Then the door cracked open.
A man stepped in, letting it close behind him with a soft click. He didn’t say anything at first. Just stood there, taking the room in with a look that said he’d done this a hundred times before,Maybe even more.
He was tall–not towering, but solid. Broad across the shoulders, the kind of build that didn’t come from training but from life just beating on you until you got used to the weight. His coat was dark, heavy-looking, with faded stitching around the cuffs like it had been patched more than once. Nothing flashy. Just practical. Well-used. There was a scar across his jawline, not deep, but the kind you don’t get by accident.
His eyes landed on me, calm and unreadable. Not kind, not harsh just tired. Tired of kids walking in thinking they were special. Tired of watching them find out they weren’t.
"You’re the late bloomer?" he asked. His voice was rough, low—not in a forced way, but like it naturally settled there.
He gave a small grunt, walked over to the wall near the corner, and tapped something on a small embedded panel. A soft hum rolled through the floor. The platform beneath me lit up faintly—pale blue rings tracing a slow pattern outward.
"Name?" he asked, eyes still on the panel.
I gave it. He typed it in without looking at me, like it didn’t matter who I was, just what I could do or what the device would show him.
"You ever triggered your system in a monitored space before?"
He finally looked at me again. "Then don’t get creative. No stunts, no proving anything. Let the platform do the work. Just call out to your system and the system will be able to detect it okay "
I didn’t say anything. Just nodded again.
"Alright." He stepped back, folding his arms over his chest. "Whenever you’re ready."
That was it. No pep talk. No instructions. Just me, standing on a glowing stone circle in a silent room, being watched by a man who looked like he’d already made up his mind about me.
I took a breath. Not deep—just enough to settle the jitter in my chest. My hands were already warm. The air felt heavier now. Like something was pulling at the space just around my skin.
" Why was I even scared for I already did it before" I said trying to calm myself and my racing heart down.
"System" I called out in my mind and just like before a screen manifested in front of me showing all my talents. I wasn’t worried about the device or whatever the called it finding out I possessed divinity like the man said it could all feel when someone called out it system and that was it.
" You’ve awakened alright, congratulations" he said with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. " The receptionist will fill out your fill and report it back to the academy immediately ".I just nodded at him.
" You are free to go now " he said gesturing towards the door of the room. I just looked at him and started walking out.
" Will that part’s is all done " I said to myself as I walked towards the woman I spoke with not long ago, who the man addressed as the receptionist.
"Alright," she said, checking something off on the clipboard. "Your awakening’s been confirmed. An instructor will be assigned to walk you through the next steps,explaining your system, helping you choose your weapon class, and placing you into the classes you chose."
She paused for a second, like she was making sure I’d actually heard her. "It’ll happen soon. Just... don’t go disappearing before then, yeah?, You can take a seat over there okay " she said gesturing towards one of the sit near her. I just smiled and nodded at her already moving to the sit she told me to sit on.
It didn’t take up to a minute before an instructor walked in.
He stepped in tall, broad across the shoulders, with the kind of calm that didn’t come from being easygoing. No, this was the quiet you earned by always being the one in control.
His coat was the academy’s dark uniform, the crest stitched in silver thread on the shoulder. It looked official, but not pristine there were faint marks along the seams, and his boots were scuffed like he’d been through more than a few missions that didn’t involve standing in classrooms.
His eyes swept the room once. Just once. That was all it took.
"You’re the new awakening?" he asked. His voice was calm, low just enough edge to make it clear he wasn’t here to have conversation with me.
He didn’t waste time. Pulled a slim device from his coat something small, palm-sized, metallic. He tapped it once, and a soft glow lit up across the surface.
"Michael Arden" I said
He looked down at the screen, scanned something, then nodded once—like that was all he needed. Not impressed,Not unimpressed. Just moving on.
"Alright. You’re registered by the academy "
He slipped the device back into his coat.
"From here, we’ll start setting up your path weapon class, system orientation, class assignments. You’ll have choices, but not all of them. Some things get decided for you the moment you awakened." Thɪs chapter is updated by novel•fire.net
His tone wasn’t unkind. Just matter-of-fact. Like someone used to seeing this same moment unfold a dozen different ways, like it was a script he had memorized for a long time and didn’t need to take a look at the script to remember his lines.
"You ready?" he asked, eyes locked on mine.I wasn’t sure if I was. But I nodded anyway. " Okay, follow me" he said already walking towards the academy hallway.
" The system has existed for more than century now, and no one knows how it was created or by who, it just appeared and granted humanity to path to awakening to ascension. The system comes with it own description you would soon learn that every weapon welded has a story to it." He said giving me a short rundown about the system.
" We are here" he said walking to one of the doors in the hallway ,he opens it and gestures for me to walk in.