Chapter 21 – Tears
After stepping out of the room, Zane paused just outside the door, letting out a long, steady breath. His lungs filled with the cool air of the corridor, grounding him. When he looked up, several students were already staring his way—eyes wide, filled with curiosity and suspicion, as if waiting for some dramatic revelation.
'...' Zane blinked, face unreadable as silence hung in the air like thick fog. 'Right… I forgot about these idiots.'
Without saying a word, he turned his back on them and began walking away, his steps calm, unhurried. He didn't bother to meet any of their eyes. After today, he doubted he'd ever see any of these faces again. His path was set now—one that would take him far away from this world and all its petty scorn.
"Hmm, why doesn't he look upset?" Emilio muttered under his breath. He stood at the front of the line, brows furrowed, arms crossed. Zane's composed demeanor didn't sit right with him.
'Could it be…?' The thought brushed his mind like a shadow, but he shook it off just as quickly. 'No… no way. That guy would never be accepted, even if he sold his soul. He's probably just in denial.'
"Next!"
The knight's voice boomed, snapping Emilio out of his thoughts. Steeling himself, he turned and walked into the room, certain that fate was about to favor him—just as it always had.
After leaving the academy, Zane didn't stop. He moved fast, weaving through the familiar streets until his house finally came into view.
'It's done. It's finally done! I did it! I really did it!'
The words screamed through his mind, looping again and again, like a melody he couldn't shut off. The world around him felt distant, dreamlike. Even the solid ground beneath his feet felt unreal—like it might dissolve beneath him at any moment.
But his heart knew. His eyes sparkled with a light he hadn't felt in years. 'Mother… I think I did it! I got accepted! I really got accepted!'
For the first time in his life, Zane felt like a winner. After everything—after years of solitude, scorn, and suffering—he had done it. The very first step toward his dream… and toward vengeance.
He wasn't sure how he got home. One moment he was walking, the next, he was in his room, sitting on his bed, hands trembling with emotion.
Staring down at them, he could feel the energy—the pulse of something new, something alive—flowing through his veins. It was like blood, like fire, like possibility. "It feels... so real," he whispered, clenching his fists. His entire body trembled, not with fear, but with a deep, powerful belief.
And then his eyes drifted to the old photo resting on the small table beside his bed.
A boy and his mother, captured mid-laughter at an amusement park. He was halfway through a monstrous swirl of ice cream while she clutched him close, her smile frozen in time.
His hand reached out slowly, almost reverently, as he picked up the frame. For a long moment, he simply looked at it—his breath catching, his eyes reflecting a storm of emotions.
"Your son did it," he whispered, voice cracking. "I held on, Mom. I didn't give up. No matter how hard it got… I didn't give up. I kept going."
Tears began to fall freely, dripping onto the photo as he held it tighter against his chest. His shoulders trembled as a dam long fortified finally gave way.
He didn't care that it looked weak. He didn't care that it made him feel exposed. He had earned this moment. He deserved this moment.
She had always been his anchor. Even after her death, she remained his compass. She was the voice in the back of his head that told him to keep standing when everything else pushed him to his knees. Without her, he might have crumbled. But for her—because of her—he fought on.
No parents. No friends. No allies. He had lived through what nobody could bear. Just a lonely, scarred boy in a cruel world, trying to carve out a future with nothing but grit and fury. And now, against every obstacle, he had won.
He didn't cry often. Maybe not since the day he lost her. But tonight, he wept—not from weakness, but from something far deeper.
"Thank you, mom... For everything... *Hick*... I won't disappoint you... I will be fine, so rest well, ok?" He muttered as he hugged the picture.
For the first time in what felt like a lifetime… Zane allowed himself to feel like a kid again.
***
Sniff…
Standing before the mirror, Zane stared at his own reflection. His eyes were red and puffy, his expression hollow with exhaustion. He splashed cold water on his face, watching the last traces of tears swirl down the drain. Then, shaking his head, he dried off and sat at his desk.
"Alright. I wasn't… planning to cry like that, but… it is what it is," he muttered, tapping his fingers against the desk.
'The first step is done. I've finally crossed that line. Now, there's a mountain of things to take care of.'
Just thinking about it made his head ache. So, instead of fretting, he pulled out a notebook and began scribbling down everything he needed to do—a trick he learned back when there were too many problems to keep track of in his head.
After a few minutes of writing, he sat back and read the list aloud.
"Okay… essentials first. Supplies for the trip. Learn more about core energy. Train my body and raise my physical stats as much as I can."
Those were straightforward enough. But his eyes eventually dropped to the final item on the page—the one circled twice in bold ink:
"Figure out the new system functions."
That… was the big one.
When the awakening happened, a flood of system notifications had burst through his vision—most of which he'd ignored in the heat of the moment. But now that he was calm, he could finally go back and read through them properly.
"This is probably the most straightforward one," he said, setting the paper aside. "Let's see what I missed…"
He brought up the interface, eyes narrowing as a string of notifications scrolled past:
[Your dormant core has awakened!]
[You have unlocked Core Energy!]
[You have unlocked Dimension Resistance!]
[You have unlocked a new feature.]
[You have unlocked 'Core Stigma'.]
[You have activated your Core Stigma!]
Zane frowned slightly as he read through them, muttering aloud.
"So, my dormant core's officially awake. That makes sense. And I got Dimension Resistance—that also checks out, given what happened during the injection. But…"
His voice trailed off as he reached the next line.
"I already got my Core Stigma?" he blinked, surprised. "I thought that takes time to activate…"
He leaned back in his chair, eyes locked on the interface as a thousand new thoughts bloomed in his mind.