The abandoned lot was quieter than usual that morning. Even the faint hum of Grayhaven seemed muted here, swallowed by the cracked concrete and scattered debris. Licht tightened his grip on the halberd his mother had left him the black and gold weapon gleamed faintly in the early sunlight.
He swung it experimentally. The weight nearly pulled him off balance, his arms shaking violently. The first pivot he tried ended with him stumbling and slamming the halberd into a rusted metal beam. He groaned.
This is harder than I thought, he muttered, leaning over to catch his breath. Sweat ran down his forehead. The halberd felt alive in his hands, but not in the way of magic its weight and balance were unforgiving, forcing every muscle in his body to obey.
He planted his feet again and raised Dawnbreaker. One careful swing. Then another. Each movement felt awkward at first, but gradually, his arms started to understand the rhythm. His legs wobbled less, and the halberd seemed to cooperate instead of resist.
A flicker appeared in his mind the system.
[SYSTEM STATUS – Licht]
Name: LichtRace: HumanAge: 16
Level: Beginner (Awakening Stage)
Stats:
Strength: F-
Vitality: F-
Endurance: F-
Agility: F-
Prana: F-
Aura: F-
Skills:
Dawnbreaker – Primordial Halberd Battle Art
Battle Art Forms:
Thunderstrike Spiral – Locked [0%]
Radiant Cleave – Locked [0%]
Celestial Piercer – Locked [0%]
Stormbreaker Thrust – Locked [0%]
Luminescent Cyclone – Locked [0%]
Tempest Guard – Locked [0%]
Divine Flashstep – Locked [0%]
Heavenfall Sweep – Locked [0%]
Stormlight Vortex – Locked [0%]
Eclipse Rend – Locked [0%]
Lightning Requiem – Locked [0%]
Prismatic Cataclysm – Locked [0%]
Licht blinked at the display, a strange mix of curiosity and irritation bubbling inside him. Numbers, letters, percentages it didn't feel magical. It felt… like a mirror of himself, cruelly honest and utterly indifferent to his pride.
He swung the halberd again. Sweat burned his eyes, his arms screamed in protest, and yet he persisted. Each repetition, each wobble, each correction felt like a tiny victory. He began to feel the subtle tension in the weapon, the way the weight shifted as he moved. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, his movements grew smoother.
Hours passed in a blur of effort and pain. He stumbled, cursed, and sometimes collapsed to the ground, but each time he got up, the halberd felt just a fraction less foreign. He could almost imagine it as an extension of his body rather than a cumbersome stick of metal.
By midday, his muscles were trembling violently, yet there was something thrilling in the exhaustion. Every fiber of his body had been tested. Every thought focused on the rhythm, the weight, the balance. And somewhere in the back of his mind, the system flickered softly, silently recording his progress.
Licht sank to a broken concrete slab, laying the halberd across his knees. The world around him the rusted beams, cracked concrete, distant city hum faded as he simply breathed, letting his body recover and his mind absorb the lesson of the morning.
Tomorrow… tomorrow I'll do more, he thought. And for the first time, he felt something stirring in his chest, a spark of pride and determination that was entirely his own.