Outside the grand hall, dark clouds gathered, heavy and ominous. Thunder roared, and lightning split the heavens as if nature itself was reacting to Vladislav's awakening.
Inside the hall, silence reigned.
Vladislav closed his eyes and felt his blood boil. His muscles tensed as if charged with raw power, every cell vibrating with energy. Lightning coursed through his veins, rewriting his very being.
Crackling arcs of blue electricity erupted from his body as he began to rise into the air. His eyes snapped open—now glowing, bright and sharp like lightning itself.
ZAP!
CRACKLE!
HUM!
The sounds of his power echoed, startling the onlookers.
"First purple, and now blue? Gods…" someone whispered.
"Do you see him floating? That's insane."
A chuckle escaped Vladimir before he quickly cleared his throat under Genevieve's sharp glance. "Ahem… As expected of my son," he said, smiling proudly.
Geneviève only smiled softly in return, while Jian nodded without surprise." As expected," he murmured.
Within Vladislav's Mind:
In the depths of his consciousness, he drifted in a void. There was no ground beneath him—only strange, destroyed floating buildings suspended in emptiness.
Ahead, he spotted two figures locked in silent confrontation.
One, with long snow-white hair, held a sword etched with divine engravings. The other, with long black hair, wielded an obsidian blade that seemed to swallow the light around it.
The two beings moved—yet before their blades could clash, Vladislav's vision snapped back to the hall.
What was that? Who were they? And that voice… what did it mean?
He tried to grasp the memory but failed. With a shake of his head, he set it aside.
Lightning surged inside him, flooding his veins. He clenched his fists and smiled. Good job, Vlad, he praised himself.
From the back, Athelstan cheered. "Let's go, big bro!"
Vladislav's smile widened. His brother's voice steadied him.
Let's see if I can awaken another one… shall we?
He poured more mana into the crystal orb, but the sphere greedily drank deeper, pulling almost violently at his core.
The orb shifted—its glow deepened from blue into a pitch-black void.
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
"N-no way… another one?" someone stammered.
"It looks like ordinary darkness…"
"No, look closely."
The orb trembled. Vladislav's eyes turned into pools of abyssal black, and darkness spilled from him like a flood, swallowing the hall whole.
"What the hell?!" a voice cursed as the world vanished into shadow.
Only the strongest—Genevieve, Vladimir, and a few others—could still see.
Athelstan's body shimmered with instinctive light, illuminating the space around him.
"Another esoteric affinity," someone whispered, awe mixing with fear. "Truly crazy."
Esoteric affinities—the rarest powers, said to touch the framework of reality itself. They were mysteries, feared and revered in equal measure.
Light(esoteric). Darkness(esoteric). Space. Force and others. And now… Vladislav stood among them.
"The gods have blessed our family," a voice trembled.
On his throne, Vladimir shook with excitement, fists clenched.
Geneviève's eyes glistened with tears of pride.
Jian grinned broadly. "As expected of my student."
Mikhail burst into laughter, while Asa trembled with eagerness. She wanted to test herself against such overwhelming power.
Leon only smiled knowingly.
Darkness too? And not ordinary darkness at that. I've hit the jackpot, Vladislav thought with a laugh.
"See, big bro?" Athelstan beamed. "Light and darkness—we complement each other."
The shadows retracted, pouring back into Vladislav's body as the light of the hall returned.
"It feels strange," he muttered, closing his eyes to sense where the darkness had gone. Then, without hesitation, he fed the orb his remaining mana.
"Oh? More?" someone murmured.
"Maybe he'll awaken a second esote—"
"Don't jinx—!"
But it was too late. The orb pulsed once more, its color shifting.
At first, black again. But then—
A breathtaking indigo emerged, deep and infinite. Within it shimmered countless silver specks, like distant stars scattered across the night sky. The room glowed with cosmic light, distorting space itself.
The audience fell silent, overwhelmed by the sight. Then the dam burst.
"HE AWAKENED A SECOND ESOTERIC AFFINITY!"
The hall erupted in deafening cheers.
Even Vladimir leapt from his throne, which crumbled to dust beneath his excitement. "That's my boy!" he roared.
Geneviève's voice joined Mikhail's and Jian's in jubilant screams.
Athelstan smiled, though his eyes carried a fleeting shadow of sadness. "Good work, little bro," he whispered.
Vladimir raised his hand, calming the hall.
"As we've witnessed today, a new generation of brilliance has dawned. Such talent has not appeared for centuries. It must be protected—but not coddled. They must grow strong on their own. We are guides, not shields.
Today, Vladislav and Athelstan have shown us that the Schatten family will not only endure—but prosper."
He struck his chest over the family crest.
"FOR THE SCHATTEN FAMILY!"
The hall thundered as every voice followed.
"VLADISLAV! VLADISLAV! VLADISLAV!
"ATHELSTAN! ATHELSTAN! ATHELSTAN!"
Meanwhile, very far away from the human Empire of Lovria
Somewhere deep in the Lands of Horror, inside a dark cave, lay something very huge that looked like a huge stone. Many would think that if they didn't see it breathing.
Steady breathing came out of it, and its breath filled the cave.
wheeze—
wheeze—
As if feeling a shift in the world, its eyes opened.
Deep light slit violet eyes opened in the dark, lighting the darkness of the cave.
With a deep, ancient voice, it spoke as if awakened from a long slumber:
[[It has already started....the great shift...]]
Then its eyes closed and went back into slumber, bringing the darkness back again into the cave.
*******
In a huge city surrounded by a vast green forest. A tall, large tree stood the tallest, towering over the city over thousands and thousands of meters away.
Inside a palace, a very beautiful girl stood next to an orb that shone a light green.
She had shiny silver hair with dark skin and long pointy ears was going through an affinity awakening as well.
"Congratulations, princess, you've awakened the esoteric affinity of nature." An older woman with pale skin and pointy ears bowed.
"Thank you, I can't wait to get into the academy in 8 years," she spoke as she smiled
*********
Somewhere in the human empire.
A boy drenched in sweat stood tall with a greatsword in his hands in front of shattered dummies. He had red hair and sharp green eyes.
A man stood behind him with his hands clasped behind his back, smiled slightly, "Good work awakening an esoteric affinity."
"Thank you, father," the boy said.
After that, he continued training with the dummies.
*********
In another estate in the Lovria empire.
Deep underground.
There was a pool of hot magma.
A woman stood calmly in front of it.
Then—
SPLASH!—
A person came out of it.
A girl floated in the air. Her whole body burned with fire. Her hair floated up like a candle.
She then landed on the ground as the fire dissipated from her body.
Her hair was raven black. Her eyes that were once red with fire turned into beautiful emerald green as she looked at the woman and then bowed.
The woman smiled and said, "Good job, my daughter," while patting her head.
In a different part of the world, other youths who would shake the world were also rising; Vladislav and Athelstan were not the only ones.
********
Somewhere deep in the void...
A voice spoke:
"I see you....Oh, the Fated one"
********
Back in the Schatten state.
A celebration party was happening for Vladislav and Athelstan as a congratulations on their awakening.
Vladislav and Athelstan were at the center of attention they were showered with lots of gifts.
"Damn, so many gifts," Athelstan spoke as his eyes shone like he had just found a mine of gold
"Yeah, they are a lot. I don't even know if I'm gonna do all of them." Vladislav looked at the mountain of gifts in front of them.
He asked some servants to take the gifts to his room and Athelstan's as well.
"By the way, have you looked at the guests? there are some pretty girls, don't you think?" Athelstan
"Geez, you're just five years old and you already thinking about girls, and it is not like they would like a blockhead like you, Athelstan."
"You bastard, I'm very handsome, you know? why wouldn't they like me?" He touched his face
"Narcissistic bastard," Vladislav rolled his eyes.
Vladislav looked at Athelstan's hand, which was holding a glass of wine, and frowned.
"How the hell can you drink that, and why are you drinking it? If mom finds out you're going to be in trouble."
Athelstan waved his hand and said, "It is fine, they think it is grape juice because I mixed it with the wine." he grinned.
"Bro, you're only 5 years old, that's abnormal."
"And what does that have to do with drinking wine? I'm just different."
"Tsk, stubborn brat, don't say later I didn't warn you."
"Yeah, yeah, big bro"
Vladislav just shook his head in defeat and smiled, and then took a sip of his kiwi juice.
Tsk fuck kiwi juice.