Chapter 89: I Finally Broke Through to Awakened

Black Hound had trained Raven to sleep in shared rooms, vehicles, ditches, and buildings where the person half a yard away might be armed and not necessarily on his side. Physical proximity had never meant much to him.

This was different.

Valeria had sensed something was wrong, forced his lock, spent hours monitoring his circulation, and eventually fallen asleep beside him because apparently a chair hadn’t been close enough.

Raven wasn’t sure when the constant presence of that woman had stopped feeling like a complication.

He also wasn’t sure he wanted to figure it out too quickly.

The interface was still waiting.

[COMMON → AWAKENED]

[Proceed?]

"Five minutes," he muttered.

Predation didn’t respond.

Valeria returned in four.

Not alone.

Serah entered first carrying a medical bag, followed by Maelor, who looked deeply offended by the existence of any hour before sunrise. Valeria carried water, two restoration vials, and enough concern to compensate for both of their moods.

Serah checked Raven’s pulse.

"Lady von Nacht says your heart lost rhythm for several seconds."

"That seems accurate."

"Seems?"

"I was asleep for part of it."

Serah gave him an unimpressed look.

"Dizziness, nausea, difficulty breathing?"

"Pressure, pain, and a sensation of expansion through the mana channels. Nothing respiratory."

Maelor placed a crystal beside Raven’s chest.

Its surface shifted from pale blue to violet.

"His mana density is increasing without any obvious overload."

Valeria crossed her arms.

"So it really is a Rank evolution."

"Everything indicates that."

Raven looked at the option still suspended in front of him.

"I’m starting."

Serah prepared her instruments.

"If you lose consciousness, we won’t be able to ask you what’s happening."

"Predatory Regeneration will probably take over automatically."

Valeria did not look reassured.

"That was part of the problem yesterday."

"I have Manual Regulation now."

"Which doesn’t work while you’re unconscious."

Raven looked at her.

"You’ve been paying attention."

"Unfortunately, yes."

Raven selected:

[PROCEED.]

The pain was immediate.

It didn’t build.

It hit.

Raven’s hand closed around the sheets as the mana inside his chest compressed until it felt almost solid.

Then it expanded.

Every mana channel in his body burned.

The sensation traveled through his spine, arms, hips, and legs like molten metal forcing its way through veins that had never been designed to contain it.

Valeria immediately sat beside him.

This time, she took his hand without explaining why.

Raven didn’t ask.

[Existence Rank Evolution Initiated.]

[Biological Restructuring in Progress.]

[Mana-Channel Expansion Initiated.]

[Trait Synchronization Initiated.]

Stonehide appeared involuntarily across Raven’s knuckles, then vanished seconds later. Ember Spark produced a small flame between his fingers. The muscles in his legs tightened as Burst Step tried to react to a body whose structure was actively changing.

Predatory Regeneration activated as well.

[Biological Restructuring Detected.]

[Predatory Regeneration Support Response Initiated.]

[Manual Regulation Temporarily Suspended.]

[Critical Interference Prevented.]

Raven breathed through his nose.

"At least this time it knows not to restore everything to its previous state."

Maelor stared at him.

"Can you stop analyzing your own suffering for thirty seconds?"

"I don’t see the benefit."

Valeria squeezed his hand slightly.

"Then analyze this. You’re breathing too fast."

Raven slowed it.

"Better."

"Yes. Keep doing that."

Another wave tore through him.

This time, Raven felt something open.

Not physically.

Not exactly.

Until now, he had used mana the way someone used water stored inside a container. He knew how much he had, could spend it, and could feel when the supply was running low.

Now he could perceive the circulation itself.

Flow.

Pressure.

Connections.

He could feel Ember Spark before activating it. The route mana followed into Stonehide. The way Burst Step concentrated energy through his legs and spine before releasing movement.

Common had allowed him to use those abilities.

Awakened seemed to let him understand how they existed inside him.

Raven opened his eyes.

Valeria was much closer than he remembered.

One hand was still intertwined with his.

The other rested on his shoulder.

She noticed him looking.

"Don’t make any comments about the bed right now."

"I wasn’t going to."

"I don’t believe you."

"That sounds like your problem."

Valeria smiled but didn’t release his hand.

The pressure began to fade.

His muscles stopped contracting.

The mana settled.

It didn’t feel normal again.

It felt better.

Wider.

Cleaner.

As though he had spent weeks using a body built around limits that had just moved.

The interface appeared.

[Existence Rank Evolved.]

[COMMON → AWAKENED]

[Level 10 → 11]

[Biological Capacity Increased.]

[Mana Circulation Improved.]

[Trait Integration Ceiling Increased.]

[Predation Analysis Depth Increased.]

[Existing Traits Synchronized with Evolved Host Physiology.]

Raven remained still for several seconds.

Serah checked his pulse.

"Stable."

Maelor studied the crystal.

"Mana density increased considerably."

Valeria was still watching him directly.

"How do you feel?"

Raven moved his fingers.

She was still holding his hand.

"Lighter."

"After that expression, I expected something more dramatic."

"My channels don’t feel too narrow anymore. I can sense the mana circulation much more clearly."

Valeria watched as Raven activated Stonehide.

The transformation appeared almost instantly and spread from his fingers across part of his forearm without the slight delay it used to have.

Raven closed his fist.

The rigidity was reduced too.

"Your mana feels different," Valeria said.

"Better?"

"Denser. More stable too."

Raven studied the mineralized hand.

"That sounds better."

"It also means you’re officially Awakened now."

Raven released the Trait.

"Finally."

Valeria smiled.

"You just crossed an entire Existence Rank, and you’re reacting like someone gave you better boots."

"Good boots are important."

Maelor laughed.

Serah started packing away her instruments.

"Don’t test anything serious until you’ve eaten and rested."

Raven looked toward the window.

"I slept."

Valeria answered immediately.

"You spent part of the night convulsing."

"That technically happened while I was lying down."

"That does not count as rest."

Raven decided that argument wasn’t going anywhere.

Two hours later, he was behind the stables testing Burst Step.

Serah wasn’t there to disapprove.

Valeria was.

"The physician said nothing serious."

"This isn’t serious."

Roland, who had only recently learned about Raven’s evolution, moved several yards farther away.

"Every time you say something like that, I increase the distance."

Raven fixed his eyes on a point thirty feet ahead.

Mana.

Now he could feel the entire process.

Concentration through the legs.

Reinforcement of the joints.

Charge.

Release.

Burst Step.

The ground shifted.

Raven appeared thirty feet ahead and stopped with almost no effort.

Before, the Skill had always left him carrying aggressive momentum that he needed to absorb with posture and muscle strength.

Now the transition was much cleaner.

It wasn’t only speed.

It was integration.

Valeria approached.

"Do it again."

Raven turned.

"You just said I shouldn’t do anything serious."

"A second test isn’t serious."

"Interesting how quickly your standards change when you want to see something."

"I’m conducting scientific observation."

"Now you sound like me."

"That does concern me."

Raven repeated the test.