The morning had finally came, Cale woke to sunlight cutting through his window and the distant sound of Leo's voice echoing from the training yard.
For a moment, he forgot. Then he was jolted into reality by his translucent system screen pulsed in the corner of his vision, and it all came back.
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User: Caelan Ashford
Status: Awakened
Rank: E
Sign: Scorpio
Stage: Awakened
Aspect: — (pending)
Element: Water/Ice
Affinities: 1 (Scorpio)
Special Powers: Frostbite, Regenesis, Death Sense, Scorpion's Grip
Mauri: Low
Memory: —
Echo: —
Flaw: —
Seals: 12 (1 active)
```
He dismissed it quickly, his heart hammering. His brain was numb and he didn't know what feeling to possess.The room was quiet. No one had come looking for him last night, and somehow that wasn't a surprise to him. That also meant that No one had noticed the cracked wall in the training hall, or the missing target, or the blood on the floor. Which was good so far.
He lay still for a moment, staring at the ceiling. He couldn't bring himself to tell his family that he had awakened. Not now. At least not until he figured out this his weird system. This was going to be hard because Every time his mother looked at him, every time his father walked past without a word, he would feel this buding secret burning inside him. And sooner or later, someone would notice something had changed. And honestly he wasn't ready for that.
He dressed quickly and made his way downstairs. The dining room was half-empty. His mother was there, sipping tea and reading something on her tablet. His father stood by the window, already dressed for the day. In a black shirt and matching trousers with one of his fancy shoes.
Leo was at the table, shoveling eggs into his mouth. Valeriana sat across from him, her disgusting blood magic extinguished for once. Livia was nowhere to be seen she was probably sucking her thumb somewhere in the manor or probably with her tutor.
Cale took a seat at the far end of the table, away from the others. No one looked up.
He waited until his father turned from the window, tablet in hand, clearly about to leave.
"How was your dinner with the Leonia last night" he asked no one in particular but
The words came out flatter than he intended. His father paused mid-step. His mother looked up from her tea.
His father's brow furrowed. "Why?, I don't think it concerns you."
Cale kept his voice even. "I've been thinking. There's nothing for me here. I'm not enrolled anywhere. I'm not training. I'm just here sitting in and doing nothing." He spread his hands. "Uncle Aldus lives alone. He doesn't mind company. I thought I'd stay with him for a while."
His mother exchanged a glance with his father. He couldn't read what passed between them.
His uncle Aldus stepped down from the family years ago, his father replaced him being the next kin since Aldus had know children."Aldus doesn't involve himself in House affairs." His father said a little bit unconcerned.
"I'm not asking him to involve himself. I'm to just stay at his place and feel somewhat useful." Cale met his father's eyes. "You said it yourself last year. I needed to find my own path. Maybe this is the first step, don't you think."
The silence stretched. His father studied him with an expression Cale couldn't name—not quite concern, not quite dismissal. Something in between.
"Fine, do as you please" his father said at last. "If that's what you want."
His mother set down her tea. "Cale, are you sure? Aldus is…"
"What?"
She hesitated. "Different. He could be quite senile when he gets angry and He doesn't always welcome visitors."
"I'll take my chances."
She looked like she wanted to say more, but his father was already moving toward the door.
"Send word if you need anything," his father said without looking back. "And stay out of trouble."
Then he was gone.
Cale released a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.
Leo was staring at him, his fork halfway to his mouth. "You're leaving?"
"Just for a while."
"Huh." Leo shrugged and went back to his eggs. "Well, don't freeze to death out there. I hear the old man keeps his house freezing."
"You haven't been there and yet you know more than people who have" Valeriana snapped at him.bshe wasn't exactly buddies with Leo. In fact she was buddies with no one.
Valeriana said nothing to him, but her eyes followed Cale as he stood. There was something in her gaze—confusion, maybe, or suspicion. He didn't stay to find out.
He went to his room killed time a bit checked is Ig and read a web toon. Right before lunch he packed slowly: clothes, a journal Valeriana had given him months ago that he'd never written in. He left his phone on the nightstand. By the time he was done packing it was late into the afternoon. He went downstairs to the kitchen and made himself a snack.
The journey to Aldus's house took him a few minutes in the SUV that drove him there. He was in awe due to how peaceful and calm the environment looked. Though Cale had only been here once, years ago, when Aldus had briefly returned for a family gathering no one talked about afterward. The place had changed quite significantly.
He remembered a small house tucked against the city wall, a garden overgrown with things that bloomed in winter, and an old man with sharp eyes who had looked at Cale like he was reading a book no one else could see.
The house hadn't really changed but the environment had. The gate was rusted but unlatched. The garden was still wild, white flowers blooming where they shouldn't. And there, sitting on a stone bench with a cup of tea and a wild cat in his lap, was Aldus.
He was older than Cale remembered. His hair was white now, not grey, and there were lines on his face that hadn't been there before. But his eyes were the same—bright, clear, unsettling.
He looked up as Cale approached, and a slow smile spread across his face.
"Caelan." His voice was rough with age, but warm. "I was wondering when I'd show up and see Ur maturing face."
Cale stopped at the gate. "You were planning to come see me?"
Aldus set down his tea. The cat—a grey thing with one torn ear—jumped off his lap and disappeared into the bushes.
"Come in, boy. Sit. You look like you haven't slept in a decade."
Cale stepped through the gate, his bag pack . The garden smelled of earth and frost. He sat on the bench across from Aldus, unsure where to begin.
Aldus watched him, patiently waiting.
His eyes felt like the would pierce through my skin.
"I think I awakened," Cale said finally. "Last night."
Aldus's expression didn't change. "That's not a surprise, since I have been expecting to hear it for quite some time now. But I don't think that changes much though."
Cale blinked. "How?"
"You think I don't feel things? I may look old, boy, but I still have my senses." Aldus leaned back, his gaze steady. "
Cale's throat tightened. He pulled up his system hoping that maybe something had changed and stared at the words he still didn't fully understand.
He took a breath. "My system is... Seems different. It has fields I've never seen in any textbook. Affinities, for one. It says I have one affinity—Scorpio. And there's something about seals, but I don't know what it means."
Aldus's eyebrows rose slightly. "Affinities? Seals?" He stroked his chin, thoughtful. "I've never heard of such fields. Not in any awakened I've known."
"That's why I came to you," Cale said. "I thought… maybe you'd know."
Aldus was quiet for a long moment. Then he shook his head slowly. "I can't say I've ever encountered anything like that. But then, your awakening was strange enough." He studied Cale with those sharp eyes. "It doesn't really matter after a while you'll get accustomed to it it's your system anyways." He said as if it wasn't a problem with a grin across his chin.What else does your system show? Skills? Powers?"
Cale hesitated, then listed them. "Frostbite, Regenesis, Death Sense, Scorpion's Grip. That's all."
"Frostbite, regeneration, a sense for death, and a strong grip." Aldus let out a low chuckle. "Well, that's not much to go on. You've got the basics of a water-ice user, maybe a touch of something else, but it sounds like you've barely scratched the surface."
"I know," Cale said. "I don't even know if I can freeze a cup of water. Last night I got lucky—I was angry, I hit something, and the ice came out. I don't know how to control it."
Aldus nodded slowly. "That's not a problem for me. I was just hoping you had interesting powers in compensation for your late blooming." He stood, his joints creaking. "Come inside. We'll talk more over coffee or something. Then, tomorrow, we'll see where we can get."
---
He followed Aldus into the house. It was plush inside, cluttered with books on the far end of the house in white shelves like a mini library and strange artifacts—stones that glowed faintly in the dark,their were jars of dried herbs, a sword mounted above the fireplace that looked older than anything Cale had ever seen.
Aldus gestured to a chair by the window. "Have a Seat."
Cale sat. Aldus busied himself with the kettle, his movements slow but deliberate.
"I take it You know who I was," Aldus said without turning around. "Before I left the role of being the head of the Ashford family."
Cale nodded. "I just know You were head of House Ashford. Before Father. And for some reason you stepped down."
"I was of the Void-Touched status." Aldus poured water into two cups. Cale being quite impressed widened his eyes.
"The highest rank anyone in our family has reached since anyone can remember. My point is that I was very powerful and I can tell you that power isn't all there is to life. That's one of the reasons I stepped down.
"What was the other reason" Cale asked curiously.
He set a cup in front of Cale and sat across from him.
"Your system is unusual. Affinities..., whatever I really can't explain those. But the skills you described? Those are weak. Barely Awakened level. Which means you have a long way to go." He said completely ignoring Cale's question. Cale understood quickly that he didn't want to talk about it.
"I know," He said quietly.
"Good. Then we start from the scratch." Aldus inhaled the contents of the cup he was holding then he took a sip of tea with a smile on his face. "You'll learn to control what little you have before you try to reach for more. We'll try controlling your ice first. Then the rest. And when you've mastered that, maybe we'll see what those affinities and seals really mean."
Cale hesitated. "You're not going to ask me any more about them?"
Aldus smiled, a touch of warmth in his eyes. "What would I ask? I don't know anything about them. And you came here to learn how to control your powers, not to chase mysteries you don't understand yet." He set his cup down. "So we'll focus on what you have now. Frostbite, as you called it? Let's see if you can freeze a cup of water without exploding anything."
Cale almost laughed. "You don't understand it doesn't even carry enough mauri to even freeze anything."
"Then we try again. And again. Until it sticks. Got it? " He snapped a little bit serious now.
Aldus leaned back, his gaze steady.
"I'm not going back to the family. I'm not going to fight your battles or shield you from your father's disappointment. If you stay here, I'll help you train. Teach you. And you follow my rules. That's all. And when you're ready, you can go back and face whatever comes next on your own."
Cale met his gaze. "I can't say I have much of a choice."
Aldus studied him for a long moment. Then he smiled—a genuine smile, warm and crinkling the corners of his eyes.
"Good. Then we start tomorrow. For now, you eat something and get some rest. You look terrible."
Cale let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "I didn't sleep much last night."
"I Didn't think so." Aldus stood and moved toward the kitchen. "There's a room down the hall. It's not much I hadn't thought you were coming , but it's warm and cozy enough. Drop your bag and come back. I'll make you something to eat."
Cale sat for a moment longer, his tea cooling in his hands. The house was quiet, not as enormous as the manor, a little bit strange. It smelled of old books and dried herbs. It was nothing like the cold corridors of Ashford Manor.
He could feel the system screen hovering at the edge of his vision, he went to the system interface, nothing had changed the notification bell was just there. He checked through the memories section and he saw some descriptions.
__
Memories --
Description: Tools and weapons a carrier of the Zodiac system gets as rewards after slaying remarkable Zodiac beast.
__
He left it and scrolled about the system in his mind but nothing else caught his attention and he left the system back to his harsh reality.
This wasn't much But for now, he would focus on the small things. Control. Ice. One step at a time.
He stood, picked up his bag, and walked down the hall to find his room.
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