I found myself in utter darkness.
There was no ground beneath me, no sky above—just an endless void. I couldn't feel my body. Couldn't move. Couldn't scream. But I felt something.Mana. Pure, unchained, overflowing mana pulsing around me like I was the center of a storm.
It didn't burn.It embraced me.As if it had always been there—just waiting for me to wake up.
Then, a voice pierced the silence. Soft, teasing. Feminine.
"Well, well… what do we have here?"
From the blackness, a glow shimmered into existence.
She appeared like moonlight draped in lavender—long, flowing purple hair, eyes the same hue but brighter, glowing with an ancient energy. Her form was ethereal, her presence suffocating and beautiful all at once.
"Who are you?" I asked, but my voice didn't echo. It just was.
She floated closer, her violet aura twisting around her like smoke. Mana... so potent I could taste it.
"The name's Lyra," she smirked. "And you, my little mana storm, are very interesting."
I was still paralyzed, suspended in the dark, but she flew around me lazily, examining me like a rare animal. Then, without warning, she hovered above me. Her hand slid to my cheek, skin cold and electric.
She leaned in—her lips just a whisper from mine, her breath brushing against my face.
"Why don't we go on a little trip?" she whispered.
Before I could respond, the darkness ripped.
And suddenly we were falling—no, descending—into a new space.
A broken place.
The sky here was crimson, the earth cracked and burned. Giant, ruined towers jutted out of the landscape like jagged teeth. Ash fell like snow, coating everything in shades of gray.
It was a dead world.
She didn't speak for a moment. Just hovered beside me as we floated over the destruction.
"This was my home," she finally said.
Her voice was quieter now. Not teasing. Not flirty. Just... hollow.
"My parents were nobles in a world obsessed with strength. My mother could bend lightning. My father could freeze blood in someone's veins. They raised me with power—but never love."
We landed softly near what looked like the skeleton of a palace, its throne shattered.
"They trained me like a weapon. Every day was pain. Every smile cost something. Every lesson came with blood. If I cried, I was weak. If I failed, I was beaten. And when I got strong enough?"
She looked down at her hands.
"They feared me. And tried to kill me."
I said nothing. There were no words heavy enough for that.
She stared at the cracked ground."So I killed them first."
We walked in silence for what felt like hours, past the ruins of a city that had once stood tall.
Then, she glanced sideways at me and grinned, her tone shifting like a switch had flipped.
"You know you're cute, right?" she giggled. "I bet you were a player at school. A real heartbreaker."
I blinked, caught off guard."What? No—what? I... wasn't even normal."
So I told her.
Told her everything.
The races with my dad.My little sister's giggle.My mother's warm smile.The day I activated my mana core.The betrayal at the castle.The way the princess spat in my face.And the way my father—my hero—was ripped apart before my eyes.
Lyra didn't speak. Not until I finished.
Then, she placed her hand on my shoulder.
Not teasing.
Not mocking.
Just… human.
"You've lost more than most ever will. That fire inside you... it's pain. But it's also power."
I looked down, silent.A thousand emotions swirled in my chest—grief, rage, guilt, confusion. But underneath it all… purpose.
Something greater.
Then, the world around us began to shake. Red cracks split through the sky. Thunder rolled, but not from clouds—from inside me.
"What's happening?" I asked, gripping my chest.
Lyra smiled—not kindly, but knowingly.
"You're finally waking up."
My knees buckled as power surged through me like a tidal wave. Red lightning danced across my arms. My skin glowed. The shadows recoiled. Everything went blindingly red.
And then...
I opened my eyes.
They were glowing.
Red. Alive. Awakened.