System Awakening: Rise Of Thomas Walker

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The hall was quiet again. Dust floated through the air where Duke had stood moments ago. The floor was cracked from the force of his blow. Everyone still stared at Thomas as if he had turned into something else entirely.

Thomas looked down at his hands, still trembling. The blue glow was gone, but he could almost feel it under his skin, like something alive was still there, waiting.

Jerry touched his shoulder gently. “Thomas… you scared me, man. What was that light? What did you do?”

Thomas opened his mouth but no words came out. He didn’t know. He just remembered the screen, the words from the system, and how the blade had formed like it had always belonged to him.

“I don’t know,” he said finally, his voice low. “It just… happened.”

Master Iverson stood by the door, his eyes unreadable. For a moment, Thomas thought he saw pride — but also worry. Deep worry. “Go home and rest,” Master Iverson said. “Tomorrow night, we talk. Alone.”

Thomas nodded. The way his master said alone made his stomach tighten.

As he and Jerry stepped out into the cool night, the sky was covered in silver clouds. The moonlight stretched over the cobblestone road like a thin sheet of light. Every sound felt louder, the creak of wooden carts, the whisper of the wind.

Jerry kept glancing at Thomas like he was walking beside a ghost. “Hey, you really… beat him,” Jerry said. “You beat Duke.”

Thomas gave a small laugh. “Barely. He could’ve crushed me if I’d made one wrong move.”

“Still,” Jerry said, shaking his head, “I’ve never seen him look scared before. You should’ve seen his face when that blade appeared.”

Thomas smiled faintly but didn’t reply. Inside, his thoughts were in chaos. "The system. The mission. Protect the host. Who was the host? Was it him? And what was Nightshade Blade?"

By the time they reached his small home at the edge of the training quarter, his body was heavy with exhaustion. Jerry waved goodbye, still looking unsure. “Be careful tomorrow,” Jerry said before leaving. “I don’t trust Duke. He looked angry enough to kill.”

Thomas nodded, then went inside. The room was small, a single bed, a wooden table, and a shelf of old training books. He sat on the bed and stared at his hands again. “System,” he whispered. “Are you still there?”

For a second, nothing happened. Then the system screen popped up:

[System Active]

User: Thomas Walker

Power Level: 3

Status: Stable

Next Mission: Pending…

Thomas blinked. The screen faded before he could ask more. He lay down, staring at the ceiling. The soft hum of the system echoed in his mind until sleep pulled him under.

Duke slammed his fist into a wall in the alley behind the hall. The stone cracked, dust spilling down.

“That boy made a fool of me,” he growled, his teeth bared.

Saul stood nearby, rubbing his chest from the earlier shockwave. “He’s not normal, Duke. No one summons light blades like that.”

“I know,” Duke said, his voice low. His eyes burned red in the dim light. “The Quantum Shadow warned me about someone like him… A boy with power born of the system.”

Saul frowned. “You think he’s the one?”

“I’m sure of it now,” Duke said. “And if he is, then he’s a threat, not just to me, but to everyone who follows the old bloodline.”

Saul shivered. The way Duke said old bloodline made the air feel colder.

“What do we do?” Saul asked.

Duke turned his head slowly. “We wait. And when he least expects it, we strike. But first…” He paused, eyes narrowing. “We find out what Master Iverson knows.”

Sunlight poured through the small window of Thomas’s room, waking him. His body ached, but not in a bad way. It was the kind of ache that told him something inside had changed, grown stronger.

He rubbed his face and sat up. His mind replayed the fight: Duke’s roar, the flash of light, the crowd gasping. It felt unreal, like a dream.

He reached for his bag and found his gloves. As he slipped them on, he caught his reflection in a cracked mirror on the wall. His eyes looked sharper somehow, not glowing, but focused.

He left home early, walking through the town square. Everyone was talking. “That boy Thomas fought Duke yesterday!”

“I heard he used magic!”

“No, no, it was a weapon of light!”

Thomas kept his head down. He didn’t want the attention.

Jerry ran up to him halfway down the street. “Thomas! They’re all talking about you! Even the guards near the main gate said your name!”

Thomas sighed. “That’s not good, Jerry. I didn’t want anyone to know.”

Jerry lowered his voice. “Do you think… you awakened your power early?”

Thomas looked around to make sure no one was listening. “Maybe. But I don’t understand why. It felt like someone, or something, inside me helped.”

Jerry frowned. “You mean like a spirit?”

Thomas shook his head. “No. Like a… system.”

Before Jerry could ask, a familiar figure appeared at the corner, Duke. His arm was wrapped in a rough bandage, and his eyes burned with fury.

Thomas froze. The world seemed to stop around him.

Duke smiled, a slow, cold smile. “Morning, hero,” he said. “Enjoying your victory?”

Jerry took a step back. “Duke, don’t start—”

“I’m not starting anything,” Duke interrupted. “Just wanted to congratulate the boy who thinks he’s a god.”

Thomas clenched his fists but said nothing. His instincts told him to walk away, but Duke’s next words stopped him cold. “Tell me, Thomas… who taught you to summon the Nightshade Blade?”

Thomas’s eyes widened. He hadn’t told anyone that name. Not even Jerry. “How do you know that?” Thomas asked quietly.

Duke’s grin widened. “Let’s just say… I’ve seen that weapon before. Long ago.”

Thomas felt a chill run down his spine. “You’re lying.”

“Am I?” Duke said, stepping closer. “Maybe Master Iverson didn’t tell you everything. Maybe the system you’re using isn’t even yours to begin with.”

Before Thomas could reply, Saul grabbed Duke’s shoulder. “Not now, Duke. Not here.”

Duke chuckled and turned to leave. “See you tonight, Thomas. I’ll be waiting.”

Thomas stood frozen as Duke and Saul disappeared into the crowd. Jerry stared at him. “What did he mean by that?”

Thomas shook his head slowly. “I don’t know. But I’ll find out tonight.”

The moon was high again when Thomas arrived at the academy. The courtyard was empty. Only the sound of crickets and the whispering wind filled the space.

Master Iverson’s office stood at the far end of the hall. A single candle flickered inside.

Thomas knocked lightly. “Come in,” Master Iverson said.

The room smelled of parchment and old ink. Maps were spread across the desk, along with strange metal objects that hummed softly.

“Sit down,” Iverson said. His face was calm, but his eyes were sharp. “You did well yesterday.”

“Thank you, sir,” Thomas said, sitting. “But… what was that power? Where did it come from?”

Iverson folded his hands. “Tell me first, when did you start hearing the voice?”

Thomas blinked. “Voice?”

Iverson leaned forward. “The system, Thomas. The one that gave you commands. It spoke to you, didn’t it?”

Thomas hesitated, then nodded. “Yes, sir. It said… Protect the host. And then the blade appeared.”

Iverson closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, there was something heavy in them, sadness mixed with fear.

“Thomas,” he said softly, “that system isn’t supposed to exist anymore. It was sealed three hundred years ago after the Great Rift.”

Thomas frowned. “The Great Rift?”

“It was when our world first opened to the other realm, when the monsters came,” Iverson explained. “The ancient heroes who fought them used systems like yours. But when the war ended, those systems were erased, or so we thought.”

Thomas felt his heart pounding. “Then why do I have one?”

“That,” Iverson said, “is what worries me. Someone must have reactivated it. Someone powerful enough to bypass the seals.”

Thomas swallowed hard. “You think Duke knows something about it?”

Iverson’s eyes darkened. “Duke’s family has ties to the old order. If he recognized the blade, that means he’s been in contact with them.”

“Them?”

Iverson stood and walked to the window. The candlelight flickered across his face. “The Quantum Shadow. They’re not legends, Thomas. They were the ones who created the systems in the first place.”

Thomas froze. “The same name Duke mentioned?”

Iverson nodded. “Yes. And if the Quantum Shadow marked you… then your awakening wasn’t an accident. It was destiny.”

Thomas felt the room spinning. “What does that mean for me?”

“It means,” Iverson said gravely, “you’re in danger. And not just from Duke.”

The window rattled suddenly, a loud bang. Thomas turned, his heart jumping. A black feather drifted in through the open window. It landed on the desk, glowing faintly red before fading.

Iverson’s eyes widened. “No… they found us.”

“Who?” Thomas asked, standing.

Before Iverson could answer, the candle blew out. The room fell into darkness.

From outside came a low whisper, cold and strange. “Found you… host of the system…”

Thomas’s blood turned to ice.

Iverson reached for his staff. “Stay behind me!” he ordered.

But before he could cast a spell, the window shattered inward, and a figure cloaked in swirling smoke stepped inside. Its eyes glowed like dying embers.

Thomas’s vision blurred, and the system’s voice echoed in his mind once again.

[ALERT: Host in danger]

[Emergency Protocol: Initiate, Quantum Defense]

A blinding light filled the room. The last thing Thomas saw before everything went white was the shadow’s hand reaching for him, and Master Iverson shouting his name.