Caedus sat up quickly, with his heart thumping in his chest. He was covered in sweat, making his clothes stick to his chest uncomfortably.
He looked around quickly, not knowing where he was. His body felt unbearably heavy as his eyes adjusted to his surroundings. A dull ache pulsed through his chest.
The room was dark and silent except for the faint sounds of the window blowing outside. His body felt unbearably heavy, as if weights had been chained to his limbs, and a dull ache pulsed deep within his chest.
Caedus groaned and looked down to where he remembered the violet lightning striking him.
There wasn't a single wound or mark, almost like it didn't even happen. The only evidence was the aching feeling.
It was hard to see because it was still dark out, but he had been here a few times over the past few months.
That was when he realized he wasn't wearing his uniform anymore but a hospital gown.
Then Caedus recognized where he was. He was in the patient rooms of the medical bay.
"What the hell? The medical ward?" Caedus moaned out, his voice sounded hoarse, swinging his feet over the side of the bed. He wanted to figure out what was going on.
'The last thing I remember…' Fragments surged in his mind.
The black ocean.
The towering obsidian spire.
The violet lightning's wrath.
The whispers.
The hand.
Caedus shuddered violently. His hoarse voice sounded out into the empty medical room. "My soul… what is it?"
The physical representation of souls can be countless things; sometimes it can be the image of a sword, a volcano, or even a sentient tiger. Some rarer ones are less about an image and more about a feeling. Caedus had heard rumors that people's souls were just emotions or concepts like harmony.
No one could know exactly how a soul will manifest physically, but odds are it will be unique in some way, as no one in the world is the same.
'But my soul…' Caedus rubbed his temple before standing up and making his way to the bathroom to get water.
When he got in there, he realized there was a small shower in the corner, so, not having anything else to do immediately, he decided to treat himself.
After everything that had happened, standing beneath hot water suddenly sounded like the greatest thing in the world.
He stripped down and let the water run for a few seconds before forcing his sore body into the stream.
And suddenly, all of his worries and current stress seemed to wash away with all the sweat and grime he had built up over the last day.
But he noticed something different with his body.
He could feel it.
Something in the air that felt… Powerful. His body and his very soul craved it.
Caedus opened and closed his hand experimentally.
*whip*
The air cracked softly from the speed of the movement.
His eyes widened.
"Mana…" he whispered. "I can feel it. I awakened… Hell yes!"
Power pulsed through every part of his body. He had already been at the absolute peak of what a normal human could achieve physically after surviving the Ironwood Crown Initiative's brutal training. He could feel the difference underneath all the soreness, all the way down to his bones.
'The first stage of the Condensation Realm.'
Caedus stared down at his hand beneath the running water, flexing his fingers slowly as he felt the mana drift around his fingers like invisible currents.
Before awakening, the body could only passively absorb tiny traces of mana from the world. Most people don't feel its existence until awakening. But once someone awakens their soul, they naturally can feel it. The soul becomes a catalyst that absorbs and makes it usable for the body. So while absorbing mana to strengthen your soul, it also, in turn, strengthens the body naturally. Muscles became denser. Bones are tougher. Reflexes sharper. Even the senses improve slightly with each minor breakthrough.
That process was known as the Condensation of Mana.
At the second stage, the mid stage, one develops mana veins throughout their body that go to their heart.
At the high stage of the Condensation Realm, the mana veins fully stabilize and begin circulating mana through the entire body without conscious effort. Mana no longer gathers around the heart. It flows endlessly through the veins like a second bloodstream.
At the peak stage of the Condensation Realm, all mana veins converge completely with the heart, soul, and body into a perfect cycle. The awakener's mana circulation becomes nearly flawless, allowing them to recover mana far faster than before and unleash their abilities with terrifying efficiency.
'But the whole point of the awakening is to get my unique power from my soul. Let's take a look.'
Caedus closed his eyes, letting the shower water hit him in the face while he focused.
He had an innate sense of what to do, but he needed a second to think it through, as he had never gotten to try using his powers in the building in front of all the captains.
"Come on…"
He focused on his image of his soul, without trying to peer much into it, and just tried to use the feeling of its presence to influence the mana.
*crackle crackle*
Then he heard it.
A crackling noise. He shot his eyes open and looked down at his body. It was covered in a violet aura with the purple lightning crawling up and down his arms and legs.
*zap*
A bolt of lightning zapped up the current of water in the shower.
"Oh shit.." Caedus had a bad feeling.
*zap zap*
More bolts of lightning zapped upwards into the shower head.
"Shit!" Panicking slightly, as he wasn't sure how far the lightning would be carried in the water, he rushed to turn off the faucet without turning off his powers. And as soon as his hand came into contact with the metal handle. A very loud crack, louder than a noise one wants to make in the middle of the night, went off.
*CRACK*
"I hope that wasn't as loud as I thought…" Caedus embarrassingly hurried up and turned off his powers before wrapping himself in a towel, leaving the bathroom.
Just as he was exiting the bathroom with the towels wrapped around him, the door leading to what he assumed was the hallway burst open.
"Caedus!" A shout came from the now open door.
Caedus whipped his head around and saw 7 people crowding the door, their worried expressions giving way to confusion.
It was Eric, Iris, Keira, Dorian, Ragnar, Mira, and Jared.
Not knowing what was going on, Caedus smiled awkwardly before saying anything. "Umm… Hey guys, what's going on?"
Realizing he was wearing nothing but a towel, the woman turned slightly red before looking away. Eric, who was leading the group, cleared his throat awkwardly.
"We heard a loud crash." Dorian stepped forward, inspecting the room a little.
"Oh yeah, I was trying out my powers, and there was an accident." Caedus scratched his face slightly. "Can I get dressed first before we talk?"
Awkwardly nodding, the cohort left the room and shut the door behind them, leaving some privacy for Caedus.
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A few minutes of looking around, Caedus found his military uniform folded nicely on a chair in the corner, as well as his boots. After making himself decent, he walked out into the hall, where a waiting area with several couches held the cohort, earnestly awaiting him.
"So what's going on, guys? Why am I here?" Caedus asked before sitting down on the couch.
They all glanced at each other before Iris spoke up. Which would have made this one of the first times she really had a conversation with Caedus.
"Well, during your awakening ceremony, there was an issue.. I don't know all the details, but here is what we know," she started slowly before narrating what they knew.
During his awakening, something went very wrong. He started to have a seizure, and his power went slightly out of control, which had injured the assisting doctor. The captains who were overseeing the ceremony had to rush in to stop the out-of-control soul power, but a lot of damage had already been done beforehand. While many recruits were socializing and picking out their weapons for the combat branch, Captain Woods was seen sprinting past at full speed, and his full-speed sprint through his realm gave quite a show, grabbing the attention of nearly everyone on base. Then, a minute later, he was seen sprinting back to the building, where everyone was awakened, while emergency medics were close behind, with serious expressions. That was when Eric, being the friend he was, realized Caedus was the only one not present and used his connections, as well as Iris's connection, to find out it was Caedus who was injured. They got permission from Captain Thorne to stay at the hospital with him until he woke up.
Evidently, Caedus had only been unconscious for a few hours before they all heard a loud crash that woke them up, causing them to barge into his room, following the worried Eric.
"Well, I mean, I feel fine now after a shower," Caedus said, trying to ease the cohorts' concerns. But something else wasn't mentioned.
"While I do appreciate the concern. And I promise I am not trying to be an ass. I understand why Eric is here, but why are the rest of you here? We have never had a proper conversation." Caedus pointed out, trying to read into their expression.
Jared, Ragnar, and Mira glanced at Iris slightly. But Caedus missed it because Eric grabbed his attention.
"Oh, that's because Ir- ouch!" Suddenly, Keira jumped up and punched him in the ribs.
"Shut it, Eric." She growled.
"Fuck, you're lucky you're a woman, otherwise I would hit you back!" Eric stood up, staring at Keira angrily.
"Enough." Iris's authoritative tone immediately quelled their feud. "You are still part of Division One Violetshade. We should look out for each other."
"Hmm, I see. Well, I thank you again. It really means a lot to me." Caedus nodded in understanding before giving them all a meaningful look.
Eric, ignoring the death stare Keira was giving him, smiled back. "Hey, we are best friends, how could I not check up on you?"
The group continued with small talk, and Caedus gradually came to understand their dynamic and personalities better.
Just a few minutes into the conversation, multiple footsteps were heard coming down the hallway leading to the lobby where the group was.
Looking at the source of the noise, the group stopped the conversation.
"Attention on deck!" A loud voice echoed towards them.
Shooting to their feet, the group of cadets stood at attention. This command was issued only when a high-ranking officer entered a room.
As the source of the order and footsteps round the corner, Caedus saw who it was. It was General Voss, Captain Woods, and Captain Thorne.
Now that Caedus was awakened, he could feel mana and souls. While the cohort that visited him still had an aura to him, it wasn't strong enough for him to take immediate note of, but the three officers, especially General Voss… It was unmistakable how much stronger they were than he was.
The mana density around them made the atmosphere heavier.
Voss stopped directly in front of the group. His eyes moved once- briefly across Eric, Iris, Dorian, then his gaze landed on Caedus and stayed there.
For several seconds, no one spoke.
"Cadet Violetshade. I see you are feeling better. Follow the other Captains and me. The rest of you cadets. Now that you have seen, he is fine. Go to chow. The first day of your combat branch training starts today. We have some things to discuss with Cadet Violetshade."
The 7 other cadets saluted. "Yes, sir!" Before leaving the medical bay, they glanced at Caedus.
"Let's walk and talk, Cadet Violetshade." General Voss then turned around without saying anything else and led the two silent captains and Caedus outside.
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Umbra sat in a dark room. He was reading letters, with the only light in the room coming from the fireplace.
*knock knock*
A surprised look came across his face. He looked at a clock showing it was 5 in the morning, causing him to frown.
"Come in." He called out.
The one who entered the room was Jim, the butler.
"This can't be good news if you are coming to me this early. What is it, Jim?" Umbra frowned.
"Young Master, there has been a development with Caedus Violetshade at Obsidian Gate," Jim said politely while crossing the room. He reached into his breast pocket, pulled out a letter, and placed it on the desk.
Umbra reached out for the letter and read it silently.
"Hmm…I see.. That could be very problematic." Umbra stood from his chair and walked to the window, observing the city.