:Running from the Laugh
Another seven years came to pass. Sadd Venan was now fourteen years old.
The years had been hard on everyone, but especially on Mr. Calsius. He had little money, and taking care of Sadd and Lina, who remained in her on-and-off coma, was a huge burden. Sadd felt the weight of this every day.
The time had come to make a difficult choice. Sadd decided to run from home. He did this to reduce the financial burden on Mr. Calsius. By leaving, there was one less mouth to feed and one less person needing clothes and basic supplies. Sadd knew he could survive on the street, scavenging and doing small, risky jobs.
But there was another, equally painful reason for leaving the small village and the clinic.
Sadd had still not Awakened.
He was now fourteen, an age when even the slowest people usually showed some small sign of a Status Window and rising numbers. Sadd remained blank. He was just like his mother—the Anomaly.
Because of this, he became the laughing stock of the village. Other children, even those with weak numbers, would point and whisper. Adults would avoid him, seeing him as cursed or useless in this new world of power. They mocked him, calling him "Blank Slate" or "Zero."
Sadd could have endured the mockery himself. But the villagers started aiming their cruel words at Mr. Calsius, too.
"Why does that kind man take care of that broken boy?" they would say. "He is wasting his time and resources on a child the universe has rejected."
Sadd felt immense guilt that his lack of power was causing hardship and mockery for the one kind person in his life. To reduce the insults aimed at Mr. Calsius, Sadd packed a small bag.
He knew he had to fend for himself now. He also still held the deep, quiet hope that if he traveled the world, exploring the dangerous cities and perhaps even the fringes of the Dungeons, he might find a solution—a medicine, an ancient relic, or a forgotten piece of knowledge that could heal his mother, Lina Venan.
One cold morning, before the sun rose, Sadd left a note for Mr. Calsius, thanking him for his kindness.
He stepped onto the open road, a thin, normal boy with no numbers, no money, and no Status Window. He was heading into a world ruled by numbers, determined to survive and find a way back for the woman who named him.