Eternal Myth of Arcana

*BAM*

The was swung open, and a middled man entered the room, his face full of worries. He is Gerald Holmes. He had light brown hair and deep blue eyes.

"Emily!" He screamed as hurriedly approached Emily. But seeing her unconscious, he looked at Zoya.

"Zoya, did you contact your father? Please...I'm ready to beg if they want but tell them to save my daughter!" He shouted with tears in his eyes.

"Ethan...can you go upstairs for a bit," Zoya said with a defeated face.

"S-sure..." Although hesitant, Ethan went upstairs into his room as he thought that there must be something important that they couldn't tell him right now.

He entered his room and then drank some water from his water bottle to calm himself down.

"..." Ethan looked at the night sky as he gazed at the beautiful gray moon hanging high in the sky. He leaned against the wall on the balcony as he didn't even realize when he fell asleep.

***

Next morning,

Ethan stood in the front yard of his house as he looked at his father, mother, and unconscious Emily, carried in his mother's arms.

"Ethan, we need to leave for the capital today. Father is ready to help her and asked us to go to the main house" Zoya said as she looked at Emily with tearful eyes.

"Don't worry, we will be back soon. In the meantime, I want you to take care of the house," Gerald said as he ruffled his hair lovingly.

"We are proud of you, Ethan." He said with an emotional tone.

Both Gerald and Zoya knew that her family wouldn't just help them so easily. They must have some conditions and goals in mind, and considering the nature of her family, they will just try to humiliate them, especially Ethan, who recently failed to awaken, so they told him to stay at home until they returned. They didn't want to see their child in a tough situation at such a house where strength and power are the only things respected. Zoya herself is living proof that her family wouldn't even think twice before discarding the children who they deem unworthy or trash according to their standards.

"Just...take care of yourself, Mom, Dad. And make sure to call me when Emily wakes up," Ethan said as he caressed Emily's head gently.

Soon, they left in the car as they headed towards the Capital of the Federation, Sapphire City.

Ethan, who stood there firmly until now, finally let tears flow down his cheeks as he saw the car vanish from his vision. He has emotions that were long for just. He just hopes that his sister will soon, well, soon, and they will return home. He didn't want to see himself losing his loved ones once again.

***

Ethan went inside the house and went back to his room. He was not happy at all. The only thing that made him smile a little was the blue screen before his eyes that gave him the to become powerful and protect his family in the future.

He blamed himself because if he was powerful enough; his family didn't have to go through this. He could have helped his sister, but now that he is weak, his family could only beg his mother's household for help that they won't get easily.

Ethan decided to take a nap as there was still some time before his system unlocked, and he also needed to calm his mind a little. He was quite stressed due to his sister's condition until now. He was sure that they would treat her thanks to her forced awakening.

Usually, once someone reaches seventeen, their body starts condensing mana according to common knowledge, and they will awaken as a deviant when they get tested by stimulating their mana detection machine. Those who fail are defined as products or trash, just like Ethan.

Forced awakening is a unique and rare phenomenon when a kid awakens on their own without the help of any meditation or strong mana presence thanks to their inner condensed mana purity. Almost all the kids who went through forced awakening on their own either died due to mana overload or became powerful figures within the Federation.

***

(Ethan's POV)

[Ding!]

"Huff..."

[System synchronization completed successfully!]

"Huff..."

[Awakening conditions have been met. The awakening process was completed successfully!]

"Huff..."

"Huff..."

*splash*

A sudden wave of cold water jolted me awake as I slowly opened my eyes. I heard a strange mechanical voice in my head as immense pain surged throughout my body.

Pain...intense pain, that was the only thing I felt.

I slowly opened my eyes as a shabby and dilapidated ceiling welcomed my sight. My feet felt fuzzy, and my vision was blurry.

'What...happened...to...me?'

A thought came to mind as I subconsciously touched my stomach, and I didn't even need to know what it was.

Blood...crimson red blood!

I wanted to say something but my voice failed to leave my throat as only a few gargling voices espaced my mouth. My throat felt numb yet heavy at the same time.

'Am...I...d-dying...?'

I tried to stand but failed miserably as I fell back.

"Oh boy~ look at this bastard. Where the fuck do you think are going, kid?"

A hoarse male voice entered my ears I saw a blurry figure approaching me.

"Let's heal you first so that we can have a nice chat before killing you, right? Yep absolutely right! I never make mistakes! Hahahahaha"

I heard the man as I failed to comprehend his words. The only thing I could think was that the man seemed crazy as I heard him laughing like a crazy maniac.

Suddenly, he forcefully poured a strange, sweet liquid. A soothing and refreshing feeling enveloped me as my pain began to subside. My injuries began to heal as I could my body once again.

My vision became clear as I saw a young man, probably in his early twenties, clad in strange rogue black clothes drenched in blood. His fist dripping with blood as he looked at me with a crazy smile on his face.

*SLAP*

"Tch, Tch, Tch...how pathetic. But, don't worry. Once you beg me to show mercy, I will feel glad. Let's see how you will react when I do this," the man stated as he crouched and held my upper body straight. Then he placed his finger on my back.

"..." I wanted to defend myself but my body was not listening to me. Thankfully, it was healing, but I still need some time before I start moving myself.

*bzzt*

"Arhhh!!!!"

A loud scream escaped my mouth as I felt something hot on my chest.

"Arrhhhhhh!!!!!"

Despite my cries and screams, the man moved his hot finger downwards as he made a vertical cross on my back.

"Arhhh...huff...huff...arh...huff..." I breathed heavily as the man finally halted his action.

"Hahahahaha....more! Hahahahaha...."

*peirce*

As the man was focused on mosaic pleasure, I felt my arms once again and thanked my years of experience and my hard work in the gym; I managed to endure the pain until this moment. Thankfully, I still had my storage ring on me, so I hurriedly took out a dagger from there and pierced cut the man's fingers and rolled to the side with difficulty.

"Arhh!!! F-Fuck!" The man screamed in horror as he hurriedly clutched his hand and looked at his finger, which was no longer attached to his hand but spread all over the floor nearby.

"Y-you...bastard!!!! I will torture you for eternity!" He screamed in anger and then threw a kick in my direction.

With my vast combat experience from Earth, it wasn't difficult for me to predict his movements but my was not in its optimal state. I could barely move let alone fight a damn Devaint!

*BAM*

The kick landed on my chest and sent me flying, but I also managed to injure his leg as the dagger was intensely sharp. It put a straight cut on the calf of his left leg.

"Damn YOU!!!!" The man screamed in anger.

Too bad for through, I crashed into a wall and coughed a mouthful of blood. My chest went numb as I lost whatever strength my body mustered until now. My vision turned blurry once again, and the worst part was I couldn't even scream for any help because my throat was not...in the right condition. Thankfully, I managed to keep the dagger in my hand even after all this.

"Fuck! You damn cockroach. Why aren't you dying?! My kick was strong enough to kill any trash and failed product like you...oh, it can't be...so you awakened?! Wow, did your parents leaving you behind alone push you so hard that you awaken after going through all that drama and mood swings?" He stated as he approached me. He also took a vial out of his storage ring and drank a vial of green liquid.

His injuries began to heal, and even his finger started to regrow.

"Gross! This always disgusts me" he said with an annoyed face as he looked at his regroung fingers.

'My...parent...left? What...happened...to them?'

I ignored him as certain words still lingered in my mind. I even forget about my pain for a second.

"Oh, why are you making that face? Oh, it must be because I told you about the betrayal of your parents. Let me tell you something interesting before I kill you: your parents left you... forever, hahahahaha. You will never see them again because don't need trash like you, hahahhahah. Just like me, you also got thrown away, hahahahaha"

The more he spoke, the more twisted his lungs and facial expressions became.

'Is...this...how...I...will...die?'

I didn't bother with his idiotic words and thoughts of mine that engulfed me like a creeping darkness.