At Lake Dawn, a boy sat alone.
Well, alone wasn't quite right. He'd just stepped out to clear his head, to breathe the early morning air and escape the noise of the world for a while. The lake was still, its surface a perfect mirror of the pale blue sky above.
Then, without warning, a sound thundered through his mind, not through his ears, but inside his skull.
He gasped, lost his balance, and fell backward off the log he'd been sitting on.
> [Regulator power: 0%] <
[Activating Awakening Protocol]
[Heroes of the Era of ███████ --- Initiate Awakening]
The voice was metallic, layered, not human.
"W-What the hell was that!?" he shouted, clutching his head, his whole body shaking.
The lake answered.
Its calm surface began to fold inward, spiraling toward its center like water being drained from the world itself. The reflection of the sky shattered, replaced by a gaping vortex of light and shadow.
"Okay, that's… that's not normal," he stammered, stumbling backward. "Damn it, is this a dungeon break?"
From the heart of the whirlpool, something emerged, a vast, translucent bubble glowing faintly with golden light. It hovered above the collapsing water, humming with energy that made the air itself vibrate.
Inside it were four figures.
Human, maybe. But even from where the boy stood, he could tell something was wrong, their bodies were suspended in unnatural poses, like statues frozen mid-motion. The glow around them pulsed rhythmically, as if the bubble itself were breathing.
The boy got up and took a hesitant step closer. "…Is this,?" He swallowed. "…Arcana?"
The bubble flared, once, twice, and then the voice returned, louder this time, echoing in both his head and the air around him.
> [Awakening Sequence: Commencing.] <
The light erupted.
He threw up his arms, shielding his eyes as the forest, the lake, the world around him, roared alive. Wind surged outward from the water, trees bent, and the sky itself seemed to ripple.
When he dared to look again, the bubble was gone.
And in its place, standing on the dry lakebed, were four strangers.
The boy's breath caught.
Where the bubble had vanished, four stone-like cocoons now hovered inches above the lakebed. Cracks spidered across their surfaces, glowing faintly from within.
He stepped closer, unable to help himself.
The first cocoon split down the middle with a sharp crack. Shards of stone burst outward like broken shells, and from within stepped a woman, tall, graceful, her silver hair streaked with black that shimmered when it caught the light. Her eyes were closed, her face calm, like someone lost in a deep dream.
Before he could even process what he was seeing, the second cocoon shattered. A woman with hair the color of fresh-spilled blood fell forward, landing lightly on one knee. The air around her seemed to hum with warmth, dangerous, living warmth. Both women wore flowing garments of intricate design, gold-threaded and regal, the kind of attire he'd only ever seen in history books or fantasy films.
Then came the men.
The third cocoon cracked apart, revealing a figure with hair as white as snow streaked faintly with gold. His expression was serene, his body emanating a soft, celestial glow. The fourth followed, a man with black hair brushing his neck, his aura heavy, magnetic, and quiet like the moment before a storm.
All four of them, impossibly beautiful, impossibly strange, now lay there motionless, the remnants of their stone shells fading into dust.
The boy's pulse quickened. Something deep in his chest stirred. His vision blurred for an instant, and then;
> [Inner Sequence: Active] <
Light flared across his arm. He gasped as threads of golden energy coiled around his wrist, racing upward like living lightning. In a blink, they converged in his hand, shaping themselves into a weapon, a bow, elegant and blinding, forged from pure light and electricity.
Though he looked ordinary, the boy was far from it. Within his inner world, three stars burned brightly, and he had mastered three distinct 3-Star Sequence Abilities, the bow being one of them.
He nocked an arrow of pure energy, eyes darting between the still bodies before him.
"They're… not moving," he whispered, lowering the bow slightly.
The four lay silent, breaths faint but present, as though they'd only just fallen asleep, or perhaps, had not yet fully awakened.
The wind stilled. The lake, now a hollow crater of damp stone, reflected the faint shimmer of the bow's light.