Wade's eyes opened to the swaying shadows of leaves overhead.
His body ached.
His arms, legs, chest—everything felt scorched from the inside out, like he'd swallowed the sun and it had refused to go quietly. But beneath the pain was something stranger, a strange clarity in his lungs, a sharpness behind his eyes, like the world had grown brighter and heavier at the same time.
He blinked slowly. Someone was holding his hand.
"...Lira?" he croaked.
A sob answered. His sister's face came into view, streaked with dirt and tears. She didn't speak right away. Just leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his shoulders so tight he wheezed.
"You absolute idiot," she whispered against his neck.
Riven crouched beside her, arms crossed, trying and failing to look angry. "You scared the hell out of us."
Wade tried to sit up. "The monster… I… I think I—"
"You incinerated it," Riven said.
"More like evaporated it," Lira added, pulling back. "And a nice chunk of the forest while you were at it."
Wade blinked. "I… what?"
And then it happened.
A flicker — golden, digital threads unwinding from the air, weaving a lattice of glowing glyphs above his chest.
A voice rang in his head.
[System Integration Complete]
Host Eligibility Confirmed.
Welcome, Wade.
Classification: [Hero: Candidate]
Attributes: Wind, Fire — Confirmed
Compatibility: 6-Attribute Potential – Unknown in Recorded System History
Additional Data Hidden…
Awaiting User Input.
System Access: Locked to User Only.
The glyphs spun once, then sank—into him. Right through his chest, like sunlight drawn into a well. Wade gasped.
And then it was gone.
No lingering glow. No signs in the air. Just stillness.
"What… was that?" he whispered.
Riven and Lira were staring, wide eyed. They had seen it. All of it.
But no one else had.
Lira spoke first, her voice soft. "I think it was… some kind of system."
"Like the ones heroes get in the old legends," Riven murmured.
They fell quiet. Birds chirped faintly in the distance, as if nature was trying to reclaim the moment.
Wade turned to them. "You saw it too?"
Lira nodded. "Only just. But… it's gone now, right?"
He nodded slowly. "It's inside me. I can still feel it. But… no windows. No sound. Nothing now."
"Good," Riven said flatly. "Let's keep it that way."
Wade frowned. "What?"
"No one saw that but us," Lira said. "And it's going to stay that way. You hear me, Wade? Not a word to anyone."
Wade looked between them. "Why?"
Riven's expression darkened. "You don't get it. People kill for stuff like that. If someone finds out you've got a system, and that you used two elements at once…"
"They'll want to own you," Lira finished.
Wade said nothing for a while.
Then nodded.
"Okay," he whispered. "I won't tell anyone."
They sat like that in the wreckage of the clearing, the sky deepening into late afternoon. Ash curled on the breeze. The beast was gone. Their lives were no longer simple.
But somehow, for the first time in his memory, Wade didn't feel broken.
He felt needed.
"Let's go home," he said softly.
And they did.
They walked in silence for a while. No one spoke.
The forest, usually a haven of soft wind and crackling leaves, now felt hollow, scorched. The smell of burned bark lingered on their clothes. Trees nearby bore blackened scars, entire trunks split or vaporized into splinters.
Wade glanced down at his hands. They didn't glow. No markings. No sign of magic. Just skin — slightly blistered, scraped, still trembling.
But they remembered.
He balled them into fists and shoved them into his tunic sleeves.
Every few steps, he noticed Lira watching him. Not with fear — that scared him most — but with something quieter. Worry? Awe? He wasn't sure.
Eventually, Riven broke the silence. "You still hear it? That voice?"
Wade shook his head. "No. It's… it's quiet now. Like it's waiting."
"Good," Riven muttered. "Let it wait forever."
They found the old trail again and followed it. The path was faint and overgrown, but familiar, twisted roots they'd jumped over since they were little. They hadn't gone far that day. Just a morning's run, a few leagues from the orchard hill where their house stood in the valley.
Wade glanced sideways. "Do you think Mom and Dad felt it?"
"The explosion?" Lira said. "Probably. Half the forest shifted."
"They'll be scared," Wade murmured. "We should tell them."
"No," Riven said instantly, eyes hard. "We can't."
"They're our parents."
"That's exactly why," he snapped. "You know how much they already worry about you not awakening? You think they'll just sit quietly while their youngest son turns into a walking natural disaster?"
Lira sighed. "He's right, Wade. This… this changes things. You used two elements. That shouldn't be possible."
"It wasn't possible," Riven corrected.
They paused at a ridge. Below them, their home came into view.
A modest wooden house, tucked in the arms of the valley. Soft smoke drifted from the chimney. The apple trees were in bloom, speckling the green with white and pink. The fence leaned in the same place it always had, crooked from when Riven crashed through it on a dare years ago.
The sight hit Wade like a stone.
Nothing had changed.
Except everything had.
They descended the hill slowly.
Their mother saw them first. She burst from the front door with her silver hair loose around her shoulders, eyes wide with panic. Their father followed close behind, flame colored eyes scanning the woods beyond as if expecting monsters to be chasing them.
When they reached the fence, she swept Wade into her arms immediately, holding him so tight his spine popped.
"Oh stars, you're alive," she whispered.
Riven and Lira exchanged a look.
"We're fine, Mom," Wade murmured. "Just got turned around."
His father crouched beside them, tilting Wade's chin up to study his face. "There was a burst of magic. It came from the forest. Something huge."
Wade hesitated.
Lira slid in smoothly. "There was a beast. We ran. But it didn't follow."
"We hid until it passed," Riven added. "We didn't want to risk leading it back."
Their mother's eyes narrowed. She knew they were hiding something. But after a long pause, she only kissed Wade's forehead.
"You're home," she said. "That's all that matters."
Wade didn't sleep that night.
He lay in bed, staring at the wooden beams above his head, the moonlight casting pale bars on the wall. His room hadn't changed. His blanket still smelled of lavender and smoke. His window still creaked in the wind.
But something inside him had changed forever.
And in the silence, a small flicker of golden text blinked into existence above his eyes.
System Notice: Hidden Quest Initialized
Path: Unknown.
Title: Hero of No Prophecy.
First Directive:
I. Grow Strong.
II. Survive.
III. Protect What You Hold Dear.
Wade didn't know what it meant yet.
But he knew one thing for certain,
He wasn't a normal boy anymore.