“Ah, what happened? Where did that come from?”
“Dammit, is someone attacking? Don’t tell me it's the Shadow Ravens - let's get out of here quick.”
“Hide, hide in the basement. Don’t come out till I get back.”
In the aftermath of the explosion, Kladek was in total chaos. Man and beast alike entered a frenzy.
The intense wave of Psi had momentarily overwhelmed the souls of all it came in contact with, causing their minds to go blank and their balance to crumble.
Looking in from outside, it was comical seeing the collective tumble, but for those experiencing it, their hearts jumped with panic and terror. Shouts and cries filled the town as the residents scurried around, confused and scared at what the Psi burst meant.
Dozens of interpretations were conjured up by the frightened townsfolk. The one commonality was that all meant bad news. With this being the pervading notion, they moved like headless chickens.
This incident would later be referred to as the ‘Hysteria of Kladek’.
***
In the Fawkes household, at the same time...
“Argh ugh..”
On her knees, Hana groaned with blank eyes. In the blast zone, she was hit the hardest by the over-pressure phenomenon. A second later, her rumbling soul stabilized enough for her mind to once again form thoughts.
“Ah, Ralf,” she exclaimed with a pale face.
She shifted her attention to his room. While others were ignorant of the cause of the Psi emission, she knew the truth. In the moments prior to the explosion, she picked up Psi being released from his body.
Anxious, Hana’s Psi rushed into the bedroom. Taking in everything with her Psi Scan, she captured Ralf’s lame body sprawled on the bed. Seeing it intact and noting no obvious injuries, she was hit with a wave of relief. Probing deeper, her Psi penetrated his body, allowing her to capture its inner workings. Seeing his heart beating steadily, and his lungs inflating and deflating as they should, she was further relieved.
She got to her feet and dusted herself off. Her motherly spirit propelled her forward.
‘That explosion…what was that? I’ve never heard anything about that happening. Could Ralf be a…’
The thought wasn’t allowed to finish as a male voice suddenly sounded from her rear.
“Good evening.”
The voice, as pleasant as it was, was no different than a lightning bolt striking her.
‘When,’ she questioned, completely shocked.
Her Psi Scan had been up this entire time, so why didn’t it register the stranger? More importantly, why wasn’t it registering him right now?
Her face tensed up.
Hana wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but she was no fool either. There was only one reason someone would appear here and now, and that was Ralf.
Her protective instinct kicked in, causing her Rank 3 Telekinetic aura to flare up. She turned to face the stranger.
But upon taking in the stranger's form, the fierceness on her beautiful face faltered. Just as Ralf and many others had, she was stunned. Taking in his exquisite features, her memories stirred, and a moment later, the identity of the other became clear in her mind.
“Micheal…Ascania,” she muttered in disbelief.
Hana had no doubt that the person in front of her was the real Micheal Ascania. As an artist, she was always seeking muses and inspiration. In her younger years, Micheal Ascania was that to her. In an attempt to recreate his beauty in her sculptures, she had spent a great deal of time researching his likeness through various artworks and of course Psi videos. It was with this experience under her belt that she could say for certain that the person before her was indeed Micheal Ascania.
Coming to this conclusion, Hana's heart settled.
Micheal's reputation was stellar. His long history of contributions and accomplishments had built up a mountain of trust and goodwill in the public’s heart.
Hana bore these same feelings toward him.
“You’re Micheal Ascania.” She spoke again, this time more clearly.
Micheal patted his chest while flashing a friendly smile.
“Indeed, that is me. I’m sure Ralf must have told you about our chat the other day.”
“Ah, yes, he did mention something about that. I can’t believe he was telling the truth.”
Micheal nodded. “Mmm, yes. From our conversation, his exaggerations were quite frequent.”
Traces of agreement showed on Hana’s face as she smiled wryly.
Seeing her settled in and relaxed, Micheal moved on to the purpose of his visit.
“That explosion just now, it was quite shocking. I’ve never seen anything like that before.”
“Even you haven’t,” she said in disbelief. She had assumed she was just ignorant, but to hear Micheal who had been around for three centuries say this gave her pause. What hadn’t he seen? Her nerves began tightening up again.
“There’s no need to worry. While I don’t know the specifics, it's almost certain that what just happened is an automatic activation.”
“Automatic activation, then that means he is…”
“Yes. Your child has become a Unique class psionic."
Hana’s mind buckled at the claim. It was just too amazing. After the shock, happiness flooded her heart.
The Unique class was by far the rarest psionic class. In the three hundred years of magical powers, there had not even been twenty Uniques. It was a class known for its world-altering abilities and housed some of the most influential and powerful characters the world had ever seen.
Micheal, with his power of creation, fell into this class as well. Recalling this fact, Hana’s spirits lifted.
“Enough standing around, please come inside. I’m sure Ralf will be thrilled to see you again,” she readily offered before turning around.
Micheal didn’t dally and followed after her. They entered the living room where Hana gestured to the couch. “Make yourself comfortable, I’m sure Ralf won’t be pacified with a few lines.”
“Ha, I’m sure.”
“I’ll get him right away. Give me a second.”
Saying so, Hana headed to his room. Entering, she went to his bedside and called out, “Ralf Ralf…Ralf. Hey, wake up sleepyhead, you don’t want to miss out on this. Hey, Ralf wake up...” Still not getting any response, anxiety began building in her. Eager to quash it, Hana got hands-on.
“Ralf hey Ralf wake up…”
Her voice grew louder and her shaking became more vigorous as the seconds passed. Even shaking violently, Ralf remained unresponsive. He was like a rag doll in her arms. Hana’s heart sank and panic filled her expression.
Her mind being most cruel began imagining the worst-case scenario as she took in his unconscious form. Tears began welling up in her eyes. ‘No, I can’t lose you too, Ralf, I won’t let you leave me as well.’
Re-energized at the thought, she continued her attempts.
Hearing the commotion from his couch, Micheal strode over.
“What’s wrong?”
Hearing his voice, Hana’s panic subsided briefly. Glancing back, she said, “Ralf…he won’t wake up.”
Micheal frowned. “Can I have a look?”
She nodded and stepped aside. Micheal took her place and lowered himself. He placed his finger on Ralf’s exposed wrist. Then, his fingertip transformed into many small tendrils which went on to pierce into Ralf’s flesh. His Psi invaded the youth's body.
A few seconds later, Micheal retracted his finger and reported his findings.
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“Physically, I see nothing wrong with him. He is perfectly fine.”
Hana was relieved to hear this.
“Then his sleep is?”
“It's a product of his Unique class power. I don’t know what type of power would cause one to fall asleep, but Uniques are very strange. In terms of awakening, it could be much worse. That Psi explosion, as intense as it was, was harmless and this sleep doesn’t show any obvious detrimental effects. Soren’s awakening saw everything within two kilometres of him being torn asunder by gravitational waves.”
Micheal moved his palm to Ralf’s forehead. “I’ll have a look inside his head… huh?” The Raven’s eyes flickered in surprise. The telepathic energy he had sent to connect to Ralf's Mental Domain had been shredded. This was quite surprising. While it wasn’t his original power, Micheal’s telepathic prowess rivalled Mental Masters.
“Micheal?”
Micheal, now tense faced, ignored Hana and refocused on accomplishing the task before him. Hana’s world turned golden as Micheal’s aura surged. Telepathic energy, much more voluminous and powerful than before rushed to make contact with Ralf’s Mental Domain. But again, it was instantly shredded.
Micheal didn’t cease and made several more attempts. After ten times of meeting with the same result, he let up.
“Micheal?”
“Hmm, I can’t enter.” He pulled his hand back. Eyes fixed on Ralf’s forehead, he continued. “Ralf’s power is preventing my telepathic energy from making a connection. From my brief stay, it feels like a storm. Whatever is being formed in there, it’s no joke.”
Hana’s gaze moved to her son. Her eyes were shaky and her nerves were taught.
“There’s no need to fret. All we need to do is wait for Ralf’s power to run its course. We just have to wait for him to wake up. A questioning session afterwards will reveal what power he awakened.”
Passing Hana, he moved forward.
“Stay at his side, I’ll head out for a bit. The town is in chaos. I’ll see what can be done about that. I’ll be back shortly. Hopefully, he’ll be up when I return.”
With these words, Micheal made his exit while Hana remained, awaiting her son’s awakening.
But he wouldn’t be waking anytime soon.
***
‘Still nothing.’
Micheal retracted his hand from Ralf’s forehead. Whatever was shredding his telepathic energy hadn’t weakened an iota.
‘What will wake you, Ralf? Hopefully, it's not true love’s kiss.’
He sighed.
Today marked a month since Ralf had entered his mysterious sleep. Micheal was completely stumped. He had tried several methods to wake Ralf, but all failed.
‘What power would require him to enter an extended sleep? No, more importantly, how is he able to maintain it for so long?’
Staring at his face, a sliver of guilt passed through his eyes. He sighed a lengthy sigh.
‘Sorry Ralf, it had to be done.’
The World's Light had done many wicked deeds in his days, even so, he couldn't help but feel dirty to his core for wronging the youth. Still, as terrible as he felt, he didn’t move to undo it. While it hurt his consciousness, he knew that it was necessary. His sense of duty demanded that he take the action he had.
‘I can’t have another Astra situation.’
*Step*
Hearing steps from his rear, Micheal was broken out of his thoughts. Glancing back, he found Hana. Taking in her haggard form, Micheal’s chest tightened up. Ralf’s state had taken a heavy toll on her. Dark circles found themselves around her eyes, which showed a blank listless look.
“Ra…lf?”
Micheal shook his head. “Nothing.”
“I see.”
Her despondent look pained Micheal so much that he was forced to avert his gaze. Focusing on Ralf’s resting form, he spoke.
“Waiting is all we can do. We have to trust that whatever Ralf is experiencing is temporary.”
Micheal moved to a cabinet and dragged his fingers along the smooth wooden surface till he reached the edge. Stopping, he turned to Hana. “I’ve been in Kladek too long. I’ll be leaving shortly.”
Disappointment instantly showed itself on Hana’s face at these words. Yet, she couldn’t find it in herself to request any more time from him. He had been a big help over the last month. She was grateful to him. He was Micheal Ascania, she was sure that he had a thousand more pressing matters to attend to. The fact that he had spent a month waiting in this small town meant a lot to her.
“I see. Thank you, Micheal, for everything. I’ll manage it from here.”
Micheal shook his head. “Don’t misunderstand. I’ll be leaving, but I’ve already made preparations.”
“Preparations?”
“Yes, I’ve contacted one of my companions. She’ll be here in the coming days to assist you with the move?”
“Move?”
“Yes, you have to move. Ralf’s explosion has already garnered a lot of outside attention. No doubt the Shadow Ravens network will pick up on it as well.”
As the mention of the infamous faction’s name, Hana’s tension spiked. She quickly understood where Micheal was heading and uttered a most feared name.
“Dimitri.”
Micheal nodded. “Yes, he’s always in search of special vessels. Should he come to know of another Unique emerging, he’ll definitely make a move.”
Hana’s face paled at the notion of her son's body being targeted by such a fearsome character.
Micheal nodded.
“That’s why we have to avoid such a future. To prevent Ralf's identity from coming to light, you should move. You can choose wherever, but preferably somewhere in the Southern Central Region. The Shadow Raven’s network isn’t that prominent here.”
Micheal walked across the spacious room to a relatively empty section.
His Unique Psi gathered up. A moment later, ten large wooden boxes stacked on top of each other, materialized.
Hana’s eyes flickered a bit, just a bit. By now she wasn’t too surprised. She had seen him conjure up many things over the last month. She watched Micheal lift one of the lids and retrieve a glass vial. The purplish contents swirled as he brought it closer.
“These are high-quality stamina potions. I’ve been injecting this stuff into Ralf’s body to keep it from deteriorating. With me absent, you’ll have to give it to him the normal way. I’ll leave you a few hundred of these. One a day will suffice.”
“Just one?”
Micheal nodded. “These things pack a hefty punch. You can try one yourself to feel the effects. One will be enough. No, with his body as it is now, even a tenth of a bottle will be enough.”
Hana’s brows quirked up at his words. Understanding her confusion, Micheal quickly explained.
“I’ve left Ralf a gift, a powerful inheritance potion. It’s currently working its magic, altering the very make-up of his body. Strength, agility, regeneration, senses, these and more will be enhanced to ridiculous heights.”
“Really? That’s great! Thank you so much, Micheal."
Micheal waved his hand. “Think nothing of it, I consider this an investment. I hope that one day, Ralf will use his power to further humanity’s prosperity.”
Hana’s gratitude spiked. Another round of ‘thank yous' left her lips.
Micheal didn’t stay much longer after that. After creating the potions and leaving two notes, he left Kladek.