Velthia Town.
The Orphanage.
It was a day the orphanage had been waiting for months.
The midday sun bathed the courtyard in a warm, golden glow, illuminating the freshly swept grounds and the excited faces of the children pressing their noses against the windows of the main hall.
Inside, the atmosphere was thick with anticipation.
Shaela sat in the center of a makeshift Conduction Circle drawn on the polished wooden floor. She had grown a lot in just a year.
The awkwardness of adolescence had blossomed into a striking beauty, her blue hair cascading down her back like a waterfall, though her eyes held a quiet maturity that spoke of many hardships.
"Relax your shoulders, child," the Senior Resonator said softly. She was a kindly woman with graying hair, hired specifically by the current manager of the Legacy Emporium. "The more you tense up, the more painful the resonance will be."
"I... I understand," Shaela whispered, taking a shaky breath. Her hands were clenched tight on her knees, her knuckles white.
Standing a few feet away, Miss Talien watched with a mixture of pride and a heavy, aching sorrow.
"She has grown so much," she murmured to herself, her fingers twisting the fabric of her apron.
To the outside world, and to Shaela herself, this awakening was a generous gift from the Legacy Emporium, their one and only benevolent sponsor.
But Talien knew the actual truth.
The funds for this specific ceremony hadn’t come from the shop itself, well not entirely. They had been sitting in a sealed account for months, transferred a long time ago by someone who was no longer here.
’...Amaniel.’
She remembered the letter that had accompanied his final month’s salary. It was brief, polite, and painfully selfless.
’For the orphanage, and for Shaela. When she turns of age, please use this to help her awaken. She has potential, and she shouldn’t be held back by coin.’
He hadn’t asked for credit. He hadn’t asked for thanks.
He had simply ensured that the girl who shyly handed him water and cared for her little brother and sisters would have a future, even if... even if he wasn’t there to see it.
Talien’s eyes misted over.
Because she... She had made the difficult decision to hide this truth from Shaela.
It wasn’t because she didn’t value Amaniel’s sacrifice. In fact, she missed that polite, overly mature young man every day. But she feared what the truth would do to Shaela.
She knew the girl had loved him.
It was a quiet, innocent love, blooming in stolen glances and clumsy attempts at conversation. Talien had even rooted for them, creating small opportunities for them to talk during his visits, hoping that one day Amaniel would notice the jewel hiding in plain sight.
But then... the news came.
’....Amaniel died.’
Killed in a spatial explosion. Sacrificed himself to save the others...
Shaela had been devastated.
For months, the light had vanished from her eyes. She stopped tending to her herbs, stopped arguing with the other kids, and simply existed like a ghost haunting the halls.
Only recently had she started to heal. Slowly, painfully, she had begun to smile again, to open her heart to the world, to move forward.
If Talien told her now, if she told her that the power flowing into her veins was a final gift from the boy she loved, it would break her all over again. It would tether her to a ghost.
"Start the process," Talien whispered, wiping a tear from her cheek before anyone could see. "Let her fly, Amaniel. Let her fly for you."
"Are you ready?" the Resonator asked, placing her hands on Shaela’s shoulders.
Shaela closed her eyes.
"Yes."
The circle hummed to life.
"Focus," the Resonator instructed, her voice tight. "Don’t fight the flow. Guide it."
Shaela didn’t answer. She couldn’t.
Her teeth were gritted so hard her jaw ached, and beads of cold sweat rolled down her forehead, stinging her eyes.
A profound, overwhelming pressure weighed on her very soul.
The energy flooded her, a rushing tide of immense warmth that banished the cold from her marrow. It was heavy and absolute, demanding every ounce of her will to contain.
In that fleeting second, she felt less like a vessel filling with water and more like a morning sky struggling to hold back the weight of a rising sun.
The scorching radiance threatened to burn her very essence to ash, screaming at her to break the connection.
She refused to yield.
She remained rooted to the spot, her knuckles turning white as she clutched the fabric of her skirt.
’Endure,’ she commanded herself, her mind a fortress against the pain. ’I must endure.’
Images flashed through her mind. The crumbling roof they used to have. The empty pantry during winter. Miss Talien’s tired smile as she mended their clothes for the hundredth time. The laughter of the little ones who looked up to her for protection.
’For the orphanage’s sake. For Mother Talien’s sake. For my siblings...’
And deep down, a darker, quieter resolve fueled her fire.
’So I never have to watch someone leave again.’
’So that I can protect myself and the others!’
______ ___ __
Outside the circle, the children, Miss Talien, and the guests from the Legacy Emporium watched in silence.
The twins, Mira and Lira, held onto each other’s hands, their usual cheerfulness replaced by anxious concern. Beside them stood Nolan, the Honorary Custodian. His arms were crossed, and his crimson eyes were fixed on Shaela with a rare expression of genuine worry, his fingers drumming restlessly against his arm.
And slightly ahead of them all stood Emory.
He was the new Manager of The Knowledge Emporium.
He watched the scene with calm mercury eyes.
Time seemed to stretch.
Minutes felt like hours.
Suddenly, the atmosphere in the room shifted.
Vooom—!
A low, vibrating hum resonated through the floorboards.
The ambient aura in the room, which had been drifting lazily, suddenly spiked. It began to swirl around Shaela, picking up speed until it became a visible vortex, tearing at the curtains and rattling the windowpanes.
"This is..." The Senior Resonator’s eyes widened in alarm. "The pull is too strong! The circle can’t handle this density!"
Panic flickered on Miss Talien’s face.
But before anyone could scream, Emory moved.
He raised his right hand with the casual grace of a conductor silencing an orchestra.
Snap.
With a flick of his wrist, a translucent, shimmering barrier materialized around the conduction circle, sealing the violent wind inside.
In the same motion, his other hand moved, tossing a few glowing blue stones into the fray.
Clink. Clink. Clink.
They were the highest Grade Aura Crystals.
They landed perfectly at the three cardinal points of the circle, instantly stabilizing the erratic flow and feeding pure, refined energy into the starving vortex.
It was a move of absolute precision, performed as if he had expected this outcome long before they even arrived.
"..."
Nolan stared at the back of Emory, his worry for Shaela momentarily eclipsed by sheer awe.
’As expected,’ Nolan thought, his eyes shining. ’Big Brother is the best!’
Inside the barrier, the storm calmed slightly, but the pressure continued to build. Shaela’s skin was flushing red, her body shaking violently as she tried to contain the ocean of power flooding into her.
Emory turned his head slightly, his gaze landing on Miss Talien.
"Miss Talien," he said, his voice low but commanding. "Please take the children away from the windows. Take them to the dining hall. Now."
"W-what?" Talien blinked, startled by the sudden order. "But—"
CRACK!
A spiderweb fracture appeared on the barrier Emory had just summoned.
Inside the circle, Shaela let out a gasp of pain as a shockwave of raw, blue energy erupted from her body. The force was so great that the Senior Resonator was knocked backward, losing her connection to the circle entirely.
"I-I can’t hold it!" the Resonator cried out, shielding her face. "Her resonance... It’s getting out of control!"
The air in the room grew heavy, suffocatingly dense.
Emory kept his eyes fixed on the breaking shield.
"Quick," he said sharply, glancing at his little brother. "Help her."