THE LATE AWAKENER: NEVER MEANT TO RISE

Chapter 7: First Taste of Real Power

Alexander Kane stepped deeper into the ruined plateau, ancient stone pillars casting long shadows under a strange, dim sky. The air felt heavy with old energy that made his skin tingle. Behind him, Victor Lang was still on the ground, breathing hard and staring at the jagged rift that had closed behind them.

Victor scrambled to his feet. “Wait! You can’t just leave me here! Take me back!”

Alexander stopped but didn’t turn around. “Take you back? You pushed me off a cliff today and told the entire outer sect I belonged in a hole. Now you want my help?”

Victor’s voice cracked with panic. “That was different! I didn’t know… I didn’t know you would become this!”

Alexander finally looked back. “Exactly. You didn’t know. Because you never looked past calling me trash for ten years.”

[System notification: Current location identified as Fragment Zone 7 of the Hidden Realm War. Spiritual energy density is 300% higher than Azure Cloud Sect outer grounds. Absorption efficiency increased.]

Alexander felt the system’s words settle in his mind. He closed his eyes for a moment and took a slow breath. The air itself seemed to respond, threads of spiritual energy drifting toward him like iron filings to a magnet.

“This place… it’s full of power,” he muttered. “Perfect.”

Victor took a hesitant step closer. “What are you talking about? We need to find a way out before something worse finds us!”

Alexander opened his eyes and looked at his former rival. “You still think running back to the sect will save you? They’ll kill you too if they think you’re connected to whatever I am now.”

He raised his hand and focused. A small cluster of glowing spirit herbs grew between two broken pillars. Without thinking, he reached out.

[System prompt: Rare spirit herb detected. Maximum efficiency absorption available. Convert to pure energy and evolve host’s foundation? Yes or No?]

“Yes,” Alexander said clearly.

The herbs dissolved into sparkling light that flowed straight into his palm. His Qi Refining Sixth Layer cultivation base surged again. The energy felt clean and dense, pushing him smoothly to the Seventh Layer in seconds.

Victor’s mouth fell open. “How… how are you doing that? Those herbs should take hours to refine!”

Alexander flexed his fingers, feeling the new strength settle into his meridians. “That’s the difference between us, Victor. You take shortcuts and steal from others. I absorb everything at full power now. No waste.”

A low growl echoed from the ruins ahead. Two wolf-like beasts with glowing blue fur stepped out from behind a collapsed wall, eyes fixed on the fresh spiritual energy radiating from Alexander.

Victor backed up quickly. “Great. More monsters. We’re dead.”

Alexander didn’t move. “Stay behind me if you want to live. Or run. Your choice.”

The first wolf leaped forward, claws extended and mouth open in a snarl.

Alexander stepped into the attack instead of away from it. He thrust his palm out.

[System prompt: Beast technique ‘Shadow Claw’ detected. Absorb and evolve?]

“Yes.”

The wolf’s claw strike dissolved the moment it touched Alexander’s hand. The energy reversed direction and slammed back into the creature with triple the force. The wolf yelped and flew backward, crashing into its companion.

The second wolf hesitated, then charged with even more fury.

Alexander smiled faintly. “You’re faster than the one in the abyss. Good.”

He waited until the last second, then sidestepped and grabbed the wolf’s neck. The system activated again.

[Absorbing ‘Lightning Fang’ technique. Evolving… Complete.]

Alexander opened his mouth and released a crackling bolt of evolved lightning straight into the beast’s face. The wolf convulsed once and dropped lifeless to the ground.

Victor stared in stunned silence. “You… you just used their own attacks against them. Like it was nothing.”

Alexander wiped his hands on his torn robe. “It is nothing now. Ten years of being weak taught me patience. This system gave me efficiency.”

He walked over to the fallen wolves and placed his hand on their bodies.

[System prompt: Beast cores available. Absorb both at maximum efficiency?]

“Yes. Convert everything.”

Warm energy flooded into him again. His cultivation climbed to the Eighth Layer. Small cuts and bruises from the earlier fights healed completely. Even the exhaustion from the fall into the abyss faded away.

Victor finally found his voice again. “Alexander… listen. Maybe we can work together. I know the inner sect better than you. I can help you hide or...”

Alexander cut him off with a sharp laugh. “Work together? The same way you ‘worked together’ when you stole my spirit herb and took all the credit? The same way you shoved me off that cliff while everyone laughed?”

He turned fully to face Victor. “No. You stay alive only because I let you. Right now I need someone to carry a message back to the Azure Cloud Sect when the chance comes.”

Victor swallowed hard. “What message?”

“Tell them the trash they discarded is still alive. Tell them I’m growing stronger every hour. And tell them when I return, I won’t be kneeling on that square again.”

A new sound interrupted them, the distant clash of weapons and shouts coming from deeper in the ruins.

[System alert: Other cultivators detected. Likely participants in the Hidden Realm War fragment. Approach with caution or absorb their techniques for rapid growth.]

Alexander looked toward the noise, eyes narrowing. “More people. Good. More techniques to test.”

Victor grabbed his arm. “Wait! We should hide! If they’re stronger than us...”

Alexander shook him off gently but firmly. “Hiding is what the old me would do. The new me wants to see exactly how strong I’ve become.”

He started walking toward the sounds of battle, steps confident.

Victor hesitated for a long moment, then hurried after him, muttering under his breath. “This is insane. He’s going to get us both killed.”

Alexander heard him but didn’t reply. Inside his mind, the system spoke again.

[Host progress satisfactory. Evolution menu expanding. Next milestone: Foundation Establishment reachable within this fragment zone.]

Alexander allowed himself a small, cold smile.

Ten years of silence.

One day of falling.

And now the real climb was just beginning.

He had no intention of stopping.