Morning came without sunlight.
Instead, it arrived with alarms.
A low, vibrating hum rippled through the refugee sector as overhead lights flickered on, casting pale illumination over rows of cots and steel partitions. Aarav stirred, muscles aching as though he had been beaten repeatedly in his sleep.
He pushed himself upright slowly.
His body felt… wrong.
Not injured—healed—but hollow. Like a fire that had burned too hot and left ash behind.
[Soul stability: 65%.]
The Sigil's impression surfaced without warning.
Aarav grimaced. "That's not comforting."
Around him, people were waking up.
Teenagers mostly. Some groggy, some tense, others already sitting upright with the rigid posture of those who had learned fear early.
Guards entered in pairs, armored boots striking the metal floor in unison.
"Refugees from Sector Nine," one of them barked. "Assessment begins immediately. Line up by cot number."
Murmurs rippled through the tent.
Assessment.
Aarav remembered the word well—from Aarav Kael's memories. It was the process that decided everything. Food rations.
Shelter. Labor assignments.
And for a very small few—
Awakening eligibility.
He stood, ignoring the protest from his muscles, and joined the forming line. No one spoke. Everyone knew better.
They were led out of the medical bay and into a massive enclosed corridor carved directly into the city wall. Transparent panels lined one side, revealing the outside world.
The Deadlands.
Twisted ruins stretched endlessly beyond the barrier, overgrown with unnatural growths and bone-like structures. The sky beyond was a sickly gray, streaked with red fissures that pulsed faintly, like infected veins.
Aarav swallowed.
This is the world I reincarnated into.
At the end of the corridor waited a wide chamber filled with machines and officials in UHA uniforms. Floating drones hovered silently, their lenses tracking every movement.
"Group Nine," an officer announced. "You will be assessed in order. Step forward when your name is called."
Aarav's heart thudded.
One by one, teenagers stepped forward.
Some were scanned and dismissed within seconds.
"No Awakening. Labor division."
"No Awakening. Maintenance sector."
"No Awakening. Recycling zone."
Each verdict was delivered without emotion.
Then—
"Rhea Colton."
A girl with short silver hair stepped forward. The scanner lit up, runes flashing rapidly.
The machine chimed.
"Awakening detected. Elemental—Cryo affinity. Grade D."
Gasps rippled through the group.
The girl's eyes widened, disbelief giving way to shaky relief as guards escorted her away—not to the exit, but to a different door marked with a glowing symbol.
The chosen path, Aarav realized.
Not safety.
Responsibility.
The line continued.
More rejections. A few awakenings. Mostly low grades.
Then—
"Aarav Kael."
His name echoed louder than it should have.
He stepped forward, pulse steady despite the tension coiling in his chest.
The scanner hovered in front of him, light sweeping over his body.
For a fraction of a second, the Sigil reacted.
[Awakening scan interference detected.]
[Concealment priority enforced.
The machine beeped.
The officer frowned. "No Awakening detected."
A familiar verdict.
"Lower-sector resident. No registered talent."
Aarav nodded, forcing disappointment onto his face.
Inside, he exhaled slowly.
Good. Still invisible.
He turned to leave—
And the scanner screamed.
A sharp, piercing alarm cut through the chamber.
Every head snapped toward him.
Red warning lights flared as drones adjusted position, weapons priming instinctively.
"What the hell?" someone muttered.
The officer slammed a hand against the console. "Reset the system!"
The scanner flickered wildly, runes scrambling before abruptly going dark.
Silence fell.
Aarav stood frozen, heart hammering.
I didn't do anything, he thought.
The Sigil remained silent.
Too silent.
After several tense seconds, the system rebooted.
"No anomaly detected," the console finally announced.
The officer wiped sweat from his brow. "Faulty equipment. Move him along."
The guards didn't look convinced—but protocol was protocol.
Aarav was ushered away with the rest of the unawakened.
As he walked, he felt it.
Eyes on him.
From across the chamber, Captain Lyra Voss stood near the observation platform, arms crossed, gaze sharp.
She had seen the alarm.
And she had not looked away.
The unawakened were escorted into a lower-level holding zone—bare concrete walls, ration dispensers, and numbered bunks.
Aarav sat heavily on one of them, mind racing.
"That scanner almost blew my cover," he whispered.
[Correction.]
[Sigil interference probability: unavoidable.]
[Repeated scans increase exposure risk.]
Aarav frowned. "So what, I just avoid everything forever?"
No answer.
Figures.
A loud crash echoed through the facility.
Sirens blared again—but this time, closer.
An officer's voice rang out over the intercom.
"Alert. Breach detected in outer sector. All awakened personnel respond immediately."
The building shuddered.
Screams erupted somewhere above.
Aarav stood instinctively.
Another attack? Inside the city?
Panic spread through the holding zone.
People pressed toward the walls, some crying, others praying.
Then the door burst open.
A guard stumbled in, blood running down his arm.
"Monster broke through the maintenance tunnels," he gasped. "We need all able bodies to evacuate—now!"
A shrill screech pierced the air, close enough to rattle Aarav's bones.
The Sigil burned.
Not hot.
Urgent.
[Threat level: lethal.]
[Recommendation: transformation advised.]
Aarav clenched his jaw.
"If I transform here," he whispered, "they'll see."
[Probability of death without transformation: 89%.]
The screech came again—closer.
Metal tore. Concrete cracked.
Aarav exhaled slowly.
"Damn it," he muttered. "So much for staying hidden."
The runes on his arm flared to life.
But this time—
He didn't select Rakshasa.
He hesitated, instinctively reaching toward something colder. Sharper.
A presence stirred—silent, judging.
[Mythform partial manifestation authorized.]
[Anubis Shade—Initiation Level.]
Darkness crept up his arm like ink in water.
As the wall ahead exploded inward, Aarav stepped forward.
And the dead took notice.