His father, Gerald Scrow, stood six feet tall. A solid stature, slightly stooped by the accumulated weariness of a long day's labor. His broad shoulders seemed to carry an invisible weight that pulled them downward.
His eyes were amber.
The family was complete.
Raven looked at these faces. His mother Elise, who had served the meal with her tired hands and weary smile. His little sister Bella, whose youthful elegance and energy contrasted with the austere environment. His big brother Biggy, a silent and reassuring mass. His father, aged before his time.
Looking at them, a small feeling of comfort settled within him.
It was the comfort of having people to count on in this life: family.
Even if they lived in poverty.
Seated, the family ate in tranquility.
Each person recounted their day.
The protagonist, seated on the quiet side of the table, ate and savored his food while listening to their stories.
He savored.
He listened. The small events of their ordinary lives. The minuscule joys and daily annoyances. Nothing spectacular. Nothing heroic. But in this stream of ordinary words, the fabric of a shared existence, of mutual belonging, was woven.
Suddenly, Bella called out to Raven.
The young girl's voice cut through the background noise of conversations. She was addressing him directly, her amber eyes fixed on his face with sudden attention.
"Raven, are you confident about the Mana Awakening? It's in three days."
The question fell into the relative silence that followed. It seemed as if she had just touched a sore spot. Elise herself shot her daughter a look, one of those motherly glances that clearly meant: be quiet and eat. Bella, sensing that the atmosphere wasn't right for discussion, fell silent and continued eating, but her attention remained focused on her brother, awaiting an answer.
Awakening?
The word resonated in Raven's mind like a foreign note. He hadn't anticipated it. He didn't immediately know what it meant. Bella's question caught him off guard.
He wondered inwardly what this could possibly be.
Digging into his memory, he of course remembered this thing.
The memories of Raven Scrow opened up to his consciousness like a book being flipped through. Information flooded in, structuring itself into a coherent understanding. The Mana Awakening. The rite of passage. The crucial moment in the life of every inhabitant of the domes.
The government of Dome M-77 had enacted a law. This law was not specific to Dome M-77. It existed in all the domes, on all the continents still inhabited by humanity. A universal legislation, born from the imperative need to train Chosen Ones to ensure the survival of the species.
This law allowed every young person who had reached the age of sixteen to undergo a test.
This test was called the Awakening.
The term was precise. It was not a simple exam or a theoretical evaluation. The Awakening was an active process, a transformation initiated by an external intervention.
The process consisted of circulating mana within oneself.
This forced circulation of mana aimed to form a circle.
The formation of the circle marked entry into the first level of the path of the Chosen One. Circle One. The beginning of the journey.
When this step was successfully completed, one officially became a Chosen One.
The status changed. The individual was no longer a simple ordinary citizen. He became a Chosen One, a member of that particular category of humans capable of wielding mana. With this status came rights, duties, and opportunities. The Chosen Ones were the elite of dome society. They held command positions. They formed the defensive garrisons. They went on expeditions beyond the walls to face the beasts.
Raven now understood the importance of Bella's question. The Awakening in three days. His Awakening. He was about to officially turn sixteen.
All eyes in the family were more or less on him, waiting for his answer. Bella was waiting, her smile slightly frozen with impatience. Even his father seemed suspended, awaiting his younger son's response.
He was a student at Bark Academy.
Raven Scrow's memories became clearer as he called upon them. Bark Academy was the only educational institution in Dome M-77.
This academy provided theoretical knowledge. History, geography, literature, the entire common foundation of a general education. Students learned the chronology of the domes, the geography of the surviving continents, the great figures of the Resistance against the beasts. Essential knowledge for understanding the world in which they lived.
Mathematics and science were also part of the curriculum. Calculations, fundamental physics, biology of mutant species, operating principles of mana-based technologies. A complete course of study that prepared young people to occupy various functions in the dome's society.
But Bark Academy also had special rooms, spaces dedicated to specific training. Rooms where students learned to gradually adapt to mana.
These rooms were equipped with special devices, low-concentration mana diffusers. Students spent several hours a week there. The goal was not to teach them how to manipulate mana, since they had not yet formed a circle. It was about accustoming their bodies to its presence, increasing tolerance, preparing the organism for the shock of the Awakening ritual.
This gradual exposure increased their chances of awakening.
When one officially awakened, one joined the academy's elite class.
The path diverged radically. Ordinary students continued their general curriculum until adulthood, then joined the dome's civilian workforce. The Chosen Ones, however, left the common classes to join the special section. An entirely different training awaited them there.
This elite class officially granted access to cultivation.
The term encompassed all the techniques for strengthening one's circle, increasing one's mana reserve, and improving control over this energy. The Chosen Ones learned to grow their power, to climb the successive rungs of the path. From Circle One to Circle Two, then Three, and beyond for the most talented.
It also granted access to techniques of all kinds.
After having mentally reviewed the subject, Raven answered his sister with an affirmative nod.
Bella seemed satisfied with this nonverbal response. Her angelic face brightened further, and she attacked her plate with more enthusiasm.
On the side, his father and mother said nothing.
Elise continued eating, her gaze lowered to her plate.
The father, for his part, chewed slowly, his eyes fixed on a vague point in the center of the table.
Seeing this, Raven made an inward reflection: Do they have so little confidence in my success, apart from my sister?
He decided to reaffirm himself.
"I'm certain of it. I will succeed."
He paused briefly, then added, sweeping his gaze over the faces of his parents and his brother:
"Don't worry."
His father then spoke. His voice was calm, without flourish.
"Don't fret, son."
He set down his utensils for a moment, as if to give weight to what he was about to say.
"Not succeeding in awakening isn't the end of the world. There is another path."
The sentence was pronounced with a heavy, almost benevolent slowness. The father gave no further details. He did not explain what this other path was. He picked up his utensils again and continued eating, as if the words had said everything they had to say.
"Mmh. Okay."
Raven replied in a neutral voice.
Only proof would speak for itself.
The dinner continued without incident.
The father had returned to his usual silence, chewing slowly, present without being fully engaged in the exchanges.
Raven ate the rest of his meal with appetite. The simple, warm food filled his stomach, soothing a hunger he hadn't been fully aware of feeling.
His mind, however, was elsewhere.
In three days, the Awakening. The ritual that would decide his future in this world.
The Chosen Ones were the elite. They had access to cultivation, to techniques, to a superior social status. They were respected, feared, sought after. Becoming a Chosen One meant opening doors that would remain forever closed to ordinary citizens.
He wanted those doors open.
The end of the meal arrived peacefully.
Raven helped clear the utensils and plates.