4: The Core of Survival

The nursery was deathly silent.

No—this wasn't silence. This was the absence of life.

The warmth of candlelight wavered, struggling against the creeping frost seeping into the room. The air thickened, turning heavier, colder. It wasn't the natural chill of the northern winds. This cold was something else—something ancient, something wrong.

And at its center, perched on the edge of the crib, was it.

A raven, its feathers shimmering with frost, its form more spirit than beast. Ice curled around its body, mist rising where it touched the air.

And its eyes—two frozen stars, glimmering with something far beyond mortal comprehension.

"You have agreed, little human."

Averis, lying in his crib, did not flinch. His tiny, fragile body was still, but his crimson eyes did not waver.

The raven tilted its head.

It was amused.

"Good."

The frost thickened.

Averis felt it settle into his bones, wrapping around his core, slipping into the very essence of his being.

"Your mana is a storm—wild, chaotic, unrefined."

The words pressed into his mind, smooth as flowing water yet sharp as fractured ice.

"Left unchecked, it will destroy you before you can ever wield it."

Averis did not need to be told.

He could feel it—his mana, vast and unshaped, crashing against the fragile walls of his body, screaming to be free. It hurt. Every second, it hurt.

And yet—

He did not cry.

The raven watched him in silence.

Then, as if pleased by something unseen, it spoke once more.

"I will forge it into a core."

The moment the words fell, the frost in the air exploded.

---

A Shattered Soul (The Ritual Begins)

The world cracked.

The warmth was gone.

Averis gasped. Or—he tried to. His body locked up, muscles seizing under the crushing pressure that coiled around him.

Then—pain.

A shattering force tore through him, like ice breaking across a frozen lake—only the lake was him.

His mana fought back.

It resisted.

It raged.

Averis's newborn frame convulsed, tiny veins burning with raw, uncontainable power. The pressure swelled, pressing against his skin, his bones—his soul.

Crack.

Something inside him fractured.

He couldn't breathe. He couldn't move.

He was breaking.

"Hold on, little human."

The raven's voice was distant, detached, almost curious.

"Do not let it consume you."

Averis wanted to scream.

He couldn't.

Then—

The world collapsed.

---

Visions of the Unseen

Darkness.

No—something deeper than darkness.

An abyss.

A space untouched by light, untouched by time, stretching beyond the known.

And within it—

A figure loomed.

Vast. Endless.

It did not move. It did not breathe. And yet, its presence swallowed everything.

Six great wings stretched outward, each one shrouded in power.

And within that storm—darkness, frost, water, wind, fire—and something else.

Something unseen.

Something felt.

The figure turned.

Six glowing eyes bore into him.

Averis's soul trembled.

And then—

A voice.

Not the raven's.

Something older.

Something that had been waiting.

"Averis."

The name echoed.

His name.

But not just his name.

Something more.

Something—

The moment shattered.

---

The Aftermath & the Caretaker's Concern

Averis gasped awake.

His body was drenched in sweat, his skin ice-cold. The lingering frost clung to the air, but the suffocating weight of the ritual had passed.

Inside him—

His mana had stilled.

No, not just stilled. Refined.

A new system window flickered before his eyes.

---

[Mana Core Formation: Complete]

Core Stability: [Unstable] – Further refinement required.

---

"It is done."

The raven's voice was quiet now, its presence no longer suffocating, yet still unshakable.

"This is only the first step, little human. Do not think for a moment that you are safe."

Averis barely had time to process the words before—

Warmth.

A pair of hands lifted him from the crib.

His caretaker.

Her grip was firm, steady, reassuring.

Averis felt the exhaustion crash into him all at once, his body weak, his mind reeling. He barely registered the way her sharp eyes scanned his face.

"...You're cold," she murmured.

A frown.

She wrapped him in a thicker blanket, holding him closer.

She didn't know what had happened.

She couldn't see the frost still lingering in the air, nor the silent raven watching from the shadows.

But she felt it.

Her grip tightened slightly.

And for the first time, Averis did not resist the warmth.

---

The raven was silent now.

Outside, the northern winds howled.

The night had ended.

But the path ahead—

Had only just begun.