I left the office silently.
Every step I took echoed in the empty corridors of the mansion.
I had no clear destination.
I just walked, as if I could leave behind the burden that had been imposed on me with the simple touch of my feet against the marble.
I had heard that word many times before: «Awakening.»
In books, in dreams, in that other life I left behind.
But only now did I understand how much pain it must bring.
"Forge a core.
Master the flow.
Surpass human limits.
And survive..."
I stopped in front of one of the windows in the east wing. The glass was cold to the touch, but I didn't take my hand away.
Through it, the back garden stretched out under a grey sky, and the leaves fell silently, swayed by a gentle breeze.
As I let myself be absorbed by that peaceful landscape, nostalgia struck me without warning.
I remembered what mana meant... in that other world.
There, when I still bore the title of Hero, I didn't need to channel or shape it.
