The Awakening Ceremony (2)

As soon as I stepped inside the awakening chamber, I saw a crowd of kids around my age. Some were nervous, some scared, some confident, and some overconfident.

As soon as I stepped inside, I felt gazes from many people looking at me with different expressions – some with curiosity, some with disdain and some with hostility.

But I wasn't the same Alden as before. I didn't put my head down and walked with my head held high with confidence.

The kids started murmuring around me.

"Who is he?"

"Isn't that Alden Draven, the illegitimate son of the patriarch?"

"Tch, what's he doing here?"

"Shh, do you want him to hear you?"

"What's he going to do?"

I didn't respond to those murmurs, as they have been a common part of my life.

As I walked ahead, I felt a sharp gaze from the centre of the room as I saw a group of kids gathered in the centre around someone.

My curiosity was piqued a little as I went a bit closer to see who was standing there.

There I saw a boy, and all other kids were gathered around him. He had arrogance plastered all over his face as if he were some kind of king interacting with peasants.

'If it isn't his majesty, King Cedric,' I thought sarcastically.

The boy standing in the middle of the room was none other than Cedric. His arrogant face is as punchable as always.

There was another person beside him, a girl so beautiful that she seemed to transcend humanity.

Her blonde hair was like the first ray of sun vanquishing the darkness, and her crimson eyes, the trademark of the Draven Main family, shone with a cold glint, seemingly calculating every interaction.

She was none other than Seles, my half-sister.

But she also had another identity other than being the twin of Cedric that even she didn't know currently, and that was being one of the female leads of the novel.

She was one of the coolest characters in the novel, not only cold, cunning, and calculating but also one of the strongest characters in the future.

She was perfect for that role with her personality. She did everything she could for the protagonist. Honestly, I thought she was the one going to end up with the protagonist in the end, but the ending ruined it all.

I admired her character in the novel. She was one of my favourite characters but now it was just a distant past. She was just another Draven who probably thought of me as an insignificant bug. Sure, she was an important character, but not to me.

As I was just recalling the novel, Cedric looked at me and started walking towards me with all his lackeys following him.

"Well, well, it looks like a rat has snuck into the awakening chamber." He said with a grin while looking at me.

This time I didn't even flinch. I wasn't scared of Cedric anymore; my body didn't shiver like before. In the time since my transmigration, I trained and trained to be strong.

I don't think I will lose to Cedric overwhelmingly like before and could at least put up a fight.

Cedric stood in front of me but unlike before, I didn't have to look up to him, as I had grown a bit taller, reaching six feet, equal to his height or even a bit more than him.

Cedric looked in my eyes just trying to find something to incite me. "So where's that bitch from before, huh?" He grinned, his mouth curling even more. "I heard she also abandoned you just like your w***e mother."

All the lackeys around Cedric started laughing as if this was some kind of sick joke.

Seles was observing the situation from the sidelines; her expression was indifferent but her eyes noticed every detail.

I could feel everyone's gaze on me; the whole room was filled with laughter as if he made some kind of grand joke but I didn't care about anything as my heart was thumping in my chest. My hands curled in fists so tightly that my nails were digging in.

I could only see Cedric and his smug smile in my vision, everyone else seemingly vanishing.

"And you know what..." I heard Cedric's voice again, his face still full of smirk.

I couldn't take it anymore. I'm done being his punching bag. I didn't care about anything anymore. All I knew was I had to wipe that smirk off his face.

As Cedric was trying to complete his sentence, I punched him. I put all my power in this fist, all my anger, all of it and Cedric, suddenly getting caught off guard, not expecting me to retaliate, got hit square in the face.

My punch landed on his face, his face turned ninety degrees with such force that I heard a cracking sound of his jaw before he crashed to the ground.

Suddenly all noise inside the chamber ceased, and everybody looked at me in disbelief, their mouths hanging agape. Nobody had dared to hit Cedric before. Even Seles looked surprised, as if even she couldn't predict this happening.

For a long moment Cedric was in a daze. He couldn't believe it. His hands trembled as he touched his cheek in surprise. His eyes widening in disbelief.

But it didn't last long, as the surprise soon turned into rage. He felt humiliated. His face saying, How dare that bug hit me?', I could feel rage bubbling inside him as his eyes went bloodshot, his body trembling with fury.

On the other hand, my expression was calm as I looked at Seles and everyone in room one, one by one, as if this matter were unrelated to me.

I have put all my anger, all my frustration, in that punch.

This was the first time I felt so angry. Even when he beat me before, I felt anger but not at this level.

But the moment he said something about Ellara and my mother, I couldn't take it anymore. Although I didn't know anything about my mother in this life, I still couldn't hear Cedric speaking about her in such a way.

For the first time I felt if I didn't act now, I would become like my previous life, a failure and a disappointment.

I don't care who is backing Cedric or if he has a faction. I am going to face it all.

Cedric started walking towards me again. His mind wasn't sane anymore. He was feeling intense humiliation. I also got ready to put up a fight.

"I'm going to kill you, you bastard..." He said as his expression twisted in anger.

But before he could punch me, a voice too cold resounded in the chamber.

"Enough," the voice was followed by an overwhelming pressure on them.

Most of them couldn't even stand straight, with some falling unconscious with foam coming from their mouths.

Only some people could stand even their knees shaking as if it couldn't take the pressure anymore. Seles was the only one who didn't struggle to stand but I could see sweat trickling down her face.

I gritted my teeth, looking around in the direction where the voice came from as I saw....