Aiden took a breath, let it out slowly, and said the words he'd been preparing since his mother's text came through.
"I've awakened."
The silence that followed was absolute.
His mother stared at him like he'd just started speaking another language, her eyes going wide and disbelieving. Callum's mouth fell open slightly, shock written plainly across his face.
"What?" his mother finally managed. "Aiden, what are you—how is that—" She shook her head sharply, denial and confusion warring in her expression. "You failed the awakening ceremony. Thirteen years ago. Everyone knows that. The stone didn't react, you didn't develop a mana core, the instructors said—"
"I know what they said," Aiden cut in gently. "I was there. I remember every second of standing in front of that stone while nothing happened and people whispered about me being a dud."
His mother flinched at the word, but Aiden pressed on.
