the floor. A cruel glint flickered in his eyes.
'Better check on her quickly,' he thought, relishing the morbid satisfaction of the situation.
He approached Elora, his steps measured, and knelt beside her. Checking for a pulse, his amusement curdled into a grimace. "Not dead yet. That's a shame, sweetheart. On other occasions, I would enjoy playing with your body a little bit," he laughed internally.
The intruder straightened, turning his attention back to Jayden. 'Now, what do we have here—'
His words were cut short as a tinge of movement caught his eye. Jayden's chest pulsed with soft white light, followed by a swirling vortex of raw mana that seemed to condense and engulf his body. The intruder stared with mouth agape, as the light intensified, bathing the room in an ethereal glow.
'Impossible! How old is this kid? He's trying to awaken at this age?' he exclaimed, his voice laced with disbelief. The realization of what he was witnessing dawned on him – the Pentagons were nurturing a monster.
A tense silence filled the room, broken only by the hum of surging mana and the intruder's demeanor shifted dramatically. The smug satisfaction was replaced by a mixture of apprehension and grudging respect but he understood the gravity of the situation – he had stumbled upon something far greater than he could have ever anticipated.
As he watched, mesmerized, the intruder knew he had to act swiftly because Jayden's awakening shifted the power dynamic in the blink of an eye. He needed to recalibrate his approach.
"Well, kid, I have to say, I admire your guts. If you were allowed to live, you'd probably reach heights no one could fathom," the intruder muttered, inching closer to Jayden with a cautious curiosity. He conjured a wicked-looking black blade, his eyes filled with a newfound resolve.
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He understood the consequences. The moment he killed Jayden, an alert would be triggered, notifying the entire Pentagon family. Suicide was the only option – a twisted form of crooked loyalty to the Nexus.
He didn't waste any more time. With a deadly glint in his eyes, he raised the blade, aiming for a swift decapitation. The Nexus had instructed him to inflict maximum humiliation upon the Pentagons, and what better way than to eradicate and behead their heir child?
Just as the blade began its descent towards Jayden's neck, a blinding white light erupted from the boy's body and a deafening boom ripped through the room, the shockwave shattering everything in its path.
The entire room, and a significant portion of the villa, were obliterated in the blink of an eye with Jayden himself thrown across the room, the impact rendering him unconscious.
The explosion echoed through the vast Pentagon estate, a tremor felt by all its inhabitants and panic surged through the veins of guards and servants alike.
Ruele, who had been tending to her garden, felt a jolt course through her very being, a primal fear clawing at her heart. She knew, with an unshakeable certainty, that something was terribly wrong with Jayden and without any moment of hesitation, she bolted towards his room, Elio close behind.
The sight that greeted them was one of utter devastation. Where their son's room once stood, there was now a gaping crater, smoke, and dust billowing into the sky. Debris rained down around them, the remaining walls teetering precariously.
Ruele screamed, a primal cry of anguish echoing through the ruined room. Tears streamed down her face as she scrambled towards the crater, her maternal instincts overriding all fear but Elio grabbed her arm, his voice a low growl.
"Ruele, wait!"
But Ruele couldn't be stopped. She pushed past him, her only focus on reaching her son.
Picking her way through the debris, Ruele finally reached the center of the crater. There, amidst the twisted metal and shattered furniture, lay Jayden but he was motionless, his face pale and peaceful. Ruele collapsed beside him, cradling his head in her lap, her heart hammering against her ribs.
"Jayden! My baby, wake up!" she cried, her voice choked with sobs.
As if in response to her pleas, Jayden's eyelashes fluttered open. He blinked, momentarily disoriented with his vision blurry. The first thing he saw was his mother's tear-streaked face, etched with worry and relief.
"Mom...?" His voice was a dry rasp. He tried to sit up, but a wave of dizziness washed over him, forcing him back down.
Ruele tightened her hold on him, burying her face in his hair. "Oh, Jayden, thank the heavens you're alright! We thought we lost you!"
Elio appeared beside them, his expression a mix of relief and concern. He scanned Jayden with a wave of mana, pulsing faintly as he checked for injuries.
"He seems to be relatively unharmed," he finally said, his voice gruff but laced with underlying emotion.
"What happened?" Jayden croaked. The last thing he remembered was focusing on absorbing mana, a strange warmth spreading through him. Then...nothing.
Ruele looked at Elio, a silent question hanging in the air.
"There was an intruder but...he's...gone now." He left the details unspoken, the horrific image of the intruder's vaporized remains a grim memory best left unshared.
Jayden frowned, trying to piece together the fragmented memories. He remembered the strange man delivering the food,...and then...light. A blinding white light that seemed to consume him whole.
As if sensing his confusion, a series of strange blue screens flashed before his eyes, filled with cryptic messages and unfamiliar terms.
[Mana core awakening completed] one read.
[You have killed the awakened 'Frederik Murlock', level 11.]
Calculating rewards:
Strength +15, Mana +14, Agility + 14, Vitality +12, Stamina +10, Willpower +9].
Another announced a weird thing as the [Youngest Prodigy] His mind reeled, overwhelmed by the sudden influx of information.
"What...what's happening to me?" he stammered, a tremor of fear creeping into his voice.
Elio knelt beside him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It seems you've awakened, Jayden. Your mana core has reached a critical stage, triggering a phenomenal transformation."