Chapter 5 - THE ASTRAL INHERITANCE

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Sabre had never experienced any previous awakening. He only knew the stories—how some people felt a spark, a tug, or a faint burning in their blood. But for him? Nothing. No sign,No whisper. Just a dull emptiness that always made him wonder if something was wrong with him.

And yet, here he was, standing before the awakening orb.

The hall was silent. The air felt heavy, almost pressing down on his shoulders. Hundreds of other youths watched from the sides, their breaths held, their eyes on him. Sabre felt the weight of it all—the expectations, the fear, the unknown.

He inhaled softly and placed his hand onto the orb.

Instantly, everything changed.

A violent force grabbed him from inside. Not his body—his soul. It yanked him upward, pulling him into the air like an invisible hand had hooked onto his spirit. His vision tore apart as his body vanished from the hall, ripped away like paper in a storm.

He spiraled through a vortex of stars. Colours he had never seen before twisted around him—silver that glowed like living metal, violet streaks pulsing like lightning veins, and deep blue that rippled like an endless ocean. Time stretched and folded. Seconds felt like hours. Hours felt like heartbeats. His senses felt like they were being ripped apart and stitched back together again.

He couldn't tell if he was screaming or silent.

Then—

Silence.

Sabre landed—not on the ground, but on something smooth and crystal-like. The moment his feet touched it, the surface rippled faintly like water, yet it remained solid beneath him. The air here was cold, impossibly cold, but it didn't hurt. Instead, it felt… vast. Endless. As if he had stepped into the heart of the universe itself.

He slowly lifted his head.

Beneath him stretched a massive sphere of crystal reflecting constellations. It wasn't just shining—it moved, rotating slowly, showing detailed star patterns he had never seen before. Above him, a moon glowed with the brightness of polished white steel. In the distance, countless stars swirled like drifting embers trapped in darkness.

He swallowed hard, chest rising and falling.

"What… is this place?"

Suddenly, cracks formed beneath him. Thin glowing lines tore through the crystal floor like cracks in ice. Sabre jumped slightly, startled, as pieces of the floor shifted like something alive.

Then he felt it.

A presence.

Powerful. Heavy. Ancient.

It filled the chamber slowly, like a massive tide rising around him. Sabre's knees almost buckled. His breath trembled. Every instinct he had screamed at him to kneel, but he couldn't move. His body refused to obey.

He forced himself to look up.

And then he saw it.

A twelve-winged angel hovered above the ground.

The figure wasn't human—at least not completely. Their presence alone filled the entire chamber, stretching far beyond what Sabre's eyes could make sense of. Celestial flames curled around them, glowing bright but not burning. Each of the twelve wings was a masterpiece: layers of golden feathers woven tightly with silver lines that shimmered like starlight passing through glass. Nebula-like mist drifted between the feathers, swirling softly like living galaxies.

The wings moved slowly, gently, yet they controlled the entire space with every motion.

Sabre's heart thundered. His limbs trembled. He felt incredibly small.

The angel's face was carved perfectly—beautiful, but not in a way that felt human. The features radiated ancient calm, stern dignity, and cosmic brilliance that forced him to look away. Every inch of them glowed with a pale, shifting light, as if they were made of starlight rather than flesh.

They stared down at him, eyes deep and endless.

Sabre felt the weight of eternity inside them.

"You have crossed planes," the angel spoke.

Their voice wasn't loud, but it echoed everywhere at once—inside his ears, inside his bones, inside the air.

"The orb resonated through your bones. Drawn by the remnants of your world's sky."

Sabre swallowed hard. His throat felt dry like sand. He took a shaky step back.

"W-why me?" he asked, voice cracking.

"I'm just… a lowly peasant. I don't… I don't have anything special."

The angel's wings lifted slowly, filling the hall with shimmering rays of starlight. The chamber brightened until Sabre had to squint.

The angel descended slightly, their presence flooding the air as they spoke.

"Because your soul carries resonance lightning unheard and fierce. And the voids between worlds tugged upon you."

Their voice softened.

"You were chosen to inherit this. The rarest celestial awakening… the Astral Inheritance."

Sabre's breath caught.

"A-astral… inheritance?"

"A fusion of forces only a few in existence can withstand."

The angel extended a hand.

Electricity crackled across their fingers—thin, silver-blue arcs that twisted and curled like living serpents. The sound was soft but sharp, like distant thunder dancing in the air.

Sabre stepped back again. His heart raced wildly.

"I… I don't know if I can handle that."

The angel lowered their hand slightly.

"Fear is expected," they said. "But destiny does not wait for courage. Courage grows when destiny calls."

Sabre pressed his lips together. Sweat formed on his palms even though the air felt cold.

"Step forward," the angel commanded gently.

Sabre's legs trembled. Every instinct told him to run, but something else—something deeper—pulled him toward the angel. He forced himself to move. One step. Another. And another.

He stopped an arm's length away from the being of light.

The angel raised their hand and placed it lightly on Sabre's chest.

Instantly, warmth flooded into him.

"You are to awaken what sleeps inside you," the angel whispered.

"Lightning and astral force. The inheritance of the unknown."

A bright wave of cosmic energy surged from the angel's palm into Sabre's body.

Everything changed at once.

His chest tightened violently. His heartbeat thundered like a drum. His muscles tensed so hard he thought they would snap. His bones felt like they were being filled with molten fire. Lightning danced violently inside his veins, racing through him like a thousand storms.

"Ah—!"

Sabre screamed as his body jerked.

His vision fractured into pieces. The chamber twisted, bending and stretching as if the world was folding in on itself. Stars cracked. Space rippled like shattered glass. Everything around him spiraled rapidly.

The angel's voice echoed faintly behind the chaos:

"Awaken… the Astral Storm…"

Sabre reached out blindly but felt nothing.

The light grew stronger—blinding, burning, consuming.

And then—

Everything shattered.

Darkness swallowed him whole.