Ren woke up at 3:42 AM to the sound of… humming.
Except it wasn't human humming. It sounded like electricity having a panic attack.
Then came the heat.
Then the light.
Then the sensation of his bones trying to moonwalk inside his body.
He sat up — no, he levitated. A few inches off his futon.
> [First Awakening in Progress]
Warning: Vessel is unstable.
Commencing Calibration... Please don't die.
"Whuh—"
BOOM!
A shockwave exploded from Ren's body. His bookshelf disintegrated. His gaming poster got vaporized. The lightbulb above his head burst with a POP, raining glass like glitter made of pain.
"Oh, COME ON!" Ren shouted, falling flat on his back.
Downstairs, Uncle Jin was already sliding across the kitchen in his bathrobe, holding a glowing tattooed katana and a half-eaten rice cracker.
He skidded to a stop and stared up toward Ren's room.
"...Guess puberty's really wild these days."
He sheathed the blade and grabbed his backup: a kitchen ladle forged from "spirit steel" — or as he called it, the Spankinator 9000.
Back in Ren's room, the glowing mark on his palm flared again.
His body screamed. His heartbeat was a war drum.
Memories — not his own — flashed in his mind:
A man with silver eyes punching lightning out of the sky.
A woman with wings made of wind standing in front of a crumbling temple.
A voice calling his name… not Ren, but something older. Deeper.
> [Martial Aspect Accessed: "Heaven-Piercing Fist" – 1% Synced]
Ren's hand lit up with crackling blue energy — so bright it cast shadows on the walls.
He screamed, clutching his chest, until—
BOOM!
His closet exploded.
Uncle Jin kicked open the door with one foot and launched the ladle like a divine javelin.
CLANG!
It slammed into the wall just beside Ren's head, pinning a black, ghostly figure that had emerged from the shadows.
"What the hell is THAT?!" Ren shouted, pointing at the twitching, semi-transparent figure melting into smoke.
"A Spectral Scout," Jin muttered, stepping in. "They usually show up when someone Awakens… or when they're about to get kidnapped and dissected by shadow monks."
"…Okay?!??! What?!"
Jin reached out and yanked Ren to his feet. "You just put up a flare. Every magic blood-sucking psycho this side of the veil knows you're alive now. Congrats."
"This is the worst puberty ever."
🌃 Meanwhile, On a Rooftop Across Town
A figure in a long black coat crouched on a power pole, a katana strapped to their back, sipping bubble tea like they had all the time in the world.
Their eyes glowed faintly red.
"Found him," the figure whispered. "The Skyborn Heir. He's finally awakened."
A raven landed beside them. The figure fed it a tapioca pearl.
"Let's see if the old man still remembers how to kill."
Then they vanished.
🍜 Back at the Shop
Ren sat at the ramen counter again, hair scorched, shirt missing a sleeve, shaking like a toaster in a thunderstorm.
Jin poured him tea and placed a single fortune cookie in front of him.
"You survived. Barely."
Ren cracked the cookie with a trembling hand.
> "Great power is like spicy ramen: it burns more coming out than going in."
"…Are these custom-made?" Ren muttered.
"Yep. Motivational food."
Ren looked up. "Uncle Jin… what am I?"
Jin stared for a long time. The night was quiet now, but the tension hadn't left.
"You're the last son of the Skybound Bloodline. The broken sky marked your family to protect the realms. But it also made you a target."
He placed a worn photo on the table — Ren's father, younger, standing beside Jin. They were in monk robes, fists raised, smiling. The background? A burning mountain.
"They killed your parents because they were afraid of what you'd becom
e. They were right to be."
⚡System Log: Updated
> [Heaven-Piercing Fist - 1% Synced]
Next Milestone: 5% - "Sky Echo Palm" unlocked
[Quest Unlocked: "Don't Die This Week"]
Avoid detection. Survive school. Train in secret. Try not to destroy more furni
ture.
Ren took a deep breath.
A fight was coming.
Gods, monsters, and things he couldn't even name yet — and he couldn't even do a proper push-up.
But hey, at least he had ramen. And a semi-insane uncle who moonlighted as a spirit assassin.
Sma
ll wins.
⚡ Chapter 4 Teaser:
> Ren goes back to school after literally exploding his closet. A mysterious girl transfers into his class. She knows too much. And someone starts a fight in the cafeteria that ends with flying desk
s.