Richard's PovWhen I woke up, it was morning.I was lying in the forest, smoke rising around me. The creature was gone, like it had never been there.But something inside me had changed.I could feel it.A strong energy within meI didn’t want to go to the ceremony.But I knew I had to.Whatever happened last night, I could feel it had left me stronger, and I wasn't going to throw my life away.The sky above Miracle Academy burned with gold and violet light as the banners of the Great Awakening Ceremony unfurled. Floating platforms circled the spires, humming with power. Drones buzzed around, broadcasting the event to every screen across the continent.And here I was.Standing in a line with hundreds of other hopefuls.Many of them from Awakened families, dressed in ceremonial gray robes like we were here to be sacrificed to some gods.Which, in a way, we were.My hands were cold, but it wasn’t the air. It was the stares.They looked at me like I didn’t belong. Like I’d polluted their

Richard's PovI stood frozen, heart pounding in my chest like a war drum. Caleb Hemmins. The golden boy of Miracle Academy. The prodigy whose name was whispered even among instructors. A monster in human skin.And now, he was walking straight toward me.“You’ve lasted five and a half hours,” Caleb said, casually brushing imaginary dust off his black trial uniform. “That’s impressive. For a Hollowborn.”I didn’t reply. I couldn’t afford to waste breath.He tilted his head, studying me like I was some broken puzzle he couldn’t quite throw away yet. “I thought you’d be gone in the first hour. But here you are. Breathing.”“Unfortunately for you,” I rasped, shifting into a loose stance, “I plan on doing that a while longer.”He smiled, slow and sharp. “Let’s see how long your luck lasts.”Then he vanished.I barely registered the movement—a blur of motion—and instinct kicked in. I twisted just as his boot came flying toward my ribs. Even dodging, the impact sent me crashing into the maze

Richard's PovThere was a tension in the air that morning. Not the kind that crackled with laws or whispered of danger—it was heavier, subtler, like the kind that settled in a room before a brawl. It clung to my uniform, tight at the collar, irritating at the cuffs. Or maybe that was just the way everyone stared at me as I stepped into the Cadet Training Grounds.The courtyard was massive, divided into zones—combat rings, sparring dummies, laws conduits, and even an arena encased in transparent shielding where mock battles could be fought at full force. Around me, cadets were stretching, sparring, laughing. Some quieted when I passed. Others didn’t bother to hide the way they whispered.“Is that him?”“Number 96? No way. That guy’s Hollowborn.”“Miracle’s charity case.”I clenched my jaw and walked faster.An instructor met me halfway. He wore no insignia, just the dull-gray robe of a training overseer, his face as blank as a polished blade.“Richard Sol?” he asked.“Yes, sir.”“You’v

Richard's PovThe moment the overseer’s hand dropped, Vincent moved.Not just fast but instant. One second, he was standing a few meters from me, and the next, he was right in front of me, fist cocked and glowing with constructive law. I barely raised my arms in time, channeling the laws to my hand to defend myself. The impact blasted through my guard like a wrecking ball, launching me backward across the dueling ring.I hit the barrier hard. Lightning flickered where my body made contact, law-woven energy pulsing to absorb the blow.Gasps rippled through the stands.Vincent didn’t wait. He surged forward, a blur of motion, hands trailing threads of pulsing silver. Matter Shaping. I’d studied it. He could control the form of anything he touched—armor, weapons, even air if he compressed it right.He slammed his palms into the ground, and the arena shifted.Spikes erupted beneath my feet, tall as spears, slicing toward my chest. I leaped sideways, rolled, and came up gasping. My ribs ho

Richard's POV The training vault beneath Miracle Academy was a tomb of silence, its stone walls etched with runes that hummed like a distant heartbeat. I stood alone in the center of the chamber, sweat dripping from my brow, the air heavy with the weight of laws I was trying to tame. My glyphs pulsed faintly under my skin—sacrificial, elemental, constructive, quantum—all whispering possibilities I couldn’t yet grasp. Null Drive and Null Counter were my weapons, but they were wild, untamed, threatening to tear me apart every time I reached for them. “Focus,” I muttered, clenching my fists. The vault’s runes flickered in response, amplifying the laws I channeled. I needed control. Rank E- wasn’t enough—not for Squad Seven, not for the eyes that now watched me with fear or hate, not for the fire in my chest that refused to let me kneel. I activated Null Drive. The chamber’s lights dimmed, the air thickening as laws receded like a retreating tide. My core strained, glyphs flaring gray.