Chapter 2: Silence
The sun rose again over the Blackwood clan grounds, but its light felt colder now.
Adrian sat on the thin mat in his narrow room, staring at the pale sunlight creeping through the small hole in the wall.
Outside, laughter and music drifted from the courtyard.
The banquet was still going. The Tigers of Blackwood were likely being toasted with aged spirit wine, their futures praised in terms of great power and long life.
Adrian reached out his hand, feeling the air where he had imagined Essence flowing. He closed his eyes, hoping to feel even a tiny spark, a little warmth in his veins.
But there was nothing, only coldness.
His room felt smaller today. Outside, the world was bright and noisy but inside, he felt completely silent.
He forced himself to go to the communal dining hall but it was a mistake.
When he came in, the talking didn't stop. It sounded low and sharp, like buzzing insects. He walked to the long table where his family sat.
His father, Julian Blackwood was talking to an Elder, smiling as they talked about Caleb's Grade Seven talent.
Adrian stood by the bench, waiting for a chance to join. But no chance came.
His mother looked up and met his eyes for just a moment. She didn't smile nor did she scold him for being late. She just looked down at her tea and bit her lip, her knuckles white on the cup.
It was the kind of look you give a broken vase too valuable to throw away, but too ugly to show.
There was no seat left at the table. Not because it was full, but because his cousins had pushed their elbows out taking the space that used to be his.
"The kitchens have extra gruel for the servants," someone said slowly.
Adrian turned towards the voice. It was Elric, a distant cousin who had awakened Grade Three talent, a mediocre level but here, he was still a king compared to a Dead Vessel.
Elric didn't even look at Adrian. He was slowly peeling a spirit-fruit, every movement careful.
"Probably suits your channels better right, Adrian?," he said. "Light on the stomach. Since you won't be needing energy to circulate anyway."
A ripple of snickering spread through the table. Adrian's face burned, but he stayed silent. He looked at his father, hoping for a scolding or some kind of defense.
Julian Blackwood just sighed deeply, tired sound heavier than any insult. He stood up straightened his silk robes, and walked past Adrian without a word, his shoulder brushing him as if he were just a pillar in the way.
He wasn't a son anymore. He was just a shadow that had stayed too long.
The afternoon was even worse.
Adrian walked through the training grounds, a path he had used every day for six years. He saw his friend Jace practicing a basic Essence-gathering move.
"Jace!" Adrian called, his voice sounding strange and hollow to himself.
Jace froze. He didn't turn around. His shoulders stayed tight, his eyes locked on the practice dummy. Two other kids nearby whispered and looked at Adrian with fear and disgust, like Null was some kind of contagious disease.
Jace finally turned, but his eyes stayed on the ground near Adrian's feet.
"I… I have to finish this set, Adrian," he said. "The instructor says I need to focus. My talent is only Grade Four, I can't afford distractions."
"Distractions?" Adrian asked, the word tasting bitter in his mouth. "We were supposed to enter the Inner Library together this week, Jace. We've talked about it for years."
'That was before,' Jace said, glancing up briefly before looking down again. Adrian saw a hint of the friend he knew, a flash of doubt and guilt.
But then Elric and the others walked by, and Jace's face went hard again.
"The Library is for cultivators, Adrian. You know the rules. Just… don't make this harder for me."
Jace turned back to the dummy, but the message was clear. 'Being seen with Adrian would only bring him down.'
Adrian turned and walked toward the main gate, but the guards… he had known since he was a child blocked his way with their spears.
"Servants and non-cultivators use the side gate, boy," one said. His voice wasn't cruel just indifferent. He was simply following the new rules.
Night came, bringing its own kind of weight.
Adrian sat on his mat. The loneliness crushed him, making it hard to breathe.
"A sealed chamber," the Elder had said. "A Dead Vessel."
He looked at his hands. If effort mattered, he should have been a god by now. He had trained longer, read more, and worked harder than anyone in the clan.
And for what? To be ignored like a disease.
His fingers tapped restlessly on the stone floor. Tap. Tap. Tap-tap.
A strange feeling rose. It wasn't the warmth of Essence. It was colder and deeper like an itch in his mind he couldn't scratch.
As he stared at his shadow on the wall, a sudden, sharp dizziness hit him. The shadow looked too dark. For a moment, it didn't move when he did. He turned his head, but the shadow stayed still like ink on stone.
Adrian gasped and rubbed his eyes. When he looked again, the shadow was normal.
But the silence in the room felt different now. It felt like a room full of people who hadn't spoken yet.
"If no one sees me," he whispered, "I'll make a world that does."
Deep inside the sealed chamber of his soul, a crack grew wider.
A faint pulse echoed not in his heart, but behind his thoughts.
A voice didn't speak. Instead, a thought that wasn't his drifted through his mind, dark and ancient.
'Why be one, when you can be many?'
Adrian shivered, icy sweat running down his skin. He looked at the moon, then at his shadow. This time, it didn't move. It only waited.