The void stretched endlessly in every direction—a horizonless realm of black silence pierced only by faint glimmers of light.
Alex floated through it.
He didn't feel weight or cold, only the pull of something ancient… something sacred.
Ahead of him hovered a radiant star-shaped crystal, pulsing like a heartbeat. Around it, swirling slowly in a spiral, were fragments of stone, rivers of liquid energy, floating mountains, seeds of fire and mist and glass—a world in formation.
He drifted closer, eyes wide in awe.
As he reached out to touch the star, a surge of light exploded into his mind. Thoughts not his own flooded in: symbols, names, celestial geometry, and the whisper of a voice that felt both foreign and intimate.
"The Origin awakens. Celestial inheritance... initiated."
Information locked within the star poured into his soul.
The pendant—more than an heirloom. It was a vessel of primordial power, designed to awaken under the right conditions. The vampire's blood had simply ignited what already slumbered.
The world forming within him—his inner world—was a foundational realm, a unique phenomenon tied to celestial beings. It grew stronger the more power he absorbed and could become a training ground, a fortress, even a prison.
But that wasn't all.
"As the world stabilizes, you will gain access to your second element: Space."
The word echoed with resonance.
Rare. Feared. Revered. The few who held two elements were seen as either saviors or threats. Most awakened one, if any. Two was bordering on legend.
Except… this wasn't just elemental space.
It was a disguise. A mask for something greater. The pendant's celestial nature was hiding behind the elemental affinity, waiting for the right moment to reveal itself.
The dream faded.
Alex shot upright in bed, gasping.
The sun filtered gently through the windows. Morning.
He sat for a long moment, trying to make sense of it. Then, closing his eyes, he focused inward—following a faint pull behind his consciousness.
What he found shocked him.
In the center of his mind's eye hovered the star—glowing softly in a dark void. And within it... the forming world. Cracks of land, rivers of molten light, flickers of clouds and magnetic storms. A miniature universe incubating in silence.
"It's real," he whispered.
He opened his eyes.
He needed to test something.
Rushing outside into the orphanage's dusty yard, he looked at his palms, remembering how the vampire had moved, how his body had burned during the Awakening.
"Lightning," he murmured.
The word itself triggered a response.
CRACK!
A sharp bolt of silver-blue lightning arced from his fingertips, searing the earth. Static buzzed in the air. His heart raced.
The energy surged again, coursing through his arms like molten wire. A second crackle burst upward, striking a clothesline post and reducing it to smoking splinters.
He clenched his fists. "I can control this."
Barely.
He returned to his room and tapped the bracelet Kael had given him. The device lit up, projecting a soft holographic interface.
RSA Welcome Interface.
Profile: Unranked Awakener (Lightning Class)
Status: Preliminary Evaluation Pending
Access Level: 1
Orientation Manual: [OPEN]
Local Org Directory: [VIEW]
Alex began to read, absorbing information like a sponge.
There were hundreds of organizations on Blue Star, divided into categories: government agencies, private clans, legacy families, elite guilds, even rogue cells. The RSA—Registry of Supernatural Affairs—was the largest legal body, managing awakenings and enforcement.
He browsed the clan database. Vampires had their own secretive structure: families. Each led by a powerful elder with unique bloodline abilities.
One stood out: the Sael'Var Family, known for their affinity with space manipulation—teleportation, spatial distortion, weapon compression. Reserved. Elitist. Dangerous.
Alex bookmarked it.
"First the RSA," he murmured. "Then I'll go to them."
He needed resources, training, protection. Only once his space power manifested would the Sael'Var Family consider him. But the seed had been planted.
Tomorrow, he would join the RSA officially.