Luke was afraid to go back to bed that night, so he just stayed up instead. He was afraid that the fragments and echoes of the ancient past would come back to haunt him again. He heard that Commonalities like him often went mad from the Noise and succumbed to Corruption.
But he did not hear anything, anything at all. It was too quiet. He even thought that maybe it was because he had just awakened, which was the only plausible reason he could come up with. He stared at the ceiling, going over the few things he had learned at school before decided he did not need education..
The Eplialtic Weave - from what they knew - is a cursed version of the Rune of Imprisonment the ancient gods used to seal the Void. But the Void was supposedly cunning, and whispered their dying breath upon the world, consuming it.
The part that confused Luke the most - and probably other students as well, is the Chaos part. They were told that Chaos was a weapon forged by the Void as a weapon against the gods, and the gods themselves forged Time, Space and Death to counterattack.
The gods creating time and death made sense really, because at the end of the day, some cosmic force must have created them. Then, that bakes the question, what is Chaos? What is the Whisper of Chaos? Is it the same as the whisper left behind by the dying Void? Or is it the personification of the harrowing creatures that dwell within?
Or is it the Will of the Void? What's left of it at least...
Speaking of those creatures, what are Chaos Creatures in the first place? Are they born of the Void or born from Chaos? Luke was so confused he started to regret dropping out of school. Even though he did not attend school anymore, the benefits of being a student still remained.
Free food, free accommodations, access to a few government organizations - like libraries, which he never even bothered to visit. Some benefits were perfectly tailored just for runts like him, including the spacious apartment he was currently in.
Even though what he was doing was illegal, he did not care. For all he knew, he was dead anyways. So could live life in all the mischievous ways he could think off. And now, he just awakened from the same Nightmare he reasoned would kill him.
And so he was in deep shit.
'Damn it.'
His head hurt, and the pain grew the more he used his brain. He sat up and the bed, and looked around. His room was a mess. The broken table on the top left corner, dozens of books scattered around it, the empty containers of food scattered across the kitchen floor, the fridge door beside the mess...
It was all so inappropriate for the famed carriers of the Eplialtic Weave.
He reluctantly got up and headed to the kitchen.
The more he thought about being a carrier of the Eplialtic Weave, the more he thought about how unfair it was that some 'people' can administer for privilege and stay dormant for as long as they wanted. By regularly consuming a few specific supplements, the rune printed deep in one's consciousness can be suppressed.
Whatever that meant.
There were countless mundane people, walking around them even though the Eplialtic Weave was supposed to activate on every dormant human once they turned 16. Take Miss Brissett for example.
She was clearly Dormant, despite being above twenty years old. Apart from her attitude, that is another reason why Luke hated her. There were a few runts like him in the complex building that found a way to suppress the Weave, even though they could not even afford to pay attention.. let alone supplements.
He had been curious once, dying to know the methods they used to remain unaffected by the Weave, and when he found out illegal drugs were involved, he gave up any hope. Luke was mischievous and unruly, but he did not involve himself in illegal activities that might strip his benefits away.
He finished cleaning the kitchen and headed to the bedroom, his face expressionless and indifferent. He was really not looking forward to meeting those privileged children on the academy, they were the reason why he ended up quitting school in the first place.
He picked up the digital watch from before and looked at it somberly. 05:22 am. Just a few hours before the awakening ceremony began. There, they would be taught the basics of operating the Eplialtic Weave, like accessing the system as well as your boons.
Abilities, Potentials, Attributes and Affinities differed from awakened to awakened. The lower ranked awakened - The Commonality - had weaker and less potent abilities compared to higher ranked one. The power system is quite complex, and Luke has not completely grasped it yet.
Supposedly, every human is born Dormant - a tier 6 power level - with no abilities whatsoever. Although, they do have potentials of what they could become, sealed deep in their souls. Because the Eplialtic Weave cannot be accessed as a Dormant human, no one really knew what their potential was of course.
The Eplialtic Weave is said to be the power system that granted the survivors of the Nightmare Abilities and some Attributes, whereas Potentials and Affinities were innate. Affinities were much rarer though, so rare that only a few awakened in the sanctuary had them. And all of them had unlocked them much later in life.
Out of all the ranks in the power system, humans had only been able achieve a few. Humans were familiar with four ranks to be precise. The Dormant, the Commonality, the Gentry and the High Peerage ranks. Ascension between ranks differed and became harder the more one climbed. Until the path to beyond was completely unkown.
Not even the Eplialtic Weave could guide you.
All the humans were born Dormant, but the problem began when the Nightmare was involved. The few who survived and awakened from the Nightmare were called the Commonality, usually referred to as the awakened or the scarred. They were merely foot soldiers, doing all the dirty work for those in power.
Then after that came The Gentry. Ascending from a Commonality to a Gentry was relatively easy, but also one of the most dangerous. One had to consume large amounts of Essence and Vigor - hunting down and killing Chaos Creatures in oder to build a stable soul core. Once the soul core is built, the Weave takes care of the rest.
It was the ascension from a Gentry to a High Peerage that was a mystery. It is said to be so complex and dangerous, many humans have died in the past while attempting to ascend. That is why there are only a few individuals - a dozen at best - that are of the High Peerage rank. No one even knows what it means to be one, but every knows that these individuals wield powers beyond human comprehension.
Luke's thoughts drifted away from the Weave and familiar ones filled his head, making his heart ache. He thought of his mother, and the yummy banana bread she used to make him every Saturday morning. This Saturday morning was different though, not only was it Luke's 16th birthday, but he had also achieved an impossible feat.
What would his mother say? What would she think? Would she be proud or worried? Probably both. Knowing his mother, she would probably bake him a scrumptious banana cake as a celebration, and then cry herself to sleep every night afterwards.
For one sole reason. The twins.
Luke had two older brothers, twins, and what happened when they reached 16 years of age tore apart their family. Luke was 6, when he suddenly heard pained cries of agony and sorrow in the middle of the night.
He saw his mother kneeling besides one of the twins, shaking his lifeless figure. The other twin was crying as well, and Luke was too young to understand what had happened. And now he knew, the other twin did not survive the Nightmare.
After his burial, the other twin joined the government military of awakened warriors who protected humanity against the Chaos Creatures. Everything went well, until he ascended to the Gentry rank. He suffered the assault of the Noise much lesser now, but something else changed about him as well.
He began losing his humanity at first, then the memories of his existence, and soon his mind crumbled completely. He succumbed to the Noise and became an appalling abomination. One of the Corrupted. And the military was forced to dispose of him.
Alone against the world, Luke's mother shattered completely. She was amongst those awakened with useless Abilities, so she remained a Commonality for most of her life, while my dad was a high ranking Gentry who worked for the government.
With nothing to anchor her to the world, she succumbed to the Noise as well, and died. Luke was so heartbroken and devastated, not only because he lost his whole family at a young age, but also because his mother completely ignored his existence. He felt alone and unloved by anyone.
He never knew his dad. The government was every clingy when it came to high ranking officials. According to his mother, Luke's father was not exactly a fighter. He specialized in Research and Development, coming up with new ways to counter the Weave.
He was actually the one who developed the supplements that suppressed the Weave, and now Luke was a bastard son of a celebrity. After his mother's death, Luke did not attempt to look for his father. Even if he did, where would he even begin? Who would he even ask for? Even if he found him, what would he say?
'Hey father, who's also a celebrity by the way, I'm your son? Argh I probably would have made that clear by starting with 'hey father'.'
Luke rolled his eyes and looked at the watch again. 6:47 am.
'Argh now I'm going to be late. First day as an awakened by the way. Yeah real classy Luke.'
He got up from the floor, and headed to the shower, undressing on his way there. He stripped himself naked and stepped inside. He opened the water and cursed loudly when cold water hit his frail body. Even though the water was always cold, today it was especially menacing considering it was 12°C outside.
He gritted his teeth and endured the icy water for as long his body could. If he was honest with himself, he found the freezing water oddly calming and relaxing. His body took it perfectly, like a real Commonality should.
And after the Nightmare and thinking all night, he definitely needed a cold shower.
He got out and stepped on a familiar shower rug, and frowned allowing his past memories flood his mind. He dried himself with a towel and put on the same comfortable, oversized clothing. He ate the remaining breakfast in silence and then headed down to the reception.
Ms Brissett was already downstairs, not daring to end her shift before making sure that Luke made it to the Academy after proper logistics. It was very uncouth to ignore a Commonality, especially when you are a mere Dormant human.
She might lose her job and privileges, which was a best case scenario in matters like these.
Since the teenagers that lived in this building complex usually did not have families, it was part of her responsibility to make sure that if it so happens that one awakens from the Nightmare, they are taken care of.
It was literally a part of her job description.
Soon, a familiar young man descended the staircase and headed towards her desk. As Luke approached closer towards her, she saw some subtle, yet noticeable changes with his face, body and the way he carried himself.
For starters, his face did not look as lifeless as it did before. His ivory skin was still pale, but now it contrasted more towards being fair. Speaking of his skin, it was now as smooth as flawless white jade. His eyes were not crimson from the Nightmare anymore, instead, they had a gorgeous golden brown color. His face was sharper and his presence was more pronounced.
He was undoubtedly a Commonality.
A subtle smile rested on his full lips, making Ms Brissett flinch remembering that Luke was still a minor. What a bummer! She shook her head and cleared her mind of unnecessary thoughts.
"Are.. you okay?"
His smooth voice jolted her out of her thoughts. She tried speaking but words died on her throat. She blushed and sighed.
'Oh gods. It's going to be a long day.'