The village tried to return to normal, yet the silence felt heavier than before. Conversations stopped when Adam walked by. People greeted him with warmth, but with a new layer of awe. Children watched him as if he carried a secret. Adults whispered more carefully.
Adam noticed the shift. He understood the villagers did not fear him. They feared what his presence might attract. He tried to reassure them by helping with small tasks. He chopped wood. He carried water. He helped Ernand repair fences. He read simple words from a children's book Lara lent him. His speech became clearer. He no longer stopped between every sentence. Yet he still struggled with complex ideas.
In the evenings, he stayed outside Lorna's house and recited prayers quietly. Lorna respected his space. She gave him warm meals and never asked questions he could not answer. Lara followed him sometimes. She listened to his reciting with calm eyes. She said it felt soothing.
The calm ended when the sky changed.
It happened on the fifth night after the priest left Angkara Village. The sun had set behind the western ridge when a strange vibration rippled through the ground. Birds took flight. Dogs barked. A faint ringing filled the air, as if the wind carried invisible glass shards.
Ernand stepped out of his house. "Mana surge," he shouted blatantly. "But this feels wrong." He elaborates.
The clouds above twisted. Lines of pale blue light threaded through them. Flickers snapped across the sky like branches of lightning. The wind turned sharp. Houses shook.
Villagers rushed out, shouting for children and carrying tools. Lorna pulled Lara close. Adam stood still, watching the light coil above the center of the village. Ernand and other village elders gathers villagers to village hall to take shelter.
Ernand saw Adam still stunned outside, then he grabbed Adam's arm. "Storm is forming. A real one. Not normal. Something from the forest must have broken." He bring Adam's inside the hall.
The clouds spun faster. Blue light poured downward like a funnel. The air roared. Roof shingles flew. A nearby shed collapsed.
Children cried out as dust swirled.
People screamed. Magic storms were rare. When they struck, they stripped soil, cracked wood, and burned fields. The villagers had no mage strong enough to block one. The Church of Lunar was far away. No help would come in time.
Adam looked at the sky from the window. He felt fear climb inside him. He felt the same helplessness as the day he arrived in this world. Yet something pushed him forward. Not confidence. Not power. A sense of responsibility. He saw faces filled with panic. He saw Lorna holding Lara tight. He saw Ernand standing between danger and the people.
His chest tightened.
He stepped away from the crowd going outside.
"Adam!" Ernand called. "Where are you going?"
Adam turned toward the village hall. "I try," he said. His voice was clearer than before. "I cannot watch."
He walked into the open space of village square where the light spiral touched the ground. The wind struck his face. Dust cut his skin. His clothes snapped against his body. The storm roared like a beast. The mana funnel twisted only a few meters from him.
People shouted for him to stop. Lorna cried his name. Ernand tried to follow but the wind forced him back.
Adam raised his hands slowly. Not to command the storm. Not to cast anything. He simply prayed. The same prayer he always used when he felt lost.
He closed his eyes.
"Ya Allah…
Help…
Protect…
Have mercy on them."
His words were simple but his intention was whole. He prayed with everything he had. He prayed with fear and sincerity. He prayed not for power but for safety.
A soft sound rose behind the roar. No one could describe it later. It wasn't music. It wasn't wind. It was more like a breath of light.
The funnel hesitated.
The blue glow flickered.
Then the storm collapsed inward, as if pulled by an unseen force. The Mana strands unwound. The clouds split apart. The spinning stopped. All motion fell silent. The wind vanished.
The village square grew still.
Adam opened his eyes slowly. The sky above him cleared. Moonlight replaced the violent glow.
Behind him, dozens of villagers stared in shock inside the hall.
Someone fell to their knees.
Then another.
Within seconds, the entire crowd knelt. Some bowed their heads. Some whispered in disbelief. Some trembled. They had watched a force of raw mana dissolve at the moment he prayed.
They believed they had witnessed more than healing. More than luck.
A miracle.
A widow near the front whispered, "Light Apostle…"
Another answered, "No… more than that…"
Adam stepped back, shaken. "No… Please stand… not for me…"
But the villagers did not rise. Their eyes held reverence that frightened him more than the storm itself.
He raised both hands. "I am not…" His voice cracked. "I am not someone you worship. I am only a man. Please… stand."
Some villagers rose slowly, but their expressions did not change. They saw something he could not explain away.
Ernand pushed through the crowd and reached him. "Adam…" His voice was steady but his eyes held the same confusion. "What happened?"
Adam shook his head. "I… do not know…"
He meant it. His prayer had never stopped storms on Earth. He did not understand why it worked here. He only knew the villagers now looked at him with a mixture of hope and fear.
That evening, the village returned to repairing damage. People watched him with respect deeper than before. Some tried to approach him, but he withdrew to Lorna's house.
After dinner with Lorna and Lara, Adam stepped outside and sat on the porch. The night was cold. He sat on the wooden step and covered his face with both hands.
He cried quietly.
Not from weakness.
From fear of what the miracle meant.
From worry about what would follow.
From the weight of people kneeling.
He prayed again. He prayed for guidance, for steadiness, for clarity. He asked for protection from arrogance. He asked for strength to refuse worship. He asked that he never forget who truly held power.
Lorna sensed his mood but did not disturb him. She left a cup of warm water beside him and returned inside without a word.
Adam stayed outside until the moon climbed high.
He knew life would not return to peace.
He knew the Church would hear about this.
He knew eyes from beyond Angkara would turn toward him.
The first miracle had happened.
And nothing in his path would remain simple.