Chapter 18: FACTION
I sat quietly on the balcony of my aunt's house, arms resting on the wooden railing, eyes half-lidded as the late afternoon sun dipped in the sky.
A gentle wind blew through the village, carrying with it the smell of warm earth and faint smoke from someone's cooking fire.
My mood wasn't great.
In the distance, I saw them — small groups of villagers returning from the Awakening Ceremony.
Not everyone, of course. Only those who had the gold to afford carriages or ride on rented beasts from the nearby stables. The Quad Academy was nearly 100 kilometers away, too far for most commoners to travel back quickly.
Some were smiling. Others were tired but proud. I could even hear faint laughter from a trio of boys as they walked past a nearby house, showing off their shiny new tokens and talking about the "powers" they awakened. One girl had tears in her eyes — joy, maybe... or regret.
A cart creaked by slowly, pulled by a thick-furred ox. Inside sat a young man, staring at his hands, probably imagining the magic he could now summon.
That could've been me.
If the rules hadn't changed... I would've been one of them. On that cart. Laughing. Dreaming bigger.
But here I was — sitting. Watching. Waiting.
I sighed and leaned back, trying to push down the bitterness crawling up my throat. I needed a distraction, something to remind myself I was still in control.