Chapter 2: Freedom & Love

Unable to experiment with his so-called superpower, Noah decided to focus on building up his physical abilities instead. He figured that if he couldn’t rely on powers from the System just yet, he’d at least be prepared with a solid foundation. So, he set himself up with a grueling training regimen, determined to increase his endurance, strength, and resilience.

It had been a mistake.

“Ugh… I shouldn’t have been so reckless…”

By the first light of morning, Noah was sore as hell.

Every muscle in his body seemed to protest as he tried to move, reminding him of every push-up, squat, and lap he’d pushed himself through the day before. Stiff and aching, he stumbled out of bed, wincing with each step.

Noah still had school today.

Grade 10. Morseby High School.

No way could he skip school just because he was chosen.

Noah changed into his uniform barely able to summon the energy to even think about breakfast. Instead, he grabbed his bag and headed to the nearest convenience store, picking up a couple of meat buns to tide him over.

As he waited at the bus stop, he took slow bites of the warm buns, savoring each mouthful as he tried to shake off the lingering soreness. His thoughts drifted to a certain girl who had somehow captured his heart.

A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he pictured her, and he found himself wondering if today would be the day he’d finally work up the courage to talk to her.

‘Hey, you have powers now and the System have chosen you, maybe you can work up the courage to be more~!’

Heh!

As if.

Puberty sucked in many ways, but there were some good things too. As Noah climbed onto the bus, he glanced at the girl of his dreams—a girl with dark hair, glasses, and a fairly ordinary face that, for some reason, made his heart race every time he saw her. He walked past her, trying not to make it obvious, and found his own seat near the back.

Settling in, he allowed himself one last look in her direction before pulling out his phone to distract himself, feeling both excited and frustrated by the way a single glance from her could throw him off balance.

The thing was, Noah had a thing for girls who were smarter than him—something he’d figured out back in Grade 7. It didn’t help that he was always ranked second in their class, constantly reminded of it whenever the scores were posted.

Morseby High School, being a public school, separated each grade’s sections by performance, effectively dividing the "smart" kids from the "less smart" ones. Ever since he started Junior High, Noah had been in Section One, a fact he was proud of and one that bolstered his confidence.

He considered himself pretty sharp—maybe even a little cocky about it—until he met her: Raven A. Nichols. She’d been at the top since she joined the school, and her quiet, unassuming demeanor made her seem all the more untouchable. Recently, she’d started wearing glasses, which, for some reason, made her look even prettier in Noah’s eyes.

Noah sighed, a soft, familiar sound he found himself making a lot these days.

No matter how much he tried to focus on other things, his thoughts always wandered back to her. Raven had a way of making him feel both determined to improve and oddly insecure... like he could never quite measure up to her.

Noah knew it was a kind of hero worship.

But then again, his feelings for ‘heroes’ were complicated. He both hated and admired them at the same time, and strangely enough, he felt the same way about ‘villains.’ They were all caught in the same cycle of power and destruction, and it was hard to see them as purely good or evil.

For the rest of the day, Noah drifted through his classes, a bit absentminded, as he continued to glance at the [System] interface. His mind kept circling around the same question: What should he do with his life now?

The appeal of a normal, mundane life still had its hold on him. There was something comforting about blending in, about living a life untouched by battles, by powers, by the weight of being chosen.

But could he really do it? Could he spend his whole life pretending he hadn’t been selected by the System?

His gaze returned to the interface floating just at the edge of his vision.

Name: Noah O. Knight

Class: Freedom

Level 1

Stats—

Body: 3

Mind: 6

Soul: 5

Skill: Fly

Noah’s eyes lingered on the [Level 1] indicator. One small number that represented the beginning of something much larger. The potential it held was dizzying, but it also filled him with uncertainty.

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When classes ended, Noah didn’t stick around to mingle. Instead, he took a deep breath, gathered every ounce of energy his fifteen-year-old body could muster, and headed for the roof. He was determined to test his skill—Fly—no matter how reckless it might seem. With a racing heart, he ran to the edge of the third-story building and, without hesitation, leaped off with the abandon of a pangolin diving into the unknown.

And no, he didn’t fly.

Two hours later, Noah found himself blinking awake in a hospital bed, his body throbbing with pain. A concerned teacher hovered nearby, her voice drifting over his head as she lectured him on the dangers of such stunts. He only half-listened, his thoughts jumbled and hazy.

“Where’s Dad?” he asked, cutting through her words with a quiet intensity.

The teacher’s voice halted, and an uneasy silence filled the room.

Was it stupid to risk his life to test his skill like that?

No. It wasn’t even about his skill. It was something deeper, something that he couldn’t quite put into words.

“I miss Dad,” Noah muttered softly.

Mrs. Haram was a woman in her late 20s with dark skin and curly hair. She was an amiable teacher who taught science to her students with passion. As the homeroom teacher of Section One, Grade 10, it fell on her shoulders to keep Noah company here… and Noah knew that.

“Sorry, teach… I didn’t mean to say that…” Noah grimaced as he tried to shift in the bed, but a sharp pain shot through his side. “You should be home by now, but you have to—”

“Don’t say that, Noah…” Mrs. Haram clicked her tongue in annoyance as she pulled out her phone, her expression softening just slightly. She glanced at him before turning away. “I’ll be back, just wait a sec.”

Noah could imagine her calling his dad now, likely sending frustrated texts, or maybe even trying to track him down. The thought made him feel worse. She had a life, too. She shouldn’t be stuck here because of his dumb stunt.

Noah let his head fall back against the pillow, feeling ashamed and frustrated.

“Oh man, I am so lame…” he muttered.

What had he hoped to achieve by jumping off the roof, pretending it was just a test of his so-called skill?

Frankly, nothing.

Noah realized he’d done it simply because he could. Because in that split second, the thought of letting go and feeling free, even if it was dangerous—even if it meant death—felt oddly liberating. After all, wasn’t that what freedom was? It wasn’t like his dad cared anymore, right?

But as that thought crossed his mind, the door to his hospital room flew open with a sudden, forceful slam. A bedraggled, middle-aged man with brown hair and piercing emerald eyes stood in the doorway, looking disheveled and frantic.

It was his dad.

Noah’s heart skipped a beat as his father stormed into the room. His face morphed to that of anger, worry, and something Noah hadn’t seen in a long time—raw and unfiltered concern.

“What were you thinking?” His dad gripped the rails of the hospital bed tightly. His eyes were fixed on the casts covering both of Noah’s legs. “You silly kid, have you gone insane?”

Of course, Noah’s dad cared. It was plain in the worry etched across his face and the tension in his voice. Noah had been playing the blame game for a long time already, pretending his dad’s absence meant indifference. But looking at him now, that excuse felt empty and childish.

Being chosen by the System had felt like a justification for his impulsive stunt—a good excuse to break away and to escape something he couldn’t name. But as he looked at his dad’s worried face, Noah couldn’t bring himself to confess what had really driven him to jump, let alone admit that the [System] had marked him as special.

“Sorry, Dad,” Noah mumbled, eyes downcast. “Won’t happen again…”

His father took a deep breath, his gaze softening as he released the bed rail and sat down beside him, clearly exhausted but unwilling to leave Noah’s side.

“Do you think a sorry can cut it? You—”

Before his dad could dive into full lecture mode, Mrs. Haram stepped in, her tone sharper than Noah had ever heard from her. “Nothing like this would have ever happened if he didn’t miss you… and I don’t usually do this, being unprofessional. But I need to say my piece.”

She turned to face Noah’s dad directly. Her eyes were as fierce as a tiger’s. “Noah is a smart kid. He’s an honor student. He has a bright future ahead of him. Do what you must to be his father, not just what you can.”

She gave a tight nod. Her words hung heavily in the air, and then she glanced at Noah with a softened expression. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, Mr. Knight, I’ll be going home because I have my own kids to mother.”

Without waiting for a response, Mrs. Haram turned and walked out of the room, leaving an uncomfortable silence behind her.

After making sure his homeroom teacher was gone, Noah let out a laugh, “Ha ha ha ha~ she got you good, Dad!”

“This is no laughing matter,” his dad replied grimly, his gaze hard. “You could have gotten yourself killed!”

“And you weren’t there.”

Silence settled between them, tense and heavy.

Noah took a deep breath, feeling a flood of emotions he barely understood. “Ironic, isn’t it? I guess… it was fine that my dad wasn’t there, but where was Sylver? The heroic Sylver?”

The words stung as they left his mouth. He’d always resented how his dad, who was Sylver to the city, seemed to care more about saving strangers than being present for him. Deep down, he was ashamed to feel that way—jealous of the people his father protected. But he was fifteen, and his emotions were raw and hard to control.

“So, of course, it isn’t like the city’s superheroes could pay attention to every suicidal kid, right?!” His voice rose. It was sharp and bitter. “Some hero you are!”

His dad, Theodore Knight, just stared at him with a defeated look in his eyes.

The sight only fueled Noah’s anger, like a wound being torn open. It felt as if his dad had already given up on him. Noah knew, deep down, how bratty and unfair he was being, but he couldn’t stop himself. The resentment had festered for too long—

“Mom is dead, Dad… she isn’t coming back,” he said, his voice trembling. “I’m the only one you have… so please, don’t lose me too…”

The words spilled out, selfish, raw, and painfully human. It was ugly, but it was honest.

Was this the price of freedom? To lay bare these wounds, to demand sacrifice from those who loved him, even when it hurt?

If freedom meant doing whatever you wanted without anyone holding you back, then maybe his dad should just agree with everything he said. But the truth was… freedom wasn’t about love or choice. It was about power, and Noah knew he lacked that in a big way.

Theodore sighed and reached into his coat, pulling out a small vial filled with a thick, crimson liquid. He placed it carefully on the table beside Noah. “This is a… potion. It might be diluted, but with it, you should be able to recover in just over three days. I won’t be around for a while, so I’ll have your Uncle Martin keep an eye on you.”

Noah’s gaze shifted to the vial. The potion was a rare, classified item, not something available on the open market. He’d heard about these kinds of medical supplies, used only by supers or those with high-level clearances.

“Guess I’ll have a whole two weeks to myself…” Noah muttered, thinking of the time away from school and from everyone he knew.

“Whatever suits you, Noah… just don’t return to school too early, lest you invite the board’s suspicion… potion technology is highly confidential after all.” Theodore rose from his seat, his eyes lingering on his son with an unreadable expression. “Just remember, son, I love you…”