Without a second thought, Xaryus and Zadius moved the dusty book from the hole in the floor to the table at the center of their home.
Their curiosity was at its peak.
Of all things, there was a book about awakening one's spite hidden below their home.
"Is this why dad attacked Andrew?" Xaryus asked as he placed his hand atop the heavy book.
His question rattled in Zadius' mind. Till that day they had no idea why their father did what he did and why they were not punished for his actions.
Being exiled to the outskirts of the settlement was essentially a slap on the wrist.
A very uncharacteristic decision from Andrew who is known to be rather ruthless and by the book, albeit a book of his own handwritten work.
There have been men killed for less and their loved ones punished for simply being related by blood.
For the family of a man who dared to try and take Andrew's life to walk away practically scot free. That was something a lot of people in the settlement couldn't accept.
But if Andrew willed it, they had no choice.
"... I don't know." was the only response that Zadius was able to give his younger brother.
Taking his words in, Xaryus turned back towards the book and opened Andrew's parcel of rations. From it he removed two pieces of dried meat and handed one to Zadius.
After taking a bite of the surprisingly delicious pieces of meat, Xaryus began to flip through the book and read its contents as best he could.
When he encountered phrases and words he did not understand, Zadius stepped in to assist.
Whilst they read the book, not only was their curiosity being satiated but a small seed of hope was being planted.
The thought of awakening had meant that they could possibly become like all those heroes and knights they were told stories about.
Most importantly, they were being distracted from the severity and grim reality that was looming over their minds.
As children, there was only so much stress they could handle.
Surprisingly, the book was not written in an official manner with well placed text and diagrams, accompanied by clear and concise paragraphs explaining topics and ideas.
Instead it was written by hand, discussing topics in a manner that made it seem that the book was written over a course of several years.
At some points the handwriting suddenly changed, alluding to the possibility that there were multiple authors.
All of this made the book even more suspicious.
Its hardbound and well crafted exterior made it look as if it was a proof read and edited text, however it was actually the unfiltered thoughts of several awakened over an unidentified period of time.
Firstly, it explained the building blocks of spite, an ability passed down to the world by an invisible force called Law.
Some believe it had existed since the dawn of time and others believed it was put in place by God.
Spite was a unique facet of an individual's soul that was more malleable than the rest. After many years that specific part of the soul was referred to as a core.
Then by harnessing animus - a magical resource that all living things possessed - through the core, they were able to bring about special effects that were called abilities.
One author briefly spoke about how some humans even before they awaken and others with no talent for awakening could subtly sense animus. This string of thought was one of few that was generally agreed upon as an actual fact.
The book built around the concept several times through several different authors, each having a slightly different variation on the school of thought. However, the core principles remained the same.
Finally, the book mentioned awakening, a fundamental process that all awakened must go through.
It went on to state that awakening opens up an awakened's senses, allowing them to perceive their spite. Additionally, that perception of spite subsequently enhances their ability to sense and manipulate the animus within themselves.
Augmenters and Emitters were two categories used to describe battle oriented spite. The former described more close combat abilities whereas the latter described more ranged or less physical abilities.
Awakened with more supportive abilities such as healing and boosting the abilities of others were referred to as Healers or Abjurers.
One of the smaller categories of awakened were called Artificers. These were spite users with abilities that were catered towards the production of items such as weapons, armour, tools, potions etc.
Finally, awakened that possessed abilities that fit them into more than one of the above, or one that simply fit them into none were called Outliers.
Xaryus continued to read, his curiosity plainly laid across his face. Even Zadius couldn't hide his interest in Xaryus' words.
He eventually got to the part that explained common methods of awakening. There were two well known methods that had been primarily used since the end of the Dusk War.
"What's the Dusk War?" Xaryus asked.
"How should I know?" Zadius responded, shrugging his shoulders.
"..."
After a few moments, Xaryus continued reading.
The text only briefly described the Dusk War in vague mentions of epic battles between awakened of that time.
One name that was mentioned stuck out more than the rest. It was of Van Le Equinborrow, an awakened referred to as the Thunderous Butcher.
It seemed that some of the authors had even engaged in bloodied battles against the Thunderous Butcher. Speaking of his gruesome might and the lethality of his spite.
Before they could continue to learn of the battles between Van Le Equinborrow and the authors of the strange book, Zadius scolded Xaryus for getting distracted.
"Do you not hear what they're saying about this guy!?" Xaryus asked in an excited tone.
Frustrated, Zadius raised his fist into the air, silently threatening his younger brother.
"Okay, okay… geez." Xaryus said as he recoiled in fear of being hit.
The first of the two methods was the rarest and most powerful, a natural awakening.
One of the main reasons that the manifestation of an awakened's soul was referred to as spite, was because of how some of the first awakened came into being.
Unlike the second method there was no set criteria for awakened to realise their core and spite or to advance the strength of their core.
Oftentimes it came about through two processes, the first was a form of enlightenment that awakened experienced through deepening their understanding of their spite.
The second was another phenomenon that was widely agreed upon within the text and the source of the name 'spite'.
There were various records across authors that spoke of individuals awakening or strengthening their core through situations of extreme stress, discomfort, pain, regret and anger.
There was even mention of cults and organisations that used this method to try and create awakened that would have a natural advantage over others.
However, the amount of lives that were lost compared to the actual amount of awakened produced was too wide.
To make matters worse, the criteria for the awakening wasn't necessarily high stress situations but it was who was put into those situations, making it an even more tedious process.
The second method was referred to as the Path of Awakening.
It was the most commonly used method before and after the Dusk War.
Put simply, if an individual possessed the latent ability to awaken their spite they would undergo this method.
An awakened adept in controlling animus outside of their body would surge the force into the body of the mundane individual in an attempt to start their awakening.
Carefully controlling their animus so as to not damage the individual's potential core or body in the process.
With each word that Xaryus read aloud, the seed of hope within him slowly faded away.
Zadius' gaze darkened after he heard the two methods to awaken.
He would be lying if he said he wasn't bitter, he wasn't willing to put his brothers or his own life at risk for the mere chance of awakening. Neither did they have access to an awakened that would aid them in the path to awakening.
The thought of Andrew didn't even cross his mind as a valid suitor.
He grimaced at the thought of how such a method could have been monopolised by those in power.
Then the numbing effect that his childish curiosity had provided began to fade and reality set in.
His psyche was going to dark places with thoughts that no young boy should think. Zadius was starting to lose hope, he was ready to give up…
But all was not lost.
Xaryus' voice had pulled Zadius away from his dark thoughts. That and the fist he slammed into Zadius' side.
"L-Look!... There's a third method written here!" Xaryus erupted as he pointed out a small paragraph that was written at the base of the page in a small cursive writing.
Ignoring the pain in his side, Zadius listened closely to Xaryus as he read aloud. Not even noticing that a seed of hope was now blooming within him.
The last method spoken about was called the phoenix method.
It was only referred to by a single author and there seemed to be no other writings in the book that matched his handwriting.
The method was described to be more difficult than the others and was lost to time after the Dusk War, primarily because it relied solely on the latent talent of the user.
By invoking their will using the tongue of dragons, the user will manually connect their soul with Law using the animus surrounding them.
And if they fail, one of the listed side effects included the loss of ability to utilise other methods of awakening.
"A method made for the blessed and the talented alone…" the book stated.
Additionally, the process was extremely dangerous. If an individual was to lose focus or attempt the method incorrectly various things could happen to them.
The book itself had dedicated two whole pages to possible side effects and consequences of performing the method incorrectly.
It described that the user must enter a state of complete focus. Sitting with their legs crossed whilst bringing their fingertips together. It made a very strong emphasis on posture and the rate of breathing which needed to be extremely slow.
Whilst doing this, the individual must focus inwardly and imagine a calm yet vast space. If they are capable, they would eventually sense the animus around them and awaken…
…Or they would fail and wish they had never tried.
Xaryus continued to read and eventually quoted in disbelief "A method that works for one out of a thousand awakened…"
There was a moment of silence as the two brothers pondered on the content of the book. Both of them were filled with hope but there was another sinister emotion residing within Xaryus.
Awakened were a commodity that never faded with time, as long as there were people and there were monsters, awakened would always have a home.
Upon awakening they would be able to take care of themselves both financially and against physical threats.
Xaryus however, had approached the situation differently.
"We should try and awaken. If we fail, dying wouldn't seem that bad…" he thought, feeling a sense of comfort.
"...Explain the method again." Zadius spoke, knocking away Xaryus' dark thoughts.
"We're going to awaken"