All Chapters of APEX AWAKENING : Chapter 61
- Chapter 70
122 chapters
THE FIRST TRIBUTE
The rain fell for more than an hour, washing the courtyard clean. Ash, frost, and scorch marks faded as water ran through the cracks in the stone. By the time the clouds finally broke, the damage looked less like a battlefield and more like a memory.The repair crew arrived quietly.They came from the lower city, a group of earth and metal Awakeners dressed in plain work robes. No questions. No stares. They bowed once to Draven and went straight to work. Stone lifted itself back into shape. Metal flowed like clay. Qi hummed softly through tools and hands.The shattered dome was repaired first. A stronger lattice of energy formed overhead, glowing faintly as it locked into place. The storm outside was sealed away, and calm returned to the enclave.Draven watched from the porch of the residence.He could feel the change inside himself. His power sat heavier now, deeper. S Grade Level Four. Stable. Controlled.The Chaotic Maw technique rested in his mind like a coiled beast. He understoo
THE UNWELCOME GUEST
A full week passed inside the Verdant Spring Enclave, and for the first time since arriving at the Spire, Draven experienced something close to routine.Each morning began the same way. He sat cross-legged in the quiet center of his residence, the Phoenix feather resting across his palms. It no longer burned brightly like it had on the first day. Its glow was softer now, deeper, as if the fire had turned inward. Draven breathed slowly and guided the energy into his Chaotic Seed.The fire did not rush. It flowed steadily, patiently, like molten gold being poured into a mold.His Chaotic Seed accepted it greedily, refining it, balancing it. The warmth spread through his body, soaking into muscle, bone, and blood. His heartbeat grew strong and steady. His breathing deepened. It felt as though his body remembered sunlight from another life.By the end of each session, the feather looked duller, thinner, its ancient power slowly fading into him. In return, Draven felt tougher. Harder to br
TOOLS OF THE TRADE
The moment Marcus disappeared, Draven acted. Two hours wasn’t much, but it was all he had. Every second counted.He strode into his residence, mind clear, feet light. First, a status check. He focused inward and called up the System interface.[ Status: Draven ][ Realm: Qi Refining, S Grade, Level 4 ][ Core Stability: Ninety-four percent. Phoenix Down absorption complete ][ Qi Reserve: 100% | Purity: High ][ Notable Skills ][ Five Element Fist: Grandmaster. Progress twenty-five percent ][ Zephyr Dance: Major. Progress forty-five percent. Phantom Step ready ][ Aura Shell: Grandmaster. Reactive layering active ][ Blossoming Strikes: Proficient. Progress seventy-five percent ][ Chaotic Maw: Synthesized. Untested. High Qi cost ][ Strife Points: 2,600 ][ Current Objectives: Consolidate Sovereign Position. Ruin-Crawler Vault Retrieval ]He exhaled slowly. The numbers were solid. The Phoenix Down had done more than increase his fire affinity. His core felt smoother, cleaner, like
THE PATH THROUGH THE SCREAM
Flying low over the Twisted Wastes felt like swimming through poison. Sharp rock spikes jutted out of the ground like broken teeth, twisting and splitting the land in impossible angles. Patches of soil glowed with strange green and violet light, pulsing faintly as if the land itself had a heartbeat. Even the air seemed alive, filled with faint whispers that clawed at the mind, echoes left behind from the time the world was torn apart. Every gust carried a sense of danger. Every shadow suggested something unseen was waiting.Draven flew at the front, steady and precise. Marcus and the Free Blades followed close behind, keeping formation. They stayed low, barely fifty feet above the broken terrain, moving slowly to avoid drawing the attention of the larger flying predators that lurked in the skies.“It feels wrong,” Lys said softly, her voice carrying over the hum of the wind. She squinted at the ground, scanning for movement. “Like the land itself is alive.”“That it is,” Draven said.
THE WARDLOCK
They came down hard behind a massive slab of ancient stone that leaned at an angle, half buried in the basin floor. It was a relic from before the Collapse, cracked and weathered, but still large enough to hide all of them. The metallic egg loomed nearby, dull and silent, its surface scarred by time and constant feeding.Up close, the sound of the Crawlers was unbearable. Crunching. Grinding. Tearing. It echoed through the basin like a slow heartbeat made of stone and teeth.“Never getting used to that sound,” Lys muttered, tightening her grip on her staff.Jax was already kneeling. He placed both hands flat on the ground and closed his eyes.“Give me thirty seconds,” he said calmly.The ground beneath them shivered. Not violently. Not loudly. Stones blocking the dark archway began to shift, one by one. Rubble slid aside as if the earth itself was breathing out. Dust fell in thin streams. No one spoke while Jax worked.Thirty seconds later, the entrance stood open.The Wardlock reveal
THE ALPHA’S WRATH
The Alpha roared again.The sound slammed into the cliffs and shook loose clouds of dust. Stones rattled and fell. The worker Crawlers reacted instantly. Their master’s anger flowed through them. They clattered forward as one mass, crystal nodes glowing, mandibles snapping open and shut as they charged.“Plan!” Lys shouted, clutching the sack with the artifacts tight against her chest.“The gorge!” Jax yelled. He was already turning toward the cliff wall they had used before. “Back the way we came!”“No,” Draven said quickly. His eyes were fixed on the Alpha. “That won’t work. It will follow us. That path is narrow. If it gets behind us, we die there.”Marcus stood still for a heartbeat, eyes moving fast. Crawlers in front. Alpha closing in. Limited space. His mind worked like a blade.“We cannot fight that thing directly,” Marcus said. “So we do not try. We distract it. Hard.”“I can do that,” Draven said. He pulled a small vial from his pocket. The liquid inside glowed with cold blu
DIVIDING THE SPOILS
The sun over the Wastes was harsh and unforgiving. Heat pressed down on them as they stood catching their breath. The only sounds were the dry wind and the rough rise and fall of their breathing. Far behind them, the Alpha’s furious roars faded until there was only silence.One by one, they straightened up.Everyone looked battered. Torn clothes. Scratches. Bruises. Small cuts with dried blood. Draven’s left arm throbbed badly where the Alpha’s beam had hit him. The skin beneath the shredded fabric was red and angry, pulsing with pain.Marcus was the first to fully stand. He rolled his shoulders, brushed dust from his leathers, and looked at each of them in turn.“Everyone still working?” he asked.Jax grunted. Lys nodded. Vale lifted a hand slightly.“Good,” Marcus said. “This is not a place to relax.” He pointed east, where the distant shape of the Spire barely showed through the haze. “We move. We put distance between us and that thing before nightfall.”No one argued.They set off
THE UNWELCOME HOMECOMING
Draven passed through the glowing energy dome of the Verdant Spring Enclave just as the first true stars appeared in the darkening sky. Inside the enclave, everything was quiet. No alarms. No voices. No tension. After the constant danger of the Wastes, the silence felt heavy.He crossed the empty courtyard and sat on a stone bench beside the training ground. His whole body ached. Not just from wounds, but from exhaustion that sank deep into his bones.He took out the smoky crystal cube and placed it beside him.In the calm light of the enclave, it looked harmless. Silent. Almost ordinary.The peace did not last.A sharp, official chime rang through the courtyard. The central stone platform lit up, glowing with authority. A projection appeared above it.It was not Overseer Morwyn.The man in the image wore Conclave grey robes and had a stern, unfamiliar face. His eyes were cold and precise.“Scion Draven,” he said. “You are summoned to the Conclave Hall. Immediately. A matter has arise
THE CUBE’S WHISPER
The enclave was silent.Not the tense silence of danger or the heavy silence of enemies nearby, but a deep, settled quiet that pressed gently against Draven’s ears. After the chaos of the Conclave, it felt almost unreal. No watching eyes. No hidden pressure. Just stone walls, soft light, and his own breathing.Draven stood in the center of the room, the cube resting in his palm.It felt heavier than before.Not in weight, but in meaning.He closed his fingers around it once, then placed it carefully on the low wooden table in front of him. The smoky crystal surface reflected the soft glow of the room’s lightstones. Whatever secrets it held had already shaken the Spire. And now it was his responsibility alone.Draven sat cross legged and straightened his back. He slowed his breathing, letting his mind settle. Before touching the cube again, there was something that could not be ignored.The System.The mission was finished.He focused inward, letting his awareness sink past muscle and
THE FIRST LESSON
The Sunheart Stone glowed in Draven’s palm like a small captured sun. Its warmth was steady, not burning, but alive. It soaked into his skin and bones, reminding him that he finally had fuel. The cube rested on a stone table nearby, quiet and dark, no whisper, no movement. But its lesson was still fresh in his mind, heavy with promise and danger.Somewhere beyond the enclave walls, Kieran was watching the political currents for him. Somewhere deeper in the Spire, powerful people were thinking about how to take what he now owned.But none of that mattered yet.First, he had to learn.Draven spent the rest of the evening on the training ground. When the sky darkened and the first stars appeared, he kept going. When night deepened and the air grew cold, he was still there. When dawn finally painted the stone walls with pale light, he had not left.Sweat soaked his clothes. His breathing came hard and uneven. The stone beneath his feet was marked with scorch lines, shallow cracks, and str