Chapter 5:The awakening

Few more months passed marking it two years since Alex came to this world also being the day of Alex awakening.

The world held its breath as time drew nearer.

Within the inner sanctum of the Walker estate, an ethereal stillness took root. Not the calm of silence, but the hush that comes before the storm,an unseen breath before a world-changing moment. Today, Alex Walker, the youngest descendant of the storied House of Space and Void, would awaken.

Across the vast ancestral grounds, from seasoned Elders to sharp-eyed branch family heads and their respective vessels, every gaze was turned toward the Walker main residence.

Silver-white eyes,unmistakable, a mark carried by every member of the Walkers—reflected the dawning sun.

Alex sat in the ceremonial chamber, swaddled in midnight blue robes stitched with stardust threads, fully aware, excited and somewhat nervous of what about to happen.

Time passed quickly but it felt like decades to the house of walker, then as if it was about to begin.The air stilled

At first, there was nothing.

Then the air twitched.

Space above the Alex,normally an unseen vessel—shivered. It did not ripple like water but shattered instead, like parchment crushed by unseen hands. Thin threads of existence bent around the boy. The very geometry of the chamber began to warp, corners turning infinite, light curving unnaturally, shadows stretching where there should be none.

One of the branch elders staggered back. "Impossible… this isn't just a resonance with space. This is space reacting."

As if drawn by a breath he did not take, a rush of silvery-blue particles gushed out of the broken space like a dam flooding the room. They weren't visible at first, but to Alex, their shimmer now painted the world like stars on a twilight canvas. The mana—spatial mana—responded to his presence, not with subservience, but with reverence. It did not simply obey; it yearned to be near him.

His small hand lifted into the air, not in command, but with curiosity. The floating strands of mana gently spiraled toward him, twisting like gentle ribbons around his fingers. He giggled, unaware that these instinctive interactions would be impossible for most even after years of training.

A hum began, so faint it was more felt than heard. The air vibrated. The slivery blue mana in the air thick with potential—rushed in from every direction, as if drawn by instinct to something sacred.

The moment it touched him, everything changed.

The mana didn't seep in. It was dragged in—forcefully absorbed by a body already perfected beyond mortal limits.

First, it flowed into his skin. The surface shimmered briefly as his flesh soaked in energy, reinforcing his defensive matrix, strengthening the boundary between body and world.

Then it sank into muscle.

His fibers twisted and condensed, becoming stronger, smoother, tighter. Even the mana seemed to groan as it was compressed, refined, and broken down. With every pulse of absorption, Alex's strength soared.

The flow quickened.

Organs vibrated—his heart thumped like a war drum, his lungs became like twin furnaces, purifying mana with each breath. His liver, kidneys, brain—all bathed in the cleansing stream of energy—optimized themselves under the unseen influence of Primordial Energy guiding the process.

Then came the bones.

His skeleton resonated like crystal struck by lightning. Mana raced into the marrow, merging with Primordial traces already hidden there. The result was explosive. His bones didn't just harden—they evolved, gaining unnatural flexibility and density.

The floor made with one of the hardest materials known cracked beneath his feet speaking volumes.

Mana now poured into his spiritual pathways—meridians that had long been widened by Primordial currents. The average child had narrow, fragile conduits. His were vast channels—smooth, elastic, and impossibly deep.

First stage.

Second.

Third.

The numbers kept rising.

Outside, elder cultivators watching from afar felt their expressions stiffen.

"Fifth stage already?!"

"No… he just entered the seventh—no, eighth! Impossible!"

Avalon Walker, standing calmly with arms crossed, clenched his fists ever so slightly. His silver-white eyes narrowed.

"Let him be…"

And then it happened.

All the mana converged.

Spiraling together in the center of his being, it formed a glowing, radiant core. Most would have created a core the size of a marble—unstable, flickering.

The initial stirrings of a mana core. Elders who sensed this from afar went pale.

"He's forming a core—immediately after body tempering?"

"Unheard of… no mortal child should....."

"It's not him. The talent… it's dragging him forward."

But even amidst this elders with existential crisis, Alex remained aware. His mind, sharpened by the awakening, turned inward.

But Alex's core was different.

It bloomed into a sphere ten times wider, perfect and stable, dense with layered runes and overlapping structures. Silver light rippled across its surface, and deep sliver runes, mixed with purple with a hint of red pulsed with rhythm like a heartbeat. It didn't spin—it commanded space around it to spin, a gravitational center of mana.

The pressure it gave off was suffocating—like standing before a planet condensed into a drop.

His Core more powerful than a mystic core was complete.

And then—everything stopped.

Even at this halted point, his cultivation realm stood tall—towering over others who had just formed their first core. Strength. Speed. Durability. Mana reserves. Control. Everything was orders of magnitude higher than what any other two-year-old—no, even most adults—could dream of.

This wasn't an awakening.

This was a birthright claimed.

His aura, silver-blue and vast,faint streaks of amethyst and crimson flowed through it,subtle, yet undeniable,deepened and pressed outward with haunting majesty.

It was then that Alex realized:

The spatial mana was his gift, his legacy.

But the Primordial Energy… that was something more. Something alien, yet innately his.

Alex's eyes fluttered open once more, the silver eyes now laced with a hint of unnatural depth, like a star peering from a void.

He saw everything.

The world. The mana. The echoes of power trailing in the air.

He was no longer just a child awakening to his gift.

He has become something new.

Silence.

Utter, deafening silence blanketed the ancient estate of the Walkers.

Even the wind, which had been whipping through the ceremonial halls moments before, now stilled—as though the world itself held its breath.

Inside the chamber where Alex had awakened, spatial rifts had long since ceased their furious dance. The room was quiet again, almost serene.

But the echoes of what had just occurred still trembled through the very walls.

And then—

A low hum surged through the air, resonating like a divine bell ringing across the land.

A pulse.

Boom.

A radiant ring of light burst outward from Alex's body, neither destructive nor harmful, but pure. Every cultivator present—be they elder, guardian, or branch head—felt it. And when their spiritual senses reached forward to examine the newly-formed core within the boy, every single one of them froze.

"…Mystic… it's… a Mystic-grade core."

A sharp gasp. Someone stumbled.

"That's impossible. No human has formed a mystic core naturally in over a thousand years!"

Another elder trembled, their eyes shimmering with disbelief. "No… look closer. The core isn't just mystic. It's… it's layered…!"

The silver-blue core shimmered with strange runes, forming complex spatial matrices. This was unprecedented.

Even Avalon, usually calm and composed, narrowed his eyes.

he murmured, voice low. "This child…"

Behind him, Amelia's fingers curled gently around the edge of her seat. She smiled—but her eyes were unreadable. "So it begins."

---

Far above.

Beyond the estate, hidden behind shifting clouds and warded space, a singular figure stood atop a floating black obelisk. They wore a long cloak that seemed to dissolve into smoke and stars, with only two golden eyes visible beneath the hood.

They stared down at the Walker estate with a gaze that pierced realms.

"…The first flame has been lit," the figure whispered.

Another shimmered into view beside them—a willowy woman clad in gold-threaded robes. "The others will stir soon. The pulse of awakening will not go unanswered."

"They're ready," the figure replied. "Or… they must be. The Age of Reckoning waits for no one."

...

The moment Alex's eyes fluttered open, the air around him seemed to still. The room, which had been filled with an electrifying intensity, became unnervingly silent. The elders, all seasoned cultivators, stood frozen in disbelief, their gazes transfixed on the child who had just surpassed all their expectations.

Avalon Walker, watching from the sidelines with his characteristic stoic demeanor, felt his heart race despite his attempts to remain composed. His silver-white eyes were glued to his son, his mind working through the impossibilities of what he had just witnessed. There, before everyone, Alex had formed a mystic core.

His Mystic Core, a shimmering silver orb, now settled with blue runes etched upon it.

The elders, from the moment they saw it, were shaken to their core.

"Impossible..." one of them whispered, his voice quivering with awe. " He has formed his core so early,

Another elder clenched his fists. "This—this isn't natural! This child isn't just some gifted prodigy... he's something else entirely."

The room vibrated with the tension of their collective shock.

Avalon's gaze remained fixed on Alex, but his thoughts were a whirlwind of concerns.

As the tension in the room heightened, Avalon stepped forward, breaking the silence. His voice, steady but filled with a quiet authority, echoed in the chamber.

"This is just the beginning."he said simply, though his mind was still in turmoil.

....

Far beyond the walls of the Walker family estate, in the homes of the other great families, whispers of Alex's awakening began to spread like wildfire.

At the House of Nightshade, Riven Nightshade, the young boy destined to awaken the Death Talent, lay in the arms of his mother, selene, his dark shadowy eyes already gleaming with power. Although only a few days till two years old, he felt a stir within him, a cold presence unlike anything he had ever experienced. His parents felt the shift—the first signs of his awakening.

Meanwhile, at the House of Liora, the beautiful young girl, whose life talent was bound to create miracles, was just beginning to sense the stirring of her own awakening. Her parents stood by her, aware that the time had come. The energy around them seemed to hum in anticipation as they prepared for the ceremony that would seal her fate.

In the House of Illusion and Reality, a girl no older than Alex, her eyes already filled with a strange, almost dreamlike light, was teetering on the edge of her own awakening. The very air around her was distorted as if bending under the weight of her power. She e could already manipulate shadows, shaping them like clay in her small hands. Her talent was brewing, a gift that would allow her to warp reality itself.

And in the House of Blood, a fierce and powerful young boy lay sleeping, his bloodline pulses sending ripples through the air. He was destined to control the most primal and devastating force: his blood talent. Even in his sleep, his aura surged like an unstoppable wave, and his body seemed to be drawn to its awakening.

But it was in the Walker family estate that the true spectacle was unfolding. Alex's awakening had set the stage for the prophecy—the convergence of the great families and their descendants.

As Avalon turned away from his son, his silver-white eyes gleaming, he spoke softly to his wife, Amelia, his voice barely above a whisper.

"The others will be watching, and soon, our son's name will be known. The Academy will be where it all truly begins."

Amelia nodded, her heart heavy with both pride and concern. "The path ahead will be dangerous. But Alex… . He will carry this world into a new age, whether the world is ready for it or not."

At that moment, Avalon knew one thing for certain: the world was about to change. And it would start at the Academy Astralis Primus. The place where all the great talents, the heirs to the powerful bloodlines, would come together to forge their futures.

Alex's awakening was the beginning of a new era, and the others would soon follow. The prophecy, long whispered in the shadows, was finally beginning to unfold.