Chapter 2: The Awakening

  The first sensation Rio felt upon waking was heavy weight and suffocating, pressing down on his chest like an invisible chain. His limbs ached, stiff and unresponsive, as though they belonged to someone else. He blinked; his vision swimming as unfamiliar light danced across his eyes. The world felt... wrong. Too vivid, too sharp, as though reality itself had been altered while he lay unconscious.

  "You're awake."

  The voice was soft, trembling, and filled with something Rio couldn't quite place. His gaze shifted, slowly focusing on the figure beside him. Sophie. She sat rigid, her hands clutching her knees, her expression unreadable. Her normally calm demeanor had cracked, revealing a glimmer of fear beneath her composed exterior.

  "I'm fine," Rio muttered, though the words felt hollow even to him.

  Sophie's eyes narrowed. "No, you're not." Her voice wavered, but there was steel beneath it. "Something... happened to you. I can feel it. It’s not just power, Rio it’s everything."

  Rio wanted to argue, to brush off her concern, but the memories came flooding back. Jinn's light a beacon of hope turned to ash. The nobleman's darkness pure, unrelenting rage. Their lives clashed within him, their emotions roaring like twin tempests, threatening to tear him apart.

  And then there was the memory of his mother or someone like her a fleeting moment of peace amidst the chaos. It had felt so real, so warm, that for a brief second, all the pain and turmoil vanished.

  But the reprieve hadn’t lasted.

  "I don’t understand," he whispered, clutching his head. "Why is this happening to me?"

  Sophie hesitated, her expression softening. For a moment, she reached out, as though to comfort him, but her hand froze mid-air. She pulled back, folding her arms tightly across her chest. "I... I don’t know. But Father and I will figure it out. Until then, no one else can know. Promise me, Rio."

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Rio nodded, though the knot in his chest only tightened. The words felt like a trap, a vow he didn’t fully understand.

  Days passed in a blur.

  Sophie kept close, her presence constant yet distant. She watched him with a mixture of caution and curiosity, as though he was a puzzle she couldn’t solve. But Rio could see the cracks in her mask the fear she tried so hard to hide. It mirrored the fear growing within him.

  At night, the memories consumed him. He woke drenched in sweat, the weight of countless lives pressing down on his soul. The light and the darkness pulled within him, and with each passing day, he felt less like himself. His emotions became erratic, his thoughts tangled in contradictions.

  And then it happened.

  The morning began like any other. Rio found himself in the training yard, clutching a sword far too heavy for his untrained hands. He swung clumsily, frustrated, bubbling beneath the surface. His strikes lacked grace, his movements stiff and uninspired.

  "Focus," he muttered to himself, his grip tightening. "You need to get stronger."

  He raised the sword again, but as he swung, the world shifted.

  A notification appeared before him, glowing with an ethereal light:

  Level-Up: Tenebris Lux

  The words hung in the air, unreal and taunting. Rio froze, his chest tightening as the glow seemed to seep into his very being.

  "What is that?" Sophie’s voice rang out, sharp and panicked. She had been watching from the edge of the yard, her eyes wide with fear.

  "I... I don’t know," Rio stammered, though deep down, he did. The power, the memories, the chaos all made sense now. This was his destiny. The weight he carried wasn’t a curse; it was a call to something far greater.

  But the realization didn’t bring comfort. It brought dread.

  Sophie stepped forward, her hand hovering near his arm. "Rio, you have to control it. Whatever this is... if you let it consume you..." Her voice broke, unable to finish the thought.

  Rio clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms. "I don’t want this."

  "You don’t have a choice," she replied softly, her eyes pleading. "But you’re not alone. I’ll help you. We’ll figure this out together."

  For the first time, Rio felt a flicker of hope not from the light or the darkness within him, but from Sophie’s unwavering resolve. He didn’t know what lay ahead, but one thing was certain: he couldn’t face it alone.

  As the words Tenebris Lux glowed faintly before fading into nothingness, Rio tightened his grip on the sword. The battle had just begun