Chapter 1: Marked As TrashTeenage chatter filled the air as a crowd of students gathered before an elevated platform. At its center stood a crystal pillar, humming with power and shifting through every color imaginable, a wondrous sight, visible even from the back of the crowd.To the right, seated on a floating platform, were rows of teachers. They were here to scout outstanding talent for their own tutelage, because today was the general Awakening Day for every eighteen-year-old fit to awaken.Standing beside the crystal was a middle-aged man with short black hair and deep brown eyes, his muscular build visible through the shirt that hugged him tightly. His gaze swept the crowd, fierce and intimidating."I welcome you all to the annual Awakening Ceremony." His voice boomed through the stadium like a loudspeaker, though he carried no mic, it simply sounded like thunder."Today is the day you've all been waiting for, the day you step beyond the ordinary, made possible the moment mana

Chapter 3: Blood for BloodKael walked in a daze, the day's events replaying in his mind like a tape stuck on loop. Just thinking about it made him grit his teeth and clench his fists. Then his phone started buzzing, nonstop."What now?" he groaned, pulling it out. What he read made his eyes go wide with shock.[ALERT! ALERT!! ALERT!! All citizens in Creek Core District are urged to seek underground shelter immediately. A Red-Class rift break has occurred in the area. Any nearby awakened individuals are urged to assist. God help you all. Amen.]Dread washed over Kael's face. One disaster a day should've been enough but a rift break, of all things? A Red-Class one, no less.The same fear spread across everyone around him as the warning sirens began to wail through the district.Panic broke out instantly. People scattered, running for the nearest underground shelter, cars abandoned in the street as it became every man for himself.Kael stood frozen for a moment, his mind racing to catch

Chapter 5: HospitalizedThe battle began in earnest as Kael tore through them, his movements fluid, almost weightless. A single punch obliterated a cluster of goblins on contact; every strike of his claws cut down another orc.Bare-handed, he tore limbs from bodies and crushed skulls as he fought. This wasn't a battle anymore, it was a massacre, carried out by one person.Blood soaked the ground beneath the growing pile of corpses, gore scattered across what remained of the street.Kael caught a struggling goblin by the head and crushed it like a grape. The battlefield was a ruin of blood and shattered pavement, destruction everywhere.He turned back toward Elisa, who stood frozen, still processing the scale of what she'd just witnessed. When his gaze met hers, a chill ran through her entire body, the person looking back at her didn't feel like her brother anymore.He started walking toward her, and fear gripped her as she watched him approach, his eyes flat and cold, utterly devoid o