Eternal Myth of Arcana

"Ethan, you failed your awakening. You can't become a Deviant."

*BOOM*

These words dropped like bombshells as the entire class turned absolutely silent. No one dared to speak but the boy stood in the middle in front of a large mana-detector machine, stood clam. A bit disappointed though, but he didn't show much reaction on his face.

"How is that possible?!"

"I can't believe the smartest student in our class failed his awakening!"

"Damn! That's hard bruh"

"I wonder how his parents will react"

"Poor kid...his future is bleak now"

"Damn! Once a genius, today's trash"

...

...

...

...

Ethan heard them talking, but he just turned around and then approached the teacher with a graduation certificate from his school.

"Ethan, don't be discouraged. You can still find a decent civilian staff job somewhere," the teacher said as he tried to demean him, mistaking Ethan's silence as his discouragement.

"Thanks for your kind words, sir." Ethan just simply thanked the man as he took his graduation certificate and then left the school, heading towards his house.

Unknown to all of them, Ethan focused his gaze on a blue screen before his eyes as he chuckled in his mind at their reactions.

_________

[System Restriction Unlock: 24H23M]

_________

In reality, Ethan died on earth during his last experiment and somehow ended up reincarnating in a world called Pangia seventeen years ago.

The day he opened his eyes in this world, the first thing he saw was this strange blue screen that displayed some sort of time. He read some fantasy novels during his stay in the lab, so he knew a thing or two about systems, so he had a rough idea about it. Unfortunately, his system is in a locked condition and on lock on his eighteenth birthday. So, all he could do was wait until the day came.

Ethan, that is because he retained his conscience and memories from a past life, was smart beyond comprehension from a very young age. Even when he was just a few months old, he started speaking, running, and studying things on his own. He learned Hermes, Elvish, Jotun, and Qian languaged by the age of ten. He always topped his classes thanks to his exceptional intelligence. Even when it comes to sports, he was always the lead.

He was a talent born once in a century in a world like Pagia where talent and power are the only things that matter. At the time of graduation from their school, every student needs to go through an awakening test. In today's world, the only thing that matters is whether you can become a deviant or not.

Unfortunately, Ethan failed his awakening test. Although, he isn't the only one who failed. His failure caught much more attention because no one expected such a result.

Now, the teachers and students who were once respectful to him looked at him with eyes full of disgust and disappointment. They felt like they had wasted their time on trash now that he failed his awakening.

Ethan didn't bother with their gazes as he left the school premises and took a taxi to his house.

***

Residential zones, Cordoba City

*creak*

With a subtle creak, the door opened as Ethan entered his house while holding a graduation certificate in his hand.

"Brother!" Suddenly, a cute and chubby little girl jumped into his arms as she hurriedly kissed him on his cheeks, happy to see her brother. She is Emily Holmes, his little sister. She is five years old this year.

"kiddo, See what I brought for you today," Ethan said as he took out a well-covered small ice cream pack from his spatial ring that his father brought him as a gift on his tenth birthday.

"Yay! Vanilla ice cream, hehehe. You are the best brother!" She hurriedly grabbed the pack and rushed to the dining table to eat it.

Soon, he saw his mother, Zoya Holmes, coming downstairs as she carried his head with love. She looked quite beautiful despite being in her mid-forties. Her long black hair was tied neatly into a bun as she dressed in a floral one-piece dress. She had brown eyes and a face similar to Ethan's.

"Ethan, how was your graduation day?" She asked.

"Nothing much. I topped as usual but...sigh...I failed the awakening, Mom, Ethan stated as she weighed with her face.

"..." She fell silent for a few seconds as she hurriedly enveloped Ethan into her warm embrace and kissed his head.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure that with your Intelligence; you will have even better opportunities than being a deviant," she said.

"Thanks, Mom." Ethan felt light as he heard her gentle words. He may not be bothered by what others say, but his family is a different matter for him.

Ethan was nothing but lonely earth, the land of everything, but in this world, he had a family who lived around him. He grew a lot closer to them. He was ready to burn the entire world for his family at this point if he ever had to. He loved Emily the most as he felt protective of her.

"Hmm. Now, where is your ice cream? I can't believe an ice cream addict like you came with a single pack?" Zoya asked as she poured out her obsession with ice cream. Ethan developed this obsession when he was in the lab. During the experiments, he was not allowed to touch alcohol, smoke, or any drugs, so he started eating ice cream to calm himself down. He didn't even realize when he developed an addiction to ice creams. That same addiction followed him to this world, too, as he always craved ice cream.

"How could you forget that, Mom? I will be upstairs, Mom. Need some time to think about the future." Ethan took out another pack as he went upstairs.

Zoya nodded and decided to give him some space. Ethan was always a smart and overly mature kid his age, so he never managed to make any friends. Moreover, thanks to exceptional talents, no other student felt like approaching him either. So he usually spends his time alone whenever he feels down.

*BAM*

Suddenly, a blast resounded from the dining hall as Zoya and Ethan both rushed there. Emily was there, so they worried that something might happen to her.

"..."

"..."

Both Ethan and Zoya stood with bewildered expressions as they saw Emily surrounded by lightning that kept crackling around her body. She floated mid-air, surprised and bewildered herself.

"Brother!" She hurriedly screamed as she suddenly fainted and fell but thankfully, just as she was about to hit the floor, Ethan managed to catch her, protecting her from serious injury.

"Emily?!" Ethan put her into their lap gently and tried to check her condition.

Zoya also approached as she called her husband, Gerald, about the situation.

"Yes, honey. Please come back right now!" She said in panic and then cut the call.

"Mom, shouldn't we call the hospital or the Deviant Association?" Ethan asked as he looked at his mother who shook her head negatively.

"Ethan, what you just saw is Forced awakening. It happens extremely rarely and needs immediate results from specialized experts. We need to take to my family in the capital otherwise..." she stated with a concerned tone.

"Okay, mom. Let's take her to your house then" Ethan stood up and carried her into his embrace.

Ethan knew that Zoya was from a prestigious family from Capital, but thanks to her falling in love with a commoner like Gerald, she was kicked out of the family long ago. Her family is famous for their lighting elemental powers all over the Federation. Considering Emily's lightning ability that she showcased just now, only they can help her at this point.

"Let's first put her on the bed. I might have one or two healing potions, so let's treat the injuries first," Zoya said as Ethan hurriedly nodded and brought Emily to her room.