'The hell.. is this..' Carsel whispered, his voice echoed loudly in his mind. 'Where.. Am i..'
He tried to open his eyes, nothing. It was all pitch black, pure darkness, there was nothing he could see, even his own body.
'Urgh..' Carsel grunted as he felt a throbbing headache, his brain was a mess, it's as if his recent memory was wiped out. 'What the fuck happened..'
Just then, he remembered it, his desire to know the reason why he ended up in this void was heard by something, and a series of memories began to enter Carsel's mind, he remembered the intense training, the two cloaked men who punched him, and the abdominal punch that knocked him out.
'Guh!.. Shit! Did i lose conciousness!?' Carsel panicked, realizing that if he really did lose his conciousness right in this moment, then that means the cloaked men would continue beating him up until he dies. 'FUCK!! FUCK! I NEED TO WAKE UP!'
Carsel shouted, but there was no one that could hear him, he was all alone in that void, and the anxiety just kept on growing, he tried to move, but without his senses, there was no way of knowing whether it was a success or not, no arms, no legs, and no body. This lack of sensation that slowly creeps on Carsel, was more than just a simple illusion, he can feel his sanity drowning as time passes, and if he doesn't wake up now, it'll be over.
'SHIT! I CAN'T DIE YET!! NOT LIKE THIS!' Carsel screamed, reaching out with his nonexistent arm in that void. 'ALL OF MY EFFORT.. ALL OF MY HARDWORK.. YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT I WASN'T GOOD ENOUGH!?— I.. I–
Behind that desperation, there was a brief moment of flashback, countless memories suddenly flooded Carsel's mind like a giant wave, in one of the memory, Carsel was just a 14 years old child who lived at his large family mansion in the kingdom of Widewent.
***
Swoosh!
"Phew..." Carsel sighed after swinging his sword in the air, he stood there in a spacious field the garden, practicing his swordmanship.
That last swing from Carsel's sword was undeniably powerful as there was a short wind burst manifesting infront of the sword right after Carsel had swung it.
Thud!
Thud!
A footstep sound can be heard coming towards Carsel from behind, the soft noise as the shoes stepped on the green grass was quiet, yet it is still can be heard in Carsel's ears. As he turned around to see who it was, a frown quickly formed on his lips.
"What are you doing." Said the person that is approaching Carsel, it was an adult male, approximately in his 40's, with black hair, short beard, and a fierce turquoise eyes.
Carsel wiped the sweat on his face and said, "Just practicing.. Patriarch." with a stony voice.
Upon hearing his response, the man infront of Carsel, which is the Patriarch of the Bloodheir family, and also his father, stopped and stared at him for a while, his presence alone was suffocating, Carsel could feel an immense pressure just by standing right next to the patriarch, this shows just how much difference in power there is between him and the patriarch, yet despite that, Carsel stood firm and didn't show any reaction, perhaps it was due to the patriarch being his father, or maybe Carsel held some resentment to him.
"Hmm.." He said, noticing the sword in Carsel's hand being held tightly, a vein almost protruded beneath that pale skin. "Is that so— Continue then."
The patriarch then continued his walk, until his step passed Carsel while both of his hands entwined behind him.
"Keuk..." Carsel whispered, making sure that his father couldn't hear it.
Then, with a little bit of courage, he suddenly turned his body to face the patriarch again.
"PATRIARCH!" He shouted, gaining the patriarch's attention as he turned his head around to see Carsel. "LET ME ENROLL AT THE ACADEMY!"
That shout from Carsel invited silence to come to the scene, there was no immediate respond from the patriarch, he just stayed still with his eyes glued to Carsel's, their eyes locked, and while patriarch's eyes was full of detest, Carsel on the other side had his eyes full of anticipation and hope.
After a 10 seconds of silence, the patriarch then slowly opened his mouth, at first he sighed, and then..
"A wolf can disguise itself to catch a sheep.." He said coldly, his voice sounded rough and authoritative. "However, can a sheep disguise itself to catch a wolf?– No, that sheep would still be eaten by the wolf."
Somehow, that words seems like it was intended to mock Carsel, he could feel his heart aching, as if a nail had just pierced through, his eyes pupil shakes momentarily before Carsel managed to gain his focus back, and right as he was gaining his focus, the patriarch then opened his mouth once again.
"Carsel, the Bloodheir family is known for their achievements and blessed bloodline that gave birth to many talented aura user in this kingdom.." The patriarch said, his tone of voice remained the same. "For the past century.. Our family always consisted of only aura users, many awakened their aura at the age of 8, while some may awakened their aura at the age of 6."
"However..." He added, his voice became more loud for that specific word, as if bolding it for Carsel to hear. "You, are the only one who hasn't awakened your aura— There's some people in our family that awakened their aura at the age of 9 or 10, your oldest cousin was one of them, but we have never seen someone failing to get their awakening at the age of 14."
"PATRIARCH!" Carsel screamed as soon as the patriarch finished his sentence. "IF YOU JUST LET ME PRACTICE MY SWORDMANSHIP AT THE ACADEMY.. THEN MAYBE I CAN AWAKEN MY TALENT AND USE AURA! WHAT I NEED IS JUST SOME PRACTICE AND HARDWOR—
"SILENCE!" Now it is the patriarch's turn to shout, he cuts Carsel off before responding. "This is a matter of our family's reputation!, did you know that because of you going out of the mansion every now and then, there has been some rumors about your lack of talent? If the words gets out that there's a Bloodheir that can't use aura, do you even know how much damage it will do to our family?! You should be grateful that i still gave you a place to live and endless food."
The patriarch then turned around, his eyebrows furrowed, clearly angered by Carsel's behaviour and atittude.
"As long as your aura hasn't awakened yet, you are not allowed to go outside out of the mansion." Said the patriarch as he walked out of the garden, his words carved deep into Carsel, and he vowed to remember every single word the patriarch said and proved him wrong one day.