His hands felt clammy and his heart was racing. Despite this, Greg maintained a calm demeanor even as he looked on at his mom sitting cross-legged in the middle of the crystalline sigil. A part of him knew that the feeling was irrational. Unless his mother was linked to a hidden deity they'd all been unaware of so far, her ascension to the first tier would be nowhere near as dramatic as Greg's had been. Still, the rest of him couldn't help but fear all the same. His ascension had almost gone horribly wrong due to danger he couldn't have seen or predicted. Given the fact that they were in a city deep in the middle of a black zone, who's to say that something equally strange or unexpected couldn't happen? A hand clenched tightly around his bicep and Greg couldn't help but turn his gaze to his sister who was unconsciously clinging to him for support. Unlike him, she didn't hide any of her nervousness behind a veneer of calm. But unlike Greg's fear, her nervousness didn't stem from the f

Greg couldn't help the sudden burst of relief he felt as he turned in his mother's direction. Even greater than the anticipation that something unique might happen with her awakening, had been the fear that something would go wrong. He, after all, hadn't been present during his teacher's awakening owing to his yearlong seclusion. The fact that nothing extraordinary happened didn't even remotely bother Greg. Everything had worked out well and to Greg that was by far the best outcome. A part of him, also, was thankful toward Tayani for the distraction as he too had been feeling quite nervous about the whole ordeal. Greg had only engaged her because he wanted to ease her worries by distracting her from them. In the process, however, he too had been distracted and felt a lot less worried. His mother's eyes opened and a smile graced her lips as she looked from the healer to her son. There was nothing outwardly different about her. Through his sense for Mana, however, Greg could feel the