AN:Please comment as much as you can — I really want your help so I can improve.
Tuesday morning was colder than usual.
Marie Williams could see her breath as she dressed, the frost clinging to the edges of the narrow windowpane in her apartment. The heating unit hadn't worked in weeks, but she hadn't bothered filing another maintenance request. By now, she'd learned what got fixed and what didn't.
The building creaked faintly around her as she pulled on her uniform. Another patch of thread had come loose in her jacket's sleeve. She tied it off with a practiced motion, grabbed her datapad, and headed out.
Three days remained.
Three.
The streets in Zone 3 were quieter than usual.
The citizens of Wiesbaden moved with a subtle tension—faster steps, shorter conversations. Patrol drones lingered a little longer near checkpoints. Marie passed a public announcement board flashing a soft orange:
AWAKENING WEEK – INCREASED SURVEILLANCE IN EFFECT
It made sense. Dozens of third-year students would soon be introduced to the System. That meant potential instability. Temporary power surges. Accidental skill activations.
Everyone knew the stories.
Everyone remembered the one student last year who ignited a hallway during his Awakening.
He had survived.
The wall hadn't.
At school, the tension was more obvious.
Desks buzzed with whispered theories. Screens were filled with speculative builds and last-minute advice from older siblings or amateur guides. Some students had even purchased simulation kits—bootleg programs that promised to predict their class based on personality surveys.
Marie ignored them all.
She had enough doubt without artificial input.
In homeroom, Mr. Hayashi handed out the final permission forms. A single sheet, printed on synth-paper with the official Assoziation seal embossed in mana-ink.
Marie ran her fingers over the sigil absentmindedly. The stylized arch surrounded by six rings shimmered faintly.
Student Identification: Confirmed
System Compatibility: Confirmed
Scheduled Awakening Date: Friday, 2200.11.03
Location: Wiesbaden South Evaluation Center
Arrival Time: 08:00
Transport Provided: Yes
At the bottom, a checkbox:
[_] I acknowledge that I have received my Awakening Schedule and understand the responsibilities associated with System activation.
Marie signed without hesitation.
Later that morning, a few students cornered her at her locker.
She didn't recognize their names, but they wore the same uniforms—Class 3-C.
One of them, a tall girl with bleached hair, gave her a sideways look.
"You're the one without a class preference, right?"
Marie blinked. "What?"
"We checked the board. No Guild interest. No sub-track. Nothing."
Marie shrugged. "It's not mandatory."
"Just weird," the other girl said, chewing gum. "Not that we care. Just saying—it's gonna be lonely out there."
Marie didn't reply.
They left soon after. Laughing. Whispering.
She leaned against the locker for a moment, then walked away.
During Magical Theory, Ms. Aoki walked the room, reviewing pre-awakening prep plans.
When she reached Marie, she said nothing. Just glanced down at Marie's datapad, read the notes, and gave a small nod.
But before moving on, she left a folded slip of paper on the desk.
Marie waited until class ended to open it.
"You are not behind. You are simply moving at your own pace."
No signature.
But she didn't need one.
The rest of the day passed in a slow crawl.
Lunch tasted like nothing. Combat History blurred into numbers. Physical Training was canceled due to a mana calibration event in the gym.
Marie spent the last period reviewing old System logs.
Not hers. Archived case studies.
The most interesting one described a boy who had awakened with a passive trait called Field Entropy. His presence caused minor fluctuations in local mana density. For weeks, he had been unable to enter properly shielded areas.
Eventually, he'd adapted. Learned to anchor his own mana field.
But the note at the end stayed with her:
"Potential often arrives before control."
On the way home, the city felt almost quiet. Not peaceful—never that—but muffled. Like the tension had moved beneath the surface.
At Nordplatz, a temporary checkpoint had been set up. Civil Protection agents scanned IDs more thoroughly than usual.
Marie passed without issue.
Inside her apartment, she sat on the edge of her mattress and stared at the floor.
Three days.
She hadn't prepared a real outfit. Or food. Or... anything, really.
But she had her ID tag.
She had her datapad.
And she had a name.
The next day—Wednesday—began with an air of forced normalcy.
Classes were shortened. Teachers were subdued. No new material was covered. Just reviews. Summaries. Group discussions about potential class types and combat ethics.
Marie watched a group near her sketching out plans for a potential four-person team build. Tank, ranged, support, burst mage. They even discussed synchronized aura skills.
No one asked her to join.
She was okay with that.
Probably.
After school, she returned to the library.
Her seat by the north-facing window was free. The same assistant scanned her ID. The same boy from 3-B was asleep at the same table.
She pulled up her archive and searched again for obscured affinities. She found a reference to something called Shadow Tier Traits. It was vague—marked as redacted—but implied that some traits resisted System classification until triggered.
Another footnote read:
"System latency is not failure. The System reveals what you become, not what you fear."
Marie copied the line into her notes.
That evening, she cooked.
Real food.
Not a protein pack or a nutrient bar, but actual rice with half a packet of rehydrated vegetables. It tasted plain, but the act itself mattered.
It felt... grounding.
After dinner, she cleaned the room. Sharpened her old practice baton. Packed her ID, datapad, and spare socks in a worn shoulder bag.
She didn't have a uniform for the Awakening.
But she had what mattered.
She went to sleep early.
The dreams came quickly.
This time, there was no corridor. No mirrors. No voice.
Only a pulse. A heartbeat.
And the feeling of something watching from very far away.
It did not speak.
But it waited.