Within the Wargrave estate, in a particular hall, chairs stretched out as every member of the family gathered to watch the Tenth Sun’s True Awakening.
The True Awakening was a ceremony where the Wargraves revealed the true nature of the world to their descendants just six months after their initial awakening. They were thrown into a battlefield at an unknown time and told to survive while the rest of the family watched from afar.
During the True Awakening, many Wargraves had died. The Wargraves watched them perish without moving a finger to save anyone due to family tradition and law.
And it was the same here. If Asher Wargrave was about to fall, ’no one’ would make a move to save him from not overcoming his reality.
Within the hall, not a single aura dared to flare or fold the air in the presence of the Primarch. On a table in front of everyone, a blue orb could be seen resting as it shone brightly. Various heads-up displays popped up in front of everyone gathered.
They all watched Asher instantly jump to his feet and retrieve the parchment from his pocket just a second after waking up. They saw him scale a tree immediately after that and hide, and then they saw him tank an explosion from an arrow.
They had expected him to make a run for it the moment he jumped down from the tree, after all, the parchment said ’survive.’ But no, he had taken a different route by attacking instead. This singular decision earned a lot of approval from all the Wargraves.
This was their way of combat, they never ran or hid. Although in this moment, one could hide, set up ambushes, and lay traps due to the situation, they still loved how the Tenth Sun handled things.
Although they were Wargraves, it didn’t mean they were all muscles and no brains all the time. They were all muscles and no brains only when the situation required it, and this situation required some brains.
They watched him cleave an owl into perfect, symmetrical halves with just a swing of his rapier.
They watched as Virelass moved without her master, instantly decapitating the first dagger assassin, then wiping out various snake monsters, deflecting throwing needles coated in poison, single-handedly holding her own against some assassins while also healing her master.
If Asher wasn’t such a genius, Virelass would have been the star of the show. She must have waited for this very moment, to fight for her master.
At this moment, some Wargraves already had soft smiles on their faces as they watched Asher.
This was the Wargrave way.
No panic.No questions.No hesitation.
Just pure action. Just pure massacre. Just pure bloodbath.
The three Great Elders sat in calm silence, their gazes locked onto the display in front of them.
The Librarian, named Morthen Wargrave, who was the first Great Elder Asher had ever met, spoke:
"It seems the Tenth Sun has been hiding quite deeply." He loved the way Asher moved, and a smile appeared on his face.
"Indeed. We didn’t pay attention to him due to awakening on his third try, and he turns out to be a bigger monster," Cazmir Wargrave, the second Great Elder, added.
"It also seems the Tenth Sun has inherited Lily’s talent for the rapier," Belmira Wargrave, the third Great Elder, added from the side.
Many of those in the room nodded. They couldn’t deny Asher’s talent; they simply hadn’t paid any attention to him because of his third awakening. Besides, the Suns and Moons only started receiving real attention from other family members when they survived the True Awakening.
"At least now we know the ability of his rapier, but I wonder if he could heal other people with it besides himself," an Elder spoke calmly as she stared at the screen, watching Asher’s achilles tendon mend like it was nothing.
The Elder was named Damaris Wargrave, the Primarch’s sister.
Everyone within the room nodded, as healing abilities were always welcomed anywhere. And if it was something that could heal others, not just the wielder, even better.
"The rapier also seems to protect the youngest against illusion," Wuthenya Wargrave spoke with a smile, her legs crossed over the other, her black eyes fixed on her brother, who battled for his life.
"But not only that, maybe it could also protect him from other types of mind abilities and skills, and not just illusions," Malrik Wargrave added from the side. He too had a smile on his face.
"Or it could mean he indeed fell for the illusion, but the rapier didn’t, and it protected him. The rapier interfering might be what broke the illusion," another Elder named Sarion Wargrave added from the side as he analyzed.
"That could also be true," Malrik replied with a nod as they dissected everything Asher displayed, down to its lowest form.
As they watched him dive headfirst into a fire wave coming from the side, grins spread across almost every face present. They watched as he coated himself in purple lightning before tearing out the heart of an assassin, then proceeded to unleash a sword attack.
They weren’t surprised by his lightning element. Although every Wargrave awakened an element, it wasn’t unique to them. Other people had awakened such elements in the family’s past, and others in the world also possessed the same elements.
Asher wasn’t the only lightning wielder in the world, but just because a group of people had the same element didn’t mean they all possessed the same control and pure firepower.
At the center of the room, Azeron sat with calm composure. This wasn’t the first time he was watching the True Awakening. He had watched his siblings, the Elders, go through their True Awakening. He had watched his nine children go through the same process, and now he was watching the Tenth Sun do the same.
Although he loved Asher and wanted to protect him, Azeron would never coddle him. He wouldn’t stop events like the True Awakening. The Wargraves were beings molded in battle, and he would watch his son be molded and come out on top.
He wasn’t worried about Asher losing a limb and being unable to regenerate it. People with healing abilities were already on standby.
Besides, nobody, not a single Wargrave, not Azeron Wargrave, not Malrik Wargrave, who were considered monsters, walked out of the True Awakening without a missing limb.
Missing limbs or body parts like eyes, ears, and others were the norm within the True Awakening.
After all, a fifteen year old child without any real battle experience was thrust into a forest filled with wild, savage beasts and a group of assassins who would stop at nothing to claim his head.
To the Wargraves, survival was never about luck. It was about instinct, strength, decisiveness, and the will to live, even if it meant tearing through blood, limbs, and death itself.
And at this moment, in this hall filled with silence and subtle grins, one thing became clear:
The Tenth Sun was shining far brighter than they ever expected.
And they fucking loved every bit of it.
At the back, Thalric Wargrave sat as he watched in disbelief. He had expected Asher to be nothing but trash, but now, his hope had been dashed once more, just like when he believed Asher would fail his awakening yet again.
But he couldn’t speak. After all, he was the weakest within this group of monsters in human skin.