The doorbell rang. A woman, busy in her kitchen and trembling with anticipation, hurried to open it. A young man, 1.79 meters tall, with dark hair streaked with silver, appeared before her eyes, which were already filling with tears.
"Seran, is that you?!!!" Sophia cried, embracing him.
They remained like that for at least a minute.
Returning the warm embrace, Seran realized just how worried his mother had been. She had been against his decision to undergo the Trigger.
"Come in," the woman said more calmly.
The smell and warmth of home had been missing. The sterility of his cabin over the past days felt like ice compared to the comfort of home.
After 30 minutes of his mother showering him with questions and attention, the doorbell rang again. Victor entered using his keys, and at the sight of his son, he grew emotional, pulling him into a tight embrace.
"I have to say, silver suits you," his father chuckled. "Now tell me everything…" he added, curious.
Another hour passed in complete family serenity.
Sophia prepared all of her son's favorite dishes for lunch, and Victor uncorked one of his finest bottles of wine to celebrate Seran's return.
After enjoying being back with his loved ones, and as afternoon arrived, Seran went to visit someone else.
"tik… tik… tik…" the constant sound of the machines monitoring Regis, visibly thinner and pale from lack of sunlight.
"Hey, I'm back. I've got so much to tell you…"
Speaking as if his friend could hear him, he recounted the events of the past few days, imagining how Regis might respond.
"You're right, I was stupid back then…"
"You should've seen how big that evox was…"
Leaving a cigarette next to the flower vase in the room, Seran returned home.
After dinner, he went to his room. He opened his laptop.
Rocking slightly in his swivel chair, he entered the bank details provided by the Armed Forces.
His eyes couldn't believe what he was reading:
[ +500 Flux kill T0, +1500 Flux kill T1 ]
"Now I understand why so many people want to be a Tower," he thought.
"Even though I expected more, considering I could have died…"
While searching for information online, his arm moved on its own, almost without Seran realizing it.
From the shelf above his desk, a book was falling.
He caught it mid-air.
The strange thing wasn't the reaction… it was that he hadn't reacted at all. He had already anticipated the movement, a moment before it even happened.
"How did I do that???" he wondered.
"Starting tomorrow I need to figure out what my affinity is, confirm my choice at the Presidium, and begin the saturation process as soon as possible. I only have 3 years to reach F2."
Time was not on his side. The man with the Black Serpent was surely an F2 or F3, and to take his revenge he needed to reach that level as soon as possible.
"I also need to train with the sword, improve my mana manipulation… uff, so many things…"
After the night passed, the sun rose again.
Once ready and after a proper breakfast, he headed to the Presidium.
No longer surprised by what he saw, when his turn came, the magenta-haired receptionist welcomed him again. This time, he noticed how mana reacted around her—she too was a Tower.
"Congratulations on your Trigger," she said. "How can I help you today?"
"Thank you, I'm here to officially register as an independent Raider," he replied, handing over his license.
"Perfect, I'm entering your data into the national server…"tap tap tap went her fingers on the keyboard.
"Just one piece of information: your codename as a Raider?"
"LAG," he said unconsciously.
Once again puzzled by his own sudden response, and before he could take it back—
"Registered. Raider LAG, I officially welcome you among us," the girl said, smiling, amused by the unusual name.
"So be it… LAG," he muttered, resigned.
"You can now accept missions or contracts from our digital HUB. For verification and payment collection, you'll need to come here in person. For independent or private expeditions, we only ask that you send a notice with the estimated time you'll be outside the walls."
"So we'll be seeing each other often from now on," Seran joked.
"There are other receptionists available to assist you," she replied politely, slightly raising her lips.
"No, I think I'll always come to you. You must've brought me luck for my Trigger—I'm superstitious," he added after a brief pause. "What should I call you?"
"Mirror is my codename," she replied.
"Then see you next time, Mirror," he said with a nod, walking away from the desk.
For a moment, the receptionist watched him leave. Then she returned to her terminal.
Seran instead headed toward the outskirts of the city, reaching the containment walls.
After passing the patrol checkpoint and sending a notification announcing his solo expedition, the wilderness opened up before him.
"For your first hunts, use T0s to assess your current level and get familiar with your new system. Once you fully understand your performance, move on to T1s," he recalled Lud's advice.
As he ventured deeper into nature, his enhanced senses allowed him to distinguish everything within a 50-meter radius—small herbivores, rodents, insects, vegetation.
Soon, he spotted a T0 Evox.
It resembled a descendant of some primate—bipedal, with long, developed arms—climbing a tree to feed on fruit.
He breathed.
A short sword emerged from his ring, his grip firm.
Activating his leg muscles, he sprinted.
The wind struck his face.
A few meters from his prey, he leapt into the air.
The primate-like creature barely noticed the danger—it hurled the fruit it was holding toward the boy and leapt away from the branch.
The diversion worked. Seran lost the initiative.
But using that same branch as a springboard, he leapt as well, closing the distance again.
The chase began.
The vegetation favored the evox, naturally adapted to move through those obstacles.
The young Tower, still inexperienced, compensated with his superior physical abilities.
The distance kept shrinking, and in that moment, something changed within Seran.
The world slowed down. His thoughts accelerated, but his body did not.
Mind and body were no longer in sync.
Had he been able to notice, his eyes would have been flickering with a silver glow.
That confusion led him into a mistake—he tripped.
"What the hell was that???" he muttered, getting back up and sprinting to resume the chase.