As Rand screamed and raged against his Fate, his emotions reached a crescendo and his unfulfilled desire was able to tap into something that had dwelt within his soul, unknown to him.
Rand was born with a very strong soul. From birth, his body was able to absorb the ambient mana in the world, however instead of it accumulating within his body, this mass of power flowed into his soul and came to dwell therein.
At the moment of awakening, he indeed Awakened but his body did not undergo Mana evolution because the mana left within his body was not enough for such an evolution.
But the energy within his soul remained dormant awaiting a trigger condition to activate.
And in the moment of his greatest need, This power Awakened in response to his Defiant Will.
Time seemed to stop For Rand as a raging torrent of power spilled out of his soul feeling his being. It felt like a wildfire had awoken within him and his being blazed with it.
He heard the Wisdom speak to him, as clear as the day he awakened.
[NOTICE: CONDITIONS FOR SOUL AWAKENING.... SATISFIED]
Yet his mind wasn't focused on it. He was engulfed by the feeling of power flowing through his body. He screamed as it overwhelmed him and threatened to consume all of him.
In that moment, His soul shone bright like a metaphysical beacon and a great mass of Pure energy descended from the cosmos like a shooting star into the Earth, being drawn towards This beacon.
To Rand it looked like the heavens had opened up and a comet of golden flames was shooting towards him. Within the comet, he made out A golden Giant in Armor wreathed in flames with great wings of Golden flames upon his back.
The Giant within the comet reached out his hand towards Rand as the golden comet descended upon him. Rand instinctively reached out his hand towards the comet and the Giant. For he knew that this was The goddess's answer to his wish. This was his angel of justice descending upon him.
As the comet came upon Rand, All of it vanished as it was drawn into his body and into his soul mixing with the soul energy that had been ignited by Rand's will.
A wave of golden flames exploded around him incinerating the Demon and it's dread wolves. Nothing of their existence remained.
Rand remained suspended in the vortex of his own power screaming into the night as his awakening continued. The power that filled his body triggered a mana evolution.
His body was reforged and refined into a superior state.Impurites burnt away by the flames that washed through him and Mana filled his new body. The soul energy condensed into an ability born of his desire.
[NOTICE: THE HERO SEED RAND LEONAS HAS AWAKENED]
The Wisdom of Gaea announced in his mind as the power around him quieted down and Rand collapsed to the floor, body and mind exhausted after bearing the influx of power and undergoing such an intense mana evolution.
Everything had happened in the flash of a few seconds. The Demon did not even know how it had died.
In that second when the comet descended upon earth, the Greatest powers on Terros along with every Satellite and Mana detector had sensed this flash of power. A power so great as to be felt across the world. And it had vanished immediately. The worlds minds would spend months trying to find out what this power was and what it meant for the world.
As Rand lay on the ground, his consciousness beginning to fade, his eyes met the boy Tim's. He was alive, concern and worry for Rand etched on his face. But he was alive with no demon in sight! Relief flooded Rand and he stopped struggling to stay conscious.
The last thing he did as his consciousness finally went under was to look at his status screen.
{ [ STATUS WINDOW ]
NAME: Rand Leonas
TITLE: Hero Seed
[ ATTRIBUTES ] STRENGTH: 35 AGILITY: 30
CONSTITUTION: 50 PERCEPTION: 30
MANA: 50
[ TALENT ]
Hybrid: Augmentation And Elemental manipulation
Elemental Affinity: Divine star flames.
[ ABILITIES ]
Empowerment(unique)
None
[ SKILLS ]
None
TIER: [Iron] }
***************************************************
Arthur's Pov
Arthur watched the entire affair, his ghostly form floating above the street. He was transfixed by what he saw.
To think that the very moment in which he first saw the hero back in his dreams was unfolding before him again. It felt like going back in time. A magical experience for Arthur.
To witness this moment once again confirmed just how cool the hero was. Why Arthur named him the light to his dark world.
Because Arthur thought it was just a dream and his focus had been on the hero, he had completely forgotten the boy's existence. Whenever he remembered this Moment, it was always himself that he saw in the place of Tim.
That it was Arthur who was trapped helplessly in the rubble. The hero had come answering his cry for help. And when he had asked for his name, the boy had said his name was Arthur.
When the demon came, The hero had stood to protect Arthur the cripple. He had run to his death in hopes of buying Arthur some time to be rescued.
It had started as a fantasy for Arthur. That the hero would come and save him from his bedridden state, and that fantasy had replaced the actual scene in his memories.
The hero, weak and powerless as he was, had shone so bright to Arthur when he stood before the nightmarish demon in hopes of saving a boy who was helpless just like him.
Arthur had watched with awe and longing that a hero like him would come and save him from the miserable existence he had been trapped in.
And before long, watching the Hero's journey in his dreams had become his source of life and purpose as he lay in his body that couldn't even lift a finger. In his dreams Arthur had truly felt alive. He had cheered for this man and this world, thinking it was all a figment of his imagination.
But the hero was real. Here in the world of Terros. Arthur witnessed his awakening and felt the mass of energy that had come to dwell in him. He would grow strong, face the Demons, receive the recognition of this world as the Hero. He would stand before the demon king.
But he will not stand alone. He won't fight Alone because Arthur will stand by his side, fight with him and find ways to make him stronger so that his victory is assured. And Arthur can see the ending of his Dream. The ending he wanted.
The hero's journey had just begun and so had Arthur's.