Chapter 59: Thunder Sunlight

We were led through a corridor that seemed to stretch deeper into the palace than the halls we’d already crossed.

The man escorting us walked ahead in silence, his footsteps quiet against the polished floor. The four of us followed close behind, none of us speaking.

The further we went, the more the atmosphere shifted.

The throne room had been imposing, almost solemn in its grandeur. This part of the palace felt different, warmer somehow, its corridors lined with paintings in golden frames and tall mirrors that caught the light of the chandeliers overhead.

Dark wooden panels covered sections of the walls, polished so thoroughly they looked wet beneath the lamps.

Eventually our guide stopped before a set of double doors and opened them without a word.

"Please."

We stepped inside.

The room was lavish. A chandelier hung from the ceiling, its many lamps casting a soft golden glow across rich carpets and dark red curtains that framed the tall windows.

Polished wooden furniture, carved with intricate detail, filled the space around us.

At the center sat a round table, five cups already arranged upon it, a silver teapot beside them, and plates piled with pastries, fruit cakes, tarts and sliced fruit that looked more suited to a royal banquet than a simple meeting.

None of that held my attention for long.

Someone was already seated beside the table.

A familiar figure rested in a wheelchair, and my eyes widened the moment I recognized him.

"...Mr. Draeus?"

Arthur stopped beside me. Mary’s expression shifted slightly, while Theodore stared as though he’d seen something that shouldn’t exist.

He smiled. "Please, sit."

We moved toward the table and took our seats, Arthur beside me, Mary and Theodore across from us. A servant entered behind us, set down a tray, and poured tea for each of us. The fragrance rose warm and delicate, mingling with the sweetness of the pastries. He filled the final cup for Draeus, then stepped back and waited.

Draeus lifted his cup. "I hope you are doing well."

"Yes, sir," Arthur answered. The rest of us nodded.

He took a small sip, and for a few seconds nothing else was said. It felt strangely peaceful. We had just been knighted by the King himself, and now we sat around a table eating pastries with the teacher who had spent two months teaching us combat.

Draeus glanced toward the servant and made a small gesture. The man bowed and left, the door clicking shut behind him.

Only then did Draeus set his cup down. "I’m sure you already know why you’re here?"

The four of us exchanged glances. I didn’t, not really.

Before anyone could answer his question, Draeus placed both hands on the arms of his wheelchair and stood.

"..."

I froze. The room went completely silent.

He straightened his back. His legs moved beneath him naturally, one step, then another, the wheelchair left behind. Theodore, who had been mid sip, sprayed tea across the table.

’Son of a bitch...’

"What—?!"

Arthur’s mouth fell open. Mary’s eyes went wide. My heart pounded so hard I could feel it against my ribs.

Draeus only smiled, looking at each of us as though our shock was exactly what he had expected.

"You..." Theodore pointed at him, still coughing. "You can walk?"

He said nothing. Instead he crossed the room toward a large wooden cabinet, every step steady, without the faintest trace of difficulty. I stared at his legs, then at the empty wheelchair, then back at him. The man who had sat through every lesson we had ever taken from him had just walked halfway across the room without it.

Draeus opened a drawer and withdrew four green cards, their surfaces holding a faint sheen beneath the chandelier’s light, strange markings pressed into the material. He set them down on the table, one by one.

"These belong to you."

I picked mine up. The moment my fingers touched it, a faint pulse ran through it.

"From now on," Draeus said, "you are official Awakeneds."

Theodore turned his card over. "This is our liscense?"

"Yes."

Arthur examined his. "What can we use it for?"

"You’ll learn."

Arthur frowned at the casual answer, but I barely noticed. One question had been burning in me since Draeus stood, and I finally found the nerve to ask it.

"Why do you use the wheelchair, then?"

He looked at me, and for the first time his smile shifted.

"It is better to have secrets than facts."

That was it. He rose and walked back toward the table, and as he moved, mist began gathering around his hand, white with a faint silver undertone, curling around his fingers before thickening into his palm.

The atmosphere in the room changed. The mist condensed. Metal took shape first, then a hilt, then a blade, and within seconds a sword rested in his grip.

It was beautiful. The hilt was gold, etched with tracings that wound naturally around the grip, and the blade shone with a brightness that seemed too clean to be ordinary steel. Lightning crawled along its tip, thin arcs coiling and vanishing in rapid succession.

Draeus extended it toward me. "This is your reward."

Heat surged through my palm, not enough to burn, but enough to make my grip tighten on instinct.

"Its name is Thunder Sunlight," Draeus explained. "A Bound ranked sword. Whenever you strike someone with it, the blade burns their insides while placing them in paralysis. Against Unorthodox creatures, its effect increases by one hundred and fifty percent."

That caught my attention.

"There is, however, a downside. Every time you hold it bare handed, you will feel an intense warmth, as though the temperature has risen past fifty degrees."

I understood immediately. As the heat climbed, I raised my other hand, and bronze mist poured from my palm to wrap around the blade. It swallowed the sword whole, drawing it into my core, and the heat vanished with it.

I exhaled.

Arthur stared at me. "That was convenient."

Before I could respond, Draeus had already turned to Theodore. Another stream of mist rose from his hand, gathering into a small ring marked with lines so fine they were barely visible.

"Theodore. This is called Weight." He placed it in Theodore’s palm. "A Bound ranked ring. Wearing it increases your physical strength by two hundred percent, and grants immunity to spirit attacks."

Theodore’s eyes sharpened. "Two hundred?"

"There is a downside," Draeus continued. "You will speak and act before thinking, and you will become far more prone to anger."

’That is already how he is..’ I chuckled

The ring dissolved into a faint glow and sank into Theodore’s skin.

_____

Goals For This Week

50 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter

1 Super Gift = 2 Bonus Chapters

5 Golden Tickets = 1 Bonus Chapter