Awakening

The magic within the boy immediately began to circulate and began to grow increasingly rampant as it began to race through the boy's body. A feeling of a lack of control began to spread all across the boy's body as the chanting continued and even Lady Elaria even began to join in.

"What's going on? Why can't I control my magic? What are you doing to me?" The boy barked out in panic as he began to increasingly struggle but as he did so, pain began to emerge as his skin began to light up.

In the span of a few seconds, the magic in his body was not able to contain itself as the boy found that he was overflowing with magic power and with nowhere to store it, the magic began to seep out of his body.

Countless mini strings of a deep dark indigo began to thread themselves out of the boy's body with a silver glow. But as the strings escaped, they were only able to leave a one meter area around the boy's body before they were stopped from escaping further by an invisible wall.

The moment that the invisible wall was hit by the strings, the pain that the boy was feeling had intensified significantly. It was a pain that he felt deep in his heart but then it began to feel as if it came from somewhere even deeper… as if it came from his very soul.

An intense scream erupted out from the boy as he felt his soul being pulled. Struggling as much as he could he shouted to the chanters, "Please! I don't want to die!"

Nevertheless, none of the people near him seemed to pay attention or even bat an eye as they all continued their chanting.

It hurts… Everything hurts… I don't want to die… I don't want to die…

These thoughts filled his head as he felt completely helpless and yet was filled with desires to survive and find a way. 

"Hahaha!" a voice suddenly laughed out, dragging the boy from out of his stupor and a cloaked man walked out. As he got closer to the boy, he removed his cloak, revealing his handsome face with short blonde hair.

"Who…are…you?" the boy asked out, barely suppressing his pain.

"Impressive… Even though you are having your soul ripped out of your body, you're still able to speak," the man commented as he observed the boy like a hunter observing a caged animal.

"What are they doing - argh!" The pain rose to another level as the boy suddenly felt a distant sensation with his body.

"Hahahaha! That must be it, the portal is almost done," the man ignored the boy's question and instead seemed to be more interested in the progress of the incantation. 

The string flying out of the boy's body began to flood the shield that was keeping them from escaping and soon enough the boy's body became harder to see due to the sheer number of strings. 

The figures that were chanting began to visibly get weaker as their bodies began to shake and one of them even fell on their knees.

"Don't stop!" the man shouted at the mage that had fallen on his knees, "You must persevere, this is necessary for the rise of this family. We shall summon a great S-rank beast!"

'S-rank beast?' pondered the boy as he felt his strength leave him and he felt more and more empty.

'I don't want to die…' the boy thought as his soul was finally completely torn apart from his body.

At the stone room, a humongous spark of light erupted as the boy's body completely disintegrated under the string energies and in that moment, a huge burst of energy spread out. 

It easily destroyed the invisible shield and even spread to everyone there as they were all sent flying at the wall.

That day was known as the Great Awakening Massacre.

In a great expanse of nothing, a small light flickered weakly. It was the soul of the boy which was slowly stirring awake.

Ugh… Where am I? There is… nothing? I… died?

Despite having no eyes, the soul was able to see around it. It was simply floating aimlessly in a great void that was endless and silent. 

What… happened? How did I die?

The soul pondered but it was not able to figure out what happened. There were no feelings of sadness, instead, just a strong feeling of boredom.

Let me move to the right… Hup!

In the far expanse, the soul could be seen desperately trying to move to the right but no matter how hard it tried, there was no form of distance being covered. It remained stationary despite all that effort.

Two hours later… 

The boy's soul had been aimlessly floating like a piece of wood lost at sea. Just as its boredom was about to get worse, something appeared in its view.

A light! The soul sensed another light far in the distance.

The first change that it was seeing after arriving on this plane, it immediately paid close attention to it and it began imaginarily jumping for joy when it realised that the light was slowly heading towards it.

'Yay!' He cheered as the light arrived next to him. 

'Strange… you're not supposed to be here…' the light spoke.

'You can speak?' he asked curiously, not expecting to be able to communicate with the other light.

'Why are you here, little one?' the light asked.

'I don't know… I think I died but I don't remember how…' the boy's soul replied innocently.

The other light then suddenly reached out and suddenly tapped the boy. In that instant, the boy felt a small jolt of electricity pass through him. He stared at the light in confusion, expecting an answer.

'I see… WHAT!' the light suddenly shouted, alarming the boy.

'What happened? Did I do something wrong?' he asked.

'Boy, you are special,' the light answered but just as it said the final word.

'Don't! Please don't use that word. I don't know why but I don't like that word,' the boy answered.

'Ah… That's normal…' the light commented, 'Boy, do you want to live again?'

'Yes, please!' 

'That was fast… haha' it laughed, 'do you want to live no matter what?'

'YES!'

'I like that answer… hold onto this and it will take you into your next life.'

The light then suddenly pulled out a small shiny golden ball that immediately made one have desires to caress it.

'Okay…' the boy replied cautiously but as he reached for the ball, he found his hand slowing down and it gradually came to a stop.

'Of course he would have trust issues' the light thought to itself and it pushed the ball into the hands of the boy's soul.

In that moment, the boy felt an intense force pull him right across the cold and empty expansive void.

'Haha. Never have I seen someone with such an innate talent for space. He was the most deserving person I've found in my three hundred million years of roaming this expanse,' the light spoke as it gazed at the direction at which the boy's soul flew away.

Some time later…

'Ugh… It's cold… and hard…' the boy groaned as he stirred from unconsciousness, slowly getting up from the rough and unforgiving floor.

As he slowly got up, he found that his limbs felt strange… they were awkward and heavy, yet, at the same time, they felt lighter than he remembered them.

A strong earthy smell of dirt and wood along with grass invaded his nostrils.

His eyes opened, not knowing what to expect.

Twilight skies streaked with shades of violet and indigo, fluffy long clouds swirling lazily like ink in water.

'Where am I?' the boy thought as he slowly raised his head, mind still foggy and disoriented.

As he tried to push his hands forward, he found that his limbs acted weird and he stumbled forward, his balance completely off. 

'Why are my hands so thin and long?' the boy thought, 'And my legs… they feel shorter… and bigger…'

He glanced down at his hands and froze.

Claws.

Sharp, black claws extended from his paws.

'I am a dog?' he thought as he took in his appearance. Confused, he glanced towards his body and found that it was covered in a dark, shimmering fur, and as he twisted to look behind him, he caught sight of a long bushy tail swaying slowly.

He staggered towards a pool of water that was nearby, its surface still and reflective. And as he looked into it, he saw his now totally different appearance… A different creature that was staring back at him and it definitely wasn't a human but it definitely wasn't a dog either.

"Hyii-hyii-hyii!" came out from the boy as he began speaking, creating a strange maniacal laughing sound.

But on the inside, 'THAT'S NOT A DOG!' was what he thought. 

His head was large and wide, with rounded ears and thick neck with amber eyes and black noses with a wide grin that gleamed with an intelligence that didn't belong to a beast. 

His fur shimmered with an unnatural glow with a striped coat. His tail was also bushy with a darker tuft at the end. 

"Hyii-Hyii-hyii!" 'maybe I'm a funky dog…'

"Rhaaahhh!"

Suddenly, a searing pain shot up the boy's head, causing him to growl out in pain. His mind spun with confusion and just at that moment, fragments of his human life flashed through his mind as faces, voices, memories of warmth and betrayal all came back. Lady Elaria, the pain of the ritual, the blonde man at the end…

[~System Unlock Beginning~]

[System Awakening Progress; 0%]

And then, darkness.