2025-10-04 21:58:32Three days remained until the ranking battles, and Gabriel was beginning to understand why most people couldn't survive history, even one ancient entity, let alone three.
It wasn't the power that was the problem. It was the dream.
Every night, he lives through memories that weren't his. Umbrix’s centuries guarding the spaces between worlds, watching civilization rise and fall in the void between dimensions, Echo showed him flashes of ruling from the throne made of crystalized starlight, commanding armies that spanned multiple realities. And Soulrender’s fragment… Those dreams were the worst. Endless cutting, slicing through everything matter, energy, souls, the very concept of existence itself.
Gabriel woke each morning feeling like he'd lived a thousand lifetimes, his fifteen years old mind struggling to contain tons of experience.
You’re adapting faster than expected, Umbi observed as Gabriel sat in the back row of combat theory class, trying to stay awake. Most hosts would break within days
The boy has potential, Echo agreed. Though his emotional control needs works
That was putting it mildly. Gabriel nearly lost his temper twice yesterday, once when Derek had “accidentally” knocked his books into a puddle, and again when a group of first year students had laughed at him during lunch. Both times, he'd felt power surge through him like liquid fire, shadows responding to his anger.
The second incident had been particularly dangerous. The shadows in the dining hall had actually moved, reaching toward the laughing students like grasping fingers. Only Gabriel’s desperate mental scramble to regain control had stopped them from being noticed.
Mr. Stone."
Gabriel’s head snapped up. Professor Martinez was looking at him with raised eyebrows, and the entire class was staring. He'd been daydreaming again or rather, experiencing flashes of Echo interdimensional warfare.
“Yes, sir?”
“ I asked you a question about defensive positioning against multiple opponents. Since you seem to find the
topic so…. Boring.
Gabriel's face flushed. "Sorry sir", he mumbled, sitting up straight. "Could you repeat the question?"
A few students chuckled quietly, and Gabriel felt their eyes on him like heat. Professor Martinez sighed, then repeated the question about coordinating defense when surrounded.
Gabriel answered clumsily, but enough to avoid more embarrassment. The professors nodded, unimpressed and turned back to the board.
As the lecture continued, Gabriel rubbed his temples. His head pounded, not just from te lack of sleep, but from the overload of memories not his own. Echo's memories of war, Umbrix's isolation, Soulrender's terrifying hunger they were all bleeding Into him. He hadn't had a single peaceful night since merging with them.
"You're slipping," Soulrender's voice echoed coldly in his mind. "If I were in control, no one would laugh at us."
Gabriel clenched his first beneath the desk. He didn't need that voice right now. He didn't need any of them. What he needed was sleep, silence, and a chance to feel like himself again even if he wasn't sure who that was anymore.
And hopefully it wouldn't have to break him in the process
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chapter 11: new reality
The next morning, Gabriel woke to find his dormitory room empty. Marcus's bed was neatly made, his belongings still in place, but his roommate was nowhere to be seen.He's afraid, Umbrix observed quietly. Most humans would be.Gabriel sat up and looked at himself in the small mirror above his desk. He looked the same thin, ordinary, fifteen years old. But his eyes held something different now. Depth. Shadows that moved when the light caught them wrong.His uniform collar, which had glowed red for three years, now pulsed with steady blue light. Rank 156. The Academy had officially reclassified him overnight, placing him in the jumping straight to A-rank. Smart, Gabriel thought. Less dramatic, less likely to cause panic.Though after yesterday's display, he doubted anyone was fooled.They're managing the narratory, Echo said. Making your rise seem gradual rather than explosive.Gabriel dressed quickly and gathered his books. The hallways would be full of students heading to breakfast, a
chapter 10: consequences
Gabriel had exactly seventeen minutes of peace before the Academy guards came for him He spent those minutes in an empty classroom on the third floor, sitting by a window and watching rain streak down after the glass. The storm had grown stronger after his fight with Thane, as if the weather itself was responding to the power he'd unleashed “They're coming for us, " Umbrix observed and would have reported what they saw.‘Let them try to cage us again,”Soulrender's fragment hissed eagerly.Violence will only make things worse, Echo said. We need to be smart about this.Gabriel pressed his forehead against the cool glass. “I shouldn't have revealed so much. Everyone's afraid of me now” Fear is better than being laughed at, Echo replied coldly. Footsteps in the hallway. Multiple sets, moving with purple. Gabriel's enhanced hearing picked up the soft rustle of protective gear and the quiet of magical weapons being held. The classroom door burst open. Six Academy guards entered, their
The power revealed
The silence that followed Gabriel's transformation stretched for three heartbeats that felt like eternity. Rain drummed against the arena's protective dome, and in that crystalline moment, fifteen hundred people tried to process what they'd just witnessed.Then chaos erupted.“IMPOSSIBLE!” Someone shouted from the stands.“He was tested! Three years of testing!” "What the hell is he ?” Thane stumbled backward, his face a mask of shock and growing fear. The confident predator who had entered the arena was gone, replaced by a boy who suddenly understood he'd concerned something far more dangerous than he'd ever imagined. Now they see, Echo purred with satisfaction. Now they understand what real power looks like. Careful, Umbrix warned. We've revealed ourselves. Every move from here will be watched and analyzed. Gabriel felt the power flowing through him like liquid night controlled, focused, but cast as an ocean. His void sight showed him everything: Thane's hammering heartbeat, th
The battle begins
The morning of the ranking battles was cold and gray, with storm clouds pressing down on Heroic Dawn Academy. Gabriel stood at his window, watching students stream toward the combat arena in excitement. His reflection stared back still the same thing fifteen years old but his eyes held depths that hadn't been there before. Today's the day huh.., Echo said with satisfaction Today we reveal just enough, Umbrix corrected. Remember, we want to win, not expose ourselves completely.Today we cut, Soulrender's fragment added eagerly. Finally, finally, we get to cut something.Gabriel pressed his forehead against the cool glass. His hands were steady, his heart calm. The nervousness that should be consuming him was nowhere to be found. In its place a cold certainly terrified him more than anxiety could have.You ready for this?"Gabriel turned to find Marcus watching him with concern. He was already dressed in his academy uniform, lightning crackling faintly around his fingers, a nervous ha
The day before
One day until the ranking battles, and Gabriel Stone was losing his mind.He sat in the Academy’s library, surrounded by the dusty books on basic combat theory, while the three entities argued about the strategy. Other students gave his comer a wide berth partly because he was still the failure they knew, but mostly because the temperature had dropped ten degrees and shadows kept moving whenever he didn't pay attention.We should end this quickly, Soulrender urged for the hundredth time. One cut through his defenses, sliced him from his shoulder to hip.We want to win the wager, not start a war with the federation. A simple strike enough to prove our point would be enough. Umbrix countered. You're both thinking too small, Echo said with cold amusement. This is about one arrogant boy. This is a message to the others.Gabriel pressed his palms against his temples, trying to quiet the voices. The dream has been getting worse. Last night he found himself sleepwalking, standing in the Aca
The gathering storm
Two days until the ranking battles, and the Academy buzzed with nervous energy.Gabriel sat alone at his usual table in the dining hall, eating his breakfast while chaos spinned around him. Students clustered in excited groups, placing final bets and making predictions. The odds against him had risen by ten fifty to one that he'd land a single hit, a hundred to one that he'd last more than thirty seconds.They have no idea what's coming, Soulrender purred with vicious satisfaction.Neither do you, Umbrix replied grimly. We've barely had four days to integrate. Using our power in combat this soon is dangerous.Dangerous for whom? Echo asked with dark amusement. The boy, or everyone else? That was the question keeping Gabriel awake at night. The dreams were more vivid, more overwhelming. Last night he'd dreamed he was Echo himself, standing on a mountain of crystalized souls while dimensions burned around him. He'd women up with frost covering his window and shadow writing on his bedr
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