The reason why legacy seeds are so valued and coveted is not just because they make it easier for the awakened to understand and master techniques, but because they contain the will of the seed’s creator, granting the awakened the chance to harness a well of willpower many times larger than their own and eventually consume it.
Research work on the interdicted study of transmigrants and inheritors.
Major General Keandra Arlette.
Sector 7, Ragnarok.
----------------------------------------
Aodhán only had a single flame of willpower burning in his core, but it was connected to another, one several times larger than his and burning with a baffling intensity.
A good analogy was that his willpower was a bucket of water, but it was connected to a dam. He hadn’t realized it before, but the moment he’d used up his willpower, more had poured in from the dam and into his dying spark, permanently increasing the size of his will.
Eager to test his theory, Aodhán ran outside and instantly willed a storm cloud into existence before dismissing it and willing it back.
It took an hour and a half before his will flame was once again reduced to a dying spark, but more rushed out of the dam and into his dying spark, and before long, it was growing and again.
Ecstatic, he continued draining his willpower, causing more to rush out of the dam, but as night approached, he realized that the amount of willpower he gained with each refill had significantly reduced, but he continued, unwilling to stop.
Consequently, it was now taking longer to drain his willpower, and eventually, he had so much of it that it became impossible to drain; at least not with his current skills.
If he wanted more willpower, then he needed to improve his skills so that they consumed more willpower and destroyed the balance that his natural regeneration had created.
It was almost midnight when he walked back into the house, and everyone was asleep except Aldric, who was meditating in one corner of the sitting room.
Unwilling to disturb him, Aodhán walked softly up the stairs and was almost completely gone from view when Aldric suddenly spoke.
“For a moment there, I thought you’d gone insane.”
Aodhán paused and glared down at Aldric. “Aren’t you supposed to be dead to your surroundings or something?”
“I’m supposed to.” Aldric agreed. “But my concept doesn’t grant me that luxury, not when I can sense the intense satisfaction you’re currently feeling from a mile away. You must have made a breakthrough.”
He cracked an eye open, urging Aodhán to share, but when he refused, Aldric sighed. “Fine, keep your secrets.”
“I will.” Aodhán replied with a grin before moving back to his room, and before long, sleep claimed him.
…
He awoke the next morning to the sound of Unrid’s voice. “Wake up, sleepy head; we leave in an hour.
He groaned as he dragged himself from the bed, and made his way to the bathroom. All that willpower exercise had left him feeling a little groggy. Twenty minutes later, when he was completely dressed, he strapped the sword to his waist and made his way downstairs.
When he got to the living room, Synové was already serving breakfast, and the entire family was seated except Daruk. Synové placed a bowl of rice before him as he sat down and a cup of cold water to go along with it.
Breakfast was a sober affair, with each and every one of them aware that they might not make it back from the expedition. Daruk came down a few minutes later, and he was even nice to Aldric, going as far as fetching him another cup of cold water when he asked for some.
Aldric, of course, started to make a comment about it, but a stern look from Unrid shut him up immediately.
After breakfast, Synové hugged each one of them, promising terrible things if they failed to make it back alive.
Unrid was garbed in his usual hunting gear, and after a very intimate goodbye with Synové, he clapped his hands loudly and said, “Let’s go, boys; I don’t want to be the last to arrive this time around.”
“Like that’ll change anything.” Aldric muttered, and Aodhán shook his head in amusement.
They arrived at the village’s entrance half an hour later, and Unrid breathed a sigh of relief when he found that there were only about two dozen people present.
There were only three other members of the Awakened Council present, but unfortunately, Minerva was among them, and she sneered in disgust when she saw him.
She didn’t say a word to him though, choosing to ignore him instead, and Unrid muttered a prayer of gratitude.
Surprisingly, Aodhán was the youngest person currently present at the entrance, so he drew a lot of attention. Many of the villagers already knew of him, and with the rumors of healing water flying around, he was just grateful they weren’t trying to touch him instead.
Some of them were discourteous enough to point fingers at him, while the rest just whispered to themselves.
Needing to distract himself, Aodhán called up his status with a thought, and he reviewed it.
….
[STATUS]
Name: Aodhán Ashoka
Class: Evolved storm awakened: 1%
Tier: 4–38.9%
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
Skills {Innate}: Storm creation and manipulation, lightning creation and manipulation.
{Other}: Lightning descent.
Bloodline: Nil
…
He planned to absorb as many cores as he could on this expedition, and he hoped that by the end of it, he would have reached the 7th or 8th tier.
As time passed, more people arrived, along with the last two council members. The woman with the blue hair came in last and surprisingly walked towards them.
“I thought it best that we coordinate our attacks during the expedition.” She said as she came to stand beside Unrid.
“Good morning to you too, Elora.” Unrid replied with a tight smile. “I would be glad to work with you.”
Elora glanced uncomfortably at Aldric, who only gave a grin in response, before she sniffed and muttered. “As you should.”
Her gaze finally landed on Aodhán, and a hint of curiosity flickered in them. She was about to speak when the mayor arrived, with the scholar trailing behind him.
At this time, all 37 of them were gathered, and as the sun rose in the distance, they began their trek into the woods. There was no speech or word of encouragement; the villagers didn’t need it, and Aodhán didn’t think it would do much for him.
When they arrived at the edge of the forest, the mayor and the council members instantly formed a loose ring around them, leaving everyone else in the center.
Aodhán clutched the hilt of his sword as he crossed the tree line and finally entered the forest. The usual sense of peace he usually got from the forest was absent; instead, it loomed ominously around them as sunlight struggled to penetrate the dense canopy, and the crackling of dry leaves filled the air as people walked forward.
The forest felt dead to his ears; the usual chirping of birds or chittering of insects was gone, replaced by a hollow silence that grated on his nerves.
They walked through the forest for almost an hour but didn’t come across a single creature. Rather than rejoice, many of the villagers despaired, their fear intensifying.
They continued forward, moving towards the location they’d decided on, when suddenly, a roar rang out and a large monster burst out of the bush before them.
The creature had a lizard-like appearance but had a massive shell on its back. Black scales covered its entire body, and several rows of gleaming teeth shone in its mouth.
The creature was identified as a Shellback Croc, and it was at the 5th tier, but before it could take more than a few steps forward, Balor and Calithen, who were at the front, rushed towards it.
Calithen raised a fist, and the monster was suddenly pushed to the ground as gravity increased around it. Balor flicked his hand, and multiple spikes of earth jutted out of the ground and pierced into the shellback’s stomach.
Balor rushed towards the incapacitated creature with a sword in his hand, and a moment later, the creature’s head fell to the ground.
A small shout of victory rang out from the gathered awakeneds as Balor dug through the shellback for its core, and a moment later, they continued their journey.
The monsters became more frequent as they walked deeper into the forest, but none of the monsters were above Tier 5, so they were pretty easy to kill.
Suddenly a cacophony of growls and snarls resounded, and from the underbrush behind them emerged a pack of Rithclaws, their bristling silver furs stripped with black lines, while long metal spikes jutted out of their spines.
There were five of them, with the largest at Tier 6 and the others at Tier 5. Aodhán unconsciously summoned a bolt of lightning, but before he could attack, Aldric and Carvahl appeared before the pack.
Multiple spears of silvery steel appeared around Carvahl, and with a whoosh, they shot towards the advancing Rithclaws.
Surprisingly, the pack leader considered Aldric more of a threat than Carvahl and, with a roar, rushed towards him, only for it to suddenly turn around and attack its own brethren.
The pack leader fought with brutal efficiency, cutting down its pack with frightening calm before piercing its own neck and tearing out its own throat an instant later.
Fear returned to its eyes as blood poured from its ravaged neck. It tried to cry out, but a metal spear pierced its skull, killing it immediately.
An eerie silence filled the air as Aldric dug for its core, and Aodhán spotted more than one expression of horror. He couldn’t blame them, though. Aldric had overridden the creature’s natural instinct for survival and made it kill its own pack before killing itself.
It was horrifying and incredibly frightening. Considering he was also one of the strongest awakened in the village, they couldn’t help but fear him.
Aldric dug out the Silvery Core with practiced ease, and although he seemed unaffected by the horrified gazes of the people around them, Aodhán noticed that his usual grin was gone.
“Let’s go, people; we’re wasting daylight.” The mayor shouted, and the journey through the forest continued.
People fearfully made way for Aldric as he moved to stand beside Aodhán. His cocky grin reappeared as he raised Aodhán’s hand and placed three silver cores in it.
“You don’t have to sympathize with me, Aodhán; I’m quite used to the horror people feel when they see my abilities for the first time.“
Rather than deny the truth, Aodhán gestured to the core and asked. “Why are you giving these to me?”
“Because I have no need for it.” Aldric replied casually, but Aodhán’s mind spun, and his suspicions reared up; all the hints he’d read about in the Alderman’s library raced through his mind, and he slowly came to a single conclusion.
“You do not need them because they aren’t conceptual cores.” Aodhán reasoned aloud, his eyes widening with every word he spoke. “Because the absorption of unaligned cores is the cause of the limit.”
Aodhán whispered the last part, and Aldric’s eyes widened in surprise. “I planned to tell you before I left for the academy, but I can’t believe you figured it out all by yourself.”
“It’s so obvious now, though; the books hint at it, and it just makes perfect sense.” Aodhán whispered excitedly, happy to have solved the limit mystery, but a sobering thought came to his mind, and he asked. “Why didn’t you tell your father?”
“Because he’d already reached his limit before I even awakened.” Aldric replied with a shrug. “Besides, there’s no known cure for it yet, at least none that I know of; telling him will just sadden him; it’s better if he believes it’s a natural phenomenon.”
“Why isn’t this public knowledge, though?” Aodhán asked. This wasn’t the only thing that had been kept secret from the masses, though, as he hadn’t come across a single mention of evolution in all the books he’d read so ffar
“Because not every awakened person deserves to wield real power, and those who are destined to do so naturally come upon the answers, just like you.”
“It’s not up to anyone to determine who gets to wield power.” Aodhán argued quietly before asking. “How about people in the city or the other sectors?”
“Limit disease is a problem in every sector, with numerous cases even in the capital.” Aldric replied. “Most people just assume that you’re a genius if you haven’t hit your limit by Tier 25.”
Aodhán wasn’t in complete agreement with the whole situation; he still felt that information like this should be made accessible to everyone, but a part of him understood the reasoning behind it.
Still, it didn’t explain how the topic of evolution had been kept under wraps; surely, someone would have investigated the cause of ringed pupils as it was definitely out of the norm.
They reached the river an hour before noon, but before they could take the area, they had to deal with the Burmehein in the river first.
“It is reasonable to assume that the rock monster is now at the 8th tier.” Carvahl reasoned.
“No matter how strong it is, there’s no need for all 37 of us to fight against it.” Elora replied. “That’s just begging for casualties.”
“Elora’s right.” Balor agreed. “The strongest five among us, including Minerva, should be enough for this raid.”
“Aldric Brystion is the strongest awakened here; aside from the mayor, doing this without him is foolish.” Calithen pointed out, but the sudden mention of Aldric’s name caused many to freeze.
“The boy is not a part of the council!” Minerva hissed through gritted teeth.
“Hate me all you want, Minerva, but I won’t have you speak of my son in that manner.” Unrid warned, and sparks seemed to fly as they glared daggers at each other.
“Calithen is right.” The mayor finally responded with a thoughtful expression, and a moment later, he said, “We do this with the boy, which means Carvahl, Elora, and Unrid are our backup.”
A few minutes later, Aodhán and the other awakened were gathered a few meters away from the edge of the river, while Aldric and four members of the council walked towards it.
Aodhán watched as a boulder-sized rock erupted from the earth and smashed against the outcrop of rocks in the middle of the river.
Almost immediately, the rock rumbled, and Aodhán watched as boulder-sized rocks rose out of the water and arranged themselves into a humanoid figure.
Burning yellow eyes gazed out of rocky sockets, and a shimmering brown haze surrounded its entire body. Aodhán’s eyes flashed to the shimmering text above its head, and his legs buckled as fear raced through him.
[Burmehein, Tier 10]