*(sorry for the break, I couldn't post as I was ill)*
The moment I heard that voice, everything around me seemed to fall silent.
I couldn't believe it at first. My heart lurched in my chest. I'd spent so many years wondering about him, wondering why he had disappeared from my life without a word. And now, suddenly, there he was—standing in front of me as if nothing had changed.
My father.
The man who had once been my world, but who I hadn't seen or heard from in five long years. It felt like some kind of cruel joke. My mind raced, but my body stayed frozen. I didn't know what to think. Part of me wanted to be angry, wanted to shout at him for abandoning me, for leaving me to fight for survival in a world that never cared. But another part of me just wanted to feel something—anything. The years of longing, of missing him, were still there, buried deep inside me.
"Dad?" The words slipped out before I could stop them, barely more than a whisper. I needed to be sure. I needed to hear it from him. This had to be real. But even as I said it, the doubt lingered. Could it really be him?
Then the question slipped out of my mouth without thinking. "What are you doing here?" The words were bitter, laced with confusion and hurt. I didn't want to hear his excuse. I didn't want him to give me some reason that would make this okay. But I needed to know. Why now?
A knot formed in my stomach as I realized how much was at stake. There was someone else here, someone from the capital. And they had come for me. I couldn't let him walk into this blind. "Someone from the capital is here for me," I said, my voice firm despite the turmoil inside. "What should I do?"
Maria's POV:
I felt the air shift the moment he stepped into the room. It was like the room itself recognized him—suddenly, the space felt too small, as though the very walls were pushing inward, forced to acknowledge his presence.
His aura was suffocating. Powerful. Dangerous.
I had no idea that someone like this—someone so overwhelming—was related to Miles. I watched them both in silence, unable to take my eyes off the way hes stood so confidently in the room, his energy wrapping around him like an iron cloak. But I couldn't ignore the subtle unease in Miles' posture, the way he tensed, as if this was a situation he wasn't prepared for.
Why had he been gone all these years? That question gnawed at me. I couldn't understand why a man of such obvious power would disappear from his son's life for so long. But now that I was seeing him in person, I understood why Miles had always been given a wide berth by the other students, why the headmaster and his other bullies had never dared push him too far.
Miles wasn't just special because of his background. He was special because of him. Because of his dad.
But what was it that had kept him away? Miles wasn't the same quiet boy I had once known. There was a painful tension between them, something I couldn't fully comprehend.
I couldn't stop myself from glancing at him again, feeling an undercurrent of something else—something dangerous—in the air. But before I could reflect more on it, his gaze flicked toward me.
It was brief, almost imperceptible, but it was enough. I knew he wanted me out of the room.
Marcus' POV:
I stood before him, my eyes scanning the boy who used to be my son, the boy I left behind. The years had changed him—he was no longer the child I had once known. He was... something else now.
I reached out, letting my mana flow toward him, seeking to bridge the distance between us.
But something stopped me.
My mana collided with an invisible barrier, a resistance which should be their for someone of his level I concentrated harder. There was something wrong here, something strange. No one—no one—should have a defense this strnge. My magic should have connected to him instantly, but it didn't, and it felt like something was rejecting me instead of blocking.
Then, I realized something.
It wasn't that his mana was resisting me—it was something deeper, something more fundamental. His body had changed. His physique—his very being—was different now, in a way I had recognised but just to be sure. I brute forced my way to make sure.
I focused on the flow of his mana, on the subtle currents that ran in his body. And then I sensed it—something that made my heart race in realization and verification.
His affinity is 100% and he has awakened a corresponding physique.
It wasn't just any affinity. This wasn't some average elemental connection. My eyes widened as the truth hit me like a thunderclap. A 100% affinity.
The pieces clicked into place, and everything that had felt wrong before suddenly made sense. This was why I couldn't scan with him as I had with everyone else. This was why his mana rejected mine. His body had become a perfect vessel for an element so powerful, so pure, that it was beyond anything I had imagined for son who hadn't awakened any. A 100% affinity to an element that was foreign to me—an element I couldn't even name, something beyond even my understanding.
But then... the bigger realization came. The natural phenomenon—the storm—it was caused by his awakening. This wasn't just a coincidence. This wasn't just an accident. He had triggered it.
And the spell. The spell I had cast on him, the one designed to inform me of his location and health, the one that had kept me posted all these years—it was gone. It was erased. My mana, his mother's mana, had been removed, wiped clean by this new power, this new physique that now inhabited him.
I looked at the lady, standing by the door, still unsure whether she understood what was happening. But I couldn't explain it to her—she didn't need to know. This moment was for Miles and me.
"Lady," I said, my voice firm but not unkind. "Leave us."
She hesitated for a moment, but she nodded silently, stepping out of the room.
I turned back to my son. There was so much to say, so much for him to know. Miles stood across from his father, his body tense, emotions churning inside him. His voice was tight, but he forced himself to speak through the frustration and hurt that had been building for the past five years.
"Why now?" His words were edged with bitterness. "Where have you been all these years, Dad? You just... left. No word. No contact. I had to survive alone, and now... you show up like it's nothing. What really happened?" He couldn't keep the anger out of his voice, but there was a rawness there too, a longing for answers he hadn't even realized he still needed.
Marcus didn't flinch at the harshness of Miles' words. Instead, his gaze softened as he regarded his son, the weight of the years lost between them visible in the depths of his eyes. He took a long breath before speaking, his voice calm but heavy with the burden of truth.
"Miles..." He paused, choosing his words carefully, the regret evident in the way he spoke. "I'm your father. Your mother and I, we've always loved you. Never doubt that."
Miles felt the tension in his chest tighten, but he couldn't stop himself from pushing forward. He needed to understand why—why he had been abandoned, why his father had left him to navigate the harsh world alone.
"But why? Why did you leave?" The question burned in his throat. "If you loved me... why couldn't you be there when I needed you?"
Marcus took a step closer, his expression pained but resolute. "It wasn't a choice I made lightly. You need to understand—this wasn't just about me, and it wasn't just about your mother." He hesitated, as if weighing the words carefully. "It was about the clan. The decision was made by them. I never told you but I am the Battle Commander for our clan. "
Miles' brows furrowed in confusion. "The clan? What do you mean?"
Marcus' gaze hardened slightly, as if remembering the politics and obligations that had always been present in his life. "Our clan… they didn't want the world to know that the son of their battle commander—a man of strength and influence—was... null." He let the word hang in the air, the weight of it clear. "You see, null is not something the clan could afford. A son with no abilities, no potential... it would be a weakness, a stain on their reputation." He shook his head slowly, regret lacing his tone. "Clan politics, Miles. You'll understand when you grow up, when you see how things really work."
Miles felt the words sink in, the sting of betrayal mingling with the painful truth. His father's absence, the silence, had all been part of a larger scheme—an issue of power and reputation. Null. The word felt like a knife twisting in his chest, even though it no longer applied to him. But hearing his father admit it, acknowledge the reason for his absence, made it real in a way nothing else had.
"So, you just... abandoned me?" His voice was quieter now, but the hurt was still there. "All because of some stupid clan politics?"
Marcus' eyes softened, his voice filled with sorrow. "I didn't want to leave you, Miles. But I couldn't risk the consequences if I didn't. You were marked as 'null' in their eyes, a stain that could never be removed. But the moment you awakened—" He paused, glancing at Miles with a mix of awe and pride. "That's when things changed. When you awakened with such power—so grand—everything changed."
Miles swallowed, the weight of his father's words settling in. He understood the politics, even if he hated them. The man before him had never been free to make his own choices, trapped by the obligations of his clan. But he couldn't ignore the anger and resentment that still clung to him. Five years of struggle, of fighting alone, and now his father was standing here, explaining himself like it was some sort of game.
"I understand," Miles muttered, his voice low, his gaze fixed on the floor. "But there's more. People at the school... some of them who have a debt they must pay. About my awakening. And there are some who would want to use me. I can't just ignore that. Not after everything that's happened."
Marcus' eyes narrowed, a dangerous glint appearing in them as he took a step closer to his son. "I know. And now that you've awakened, they'll come after you. Some of them won't care about who you are or what you've become. But I won't let them use you. Not now. Not ever. It's time they and the clan pays for underestimating you, my name and title is not for show , I am not for show "
Miles met his father's gaze, and for the first time, he saw something other than a distant, calculating man. He saw someone who truly wanted to fight for him. The realization was like a weight lifting off his chest, but also a reminder of the responsibility now placed on his shoulders.
"I agree," Miles said, the words finally coming out with clarity, as if a piece of the puzzle had clicked into place. "I'm not going to let anyone walk all over me anymore."