The silence of the temple was broken by Luna's unexpected message. Ray's pulse quickened as he spoke softly,
"Luna, what's going on?"
[There seems to be a connection between the Chronos Blade and your trait, Chronos. They are meant to complete each other; only by wielding them together will you unlock their true potential.]
Ray's mind buzzed with theories and questions, whatever Zen told him about their prophecy and stuff. Ever since learning about his unique trait and now encountering the Chronos Blade, doubts had lingered at the edges of his thoughts. Were they intertwined by fate, or was it mere coincidence? Setting aside the unease, he refocused when Zen's voice cut through his contemplation.
"Let's begin your awakening," Zen stated with a calm that belied the momentousness of the situation. He gestured toward the altar before the towering statue.
"Step forward and place your palms on the orb. Channel your mana, and push it until you hit resistance. From there, your mental space will establish a connection with orb... and you'll understand."
Ray took a deep breath, excitement and anxiety swirling inside him. He stepped up to the altar, the polished stone cold under his palms. He began to pour mana into the orb, more than he'd ever released before. The orb started glowing, its surface warming as if alive. Suddenly, he felt a strange pull, and his consciousness was whisked away.
When Ray opened his eyes, he was no longer in the temple. He found himself hovering over an unfathomable expanse, a world that defied the ordinary.
He floated at the edge of a realm that seemed to be both limitless and enclosed as if it belonged solely to him. Below, landscapes sprawled out in chaotic harmony. To his left, volcanoes erupted with relentless fury, rivers of molten rock carving a path through the scorched earth. Yet, beyond the churning lava, snow-capped peaks glistened under an ethereal light, their icy grandeur contrasting the molten lake nearby.
Further out, an emerald sea of grasslands stretched into the horizon, every blade swaying as wind blew. Rivers, clear and alive, cut through the greenery, their surfaces reflecting the sky in fractured pieces. A majestic waterfall crashed down from a cliff into an endless pool, its sound a soothing symphony that seemed to echo deep within his spirit.
Yet not all was serene. To the right, an ominous region shrouded in darkness sprawled like an unspoken secret. Black clouds crackled with lightning, casting jagged shadows over a dense, twisted forest. The air there was heavy, suffocating. Despite its foreboding nature, Ray felt a strange connection to that part too, as though it held a piece of him, his rage, his fears, his uncertainties.
Suddenly, the realization hit him: this was his world.
Every element, every extreme, was a reflection of him.
The raging volcanoes were his fire, fierce and unstoppable.
The frozen peaks were his calm and control, a necessary counterbalance.
The grasslands and rivers represented his inner peace, the potential for growth and renewal.
Even the storm-wracked dark lands were his struggles, the battles he faced and would continue to face.
It wasn't just a vision; it was a manifestation of his soul, an intricate tapestry that only he could weave.
He felt like both an observer and the creator, bound to this realm in a way that words could not fully capture.
He reached out, and for a moment, the landscape responded, the skies shifting in color, the rivers changing their course.
This was power, not just to wield but to understand, to create and destroy, to govern the forces that defined him.
Before he could explore further, a sudden pull yanked him back, and the surreal world dissolved like mist, leaving him breathless and back in the temple.
-----------------
In the physical world, Zen's eyes widened as an unprecedented event began. The mana in the air seemed drawn toward Ray, swirling around him like a vortex, eager to merge with him as soon as he connected with the orb. A sense of awe and dread filled Zen; never had he heard of someone drawing raw mana directly from nature, an impossibility in Helios' known history.
But that wasn't the only shock. The orb on the altar reacted violently, emitting bursts of energy: flames that crackled like molten magma, water so cold it felt like death, winds that howled with storm-force, and an earthy aroma that spoke of raw, untamed power. Zen watched, unable to comprehend, as the orb displayed every element imaginable, not just as colors but in their full, tangible forms.
The chaos reached its peak, and then, as if the world held its breath, everything froze. Not just Zen, everything. Birds paused mid-flight, elves halted in their leaps, humans working in farms stopped, swordsman swinging a sword stopped. Time itself had stalled, a sensation that only those at the highest levels of power might have noticed, an almost imperceptible shift in reality.
Zen's heart pounded as he recognized it, the touch of the time element.
The world resumed its motion, and Ray's eyes fluttered open. There was a change in his gaze, a depth, an awareness that hadn't been there before. Then, as if to mark the awakening, a powerful surge of mana exploded outward from him. The mana around them coalesced, clinging to him like iron filings to a magnet.
Every being who were at top of the world-chain were alarmed of a certain power has started raising...Many Saints and Archmages who were on verge of breakthrough, noticed, the world is going to change and they had to prepare accordingly.
Back in Temple, both Zen and Ray looked at the orb, now shattered into glittering fragments on the altar. The silence that followed was profound, broken as Ray muttered,
"Status."