Words were unnecessary. The sheer shock plastered across Count lancroft's face, along with the tight, vein-popping rage on Edward's neck, said enough.
Sirius slipped back into the cold corridors of the Annex before either of them could construct a reason to stop him.
He shut the heavy wooden door behind him and rested his weight against the battered table, his breath coming in a steady, controlled rhythm.
'The Path of Awakening...'
A dark, faint smile played on his lips.
In the original novel, the primary villain of this opening arc—an arrogant noble brat—carried a strange, ancient crystal during the first survival trial in the Foggy Phantom Forest. To everyone in the story, it was just a flashy trinket. Wasted, decorative junk. Its owner didn't have a clue what he was holding.
Sirius knew better.
That crystal wasn't jewelry. It held the skill book for an absolute cheat technique: [Space Breaker]. A spatial skill completely ignored by the original cast, but one that would become his ultimate ace in the hole—if he grabbed it first.
To survive the trial and claim it, however, he had to unlock the mana inside this dead body. Tonight.
In this world, people relied on an official, expensive Awakening Ceremony to ignite their mana circuits. His family had deliberately kept him from attending, making sure he stayed a mana-less, powerless extra.
What they didn't know—what nobody in this world knew—was the secret of Vein-Striker Grass.
If the high nobles or grand mages ever realized this wild, ignored plant could force open locked mana pathways and trigger a manual awakening, they would scrap the ceremonies entirely and wage wars over it. To everyone else, though, it was just a useless weed.
A hesitant knock rattled the door. The same maid stepped inside, dragging her feet as she brought a fresh candle to replace the burnt stub.
"Bring me a branch of Twilight-Bloom from the rear garden," Sirius said, his voice flat and detached. He didn't bother turning his head.
The maid blinked in surprise. Before she could open her mouth, Sirius added, "The Count ordered my basic requests to be fulfilled before I depart. Fetch it immediately."
She didn't hesitate for long. A gleam of subtle malice flashed across her eyes as she turned on her heel.
The fool didn't know a thing about botany. Twilight-Bloom was identical in appearance to Nightshade Root—a toxic plant that caused severe internal bleeding and permanent mana paralysis in non-practitioners. To her, this was a golden opportunity to get rid of a family nuisance and score points with Edward without raising suspicion.
Ten minutes later, she returned, placing a crude clay bowl containing chopped roots on the table before leaving without a word.
Sirius looked down at the bowl.
'Toxic roots. Of course.'
He sighed, running a finger over the damp bark. Everyone in this estate was waiting for him to die.
Midnight arrived. The estate drowned in dead silence.
Sirius climbed out through the narrow window of the Annex, landing softly on the cobblestones like a shadow. He moved fast, slipping toward the border woods surrounding the estate's perimeter—a place choked in fog where wild herbs grew undisturbed.
He pushed deep into the dark foliage until he reached a damp, low-lying depression beneath the black-leaved trees.
There, bathed in the pale moonlight, he found it.
A rare herb glowing in a deep, ocean-blue hue. It possessed six tightly closed petals, and at its core, three faint crimson threads pulsed like living veins.
"Vein-Striker Grass..." Sirius muttered, pulling the plant up by its roots. "The secret nobody knows."
Without a second thought, he shoved the entire plant into his mouth and swallowed.
An agonizing, scorching liquid erupted down his throat, tasting like liquid embers. His neck seized. He dropped to his knees on the damp dirt, clutching his stomach as a violent, tearing pain ripped through his insides.
The herb didn't gently circulate mana; it hit blocked pathways like a battering ram, forcing dead veins to ignite by raw force.
"Ghh...!"
He choked back a scream.
A faint bronze radiance erupted beneath his skin. Thick, luminous threads of dark bronze light bled out from his pores, wrapping around his limbs in a rapid, swirling motion.
Within minutes, the light solidified. A hard bronze cocoon encased his entire body, pulsing softly beneath the dark roots of the forest.
Two hours passed.
The first pale rays of dawn began filtering through the black canopy overhead.
Crack. Crack.
The bronze cocoon splintered. Luminous shards crumbled away, dissolving into faint dust before evaporating into the air.
Sirius opened his eyes.
He stood up slowly. His body no longer trembled from the morning chill, and a warm, fluid energy hummed through his veins for the first time. His senses were unnaturally sharp—he could hear dew dropping onto leaves meters away, his eyes cutting through the lingering fog with scary precision.
He had successfully forced his way into the Earthly Realm – Tier 1, completely bypassing their damn ceremony.
Then, he looked up at the sky. The horizon was bleeding light.
'Damn it... the departure!'
He bolted.
His body was easily three times faster and lighter than before. He crossed the perimeter in a blur, vaulting back through the narrow window and landing silently on his room's floorboards.
Barely a minute later, the heavy door creaked open.
The maid stepped inside carrying a bowl of cold porridge, only to freeze. Sirius was sitting on the edge of the bed in the exact same posture, fully buttoned into his dark blue coat.
"Master Sirius," she said dryly, eyeing him with a flick of suspicion, oblivious to the power humming under his skin. "The Imperial carriage has arrived in the main yard. The Count expects you to leave at once."
Sirius stood up calmly, taking a slow breath to settle his newfound mana.
"I'm coming."
The main courtyard was dominated by a massive Imperial carriage forged from black iron-reinforced wood, pulled by four armored horses with twin tails.
Neither the Count nor Edward came down to say goodbye. They stood on the high balcony of the main manor, watching him with expressions that blended relief with the cold expectation of his death.
Sirius climbed the heavy iron steps of the carriage.
Inside, he wasn't alone. Five other sons and daughters of low-tier cadet houses were seated across the velvet cushions. All wore lavish coats, exchanging tense, arrogant glances as they sized each other up.
Sirius took a seat in the darkest, most isolated corner of the carriage and closed his eyes.
With a heavy jolt and the crack of a whip, the wheels began to turn.
The journey to the Foggy Phantom Forest had begun... and [Space Breaker] wasn't going to be wasted this time.