Chapter 86: A Conversation of a Past, a Present, and the Future

A young man, about 20 years old, with short black hair, dull grey eyes, and an average build, walked down the walkway towards a large building.

He stepped through the heavy glass doors of the college campus, pulling his jacket tighter against the morning chill. He blended effortlessly into the background, just another background face in a world dominated by extraordinary people.

Inside the lecture hall, the professor’s drone echoed off the walls, detailing the history of the First Awakening, the classification of the awakened, and the heroic rise of guild leaders. The young man stared out the window, listening quietly. Like millions of unawakened, he was merely a spectator in a world built for monsters and gods.

When the afternoon bell rang, the hallways cleared, leaving him alone in the courtyard.

"Hey, non-core!" a harsh voice barked.

Before he could react, a heavy hand shoved him hard into the brick wall. A group of low-tier awakened students gathered around, snickering as one of them ignited a small, mocking spark of elemental mana on his fingertips. They pushed him to the dirt, kicked his fallen bag, and laughed as they walked away.

He sat on the cold pavement, dusting off his worn jeans while staring at his trembling, normal hands. He wished, more than anything, that he could awaken too. He longed for the power to stand tall, to hold a core, to be someone, but deep down, he knew it was all a pipe dream.

The scene shifted to a cramped, dimly lit apartment later that night.

The young man sat slouched in a squeaky desk chair in front of an old, hum-filled computer monitor. The room was illuminated only by the harsh blue glow of the screen. He was completely drowned in a chaotic mess of open browser tabs: lines of uncompiled code, paused anime episodes, and a few discrete windows of adult media he quickly minimized. It was his escape, a quiet, solitary routine to numb the daily reality of being utterly weak.

Then, the world shattered.

BOOM!

A violent shockwave blew through the city block, shattering his apartment windows and throwing him to the floor. Alarms blared in the distance as screams filled the night air.

The scene switched instantly.

He was running down the destroyed avenue, his chest heaving, a frantic, fearful expression plastered across his pale face. Thick black smoke billowed from collapsed skyscrapers as sirens wailed endlessly. Sirens, dust, and screaming citizens blurred around him as he sprinted through the rubble.

He skidded to a halt near a ruined intersection, his dull grey eyes widening in terror.

Lying beneath a colossal slab of fallen concrete was a middle-aged woman, her body motionless and crushed under the unbearable weight. Beside her, a little girl no older than six was sobbing hysterically, her small leg trapped tight under the jagged edge of the boulder.

"Mommy! Mommy, wake up!" the child cried out, her small voice lost in the chaos.

The woman was already gone, but the child was still breathing.

Overhead, a shadow fell over the street. A humongous, multi-legged monster, the size of a five-story building, loomed over the avenue, its jaw opening as a terrifying sphere of dark, crackling energy condensed in its throat.

The young man’s body moved before his mind could process the fear. He sprinted forward, throwing himself onto the rubble beside the girl.

"Hold on!" he screamed, his voice cracking.

Gripping the heavy concrete slab with his bare, unawakened hands, he gritted his teeth until his gums bled. Veins bulged along his neck and forearms as he used every ounce of mortal strength he possessed, heaving the jagged rock upward just an inch... just enough to save the girl.

"Run!" he gasped, shoving the crying girl free into the arms of a fleeing civilian.

He exhaled, his chest heaving as he turned his head back around.

Directly above him, the humongous monster’s cold eyes locked onto his solitary figure. The concentrated beam of pure, apocalyptic energy erupted from its maw, engulfing the street in a blinding flash of annihilation.

Before he could even draw another breath, the energy hit him, erasing his existence from the face of the Earth.

...

Raphael opened his eyes to a void, but it wasn’t as empty as one would expect a void to be. It wasn’t lively either. Instead, he saw two beings there, each one glowing with a distinct aura.

The first being was himself- the dumb, immature, childish version. His dull eyes were staring up at him with no ounce of childlike countenance. Instead, this version of Raphael Matthews stared at him with... disappointment, and for some reason, Raphael could understand.

The old him was disappointed in the new him because, despite his power and strength, he had become unhuman, a robot, in simpler words. His life was only tactics, orchestrating corporate wars... which were all qualities a king, a sovereign, must have. But was it right?

"Stop staring at me like that. This version of me is better..."

"This version of us will result in him... a vessel of the system..." Raphael (Old) pointed towards the other being who was seated on a massive, dark throne with skulls as his foothold and two weapons: a humongous greatsword and a great battle axe hovering beside him like bodyguards. His eyes were closed, as if he didn’t regard them in any way.

Raphael (Current) turned towards the being and couldn’t help but step back. He could feel that it wasn’t him... No. This was a soulless entity, a created monster that only knew death, conquest, and despair.

"What..."

"He doesn’t speak. He only listens to orders and delivers them... Orders from his mind. Can’t you see it? Have you been blinded already?" Raphael (Old) asked, his expression worried and almost tearful.

"I... Is this real?" Raphael (Current) asked, unable to believe it was real.

"You cast me away and took this. It was good, the best for us in the long run, but if you allow the system to possess you for long, you will become just a vessel... that thing over there just to fulfil its unknown selfish needs." Raphael (Old) said, causing Raphael’s eyes to widen as he caught on.

"Are you the one stopping the synchronization..."

"Yes."

"How?"

"Does it matter? Do you want to become a puppet or a true Sovereign?"

"I don’t want to become a puppet, obviously."

"Good... then you have to stop chaining me."

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean, Raphael. You are me. I am you. You threw me away to take on a better self, but you are losing yourself. If the synchronization crosses 200%, that will be the end of us. The system will take control, and that will be the future." Raphael (Old) pointed once again towards the kingly Raphael with closed eyes.

"Why are you telling me all this? I am ashamed that I was like you... dumb, immature..."

"That is who we are. That’s who you are... But you failed to understand..."

"Understand what?"