Evening had settled over the city, casting a warm, golden glow through the windows of Kael's home. The air was quiet, save for the distant murmurs of the bustling capital. Lira stood by the window, her arms crossed, her eyes scanning the darkening streets with a sharp, wary gaze. Though she had disposed of the bodies from last night's attack, the tension in her shoulders hadn't eased.
Kael sat at the table, absentmindedly pushing around the remnants of his dinner. His mind still reeled from the morning's revelation—his mother was a Deviant, just like him. And now, he had to come to terms with the fact that someone had already tried to kill him.
A sudden, sharp knock at the door broke the silence.
Lira turned her head slightly, then exhaled. "That must be Albert."
Kael immediately perked up at the name. "Uncle Albert?"
His mother nodded. "I called him earlier. He's an old friend of your father's and… well, he's good at making problems disappear."
Kael swallowed, knowing exactly what she meant. He had met Albert only a handful of times, but he had always found the man strange—warm but distant, a bit too eccentric to blend into normal life.
Lira walked to the door and pulled it open. The man standing on the other side was wrapped in a long, dark coat, his gray hair neatly combed back. A thick scarf was wrapped around his neck despite the mild weather. His pale, clouded eyes stared straight ahead, unfocused.
Albert was blind.
But despite his lack of sight, his movements were precise, as if he could see more than anyone else.
"Lira," he greeted with a smile, stepping inside without hesitation. "It's been too long. And Kael! My, my, you've grown."
Kael stood, giving a polite nod. "Good to see you again, Uncle Albert."
Albert chuckled. "You don't sound too sure about that."
Before Kael could respond, Albert reached into his coat and pulled out a small satchel, handing it to Lira.
"I brought some fresh fruit," he said. "Figured you might appreciate something that isn't rationed."
Lira took the bag with a small smile. "You didn't have to."
"Nonsense. It's what family does."
Albert let himself into the sitting room and made himself comfortable, despite never having been directly guided. He sat down and pulled off his gloves, placing them neatly on the table.
"Now then," he said, rolling his shoulders. "Why don't you tell me exactly what kind of mess you've found yourselves in?"
Lira and Kael exchanged glances before Lira took a deep breath and explained everything. She spoke of the attack, the masked assassins, and how she had eliminated them. She didn't hold back on the details, knowing Albert could handle it.
When she finished, Albert let out a low whistle. "Three of them, you say? Sounds like someone is getting desperate."
Kael, still slightly unnerved by how casual Albert was about all of this, hesitated before asking, "Do you know who sent them?"
Albert tilted his head, considering. "Not yet. But I will soon." He reached for his bag, pulling out what appeared to be a small, thin talisman with engravings etched into its surface. The moment he touched it, Kael felt a faint pulse of energy ripple through the room.
"What's that?" Kael asked, leaning in.
Albert grinned. "A teleportation talisman. One of my finer creations." He placed it atop the frozen corpses. "It's based on an old imperial technique, but I've… refined it."
Kael watched in fascination as the engravings on the talisman began to glow. Albert snapped his fingers, and in an instant, the bodies disappeared as if they had never been there at all.
Kael's mouth fell open. "That was… insane."
Albert chuckled. "Simple transference magic. The empire uses similar techniques for high-priority shipments. I just made mine a little more—"
He started rambling about runic sequences, dimensional rifts, and the mathematics of energy dispersion. Kael tried to keep up, but within seconds, his brain had checked out. He glanced at his mother, who sighed before raising a hand.
"Albert," she interrupted.
The blind man paused mid-sentence, then sighed. "Right, right. Getting carried away again." He leaned back, folding his arms. "Bottom line is, the bodies are gone. No evidence left behind."
Kael exhaled in relief. It was strange, knowing they had just erased the existence of three people from the world, but he wasn't about to argue.
Albert stretched before standing up. "That takes care of that. Now, when's Alfred coming back?"
Kael straightened at the mention of his father. "In two or three months."
Albert nodded. "Good. Tell him I'll visit when he returns."
He reached for his gloves, sliding them back on. As he walked to the door, he paused, tilting his head toward Lira. "Be careful, Lira. If they came once, they'll come again."
Lira's expression darkened, but she nodded. "I know."
Albert let out a long breath. "Then I'll be off. Try not to get yourselves killed before I come back, all right?"
With that, he stepped out into the night, vanishing into the shadows of the city.
Kael and his mother stood in silence for a moment before Lira exhaled and locked the door.
"Well," Kael muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "That was… something."
Lira shook her head with a small smile. "That's just Albert."
They headed back inside. Kael went straight to the kitchen, his stomach grumbling. He pulled out the leftovers from earlier and sat down, still processing everything.
The past few days had changed everything.
And deep down, he knew this was just the beginning.
Chapter 5 – The Awakening of Power
The evening was quiet when Kael finished his dinner. The air was still and cool, but the thoughts running through his mind were anything but calm. He had barely finished swallowing his last bite when a question he had been holding back for days finally burst forth.
"Mom... please, teach me more about Deviants," he blurted out, the words tumbling from his mouth before he could stop them. His voice was tinged with urgency, a desperate desire for understanding. His mother, who had been cleaning up the table, paused and turned to him, her expression unreadable.
Lira looked at her son for a long moment, her gaze intense but not unfriendly. She let out a sigh, one that carried both relief and something else, something heavier. "I was going to teach you anyway," she said softly, her voice carrying a warmth that put Kael at ease, despite the weight of what she was about to reveal.
They moved back into the sitting room, where a soft fire flickered in the hearth, casting shadows that danced on the walls. The room was small but cozy, filled with old furniture that had seen better days. It was the kind of room that felt like home. Lira gestured for Kael to sit down, and she followed suit, taking the seat opposite him. For a moment, neither of them spoke, the crackling of the fire the only sound between them.
Finally, Lira spoke, her tone calm but firm. "Acarna energy," she began, "is an integral part of the world we live in. It's connected to the very fabric of life, to our souls. Every living being has it—it's what gives us life. But only a few are born with the ability to harness it. Those are the Deviants."
Kael nodded, though he couldn't quite wrap his mind around everything yet. He had always known that Acarna was something people used, something that defined the strength and power of the empire, but the idea that it was tied to the very essence of life itself... that was new.
"You see," Lira continued, "Acarna is not just energy; it's the force that binds us all together. It exists in every living thing, and it flows through everything, but it's not something that can be seen with the naked eye, not until it's manipulated. The more a person can harness it, the more control they have over their own life and their environment."
Kael's eyes widened, and he leaned forward, his curiosity piqued. "So... it's like a power we control?"
"Exactly," Lira said, her voice gaining strength as she spoke. "It can be used in two primary ways. One is by applying it to objects, using it to power tools, weapons, and machines. This form is usually the one most common in the empire—it's what powers the technology, the weapons that soldiers use. But the second form, the one more associated with Deviants, is what makes Acarna so dangerous. It bends natural laws. It allows people to manipulate the elements—water, fire, earth, wind, lightning. The very forces of nature become something we control."
Kael's heart raced. He had seen his own energy before, when he absorbed the Arcana Core. It felt like something raw and untamed, and hearing his mother speak about it this way only confirmed that his abilities were something far beyond what he had ever imagined.
"But there are others," Lira added, her voice growing softer, more introspective. "Not all Deviants are the same. There are legends—Deviants who can control time and space. There are those who can heal with a touch, or those who can manipulate gravity. Some of the most dangerous Deviants are those who can break the laws of nature in ways we can't even understand. These are the unique ones, the ones whose abilities are... well, almost god-like."
Kael swallowed hard, a knot forming in his stomach. His mind raced with questions, most of them too overwhelming to voice. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of Deviant he was. He knew he had absorbed something far beyond a simple Arcana Crystal, and the energy inside him felt... different. Alien, almost.
"But the most immediate impact Acarna has on us is how it strengthens the body," Lira continued, as if sensing his thoughts. "It amplifies strength, speed, and senses. That's why every newly awakened Deviant experiences a sudden surge of power. The body gets stronger, faster, more attuned to the world around it. When you first awakened, Kael, your senses must have been sharper, your strength more than you'd ever known before. That's why, even though you were caught off guard by that attack the other day, your reaction was beyond normal. It's because of the energy inside you."
Kael nodded slowly, his thoughts flashing back to that moment when he first felt the power surge inside him. He remembered the way everything had become clearer, sharper—how he could hear even the faintest of sounds, see things that had been hidden in the shadows. It was like his body had suddenly become a finely tuned instrument, capable of far more than he had ever imagined.
"But there's a problem," Lira said, her tone growing more serious. "Acarna energy is powerful, yes, but it's also dangerous. If you don't learn to control it, it can consume you. That's why the first step, Kael, is learning to suppress it. You can't just let it run wild. Not until we figure out how to handle it."
Kael's heart sank. He had been hoping that maybe, just maybe, his power would be something he could wield immediately. The idea that he had to suppress it first felt like a punch in the gut. "But... what about combat?" he asked, his voice a little too desperate. "What about fire, water, lightning... can't you teach me how to control that? I want to learn how to fight, how to use my powers."
Lira shook her head, a soft but firm smile on her face. "You're getting ahead of yourself, Kael. You have to learn to suppress the energy first. You can't do anything with it if it's uncontrolled. Think of it like a raging river—you can't make it do what you want unless you build a dam to hold it back. Until we figure out how to do that, you won't be able to safely learn combat or element manipulation."
Kael frowned, frustration creeping up his spine. He had been hoping for something more immediate, something he could use right now. "But how do I do that?" he asked, his voice tinged with uncertainty. "How do I suppress it? It feels like it's always there, just waiting to burst out."
Lira's gaze softened. "It's a process, Kael. When you first awakened, you absorbed the Arcana Core, and it gave you a surge of power. But that energy is foreign to you. It's not part of your natural flow of Acarna. That's why it's harder to control. You'll need time to get used to it, to learn how to make it a part of you. It's not impossible. Many Deviants have done it before. But it takes patience."
Kael was quiet for a moment, contemplating his mother's words. The weight of everything she had just said hung heavy in the air. He could feel the energy inside him, but it wasn't like the Acarna his mother spoke of. This was something different, something he didn't fully understand.
Lira must have sensed his unease, for she reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Kael," she said gently, "You're not alone in this. We'll figure it out together. But you have to trust me, and you have to trust yourself. You can't let fear control you."
Kael looked at her, his eyes full of uncertainty but also a flicker of determination. "I trust you, Mom," he said quietly. "I just want to be able to protect you... and protect myself."
Lira smiled softly, the tension in her face easing just a little. "I know you do, Kael. I know."
But even as they spoke, Kael couldn't shake the feeling that something darker was looming, something he wasn't yet ready for. The energy inside him, so raw and untamed, seemed to pulse with a mind of its own. He was beginning to realize that this wasn't just about controlling power—it was about learning to control himself.
The silence stretched on, and Lira finally stood up, stretching her arms. "It's getting late. You should go to bed. We'll begin your training in the morning."
Kael didn't protest. He knew she was right. As much as he wanted to continue talking, his body was weary from the day's events. He stood, offering his mother a small smile before heading for his room.
But as he lay in bed that night, his mind raced. He could feel the energy inside him, thrumming with life, calling to him. And though he didn't know what the future held, one thing was certain—his life would never be the same again.