Chapter 15: Awakening
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
There was no way to describe the pain I felt, and I sensed something stirring within me. When I tasted a disgusting metallic flavor, I opened my eyes and looked at my body. Flames were literally erupting around me, and I realized this was a sign of the elements I was close to after my awakening had started.
Glancing quickly at the window above, I saw the only person who didn't have a worried expression: my stepmother, Fiona.
She was looking at me with a curious and arrogant expression. I saw my father trying to calm my mother, and it was clear that the pain I was experiencing wasn't normal. Even Isabella, who usually had a composed nature, was looking at me with misty eyes and her hands over her mouth, clearly worried.
What I was going through were the symptoms of an abnormally powerful Kaizer awakening, something I had read about in books, and I understood this would ruin all my plans as I met Fiona's hate-filled gaze again.
Yes, my main plan was to hide my power from Fiona as much as possible, but after today, I needed to be prepared for some assassination attempts. As I was thinking about this, I was surprised to see the surrounding fire extinguish and the air element become active instead, but when that damn unbearable pain erupted in my body again, I involuntarily screamed again.
"AHHHHHHHH!"
Another abnormally powerful Kaizer ability. Undoubtedly, this indicated that I was quite talented, and setting aside the incredible pain, I tried to control the element as I had read in books. After a few painful minutes, the surrounding air calmed down. When I looked at the transparent window above again, I saw my mother with teary eyes and my father looking at me proudly.
Isabella, too, was looking at me with a mixture of concern and pride. In contrast, Fiona was biting her nails, her expression quite anxious, but it was clear that her worry wasn't for me.
In this world, most people are born with one element, and some lucky people have two elements. But if you awaken with two abnormally powerful elemental powers, it means you are talented. Of course, there were many talented people like me, but it still meant I was valuable, especially in a world where power is everything.
To summarize, in this world, the number of people as talented as I am is one in every thousand.
So, I have a rare talent, but considering the population of this world, there are tens of thousands of people as talented as I am. The important thing is not to waste this talent and potential. With hard work and the blessings given to me by royal power, I can become a very powerful mage.
Just as I was about to get up and go outside, I felt the same pain again and immediately curled up in a fetal position with worry. I couldn't control the sudden emergence of the first two elements, but now I knew another element was awakening. I tried to relax and feel the power.
First, I needed to find out which element it was and then calm it down, and if I succeeded, the power of the element would be more stable and healthier.
But this time, the pain was different. Unlike the first two elements, I felt a cold shiver covering my body. My whole body felt like it was freezing. I closed my eyes and focused on this new power I felt inside. I tried to calm down by taking deep breaths. This was the water element.
When I realized this, the surrounding air began to thicken, and I noticed it was getting humid. Cold droplets began to form on my body. Although I felt unbearable pain again, this time I didn't scream and controlled the pain by biting my lips. Fortunately, this time, the pain wasn't as intense, and I felt it was more controlled.
I took a deep breath and gathered all my concentration. I tried to feel the water inside me and direct it. After a few attempts, I noticed the surrounding water calming down. When I opened my eyes, I saw my family's gazes on me. The pride in my mother's and father's eyes was shining. The concern on Isabella's face had turned to relief.
However, Fiona's face was filled with anxiety, and it was clear that her concern wasn't about whether I had lost control, but about how great my potential was. At least, she didn't know that I had also controlled the water element.
However, I froze in my place when I realized something was stirring inside me again. "Four elements?!" I was incredibly excited inside, and as I felt at that moment, it was the strongest element awakening. This is going to be very painful, but I must endure it. Right now, I already have Fiona's aggression within me, and if she finds out that I possess even greater potential, I'm screwed...
Wait a second, what is this feeling? I thought it was going to be another nature element, but this time it's different. This thing is entirely different and mysterious. It feels like I've seen this power somewhere before. It's like... When I looked at the eye in front of me, I realized exactly what I had seen before.
It was darkness... The Dark Element...
"No way," I muttered to myself.
Gripping the cold stone floor more tightly, I felt a deep, dark energy spreading through my body. As my heart raced, I knew this awakening differed from the others. The power of the Dark Element was swirling inside me like a storm I couldn't control.
My whole world had darkened, and this time, the pain was attacking my mind as well. Closing my eyes and taking deep breaths, I tried to clear my mind. The power of the Dark Element was more menacing and mysterious than the others. However, I had to deal with it. I needed to make peace with this power within me and bring it under control.
I entered a battle within myself, struggling with the darkness in my mind, trying to rein it in.
The power of the Dark Element was far more dangerous than the other elements, and I felt it would make me even stronger. But if I couldn't control this power, I sensed it would be dangerous enough to harm not only myself but everyone around me. Finally, I managed to imprison the dark energy within a part of myself.
Taking a deep breath, I opened my eyes and noticed the dark energy around me had calmed down.
Although I hadn't heard anything about the Dark Element in the books I had read before, I had learned about the existence of different powers. For instance, some ancient sources mentioned wizards who could control lightning, animals, light, or metal fragments, but this was quite rare. The development of these wizards was also much more difficult than normal.
So, I didn't decide for a while whether what happened to me was good or bad, but my greedy nature soon accepted that it was definitely something profitable.
Now, I no longer had a talent seen in one in a thousand people, but perhaps a talent seen in one in a hundred million. However, since I didn't fully understand the power of darkness, its rarity was debatable. Now, just like any other six-year-old, I need to pretend to faint to surprise those looking at me through the window, since I didn't actually faint.
I quickly threw myself to the ground and remained motionless, like someone who had fainted. Of course, the delay in the door opening and the sudden itch in my groin made this undoubtedly the worst experience I've had since coming to this world.
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I saw a reader comment on another site saying that I write my chapters very slowly, and they're right, but I want to clarify this situation.
First of all, as a university student and a part-time worker, I don't have much free time. Maybe one or a few hours, and I spend most of this free time writing chapters. However, I am sorry for being slow. I hope you enjoyed the novel!