In a world where power defines your future, awakening weak means living a life where you're already forgotten.
The sound of boots marching in unison echoed across the domed arena, a metallic rhythm that bounced off walls of steel and glass. Dozens of students lined up in perfect rows on the Awakening Floor, each uniform crisp, each expression tight with nervous anticipation. High above, massive screens displayed the students' names, abilities, and evaluation scores in real-time.
Jace Emberlin stood in the second-to-last row.
He kept his head down, shoulders hunched slightly. He wasn't nervous. He wasn't excited. He was just... hollow. The line of students in front of him thinned one by one as names were called, and each time, cheers or gasps filled the arena. Some students erupted into flame, others cloaked themselves in wind or summoned blades of ice. A few even released elemental beasts bound to their souls.
The stronger the ability, the louder the crowd. Talent scouts, teachers, and families all leaned in to watch. For some students, this moment would decide their future—the difference between being accepted into elite military academies or being tossed into grunt labor patrols.
Jace had no family in the stands. Just silence behind his name.
He glanced around at the others. Daven Korr, the class prodigy, had just awakened a B-grade kinetic barrier. Tessara Vale, his childhood friend—or maybe former friend—had manifested a stunning pair of spectral wings and received instant recruiter interest from the Frostwind Academy. Her eyes lit up when her results appeared, but when she turned and saw him still waiting in line, that light dimmed. She looked away.
Then there was him.
"Jace Emberlin," the mechanical voice announced, monotone but final.
He took a breath and stepped forward. The laughter started almost immediately. A short burst from someone to his right. Another from behind.
"Bet he gets something like... dishwashing manipulation."
"Nah, maybe he's the next janitor-class awakener."
He ignored them. What else was new?
The Awakening Pad loomed ahead—a black, circular platform inlaid with crimson runes. A floating orb descended from above, scanning his vitals, blood flow, and genetic markers. Lights flickered around him like fireflies.
"Place your hand on the crystal," instructed a bored-looking instructor without glancing up.
Jace did.
The orb pulsed.
[Scanning Bloodline...]
[Accessing latent genetic nodes...]
[Potential: Weak]
[Activating Awakening...]
For a moment, there was nothing. Then a flicker. A flash of static behind his eyes.
Something deep inside him twitched.
The orb pulsed red.
[Ability: Echo Sight] [Grade: F] [Effect: Reveals residual movement trails for 3 seconds. Cooldown: 60 seconds.]
[Recommendation: Combat Ineffective. Placement Suggestion: Administrative or Support Track.]
Gasps followed.
Then laughter. Full-blown this time.
"Echo Sight? Is that even a real ability?"
"I've seen cats with better instincts."
"Man's gonna spend his career tracking footsteps."
Even the instructor raised an eyebrow. "That's rare. Not in a good way."
Jace stared at the glowing text floating before him. He felt the weight of a thousand invisible eyes pressing in. Disappointment. Pity. And the worst—amusement.
He turned and walked off the platform without a word.
No teachers clapped. No scouts made notes. Tessara Vale—the only girl he'd ever called a friend—looked away as he passed her. Not in disgust, but in disappointment.
That stung more.
---
After the ceremony, the students gathered in the recreation hall to celebrate. Food materialized from dispensers. Drinks were passed around. Tables buzzed with laughter and plans for the future.
Jace wasn't invited to any of it.
He sat alone on the academy roof, legs dangling over the edge, the wind cold against his face. From up here, the city lights flickered like dying stars. Somewhere far to the north, the massive towers of New Argus Military Academy glowed, casting judgment on the weaker districts like a silent god.
Only the top 5% of graduates made it into New Argus. Everyone else got swept into menial defense roles or forced labor contracts.
He sighed and leaned back against the cooling metal. The sky was overcast, dimming the orange glow of the city below. He could still hear echoes of cheering beneath him.
His datapad buzzed softly in his pocket. A notification: Congratulations to Tessara Vale – Awarded Frostwind Honor Candidacy.
He didn't open it.
He thought of his parents. Or rather, the idea of them. They'd died in a shuttle crash when he was only four. He remembered flashes—his mother's laughter, his father's strong arms lifting him into the air. But mostly, he remembered the cold walls of the state orphanage. The whispered stories of others getting adopted. Of people disappearing from the dorms, never to return.
He had fought hard to stay in the academy program. Studied harder than everyone. Trained longer. And now... for what?
A joke of an ability. A footnote in someone else's success story.
He stared at his hands. "I just wanted to matter."
The wind picked up as he looked out across the skyline. He thought back to all the times he'd trained late into the night, convinced he had untapped potential. There had been moments—flickers—where he'd felt something stirring within him. Dreams where he stood atop ruined cities cloaked in shadow, where a crimson eye opened in the sky and whispered his name.
He thought they were just dreams.
He wasn't so sure anymore.
He pulled up the mission board. Most of the good quests were locked behind ability tiers. But one section remained open: Outer-Zone Requests.
Hunt mutated beasts. Recover salvage. Survive.
Low-level. Low pay. High risk.
Perfect.
He scrolled through the listings, eventually settling on one marked Zone 5W – Hazard Clearance, Tier-1. Estimated danger level: moderate. Estimated reward: negligible.
"Good enough," he muttered.
He confirmed the mission and the datapad chimed as a route uploaded to his HUD.
---
The next morning, Jace stood outside the academy gates. His pack was slung over one shoulder, filled with basic supplies—rations, a dull blade, a cracked stim-injector, and a water canister with a faulty seal.
He passed Daven on the way out, surrounded by his usual crowd. Daven glanced at him with a smirk. "Don't die too quickly out there, Emberlin. We need someone to sweep the roads when we graduate."
The others laughed.
Jace kept walking.
Tessara stood a little farther down, speaking with an academy officer. She saw him. Her mouth opened slightly. Then she looked away again.
He told himself it didn't matter. He didn't expect her to defend him.
But still.
The convoy truck rumbled as it dropped him at the edge of Zone 5W. The perimeter gate loomed high, made of layered steel plates and reinforced energy fields. The soldiers there barely gave him a glance.
"Solo scavenger run?" one of them asked, raising a brow. "You fresh out of awakening?"
Jace nodded.
"You've got guts, I'll give you that." The man handed him a clearance badge. "Not much else, but guts count for something."
The gate opened. Jace stepped into the wilderness.
Ash-covered soil crunched underfoot. The air smelled faintly of burnt ozone. Far in the distance, rusted towers leaned at impossible angles, remnants of the Old World before the wars. Low-hanging clouds cast long shadows, and mutant beasts cried in the distance.
His HUD flickered to life.
[Mission Start: Scavenger Tier-1. Location: Zone 5W. Objectives: Open. Survival Encouraged.]
A pulse of unease went through him.
Not fear.
Anticipation.
He had nothing left to lose.
And sometimes, that was the most dangerous kind of power there was.
He took one last look at the shimmering dome that protected the city—the world that had cast him aside—and walked toward the broken horizon.