Chapter 6: The Elders' Verdict
The moment Sabre's eyes opened, the cold floor beneath him told him he was back in the real world. His breaths came out sharp and uneven, carrying the echo of the astral plane he had just left behind. The brightness here was different—no longer the strange star-coloured glow, but the steady shine of crystal lamps hovering above.
For a few seconds he couldn't move. His mind replayed everything at once—the orb pulling him in, the force dragging his soul upward, the twelve-winged angel, the lightning that wrapped around him like it chose him, and the inheritance that didn't feel meant for someone his age.
Yet it still came to him.
He pushed himself up slowly. His body shook with leftover energy he didn't understand. Small arcs of lightning flickered around his fingers, disappearing as fast as they appeared. His veins felt hot, almost too warm, like something new was flowing through him.
"So… this is awakening," he whispered.
It didn't feel normal.
It didn't even feel human.
As he rose to his feet, something pulsed inside him—soft but clear. Like a door opening. A first step.
The beginning of cultivation.
The stories he had heard came to mind. Cultivation was divided into three major realms:
Initiate Realm – guiding energy for the first time.
Core Realm – forming the foundation of power.
Ascendant Realm – merging one's energy with the world.
He had stepped into the very first stage of the Initiate Realm. A faint wave of energy flowed through him, sharpening his senses. He could hear footsteps outside the hall, the crackle of the lamps—things he had never noticed before.
But the feeling didn't last long.
The doors of the hall slammed open.
Elder Soren entered with three other elders behind him. Their faces were hard, eyes sharp, expressions darker than he had ever seen. They stopped a few steps away, staring at him as if he was something dangerous.
Soren's eyes narrowed. "So…it is true."
Sabre felt a knot tighten in his stomach. "What's true…?"
"You awakened lightning magic," an elder said coldly. "And something else."
Astral manipulation.
Sabre stepped back. "I didn't choose anything. The orb—"
"Silence," Soren snapped. His voice echoed through the hall. "Lightning is rare. But astral force… it is forbidden. No child should possess it."
Sabre swallowed. "Why is it forbidden?"
One of the elders looked at him with fear hidden behind a calm face. "Because astral power is tied to what exists beyond our world. To forces that broke our skies twenty years ago."
The Astryx.
Sabre's breath caught. "The tear… the creatures… you think I'm connected to that?"
Soren's robes rustled as he stepped forward. "We do not think. We know. The astral force marking you means danger. A danger that cannot be allowed to remain alive."
Sabre shook his head. "But I didn't do anything!"
"That is exactly why," Soren said. "Something chose you. Something watching from beyond our realm."
Their fear was real. Sabre could feel it in the air, almost thick enough to touch. But fear made people desperate, and desperate people didn't show mercy.
Without warning, spiritual pressure fell on him like a crushing weight. Sabre gasped as his knees buckled. The elders' energy filled the hall, swirling around him like a storm.
"You are too dangerous," an elder said. "If the astral force awakened inside you, then your existence will draw eyes from beyond the tear."
"I don't even know how to use it!" Sabre shouted, lightning sparking weakly across his arm.
"That is why we must act now."
A blast of spiritual force shot forward. Sabre barely rolled aside as the floor exploded beside him, sending him crashing into a pillar. Pain shot through his side.
He tried to stand, but another elder raised his hand.
His body lifted off the ground, trapped by invisible force.
"No—stop!" he shouted, struggling against the pressure. "I didn't ask for this!"
"It does not matter," the elder said. "Your life ends here."
Energy spiraled around the elders, gathering faster and sharper than Sabre could follow. He felt a violent wave hit him, crushing his chest. His breath caught. His ribs screamed.
Lightning flickered around him again, but it was unstable, out of control. It faded before he could use it.
Another shockwave slammed him back to the floor.
Sabre coughed blood as he struggled to rise. His vision blurred, but he forced himself onto his elbows. His body shook uncontrollably.
Soren stepped out of the circle of elders, energy forming in his palm. It glowed white—sharp, deadly, like a blade made of pure light.
Sabre tried once more to summon lightning. Nothing came. His astral energy trembled deep inside him, as if wanting to help but trapped.
The elders' expressions hardened. Soren raised his hand.
"This is mercy."
"No…" Sabre whispered. His voice was barely there. "Please…"
The light grew brighter.
Sabre's heartbeat slowed.
His breath weakened.
Darkness tugged at the edges of his vision.
He saw Soren step closer, blade in hand.
And then—
just as the light descended toward his chest—
his mind fell into a deep, cold void.
Everything went black.