Chapter Two
Awake
"What's happening?!"
"Old man Ji! One of the children is beating up the caretaker!"
"Someone call for help! We can’t let old man Ji die, or the orphanage will be ruined!"
"Who is the wretch who dared bite the hand that fed him?!"
The crowd around murmured as they lamented the old man's condition.
Sero stood with a fiery glare, casting a demonic shadow over the old man, leaving a sense of helplessness and fear in his wake.
"How could a child kick old man Ji like that?!"
"Old man Ji is frail and barely able to walk; how could he defend himself?!"
The crowd's voices grew louder until an elderly man with thick hair, accompanied by two guards, emerged.
"Hmm, I was sent to bring the orphans yet I see a rude child who doesn't know his place making a fuss. Or perhaps a soul craving justice, in a world where the only law is survival; he might be useful," said the elder, named Sinbo, with a hint of annoyance.
His thick white brows covered his eyes as he raised his hand. At this signal, the guards approached Sero calmly.
"That old man must be a mage. If I can show some talent, maybe I can escape this damned phase of my life, but for now I need more attention," Sero thought anxiously as he eyed the guards.
But the next moment, the elder’s eyes opened, and Sero collapsed to the ground.
"This... a spiritual attack... damn it," were Sero's last thoughts as his mind faded, with his sister's cries being the last sound he heard.
..............
"Brother! Brother!! Sero!! Wake up!!" Risa’s worried, tearful voice roused Sero from his feigned unconsciousness.
In reality, he wasn’t unconscious for long, and he woke up sometime after Sinbo appeared, yet he was pretending to not alarm the guards.
How could a trivial old man take down Dark Waters Immortal with just a glance? By feigning unconsciousness, he had heard everything.
From the orphans being transported in a rickety cart to a cave in the eastern mountains of the village, to his sister's fearful cries as she was dragged by her wrist, to the repugnant voices of the mages, and finally, the sound of a heavy iron door closing and the dumping of over seventy orphans into a dark room barely illuminated by a single candle hanging from the ceiling.
Sero pretended ignorance and asked his sister to recount the events again, but unfortunately, she could only complain and cry, barely recounting the important details.
"What a stupid girl. It’s good that I didn’t lose consciousness, or I would have missed the important things. But what she mentioned about this cave being a place for awakening ceremonies is extremely important. Anyway, I’ll return to absorbing mana," Sero grumbled in his mind, leaving Risa behind as he stared at her silently before assuming the same position.
"Another calming session? Are you feeling nervous again?" Risa asked with a concerned face, pretending to be cheerful, making Sero open one eye and stare at her with boredom.
"Do you see that girl among the orphans? Bring her here and leave the rest," Sero spoke calmly while looking at the orphans.
Most of them were weak, frail, or despairing of life, and he was trying to save someone among them as an investment of sorts.
After all, he had no parents to support him or a family to acknowledge him, so he decided to create a companion to share resources with in the future.
First, he chose the healthiest one; most of them were weak from malnutrition, narrowing the choice down to ten orphans.
Second, he wanted to choose a girl since girls are less aggressive and easier to win loyalty from, though they are also more suspicious of him so he asked his sister to win her favor.
There were only two healthy girls among them, and he ended up choosing one with short white hair and a beautiful face, despite being smeared with dirt.
She wore a rag that barely covered her lower body, forcing her to keep her legs tightly together all the time.
"Do you want to save her? But why only her? Are you thinking of getting a mistress already?" Risa asked with an annoyed, reddened face, only for Sero to look at her with irritation.
"Just bring her here. If she refuses, I don’t care. There’s no way to save us all from this wretched existence, but it’s only enough for one more person. Do you refuse to save her now after I’ve told you everything?" Sero spoke in an aggressive tone, making Risa show a displeased face.
However, she trusted him and called the girl with white hair, named Jiu Li Xian, who was a foreign slave sold from the western region to Lan’s Grasslands and ended up in the Geist clan.
She walked with a gloomy face, barely holding onto her innocence, to the point where Risa was shocked by her quick persuasion. Then she seated herself next to Sero in the same position.
"Listen carefully because I won’t repeat myself. You will imagine yourselves in a transparent sea and try to absorb the fake water in that sea through your hearts. This will build mana in your body and give you a chance to survive at least. It’s not guaranteed, but it’s better than nothing. I know my sister intends to survive, but what about you?" Sero asked sternly to Li Xian, who looked at him with concern.
"Survive? Do I even have the right to dream of such a fate? I was sold by my parents because of our poverty, and since then, I’ve lost the desire to live—" Before she could finish, she received a slap from Sero, who didn’t change his expression, looking at her as if she were vomit.
"Then don’t try. Do you want to die? Stay as you are with the rest of the junk and you will surely die," Sero said with irritation, making Risa look worried, but she understood the situation.
Both were certain that no matter the clan’s decision if they failed, it wouldn’t be good.
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Of course, the pride of the Dark Waters Immortal would not allow him to live like a dog due to a clan’s decision, especially a clan that he could have destroyed with a single thought if he was in his previous life.
In a moment of focus, he and his sister breathed deeply and relaxed while absorbing the mana, while Li Xian sat beside them, mimicking their actions and trying to hold onto her last fragment of life.
"Absorbing mana then..." murmured an orphan around Sero’s age quietly, lying on the ground and attempting to absorb mana in his own way.
As they spent an unknown amount of time In the pitch-black cold room with iron foundations, both Li Xian and Risa were holding onto Sero’s arms, and if there had been light, it would have revealed his disgusted expression.
He had been with dozens of women in his life but had never had any children, and now he found two girls clinging to him.
Yet he ignored it and continued to absorb mana.
The Mana was the essence of beings, and over various eras, it has been harnessed to manipulate the forces of reality and nature using the Shards, and those who mastered it were called mages.
Mages were on an entirely different level; they controlled fire and water shards to build cities in months when it would take generations for those who were pathless.
The importance of becoming a mage was something acquired from childhood.
The instinct to seek power drove the eleven races to learn from the world until they were able to break and harness it for themselves.
Sero felt a strange peace, a sensation as if a breeze was caressing his heart, but unfortunately, his time was up. A horizontal bright light fell on his face, forcing him to look ahead and find twenty human guards, each holding an iron spear.
"Wake up! The ceremony is about to begin!" shouted one of the guards in a gruff, annoyed voice, as if he was ordered to clean the toilet.
In response to his shout, the boy who had been secretly absorbing mana, named Liu Jinta, rose.
He was a criminal who had fled his clan after stealing a significant amount from it, ending up in the hands of the Geist clan.
Being a thief, Jinta had a strong survival instinct that allowed him to discern the strongest in the room and mimic them, and his choice fell on Sero.
Staggering like a drunkard, Jinta walked with a slight laugh towards the light coming from one of the guards' torches. His black eyes lazily stared at the guard, who showed no expression.
Next, Sero got up from his place and headed towards the light with Risa and Li Xian holding onto his shirt.
They could barely see as they had been in the dark for so long, so they placed their blind trust in Sero, who moved with pride and a calm face.
"Only four? Was that old man Ji stealing money secretly or what?" one of the guards snarled, baring his teeth.
"We should have checked the orphanage every six months instead of once a year. Now, how are we going to justify the situation to Lady Alice?" another guard murmured with annoyance.
They had no shame saying such things in front of the kids, they neglected them for years and now they are paying the price.
"Bring the others by force then; they shouldn’t be dead yet," spoke a guard, more handsome compared to the others, calmly.
He then lowered to Sero and Jinta’s eye level. "Follow me or you’ll be punished. In the worst case, you’ll be exiled to the fields for the rest of your lives."
"And what about the best case?" Sero replied with a mad smile, making the guard close his eyes thoughtfully.
"You’re the one who kicked old man Ji in the face? You seem like the type who will fight even after his head is cut off. Well, in the best case, you’ll become a mage and join one of the families, and we will kneel to you since we are pathless, I mean we were lucky that Lady Alice Anira allowed us to work under her," the handsome guard said with a drunken tone.
"Why tell children this? Do you intend to give them hope for survival only to take it away?" sneered a thin guard as he wiped his saliva.
"Hmm, you’re right. Anyway, follow me," said the handsome guard as he walked out of the iron room towards a rocky corridor inside the eastern mountain.
Jinta went first with his hands behind his head as if he were strolling, followed by Sero, who walked with his arms behind his back, with Risa and Li Xian holding onto his shirt, and two guards behind them, while the others stayed with the rest of the orphans.
................
Inside a cave illuminated by many candles, crowds of clan elders were seated on luxurious chairs arranged in a circle, staring down at a lake of red, blood-colored water surrounded by ten massive candles, each a meter tall and half a meter wide, melted as they had been burning since the founding of the Geist Clan.
Among the clan elders were the three highest-ranking chiefs: Annalise, Nyoska, and Shiasu, who had a comprehensive view of everything. When Annalise raised her hand, the old mage Senbo rose calmly and walked to stand in front of the blood lake.
"Bring them in!" Senbo commanded, raising his hand to the sky and ordering the guards to open three massive iron gates to allow the children of the three families to enter.
From the right gate emerged a total of one hundred young men and women, their ages ranged between fourteen and nine years old, accompanied by an old hag who looked wise from her face, draped in a red silk robe with a crow feather shawl. She was named Hervolt Jokai.
"The Hervolt family greets the clan elders!" the youngsters behind Elder Jokai shouted with firm voices, displaying confidence and composure in their physical appearances.
From the left gate walked a total of sixty breathtakingly beautiful girls in pristine white clothing, led by a woman whose face showed both compassion and intense desire for killing.
She had long white hair, red eyes, and a robe blending black and red, wearing black gloves while walking elegantly and striking the ground with her staff. This woman was Alice Anira who owned the orphanage.
"The Anira family greets the clan elders!" the girls shouted in a warm, spirited tone, causing Nyoska to chuckle softly.
From the central gate came the Gaiest family, nearly forty children, both boys and girls, following a radiant-faced woman in a black robe named Stolz Geist.
They were dressed similarly to her as if in mourning, and as they emerged, they all shouted in unison, "The Gaiest Clan greets the clan elders," and then fell silent.
"Good, it seems this year’s awakening ceremony has many qualified candidates. So, what are you waiting for?" Shiasu said in a gruff voice, staring at the young men and women with disappointment.
After all, he had experienced these ceremonies for years, and his intuition told him the bitter reality—that half of them would die within a year.
The ceremony began with the Hervolt family as Elder Jokai took out a parchment from her pocket and began calling out names.
“Hervolt Saigo, step forward and enter the blood pool,” the elder said lazily.
In response to her command, a timid-faced boy silently moved toward the pool. He felt everyone’s gaze piercing every inch of his body as he walked, his eyes fixed on the blood pool surrounded by candles as he placed his foot into it.
The pool was cold and sticky like honey with a metallic odor. It clung to him with a sound like stepping on overripe peaches.
Under the pressure, he turned towards Elder Jokai, who stared at him with a stern look as if commanding him to proceed.
Saigo swallowed hard and put in his other foot, struggling to move forward while looks of disappointment grew among the clan elders. When he reached the center of the pool, the blood around him solidified, and he couldn’t move.
This was the true beginning of the awakening ceremony. Under Saigo’s shock, all ten candles around the pool extinguished simultaneously, and a dreadful silence enveloped the hall.
“Hervolt Saigo, pathless,” Elder Senbo pronounced with a mocking tone, crushing the last shred of hope Saigo had as the pool returned to its previous state.
“Impossible!! I have Hervolt blood!! I am a mage!! Give me another chance!!” Saigo screamed violently as tears exploded from his eyes and mixed with mucus from his nose, making the girls present feel disgusted.
Shiasu waved his hand, and two guards dragged him out of the hall as if he were a mangy dog.
As for his fate, who cared? A pathless like him was a disgrace to the Hervolt family if not the clan, and no one would look at him again.
As soon as he left the pool, the candles reignited.
That scene was the bitter reality of the world. No matter a person’s lineage, blood, or skin color, as long as they were not mages, they were worthless. Their presence among other mages was like weeds among wheat fields, a waste of resources.
“Next, Hervolt Dread,” Elder Jokai announced with a hint of excitement.
Dread was one of Shiasu’s ten children, all of whom had shown great talents and were exemplary figures in the clan. This instilled in him a strong desire to prove himself along with his twin brother.
When his name was called, he swaggered forward with a smile on his face.
“Hehe, that cub is from this lion king!” murmured Shiasu as he played with his beard, watching his son enter the blood pool as if it were a swimming pool.
The blood around him solidified, and two candles extinguished immediately. Then, two more candles went out as Dread inhaled, before the situation stabilized.
“Hervolt Dread, a talent of six candles!” Senbo pronounced with pride, followed by congratulations and praises for Chief Shiasu