Unawakened: Rise of the Divine Archmage

Chapter 5: First Steps

Ezra's head felt heavy.

"Damn that old geezer," Ezra groaned, his voice a weak rasp.

Next came the sound of quiet, desperate sobbing.

A soft, trembling voice broke through the thick fog in his mind.

"Ezra? Oh, gods! you're awake."

"Mom?" Ezra whispered, his throat dry.

"Oh, Ezra! My sweet boy!" Elise Mohr cried out.

Guilt crashed down on him like a heavy rock.

Elise continued to sob against his shoulder for several minutes. Slowly, the heavy weeping turned into quiet sniffles. She finally pulled back, wiping her wet cheeks with the back of her sleeve.

She looked down at him with a mix of fierce love and rising anger.

"Why did you go into the woods?" Elise demanded. Her voice cracked with raw pain. "Were you trying to get yourself killed, Ezra?"

That was exactly the plan, Ezra thought bitterly.

"I'm so sorry, Mom," Ezra said softly, looking directly into her eyes. "It will never happen again."

Elise let out a long, shaky breath. Fresh tears pooled in her eyes, but she blinked them back with quiet strength.

Ezra propped himself up on his elbows, glancing around the small bedroom. The wooden walls, the single window, and the creaky wardrobe were all untouched.

"Wait," Ezra asked, confused. "How did I get back home?"

"We took torches and went into the forest. That was where we found you. Lying unconscious on the floor with a dead beast beside you."

She swallowed hard, her chin quivering.

"For a terrible minute, I thought you would never open your eyes again."

Ezra felt a burning lump rise in his throat.

The First Mage was right. He had been a selfish coward. He pulled her into another fierce hug.

Elise wrapped her arms around him, resting her chin on his head.

"You are the best son a mother could ask for," she whispered through a soft smile. "I love you so much, Ezra."

"I love you too, Mom."

As they parted, a loud, violent rumble echoed from Ezra's stomach.

The sound broke the heavy mood instantly. Elise let out a soft laugh and stood up from the bed.

"You must be starving," she said, wiping the last traces of tears from her face. "I'll fix you something to eat."

"Thank you, Mom."

As Elise walked down the short hallway toward the kitchen, Ezra clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white.

A dark fire burned inside his chest.

Moments later, Elise returned carrying a steaming bowl of thick broth and two slices of coarse brown bread.

Ezra took the wooden spoon and dug in immediately. He ate like a starving animal, wolfing down the hot soup and chewing the bread in massive bites.

"That hit the spot," Ezra sighed, handing the clean bowl back with a grateful smile. "Thank you, Mom."

"Get some more rest," Elise said warmly, taking the empty bowl.

"I will," Ezra promised.

Once his mother walked back into the living room, Ezra stood up from the bed. His legs felt a bit wobbly, but his strength was rapidly returning.

He walked over to his small wooden study table.

Lying right beside his old notebooks was a small hunting knife. It was the exact blade he had sharpened and tried to end his life with.

The sight of it filled him with disgust.

Ezra grabbed the knife, walked over to the window, and hurled the weapon as hard as he could into the overgrown grass behind the cottage.

He was done running away.

Ezra turned back to the center of his room, his brow furrowing in frustration.

"That annoying old mage," Ezra muttered under his breath. "He told me I have five affinities, but he never bothered to explain what they actually are. How the hell am I supposed to begin training?"

He began pacing back and forth across the wooden floorboards, racking his brain for answers.

He had spent hundreds of hours reading every single basic magic text in the town library. Even though the townsfolk laughed at him for reading books meant for mages, he had memorized every single concept.

"Mana cultivation," Ezra said aloud, stopping in his tracks. "That's the starting point for every mage. Before anyone can cast a spell or command an element, they must first form a solid mana core inside their body."

Ezra moved to the center of the wooden floor. He sat down cross-legged, straightening his back into a rigid posture.

He brought his hands together in front of his chest, resting his palms flat against each other. Then he closed his eyes and emptied his mind of all distractions.

He took a long, steady breath. Held it a bit, then slowly exhaled through his mouth.

He repeated the cycle again and again.

With each breath, Ezra pushed his awareness outward into the surrounding room. He visualized the mana that floated everywhere in Valeria, imagining it as a warm, sparkling mist waiting to be gathered.

Minutes passed.

Just as Ezra began to wonder if the First Mage had played a trick on him, a subtle shift occurred in the room.

The air around his body grew warm.

Tiny speckles of invisible energy began to stir in the bedroom. Drawn by his steady breathing and focused intention, thin currents of ambient mana drifted toward him.

The mana entered through his nose and mouth with every inhale, flowing smoothly down his throat.

Ezra felt a warm tingle spreading through him.

The loose mana gathered at the center of his chest. It began to spin in a tight, concentrated circle, compacting itself into a dense sphere of raw magical pressure.

"It's working," Ezra thought, a burst of wild excitement surging through his veins. "I'm actually forming my mana core!"

Thrilled by the rapid progress, Ezra deepened his breathing. He pulled in larger quantities of ambient energy, eager to complete the process.

A rush of power flooded through his limbs. It felt intoxicating, unlike anything he had ever experienced.

Then, without warning, the warmth turned burning hot. A sharp, blinding agony erupted right in the center of his chest.

The smooth vortex of mana suddenly shattered. Instead of forming a neat, balanced core, the raw energy split into violent, conflicting currents that clashed against each other inside his chest cavity.

"Aargh!" Ezra screamed, his eyes snapping open in horror.

His hands flew to his chest, clutching his shirt tightly as a searing burn ripped through him.

The chaotic mana surged through his veins like boiling acid. It wrapped around his heart like an iron vise, squeezing with crushing force.

Ezra collapsed off his seat, slamming hard against the wooden floorboards. He curled into a tight ball, thrashing and gasping for air.

"What's... happening to me?!" he wheezed through clenched teeth.

His vision darkened around the edges. Violent red and golden sparks flashed behind his eyelids as the unstable energy tore through his chest.

His consciousness began to slip away into a terrifying void.

"Damn it all," Ezra thought in pure terror as darkness swallowed his mind. "Did I just kill myself with my own mana?"