Elias blinked—intense light pierced his eyes and he winced. His body was aching and an array of System windows layered over his vision, all unreadable in his daze—he ignored them.

  “Tessa? Jacob?” He said quickly as he tried to sit up.

  The clash between Jacob and the Aberration had been more intense than he could have imagined, was he OK? What happened? Where was he?

  More System notifications flashed in his vision—he dismissed them with a thought, banishing them to his periphery as he replayed the battle in his mind. After a few moments he shook himself and glanced at the plain bed beneath. “Must have survived…” he thought, although confirmation was needed.

  The hope he felt for a moment quickly soured as he thought of her; Tessa. The Aberrations claw ripping through her chest, her vacant gaze overwhelming him as it seared across his vision. Tears fell freely down his face and he squeezed his eyes shut—it didn’t help. Her green eyes, void of the light he was so used to seeing were still there.

  He opened his eyes once more and looked around, the room he was in was cramped, it had cream-coloured walls and a small window that streamed bright sunlight directly onto the bed—although it did nothing to fill the emptiness he felt within. His grief was mingled with bewilderment and terror as he reached to his own chest—his hands bandaged tightly he felt for that power within—there was something, pulsing beneath his chest.

  He wiped his eyes as he leant back, shaking his head, “How many died?” he breathed.

  Elias yearned for the events to have been a dream, but the thick dressings covering him served as proof of the atrocities that had befallen Havens Point. He looked down at his body, took in the strong floral odour of healing salve and—

  —“Life Poi…”

  “Not now.” Elias said as he pushed the notification away.

  He didn’t need the system now, he just needed time to gather his thoughts and find out who survived the—

  —“Quest: Survival 1 has been…” another notification began to form.

  “Fuck off!” he shouted, swatting the air.

  The notification faded as quickly as it had formed and as it did, he heard a creak; Elias’s eyes moved to see the door to the room open—“Jacob…” he thought.

  Entering the room was a tall man with grey hair and simple linen clothes. The tunic seemed to have been squeezed onto the man’s chest and arms as he sported a bulging muscular frame. Jacobs eyes locked with his own and he held a sombre expression on his face.

  Silence held the air as they both held each other's gaze; they were both overwhelmed by emotions and both awful at communication.

  Jacob broke the silence, “She’s dead, boy, your friend, Tessa—” his eyes held a sorrow that Elias had not seen in five years, “—I’m sorry.”

  Only a feeling of numbness befell Elias as he found that he could return no words; there was nothing he could say or do now.

  Elias and Jacob sat together in the room for a number of hours; he had cried, and Jacob had silently comforted him. He’d screamed, and Jacob had held him. In the wake of the carnage, a tempest of emotions had surged.

  Eventually, they had left the room to walk; Elias had needed some fresh air and Thom; the man who had graciously homed Elias was also desperate to change the bed linens.

  He had learned from Jacob that their home had been mostly destroyed during the fight with the Aberration. The creature had unleashed several powerful skills in a gambit to survive; Jacob had shrugged off Elias’s concern as if the destruction was part and parcel of a battle. Then, he continued explaining the events of the night and until now:

  Over thirty Aberrations had attacked the village, ranging in power—but most being a low Tier One, with only the one that had found Tess being a Tier Two. Jacob had also said that the Tier Two he’d fought was on the verge of breaking through to Tier Three—a level of power that usually never made it past the Empire’s borders.

  Jacob had single-handedly dispatched a dozen of the Aberrations on his way back to their home, with four being killed by more competent groupings of the villagers. The rest had decided to flee once the Tier Two had been defeated.

  Havens Point had lost forty-six villagers, with another twenty-four injured and eighteen missing. Not only that, but two neighbouring villages had also been attacked. When Elias pressed, Jacob had no more information to give, but he suspected that it wasn’t the full scale of the attacks. Jacob had asked for a few of the villagers to go to nearby settlements to find out more and had said that he couldn’t have done much more in the couple of weeks Elias had spent in bed.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Jacob then went on to explain the rest of the events since the attack and—Elias was only half-listening. He knew all that he needed to, the scale of the attack was larger than that of the past. It was getting worse.

  “…and that’s why Bertrand and Eve have taken over the stalls for now, meaning we should—” Jacob paused, looking at Elias, “—I know it’s difficult, boy. By the accursed Gods, I know. But you need to listen, this is important. It’s sheer luck you survived—Unawakened, escaping the square and surviving an encounter with a beast two Tiers higher than you!”

  Elias snapped back to the present as Jacob continued on a tangent, “I remember this one time, Garok and I were being chased down by four skulkers, same Tier mind you. They caught up and we—Hah! We barely made it—the skin of our teeth it was boy—” he stopped and put his hands on his waist, “—but you, first you made it past hell knows how many Aberrations—I don’t know how you evaded them, and then—”

  “Evaded?!” Elias interrupted, “I wish I’d evaded them, I had to face one.” The primal rage he’d felt before started to flood him.

  “What do you mean, boy? What happened?”

  “Back in the village, after I left the square, Mira was—” Elias’s mind began to replay the scene from the dirt street away from the square, Mira frozen in terror, “—she was going to die, I had to do something.”

  “Go on, boy!” Jacob said as he gestured encouragingly.

  “I—I stabbed it with a wooden banner pole, as if it was a spear! Went right into its arm. But, it didn’t care—it was like I just annoyed it.” He gestured, mimicking the action, “I thought that was it, but…If I could save someone, it would be worth it.”

  Jacob nodded, listening intently.

  “Just when I was about to give up, I felt something in my—In my chest,” Elias pulled his bandaged hands to his chest, “It was angry, it was powerful and fearless. It wanted me to fight.” He remembered the feeling that had welled up within him, it wasn’t mana—he knew that now. He’d felt mana when the System had enthralled him in its power. This was different—more potent, more wild, “It was like mana, but…stronger?” he finished, almost questioningly.

  When he saw that Jacob wasn’t going to speak up, he continued, “It took hold of me, it engulfed my entire body. I felt, invincible. But, I wasn’t.” Elias waved his hands and looked down at his foot—which surprisingly felt much better than it had then—he thought that it would have taken longer to heal.

  Elias kept going, “I attacked it—the Aberration, I beat it with my fists. I didn’t stop, my hands were broken, bleeding. I could see the bone of my own knuckles, but, I kept hitting it—” as he spoke he felt the primal urge as if he was in the moment again, his fist clenching and his stomach muscles tensing as he spat, “Over and over, I couldn’t feel pain, I didn’t care. I just wanted it to die! I wanted everything to DIE!”

  Jacobs eyes widened slightly with concern, but he didn’t speak—nor did Elias care as he continued: “It did die, I killed it. But I still didn’t stop. Not until, the feeling… it just faded. Everything came flooding back at once.” Elias winced as just as soon as he’d spoke a phantom pain encapsulated his hands and a shiver ran down his spine.

  “That’s why I was in such bad shape when you found me, the Tier Two hadn’t even attacked me. It was too busy with—”

  “I know,” Jacob interrupted as he moved forward and gripped Elias’s shoulder reassuringly, “I know. But, if what you’re saying is true…”

  Elias looked at Jacob as he seemed to be deep in his own thoughts, Jacob let go of his shoulder and began to pace, “Well, if that’s true—and you killed a Tier one Aberration before awakening? Well, that’s almost unheard of in the Empire my boy!”

  Elias’s thoughts drifted back to Tess, but he forced himself to focus—he needed Jacob’s help, “There’s more—”

  He recounted the encounter with the Tier Two Aberration in detail, Jacob’s expression fluctuated between worry, curiosity and a flicker of excitement, ending up with concern as Elias explained his “Limited Awakening.”

  “Boy, this is… strange, to say the least. I’ve never heard of an Awakening like this. Plenty happen outside the Chambers, I mean, by plenty. Maybe—” Jacob began to count on his fingers, “Once a decade or so. But it always follows the script—an ability, a Path; usually substandard and then the world moves on.”

  Jacob ran one hand through his hair and sighed, “But you, it hasn’t given you anything…” Jacob paced, his eyes darting between Elias and the mid-distance, “This is interestin’ boy, maybe—” Jacobs shrugged with both shoulders, “—Yep, that’s it, nothing else to do.”

  Elias raised an eyebrow as Jacob turned to face him directly, “What do you mean? What are you doing?”

  “Relax, boy. I mean, what I’m about to do is considered quite unsavoury in the Empire and downright rude outside of it. But, it won’t hurt, you’ll just feel a little strange.” Jacob responded.

  “A strange sensation? What are you—” As he spoke, Jacob raised his right hand, a rune glowing a vibrant orange glowed in the centre of it.

  He flinched, shielding himself with his bandaged arms as he expected pain to follow as Jacob pointed his open palm at Elias—but none came, instead a cold shiver ran down his spine, he felt vulnerable, exposed and then, just as quickly as it came, it faded. Elias shook himself and steeled himself to berate the old bastard.

  Jacob chuckled as Elias squared off to his mentor and watched as he just waved him off, “Oh, relax, boy. It’s a scanning skill I picked up in my youth. Very useful, Now, let me just…” Jacob’s eyes seemed to read invisible text, scanning across and then up and down into what seemed to be nothing to Elias’s eyes.

  Silence stretched on as Elias watched Jacob’s expression change between excitement and confusion, “Well, I’ll be...This certainly ain’t right—”

  “—Jacob!” Elias said, interrupting his mentors muttering.

  As if he hadn’t heard anything, Jacob continued, “But how can you not be awakened and have that much... There’s no way... Even if you had been—”

  “--I’m right here, don’t ignore me!” Elias almost shouted.

  Jacob turned to face him, “When you said the System hadn’t given you a Path, well, how come you’ve got stats so high already? What level are you, for some reason, I can’t see.”

  “Stats like mine?” Elias responded, confused, as far as he had been able to tell, he had some pretty mediocre attributes, “If I remember correctly, I’ve got three strength? Maybe two of three endurance? What’s so good about that?”

  Jacob opened his mouth wide and then shook his head, “Three? Did we not teach you anything about how to read boy?! Look at it yourself then,” he gestured toward Elias and a notification window appeared.

  “That’s not right…” he thought as he stared at the statistic screen in front of him. It had his name, but—he scanned the numbers, “Seventeen strength? Fifteen vitality?”

  “That’s not mine,” Elias said as he pointed at Jacob, “Are these yours?”

  “Hah! Hey, don’t be rude, boy. Look, if you don’t believe me, check for yourself.”

  Confused, Elias did as Jacob said, he thought “Attributes” and a moment later the notification came into view—his eyes wide in alarm