Alaric blinked, the real world rushing back with the force of a physical blow.
He felt a thick, warm trickle of blood run from his nose, staining the silver embroidery of his collar.
He swayed on his feet, his vision swimming with jagged shards of darkness. He didn't have to fake the exhaustion this time. he felt as though his very essence had been dragged through a thresher. His soul didn't just ache, it felt bruised, a crushing blow delivered by the sheer weight of High Seer Marcus's divine intrusion. The "Holy Trial" was less a test and more a spiritual violation.
High seer marcus pulled his hand back as if he had been burned by the coldness he found. He looked at the boy with a confusion and pity.
"He is clean," Marcus announced to the room, his voice echoing in the rafters. The Paladins relaxed, their hands moving away from their sword hilts. The metallic clinking of their armor sounded like a chorus of relief. They had come expecting to purge a demon, they found only a broken child.
Clean, but broken. His soul is empty, but without a hint of warmth.He poses no threat to the Church.
Thank you, seer," Silas said. "We shall double our tribute to the Church this month in thanks for your thoroughness."
"
Good," Marcus said, turning his back.
He paused at the door, looking back at Alaric one last time. "Watch him, Lord Silverlane. A boy with a soul that empty often fills it with things the world would rather forget. Keep him to his books. Do not let him seek the Light he was denied."
The heavy doors slammed shut. The Church Inquisition was gone.
Elara let out a breath that sounded like a sob, but as she lifted her head from her hands, she wasn't weeping in despair. A radiant, tearful smile broke across her face, as bright as the sun finally piercing through the dissipating storm clouds outside.
He's gone!" Elara rushing forward. She didn't wait for Silas; she fell to her knees and swept Alaric into her arms, squeezing him so tight he could barely breathe. "Oh, my brave boy! You did it! You stayed so still, so strong!"
Silas followed, letting out a boisterous, booming laugh that echoed through the hall.
He reached down and hoisted Alaric onto his shoulder, a gesture of raw, masculine pride. "By the heavens, Alaric! You looked that man in the eye and didn't flinch! You fooled a high seer of Church. You are a Silverlane to the core. My son... the cleverest fox in the city
For the next hour, the manor was transformed. The gloom of the storm was forgotten. Silas ordered the kitchens to prepare a feast, and for the first time in five years, laughter rang through the halls. They sat in the small dining nook.
"Eat, Alaric," she whispered, stroking his hair. "You look so pale. Does your head still ache?"Tell me the truth."
"I'm okay, Mother," Alaric replied, his voice small. He took a bite of a honey-cake. The sweetness was overwhelming, a stark contrast to the taste of blood that had been in his mouth minutes prior.
High Seer Marcus had called him "broken" and "empty." Alaric felt a dark amusement stir in his soul. The Seer hadn't found a void.
he had stared into the eye of a storm and mistaken the calm center for nothingness. The Church's "light" was a blinding, arrogant thing. They assumed that because they couldn't illuminate his soul, there was nothing there to see.
"Let them believe I am a empty vessel," Alaric thought, meeting his mother's worried gaze with a practiced, innocent softness. "A empty vessel is the perfect place to hide a weapon."
Silas leaned back, sipping a deep red wine. "You know, Alaric, when I was your age, I once had to talk my way out of a merchant's guild tribunal. I thought that was pressure.
But what you did today... to stand before the high seer and keep your secrets? That is a power of its own.
Alaric smiled, a real, tentative smile. For this brief moment, He was a son being celebrated by parents who loved him more than they feared the world. He felt a warmth in his chest that had nothing to do with mana—it was the simple joy of being home. The family love he had always wanted in his past life.
Eventually, the adrenaline began to fade into a comfortable exhaustion. After being tucked in by a radiant Elara, Alaric waited until the manor grew still.
He sat up, the honey-cakes a pleasant weight in his stomach, but the seed within him was demanding attention.
He walked to the tall, silver-framed mirror. The moonlight was now full and silver, illuminating his pale features. He took a deep breath, and with a soft exhale, he let the Mana Veil drop.
The crimson in his eyes returned, no longer just flicker but a steady edge flame.The "emptiness" the Seer saw was replaced by a terrifying, dense pressure.
System
The violet screen shimmered into existence, pulsing with a faint, low hum.
[ Name: Alaric Silverlane ]
[ Race: Human ]
[ Age: 5 / Soul: 35 ]
[ Class: Heir of Destruction (EX) ]
[ Rank: Novice ]
[ Strength: 9 ]
[Agility: 11 ]
[Intelligence: 25 ]
[ Endurance: 15 ]
[ Willpower 45 ] (Increased 5 by Holy Trial)
[ Destruction Essence Purity: 1% ]
(can be increased by becoming stronger)
[ Mana: 100 / 650 ]
Skills
[ Passive skill: Appraisal (Novice) = The ability Allows the Host to see the Name, Rank, and basic Mana Flow of individuals and objects ]
[ Active skill: Destruction aura (Novice) = A passive pressure exerted on all living things. Causes unease, fear, or paralysis depending on the target's Willpower. At Novice rank effects are limited to 5-meter radius. Consumes 30 mana per second]
[ Active skill: Mana veil (intermediate) = Can hide and hide host aura from surroundings by consuming mana. At novice rank effects are limited to Expert. Consumes 10 mana per second ]
[ Active skill: Erosion (Novice) = The fundamental art of destruction. By channeling the destruction essence, the Host can decompose physical matter or magical constructs. at novice rank, effects are limited to direct touch and non-living materials. Consumes 100 Mana per second ]
Alaric stared at the Appraisal skill. He looked at the silver mirror in front of him. Suddenly, faint violet text hovered over the glass.
[ Item: Silver Frame Mirror ]
[ Quality: High ]
He reached out, his finger hovering just an inch from the glass. He felt the Erosion skill twitching in his fingertips, a hungry, corrosive heat.
He could turn this mirror to dust in seconds if he chose. He could turn this entire room to ash eventually.
Marcus warned my father that an empty soul fills with things the world would rather forget, he whispered to the glass.
"He was wrong. I haven't forgotten anything. I remember the weight of his hand. I remember the smell of the incense. And I will remember the fear in his eyes when he realizes the 'broken child' is the one who will destroy him.
He realized that the joy he had felt with his parents had actually strengthened his resolve to maintain the Apprentice Veil.
The love he felt for Elara and Silas acted like a tether, keeping the Destruction Essence from swallowing his soul.
He realized then that his path was a razor's edge: he had to embrace the destruction to protect the love, but if he embraced it too much, he might destroy the very people he was fighting for.
His resolve has been strengthened to become stronger
I will control this seed" Alaric whispered to his reflection. "But I will do it on my own terms."
He looked at his hand. He could still feel the warmth of his mother's hug. He closed his eyes and reactivated his skill.
[ Active skill mana veil (intermediate) activated ]
The crimson glow in his vanished. He was a boy again. But as he climbed back into bed, Alaric felt a new kind of resolve.
He walked back to his desk, picking up a heavy tome on ancient history.
He had five years of catching up to do, and a world that wanted him dead if they ever found out who he really was.
He wouldn't spend his time playing with toys. He would spend his time learning every weakness of the Church that had dared to call his soul empty.
As he climbed back into bed and pulled the silk sheets to his chin, Alaric felt a new kind of resolve, one that surpassed any system notification.
He would grow. He would become a force so absolute and so powerful that no Church, no demons, and no God could ever take away the warmth of the family he had finally found.
"Sleep well, Seer Marcus," Alaric murmured into the darkness. "The vacuum is filling up faster than you think.
The boy closed his eyes, falling into a deep sleep, while deep within his chest, the 1% of Destruction Essence pulsed with a steady, rhythmic beat—like the ticking of a clock counting down to the end of an age.