At that moment, he opened his eyes. He felt that his face was wet, and then it dawned on him that he had cried. Although his soul was not in his body when he was in that dark space where he was able to communicate with his mother for a short while, he discovered his heart was still heavy with guilt.
He missed them, especially his mother, her warmth, her care, her scent, her voice. He missed it all; he missed his mother so much. And it pained him so much that he cannot bring her back, but he had hoped that one day, if he grew powerful enough, maybe-just maybe he would be able to bring her back.
And then he started to study his surroundings, the robotic arms of the MWP robots littered the alley, a large metal arm was laying beside him. In the distance, he saw his makeshift house, however, he was not thrilled that he was back to reality. Even though his trial had been a little harrowing. It felt like nothing compared to when he faced his mother.
He picked himself from the ground. Then staggered forward. He became determined, he would do anything in his power to bring his mother back. if there's a chance, he wouldn't hesitate to plunge into the abyss to bring her back. He'd rather die trying than to miss the opportunity.
Riley groaned.
His stomach was empty, he didn't know how many days he had been out there, in the alley. Half of his arms were frozen, and there were layers of ice on his stomach.
Still he felt his stomach drop, when he remembered he had no one waiting for him, no one knew if he died or lived. He suspected his sister didn't remember she had a brother but that can be solved if he jogged her memory.
He stumbled inside the MWP bedroom, he was slightly warm and alleviated his mood. Then he figured he would have to find food. The darkroom gave him a sense of security, he felt himself growing stronger as the darkness intensified. And then he was surprised.
He could actually see in the darkness. He hadn't noticed it before, but now, he did. He closed his eyes to sleep.
Still he could not sleep, then he decided to venture out, he needed to kill some rats; so he could eat. After all, where would a slum boy like him get food from. If he ventured inside the inner city, he would be kicked out, or worse killed by the guards.
He started to look carefully, looking through the trash abandoned in the alley, there he could see some rats scurrying around, he lunged and then he caught a rat easily.
Riley grimaced.
He noticed something off, the rats were not as fast as they were supposed to be. He checked the rats for any abnormalities, but didn't notice anything wrong. And then he figured it had something to do with his awakening. Still he couldn't see his status no matter how hard he willed it to appear.
However he felt something change in him. At least that was what his intrusion told him, apart from his intrusion, he was pretty sure his ability is not limited to Night vision only, soon he felt the world slow down, the falling snow slowed down and then they froze.
The rats in the alley froze, and the world grew eerily quiet. And as sudden as time stopped, it resumed. However, something was different again, darkness descended on the world, the night grew thicker, the rats scurrying around became blind for a minute, and then it stopped.
Riley noticed these changes and then he stopped trying to summon his system interface. Looking at the rat he was holding, he could no longer control himself. He placed the rat's head in his mouth and bit it off. He found the familiar taste of the rat's flesh refreshing.
His mind wandered back to the first day he had to eat the rats alive, he had almost puked his insides. And for a week he had to go hungry, until he found out that the only way to survive was to eat the rats alive. There's nothing to make fire to roast the rat.
He continued to chew the rat absentmindedly.
Since he was awakened now, he could attend the awakened academy in the inner city. Thankfully it belonged to the government, although children from the clans attend the school, they were always given a separate room.
While the children who awakened in the dregs and joined the academy, live and train like a normal student; they receive no special treatment, they get to share a room with someone else; someone like them; someone from the dregs.
Immediately Riley walked towards the gate of the inner-city, he discovered he had no reason to be afraid. He just had to tell them he awakened, and then they would conduct a test. If he failed the test, he'd be imprisoned, and if he passed, he'd get the chance to enter the Ascenders academy.
It doesn't matter, if he ends up in the prison or in the academy, he would be fed, although the quality of food in the prison was bad, it was much better than eating rats. He wondered why he hadn't come up with an idea like this before.
When the guards saw him, they glanced at his malnourished and thin body, his tattered clothes and his disarrayed hair. Immediately, they were on alert, thinking he was a madman. Well they were not actually wrong. Riley was a madman with a sense of humor.
"Stop Are you lost? "! A guard commanded.
Riley stopped. He raises his hands in the air. "I'm awakened. I just finished my trial." He added.
The soldiers grew suspicious of him, it was very rare for someone outside the inner-city to awaken, it was a once in a thousand year event.
"Test me." He pleaded when he saw the guards didn't seem to believe him.
The guard in the front summoned his sword, and unsheathed it, obviously they were not taking any risk, it might be an ambush for all they know. The guard walked towards Riley, alert and ready to strike Riley if he sensed anything wrong.
After confirming nothing out of the ordinary, the guard lowered his guard.
"If you are lying… You will be executed on the spot." The guard warned.
"I know." Riley replied. He was pretty sure, the guard said that just to scare him away, in case he was just lying or trying to play a prank.
At least that was what he hoped.
He followed the guard closely, until they entered a room, built directly to the tall, imposing wall that holds the gate. There were several other guards guarding the gates, it was just that they were not visible from afar.
Pretty soon, he was in a room, and then a young woman was standing before him. Riley had expected a series of experiments but he was shocked when the woman glanced at him for a second or two and announced he had indeed awakened.
What surprised him most was that this woman was his teacher, she was nice to him in the academy when he still lived in the servant quarters, but she seemed not to recognize him.
He wondered if she was pretending not to know him because she was embarrassed of his appearance. But soon, he discovered that was not the case… there's no recognition in the woman's eyes.
"Miss Hayley?" Riley called softly.
Hayley glanced at him, slightly surprised. She wasn't wearing an ID card on her, so she knew he didn't get her name from the ID card.
"How did you know my name? Does it have anything to do with your ability?" She asked.
"No." Riley replied curtly.
She didn't really recognize him, was the message he saw from the system the last time true? It must be true, then he discovered it might be the requirement for his awakening.
He was slightly happy.
If it was true that everyone forgot him, then there was an endless possibility of what he could do. He was given a new life. However his happiness did not last long, his sister would have also forgotten him.
Wasn't it his plan to let her life a better life and confess the truth about their parents death to her, although he suspected that she might not remember his appearance, he had hoped when he reminded her about their childhood together, he would be able to jog her memory.
But now, everything is gone.
He would now have to start a new life, away from his horrendous past. He would be able to plan his revenge, and he would somehow find a way to explain to his sister.
"Take a shower and put on this." Hayley suddenly spoke, breaking his chain of thought. She had waited thinking he would explain how he knew her name, but she saw the sad expression on his face, so she decided to leave. She didn't know whether to comfort him, or leave him, however she chose the latter.
Riley stood up and went to the bathroom, led by a guard.