"Brother, you're awake!"
"Ceres… you're alright. That's good. "
Caelum sighed in relief upon seeing her. For a while, he had forgotten about her as he floated in the darkness. That fact weighed heavily on his mind. The first time he was gone, he had forgotten everything about his family except their existence. He longed to meet them again just to grasp at the tiniest things that were still left of his life on Earth.
But now, the emptiness threatened to devour him. It threatened to turn him into its embodiment, a vessel of emptiness. And for a while, he almost let it. Gritting his teeth, Caelum vowed to himself not to let it happen again.
Noticing the worried gaze on him, he looked at his sister again. He realised she was angry, but he did not know what to say. Even as he was waking up, his mind was being flooded with things that he needed to do, an urgency that pushed him away from respite.
"Where are we?"
"We found you six hours ago, fainted in an abandoned car. If there were no people who saw you leave, we wouldn't have found you so quickly."
"I see. So where are we?"
"...We're on the top floor of Halo."
Ceres glared at him for blatantly trying to change the topic, but still she answered.
Halo is a company owned by the House of Grace for generations. It had mostly been involved in research and technology, but with the appearance of mana, they began exploring a brand new field of science called magic engineering.
They were currently the leading group in the field and were even supplying the best equipment to fight against the monsters. This is another reason why the House of Grace was being given special treatment by even the Global Alliance.
However, right now, Caelum was lying down on a king-sized bed in a room that could be called a luxury suite. He sat up in surprise and let his gaze wander around the room.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd have thought that you branched out to hotels now."
"Stop changing the topic."
Caelum fell silent for a moment. His eyes that wandered around, to explore the room around him finally returned to Ciel whose expression was anything but good.
Unbeknownst to Caelum himself, he started hearing a constant ticking in his head. It was like the steady turning of cogs that dare not deviate from their set mechanisms. And like a machine, Caelum's emotions seemed to drain from him.
"Brother, do you have anything to say?"
"What do you want me to say? Sorry for prioritising your safety?"
His words dripped of coldness like an aged metal left in a freezer. Ceres shrunk back a little, but it seems she did not give up as she picked up the tablet from the bedside the table and showed the screen to Caelum.
He looked at it inquisitively before it was completely swept away by a different expression. He wore a sour look on his face as he watched a video of a man fighting against monsters near a gate. It was a video of him.
"Damn, I look weak. Can't believe I was getting pushed back by those things."
He muttered to himself. It was such a weak sound that no one should have heard, but Ceres heard it all as she had been watching her brother's every reaction. Her brows furrowed as she stared at him. Caelum, however, realised something that she had not.
"Where the hell was this video taken from? If anyone had the guts to do this, they should've been fighting instead! I wouldn't have had to waste so much time if only someone helped me there. We could've closed the damned gate sooner!"
Caelum did not have a good impression of the Chosen after seeing their power levels in the initial stages of the fight. However, now seeing that someone with the capability of surviving and even taking a video did not help at all made him livid.
His expectations for the Chosen were steadily going down. Now he was even thinking that it was naïve to have ever expected anything from them at all. Ceres seemed to have caught on to a small fraction of what he was feeling as she asked carefully.
"Brother… do you know something about the gates?"
"At least, more than everyone else in this helpless world."
He answered truthfully. He knew more about them than the rest of the people of Earth, but even he did not know everything. And the only reason that he knew of anything at all was because the Imaginary Tree had given him knowledge along with his power.
"For now, it's fine for everyone to understand that we are at war. But the way they're handling it must not continue. The war has only just begun. If they continue to only satisfy themselves and maintain the status quo, then when the time comes, every last one of the Avatars would be killed."
"Avatars?"
"You call them Chosen."
"Brother, if you know more, then shouldn't we share it to the world?"
"I can't. Not yet. As you can see, I'm still too weak. Even if I say something, no one will listen and nothing will change."
He needed to get stronger. Back then, he knew he was doing his best. However, he felt pathetic after watching his own battle through the screen. The enemies were only going to get stronger from now on. He had no time to waste. He had no time to even contemplate on what he was fighting for. His soul only screamed for power.
"I need to train."
"What? But you're still injured! You need to rest, Brother."
"Do you see any wounds? I only feel full of energy."
"...Fine. I'll have someone escort you to the training room."
Caelum stared at his sister for a moment, wondering if he heard correctly. Halo was supposed to be a tech business. Why was it sounding more and more like luxurious residence instead?
"Are you sure you're not running a hotel?"
After their short conversation, Caelum was led to the basement 3rd floor which was made solely for training the Chosen belonging to Halo and those serving the House of Grace. The existence of such an organisation was enough for the Global Alliance to recognize Halo as an unofficial guild.
They were even given the responsibility of taking care of Aegon City along with three other guilds. Caelum looked around the room and saw quite a lot of Chosen. He felt their gazes on him the moment he set foot inside. It seemed they had seen the video as well. One of the Chosen who saw him enter walked toward him before bowing deeply.
"My lord, I apologise for my subordinates' mistake. I made sure to punish them accordingly, so please have mercy on them."
"What, are we in the middle ages? Do we just cut people's heads off because of a mistake? Don't apologise. In the first place, I don't even know what you're talking about."
"Thank you, my lord. However, they were not vigilant enough and even panicked when the gate appeared. It was fortunate that they were able to secure the lady, but they left you to fend for yourself. That was a grave sin on their part."
"Well, the House of Grace has always been matriarchal so Ceres will always be the first priority. And although I did need help, it wasn't to keep me alive, but to finish the job quickly. Don't mind it too much."
"Thank you for your grace, my lord."
Caelum chuckled at the man's words as he thought back to his fight. Had he known back then that there were Chosen serving his family, he would have asked for help as soon as they ensured Ceres's safety. He could only sigh at his recklessness. He was about to head further into the training room when he realised that the man was still bowing. Smiling wryly, he spoke to him again.
"Sorry, you can raise your head now. Anyway, I need someone to help me train my body. Do you have someone in mind?"
"Of course. Allow me to take on that role, my lord. My name is Reynor Grey, Head of Security of Halo and the House of Grace."
"Caelum Grace, a pleasure. I would like to begin quickly, but before that..."
Caelum looked at everyone gathered in the training room. All of them were Chosen with quite exceptional strengths. It would not be a lie to say that the Chosen under Halo were all elites. Their combined aura was enough to pressure Caelum, but he withstood it.
He understood that they were not doing it on purpose. It only meant that they were not yet good enough to be able to control their leaking powers. And so, he decided to give them a bit of motivation.
"Everyone, good work! I can see that you are all taking this seriously. I may be the weakest among you right now, but I will catch up soon. In the meantime, I challenge you to raise your powers even further. The world is changing. Soon, it won't just be the House of Grace and Halo that you will be protecting. It could be your families, your friends or your lives. Until then, I hope you grow strong enough to survive this war."
His words echoed across the room. He didn't need to use mana to do so. The silence created an atmosphere of dominance around him. All the Chosen in the room understood his words. He was telling them that their powers were not just to be used to serve others loyally, but also to protect themselves.
As the object of their loyalty, Caelum now seemed even more radiant than before. The House of Grace was a matriarchal house so there were those who worried that Caelum, who had become a Chosen, would take the seat of head from Ceres.
But now, whatever negative thoughts they had of him before were washed away. They realised that he only wished to protect his family as well. In the end, everyone bowed toward him as a sign of respect and loyalty.
"Raise your heads! If you have time to bow, then you have time to train instead!"
Caelum moved to a vacant training area as he spoke and thus missed Reynor's reaction to the scene. The man shook his head, glaring at his subordinates who seemed to hold a level of distrust for Caelum.
It seems he had been severely lacking in disciplining and teaching them. They did not seem to realise who they were talking to. If it was any other core vassal of the House of Grace who had witnessed this scene, then these people would have surely been whipped until their bones were being baked under the sun. Or worse, their heads would already be rolling on the ground.
The House of Grace was indeed matriarchal. But if any of the members who served in the House of Grace's main estate were to be asked to choose whom they would serve, they would all unanimously choose Caelum. After all, he was the Pillar of Grace.