Vergil's POV
The next morning, I woke up at 5 AM, my body tuned to its own biological clock. Yawning, I made my way to wash my face, greeted by my reflection in the mirror. It reminded me of the time when I first arrived in this new world—eyes filled with confusion. But now, as I looked at myself, it was like the difference between day and night.
The boy in the mirror was no longer pale or skinny. Small yet firm muscles were visible, and my abdomen was beginning to outline the muscles. It seemed my height had also increased. The body that once gave off gloomy vibes was now full of vitality.
"How handsome," I thought, narcissistically.
Just as I was absorbed in my fantasies, a knock on the door interrupted me.
Knock, knock.
"Young master, it's May. I'm coming inside," she announced as she entered.
Quickly, I put my shirt back on and turned towards her, avoiding eye contact, feeling embarrassed by my childish actions.
"Let's go to the ground," I said, trying to hide my slightly flushed face.
"Oh, okay, young master," May replied, feeling odd about my behavior.
As we made our way to the ground, it was around half an hour earlier than the agreed time. I decided to do some basic warmup exercises, with May tagging along. Since I requested to spar with her, she was also not in her usual maid uniform; she wore something more like a training uniform.
I had already decided on using a weapon for my Aura arts, specifically a sword. Preferably, I would like to use a long sword, but that would be decided later.
Soon, Father arrived with Sir Gareth, holding a black stone in his hand.
"Good morning Father, Sir Gareth," I greeted them.
"Good morning, Vergil," Father replied.
"Good morning, young master," saluted Sir Gareth.
"Again, Sir Gareth, there is no need to be formal with me," I complained, as he always saluted me in a formal manner whenever we met.
"Sorry, young master. This is my duty," Sir Gareth said, adamant about the rules.
"Okay, Gareth, since Vergil said so, don't be so formal in normal times," Father said as he patted Sir Gareth's shoulder.
"So, Father, is that the awakening stone?" I inquired, looking at the black stone.
"Yes, this is the awakening stone," Father said as he showed me the stone.
I saw an unremarkable black-colored stone, but I was able to see some very small golden-colored runes. When I tried to sense the stone, it felt like it was a black hole devouring my senses.
"Don't try to sense it. It can absorb your mana sense, and it's the same with prana; it can absorb that as well," said Father as I snapped out of my daze. He gave me the stone, and I held it in my hands.
"Father, what do I do now?" I asked, perplexed about how to use this stone.
"Vergil," he said, his tone grave.
"I must warn you of the dangers associated with using the awakening stone. While it grants you the ability to awaken your latent talents, it also comes with risks. You must be absolutely ready and never lose focus. Are you ready?" informed Father.
"I am ready, Father," I nodded solemnly, understanding the gravity of Father's words.
He took out his sword, a long silver-colored sword with golden lines adorned on it. It was my father's weapon, Argentum, the name given to this sword. He released his aura, and it glowed silver, reflecting my father's prana.
"Unfathomable," I thought, feeling a humongous amount of aura. I felt like a tiny drop in front of that aura.
He drew several complicated runes and sigils with prana. It was the first time I was seeing grandmaster-level prana writing. After a few minutes, the rune and sigils were completed.
"Now, Vergil, come to the center of the rune," Father urged me.
I hesitantly went to the center of the rune, and there, the rune began to resonate with the stone.
"Now, drop some of your blood on the stone and place it near your heart," Father guided me through the process.
As I cut my finger, my blood dropped on the stone. It was absorbed by the stone, and the golden runes glowed even more brilliantly. I quickly brought the stone towards my heart. As I did, I felt mana inside my body boiling, and sweat began to form over my forehead.
"Concentrate, Vergil. Perseverance is key here," Father said, seeing me struggle.
Soon, the stone began to emit a black gas. It was absorbed into my body, and as the black gas entered my heart, I felt an excruciating headache.
"Concentrate, Vergil. Don't lose yourself," Father shouted at me, but I could feel his voice was also a little shaken. It seemed he was also a little nervous.
Third POV
"What is happening, my lord?" asked Gareth, as he was going to help me, but he was stopped by Father
"Don't intervene; he needs to overcome this all by himself," Father ordered Gareth. He has explained the on and out of Vergil matter as he was trust worthy
"But why is the young master in so much pain?" asked Gareth.
"The awakening stone is reshaping his body according to his real talent. Ideally, this should be done at the age of 12 when he first awakened, but for some reason, Vergil was only able to awaken partially, leading to an incomplete talent. He continued to absorb mana without prana, so his body needs to reform these pathways so that he could absorb prana safely," explained Father as he closely monitored Vergil's situation.
May was also very tense; her eyes were red seeing Vergil in pain. She was also about to rush to Vergil, but was stopped by Father.
"My Lord, could you please do something about the pain? It's tormenting him," pleaded May, unable to bear seeing Vergil in so much pain.
"Only the hottest fire makes the most durable sword. He needs to endure it himself," said Father, but from his clenched fist, it could be seen that he was also nervous.
Vergil's POV
The pain was tremendous. It felt like my body was deconstructing and reconstructing itself. But through sheer willpower, I endured this torment. Eventually, the pain began to fade away, and my heart began to slow down—it was almost a beat per minute. Then, I saw endless darkness—it felt like the abyss, opening its claws ready to devour me. But at that moment, a glow appeared. I looked at the light, trying to reach it, but the abyss wouldn't let me. I struggled, sinking deeper, feeling lost. Suddenly, I saw the light move towards me, like a hand reaching out. As I reached out towards it, the abyss began to pull me more strongly, but in that moment, it felt like I had to grab it. So, I pushed with all my might, and as soon as I connected, the light spread in all directions, pushing away the darkness, and I felt peace of mind.
"Never waver, for the path you tread shall be strewn with thorns." I heard a mysterious voice as I felt my consciousness slipping away.
Third POV
Outside, Vergil's body, whose heart almost stopped beating, began to beat again. The blood in his body moved even faster, and a mysterious engraving was formed on his heart and chest. The prana from the surroundings began to flood into his body, as if his body was thirsty for ages. It was so strong that a whirlpool began to form around him, and his body began to levitate in the air.
Father hurriedly put up a defensive barrier, protecting May and Gareth.
"It would seem that he managed to break through the hurdle," Father said, laughing out of joy.
May also relaxed, her tense nerves finally loosened. For her, every minute felt like a year.
Sir Gareth also breathed a sigh of relief.
The process took another 15 minutes as a massive amount of mana began to pour into his body, but slowly, it began to settle down
Vergil's POV
Slowly, I opened my eyes and looked around. I saw a lot of broken tiles scattered on the ground.
"It would seem it was successful," I thought to myself, feeling the changes in my body.
The incomplete feeling that I had in my body had disappeared. I felt full of energy, and the impenetrable wall I felt before was no longer there. I felt like I could advance if I wanted to, but I refrained from doing so as I needed to consolidate my newfound prana. I observed further as a pool of prana was formed in my body. It was separate from my mana pool, although not of the same size; it was around half of my mana reserves.
I stopped observing as I felt the need to talk to Father, so I opened my eyes and went towards them.