Chapter 8: Awaken (2/2)

'Don't wonder too much about what I mean by that. Just know that your mother isn't dead, nor has she abandoned you. I also haven't abandoned you. We both love you very much.

'Your body is different from others in this dimension, and the scar across your right hip isn't there by accident either.'

A frown set in on Leonel's brow. He had a faint scar near where his liver would be. But, he hadn't thought about it in a long time. In fact, most people would miss it even if he had his shirt off. He didn't know why his father would mention it now.

But the idea that his mother was alive took over his thoughts. He felt an agitation he hadn't felt in a very long time.

He had faint memories of his mother. His father had never explicitly told him that she had died, so he always assumed that it was to spare his feelings about her death. Or, maybe to spare his own feelings because she had left them.

Hearing the truth, Leonel felt a weight he hadn't even known he was holding onto fall from his shoulders.

'Second, your awakened ability is related to your senses and mind. I don't know the details since I had to suppress it in your youth, but it should be fully bloomed now. It can be overwhelming, but simply meditate until your body reaches equilibrium.'

Leonel blinked. Meditating wasn't complicated, it was just about emptying your mind. The military taught a version that allowed you to sleep and rest your mind while remaining alert.

Leonel's father had learned it while he was a Four-Star General and taught it to him because he was curious. He hadn't used it in years, though.

Without waiting, Leonel tried it, emptying his mind. Slowly, the overwhelming feeling dissipated, replaced by a sharpness that stunned Leonel. Feeling much better, he turned his attention back toward his father's note.

He was shocked by the fact it felt he was reading the words through a magnifying glass. Just what was this 'awakened' ability?

'Third, I've left you two things in the basement. One is the truth behind what is happening here and the second is an heirloom of our Morales Clan. Unfortunately, until the Metamorphosis begins, taking these things out to hand to you directly is too dangerous. So just take it as this old man giving you a little quest.

'Stay safe, son. The trial you'll face now isn't like anything you've faced before. I've taught you some things, but I definitely haven't taught you everything. You'll have an advantage being the first to take it, however with advantages will always come disadvantages.

'Love, dad.'

Leonel sat silently for a long while. He lost count of how many times he re-read his father's words. Unbeknownst to him, he had actually completely memorized it the first time, a fact he didn't realize until maybe the sixth or seventh read through.

His memory had always been good… but it definitely wasn't this good.

Finally, Leonel felt he had wasted enough time. His father said it was an advantage for him to wake up first and that it had somehow happened because his constitution was different from others. At least that's what he gathered from his words. Since that was the case, sitting here for any longer would be throwing away his good fortune.

Leonel took in his surroundings.

Like everyone else, he was on a crumbled limestone platform that seemed a cross between pale yellow and brown. The pillars that surrounded the platform were severely eroded, most of them not even standing to their formerly full height.

In the four cardinal directions, there were four flights of stairs downward. It seemed that they were atop a temple of some sort. But, what was truly shocking was the fact that beyond this temple, there was nothing but formless space, an endless black without mass or substance.

As though sensing Leonel's intentions, four portals not much different from the spatial tear that brought him here appeared.

None of them seemed to separate themselves from the other. Leonel couldn't tell if this was because they all led to the same place regardless, or if this matter was purposely left to chance.

'The ancient runes are definitely Mayan script. But why would they appear here?'

Gritting his teeth, Leonel put his bag down, switching out his jeans and turtle neck for his gym equipment. He didn't know what was going to happen, but he felt that sweats and compression clothing would be far more helpful to him now.

His gray sweats scrunched at his ankles, his black long-sleeve compression shirt clinging tightly to his toned torso. He felt more free now, he just wished he had had the chance to wash them before he had to wear them again. This smell was terrible.

After hesitating for a moment, he also took out the three-piece silver rod his bicycle was formed out of, screwing them together back into their combined two meter length.

Leonel wasn't exactly a martial arts expert, but he felt for someone as inexperienced as him, having a longer ranged weapon would keep him relatively safer. Whether or not that was true, he didn't know. But, he did know that the frame of this bike was strong enough to withstand his jumping down several meters without giving way. Considering he weighed over 200 pounds, it was definitely a strong material with some heft to it.

Facing a randomly chosen portal, Leonel steeled his heart. However, after a moment, he hesitated again.

Turning to Aina's sleeping form, he gently placed his bag under her head and covered her frail arms with his turtleneck sweater. He couldn't help but smile when her nose scrunched up with disgust, likely catching a whiff of his sport's wear.

He had never been this close to her before. In fact, this was also the first time he had ever touched her. He tried his best not to take advantage of her despite the softness of her supple skin and long black hair.

Her faint lines of makeup showed signs of fading after so many days. But, Leonel realized that Aina had actually used some tricks to downplay her beauty. He couldn't see it all, but it was enough to grip his heart firmly. He even felt an impulse to wipe off the rest, but he held himself back.

'I hope that you'll show me your true self one day.' He thought to himself silently.

Without another moment of hesitation, he stood and walked to a portal.

'I may not come out from this alive, but at least you'll have something to remember me by.'

Leonel's thoughts sounded morbid, but his heart was more relaxed than it had been in a long time. Knowing that his father was alive, and that even his mother was too, he felt as light as a feather.

Until he saw them again, until he heard Aina's response, he had no intention of dying.

With that, he took a leap into the whirling pool of blue, vanishing.

The temple he had left behind fell completely silent, the portals shrinking and finally disappearing. This silence would reign for many more months.