Damian stared up at his front door, reluctant to enter. His hand was on the doorknob, but he couldn’t bring himself to turn it. Marina and Andy watched from behind his porch, waiting for him to open the door. Damian’s wounds hadn't gotten much better, with the gash across his chest causing him the majority of his trouble. The adrenaline had helped, but now that it was gone, he felt a searing pain across the wound.

  He looked back at Andy, meeting his eyes. Andy stared at him for a brief moment, before quickly looking to the side. “Aren’t you gonna open the door?” Andy questioned, impatiently.

  “You know, you never apologised for attacking me. What the hell was that? You could’ve killed me.” Damian retorted.

  “Please. I knew you could handle it. And you quite literally could’ve killed both of us with your giant-ball-of-whatever.”

  Damian thought back to that moment. At the time, it had seemed like the most logical thing to do. A falling heavy object would obviously hurt more than a normal one. He really had intended to get out of the way at the last moment, but he got greedy. Seeing how much mass he could stuff in the orb, he just kept going and going, feeling the full extent of his newfound powers. At that point, he must’ve looked just as crazy as Andy, if not crazier.

  He took one last heavy breath, before finally managing to open the door. He entered his house.

  “Damian? Damian! Where have you been?” a voice called from inside the house. “Get over here, I need you to taste this. Do you think this will be too spicy for your mother?” Damian’s father rushed out of the kitchen wearing an apron, entering the main hall with a bowl of what looked like soup. Mr. Barre was, without a doubt, his son’s father. With their tan-brown features, the two could’ve been mistaken for brothers, if not for Mr. Barre’s greater stature. Standing at over 6 feet tall with a large, muscular frame and a fully realized beard, Mr. Barre looked like Damian if Damian spent 20 years training in a forest.

  Mr. Barre looked up to see his son standing at the doorstep with cuts visible all over his skin, blood splattered all over his clothes, and his shirt practically cut in half. Damian stood, one hand still on the doorknob while another clutched his chest, where a cut magnitudes larger than the rest remained. Damian’s father’s smile fell as he dropped the bowl in his hands, the soup spilling all over the floor while the ladle made an unceremonious clank. “What the hell happened?” he shouted, before catching the eyes of the two people behind him. “Damian! Were you kidnapped? Please, both of you, just let my son go. I’ll give you whatever you want, so-” he continued, before Damian finally spoke. “Dad, calm down! It’s not what it looks like! Those two are the ones who brought me back home.”

  His father seemed to breathe a sigh of relief before the worry rushed back to his face. “How did you get so injured?” he asked once more. Before Damian could answer, a white-green flash came down from the stairs and stopped right next to Damian, revealing a woman. Damian’s mother gently embraced her son as green energy flowed out of her body and flowed into Damian, seeping into his cuts. Damian felt his pain leave his body as his wounds closed.

  Damian’s mother let go of him before staring up at him with intense fury in her stormcloud-grey eyes. Her appearance was in stark contrast to both Damian and his father. With her blonde hair, ivory skin, and a comically short stature, Damian seemed to have no relation to her, apart from his fierce grey eyes. “Explain. Now.” Damian’s mother commanded.

  Damian smiled before feeling for the “weight” in his body. He hadn’t fully recovered all of it yet, but with the amount he had, he manipulated it to form another sphere. A small, purple marble manifested between Damian and his mother. It slowly spun around, holding in place through Damian’s will. Damian slowly moved it towards his mother, moving his finger to direct it.

  His mother’s eyes widened in shock, and an audible gasp was heard from his father, before he broke into a shaky laugh. “Damian, you… you awakened. You finally awakened.” his mother spat out in shock. “What did I say? Of course he awakened! Get over here son!” Damian’s father walked up to hug his son. “Was that myria? Ah, I swore you’d be a pranist like your mother, but myria, just like your old man! The apple never falls far from the tree.” he continued, laughing wholeheartedly while wrapping his thick arms around Damian.

  “No. That still doesn’t explain the wounds. Myrists awaken in the classroom, not the battlefield. What were you doing? Did you force an awakening somehow?” Damian’s mother continued.

  “Ma’am, I believe I can explain that” Marina said, taking her first step into the house. “I am Marina Alexandra Dupont, member of the Dupont family and vice chief of the Solvane reconnaissance corps.” Marina said, her previous playful tone replaced with practised authority. Marina approached Damian’s mother, raising her hand for a handshake. Instead, Damian’s mother met her eyes, giving her an icy stare. “Elena Barre,” she shot back, her voice equally commanding, “Former member of the Solvane combat healers, first division. Decorated veteran of Godseeker Bay. If you think that you can hurt my unawakened son with that sword of yours, and get away with it because of a title, you’re in for another thing.” Elena’s voice rang, as green-white energy focused around her fists.

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  Marina’s face made an expression of surprise, before her back straightened as she took on a military stance. “I pay my respects, from one soldier to another. On behalf of the Solvane kingdom, thank you for your service.” she said. Damian wasn’t sure of how military titles worked, but he would’ve thought that a vice-chief would outrank a first division member.

  “Ma’am, your son’s injuries are the result of a formal duel between him and my student, Anderson Dupont. Anderson! Get over here and pay your respects, you ungrateful brat.” Marina announced. Elena’s icy glare turned from Marina to Andy, who, more than ever, looked like he wanted to disappear out of sheer embarrassment. Regardless, he entered the home, and bowed before Damian’s mother. Marina continued “My student challenged your son, which he accepted. I personally oversaw the duel, and intervened when the battle became dangerous.”

  “Is this true?” Elena said, turning towards Damian. Damian's thoughts went into overdrive. In no sense of the word could Andy’s attack be considered anything “formal”. There was no way he would let his mother know that though. Elena was yet to release the will around her fists, being very ready to attack Marina if needed. Damian quickly nodded his head, agreeing with Marina’s statement. Elena scoffed, and then released her will, now focusing on Damian. “I’m disappointed. You accepted the challenge of an experienced willist despite only just awakening? It’s no wonder the fight became too dangerous. I thought I raised you to be more careful than that.” his mother said, her voice caring despite her harsh words.

  “Actually ma’am, Damian was the cause of the danger. As a result of his inexperience, he performed an attack that would have been fatal to both him and my student. If I had not interfered, it is very likely that both of our boys would be dead.” Marina announced, finally dropping her respectful tone. Once again, Elena grew silent, shocked, as Damian’s father looked at him with even more pride. “Damian, you almost won? That’s my boy! You’re just like your mother after all!” he rejoiced, embracing his son once more. Elena turned towards him with her fierce eyes before reprimanding him “John, our son fighting with such reckless abandon is nothing to be proud of. That being said… It's quite impressive that Damian was able to pull off such an attack despite having just awakened.” She turned back to Marina and Andy, her tone now much more hospitable. “Anderson, correct? Come here, it looks like my son wasn’t the only one that got hurt. Both of you, come sit down.”

  Marina and Andy relaxed, as they all entered the living room.

  __________________________________________________________________

  Calbe woke up to a foot lying on his chest.

  “Wha- what? Hey jackass! Get your foot off of me before I-” he yelled, finally coming to, before seeing who it was who had his foot on him.

  Looking down on him was a young man, presumably in his late 20s, dressed in three-piece suit. He carried an expensive-looking cane with an intricate design, as he held it by the hilt. His clean-shaven face was almost expressionless, but his eye twitched as he looked down at Calbe lying on the floor. Calbe immediately attempted to get up, but his gut doubled over in pain. It seemed he was still injured from his fight with… Damian.

  How had he lost to that twerp? He couldn’t believe it. Sure, he had awakened, and sure, he was definitely strong, but Calbe was one of the strongest people his age, at least top ten in the academy. He had yet to form a myria, his poor grades in his education classes representing that, but his prana was exceptional. He continued to think like this, cussing out Damian in his head and ignoring the muffled sounds of the man’s voice, before he felt a stick slam into his upper chest as piercing pain spread through his body.

  “Boy, have you gone deaf? I asked you a question.” the man said, his voice tinged with annoyance rather than anger. Calbe recalled the situation he was in as he pushed through the pain, his world turning upside down from nausea as he managed to stand up. “Yes sir! What happened was, we were attacked by-” he attempted, before the man struck him with the cane once more, cutting him off. “I care not for the three of you. What happened to my money? Did the buyer bring the full currency?” he said.

  Calbe’s face went sick as he searched himself for the money. For a moment, he thought Damian must have taken it from him, and was sincerely worried. Luckily, he found it right where he had left it. He reached into his pocket and handed the man a pouch full of coins.

  The man took the pouch, holding it for a moment. Calbe’s prana sensed a surge of will as the pouch slowly raised into the air, before disappearing in a flash of gold light. Calbe finally relaxed, as the man noticed his two comrades on the floor.

  “Now, tell me about this attack. Who were you discovered by?” the man asked. Calbe tensed up again, before bringing himself to explain. “No-no sir. The attack was due to personal reasons. It had nothing to do with our business. The deal went through successfully, without complications. We had gone out to celebrate, and encountered a classmate. Due to our drunken states, we had engaged in a fight." The man looked at Calbe with an emotion Calbe couldn’t quite place, causing Calbe to straighten up. One wrong word here, and he would die.

  The man stared at Calbe for a few moments longer, before he looked away. He spoke with his back turned to the boy, beginning to walk away as Calbe ran after him. “Our next shipment is due two weeks from now. I will be trusting you to advertise as you had before. Do not fail.” the man commanded. “Oh, and Calbe?” he stopped once again, turning towards Calbe with calm eyes as Calbe almost fell to the floor from the scale of the will he sensed. “If you ever participate in such activities that prevent you from reporting back on time ever again, I will replace you without hesitation. Do we have an understanding?”

  Calbe nodded frantically with pure fear in his eyes.

  “Good.”

  The man left as Calbe thought one thing, and one thing alone. Next time he saw Damian, he would get his revenge.