'Ah? Ah. Ah!' 

Coming to, Ralf found himself in a completely different environment. Confusion quickly gave way to understanding as he took in his surroundings. Once he realized where he was, an unparalleled excitement bloomed in his young heart.

‘This is it! Psionic awakening!’

The grey murky void, the giant gate and portal, the starry heaven on the other side of it… 

Everything aligned perfectly with what he had read in his books.

In the void, Ralf floated, not as his usual humanoid self, but as his Soul Core, a beach ball-sized blue sphere.

Far ahead, a circular gate hovered in space. Ralf recognized the structure as his Soul Gate. After observing the glowing white ring making up the gate, his extrasensory senses moved to what lay beyond.

The Great Aether.

Such was the starry heaven on the other side labelled. Only by connecting to this higher dimension and drawing on its power could psionics wield the magical powers they did.

As Ralf beheld it, his Soul Core trembled.

'The books weren't exaggerating. So intense.’

Ralf had read the descriptions of those who had observed the Great Aether. All without fail spoke of the awe and fear it provoked in them. Ralf crinkled his nose when he read those descriptions, thinking the observers were too weak-willed. Now, facing it himself, he could understand those feelings perfectly. It was overwhelming. Ralf needed a few seconds to acclimatize to the cosmic pressure. Doing so, he set his sights on the distant constellation of lights. 

‘Come on already,' Ralf urged, wishing upon the faux 'stars'. 'Where’s the Zenki Spear-ah, it's starting!’

As though hearing his insolent thoughts, a dim star flickered with activity. Its light intensified, growing brighter and brighter. Reaching its zenith a few seconds later, it zoomed toward Ralf like a thrown spear. Radiant and powerful, the construct of pure white raced at unfathomable speeds.

Ralf watched its trajectory with immense excitement. After all, one awakened as a psionic by having this dazzling spear pass through the Soul Gate and pierce their Soul Core.

But then, something unexpected happened.

The Zenki Spear passed through the gate without any obstruction and pierced him. Ralf panicked at the happening - for good reason. The occurrence was unheard of.

The spear contained an absurd amount of Aether Zenki. Every would-be psionic instinctively understood that absorbing the entirety of the energy contained would result in their demise. Their Soul Core would rupture like a balloon overfilled with air.

The Soul Gate’s duty was to prevent this possibility. It was to act as a great filter and shave off nearly all of the spear's energy. Being struck by even 1% of the original power was considered ultra-rare, but being struck by 100%—that was deemed an impossibility...until now.

The result was…

BOOM!

***

Minutes before.

Micheal was blankly staring at the high white ceiling.

He was lodged in Owl's Inn, the best accommodation the town of Kladek had on offer. The Raven rolled over on his sides, moving his eyes to the window. Twilight was on the brink of ending, and night’s shadowy hand began moving across the skies.

Watching the transition, Micheal fell into a daze that was becoming more usual than unusual. In this world, no one shoulders carried more weight than his. Where Atlas bore one, Micheal bore the weight of two worlds on his back. The sombre expression on his face reflected this reality clearly.

A weariness had settled into him, a fatigue that even his magical powers couldn't dispel. Negative thoughts poured in, gathering into clusters, spawning deeper and darker contemplations.

In others, these thoughts would be paralyzing, despair-inducing, but, to Micheal, it was a regular fixture. Being the old hand he was, he quickly and easily dismissed them. He knew not to get himself bogged down. Once he entertained one, a path downward would follow. His mind moved to happy thoughts.

His lovers and companions were the first to rush into awareness. And then memories from the last few months. Micheal was on a vacation of sorts. In his three centuries of life, this was an extreme rarity. However, at the behest of his companions, he was forced to take vacations regularly, lengthy ones at that.

The vacation was fun, but truthfully, he wished to get back to work. His companions were capable, but there were many things only he could do. Fortunately, he was at the end of his mandatory vacation. Tomorrow would mark its end.

‘I’ll look into what Sigurd sent me. I can blow off some steam by destroying them. Hopefully, I end up snagging some big fish.’

On his travels, Micheal had received word from the Psionic Association about the increased activity of the Shadow Raven in Zudrad’s Great Ocelot Forest. 

With Micheal already planning to go that way to meet up with his old friend, he had sent word that he would check it out. Where others trembled in fear at the Shadow Raven’s mere mention, Micheal's mouth watered. To him, they were just prey. From White Feather to Black Feather to their leader, all were but targets for elimination to him.

‘I’ll leave first thing tomorrow.’

Deciding this, Micheal's thoughts shifted to his time in Kladek. A certain youth's face naturally popped up.

‘Ralf Fawkes, a pity I didn’t see him again. I had an interesting story to tell. Oh well. Something for the future, I suppose.’

Thinking back to their conversation, a smile formed on Micheal’s face. ‘Ah, just remembering his questions is making me weary. Guess, I’ll go to sleep.’

With this intention, his golden Psi moved to the edges of the room and formed a defensive array. It was damn near impenetrable. The planet could explode, and the barrier would hold firm.

Satisfied with his protective measures, Micheal allowed his thoughts to slow down, and tranquillity enveloped him. His consciousness relaxed, and tiredness began invading his being. The Raven closed his eyes, expecting to fall asleep within moments.

But fate had other plans. 

BOOM!

An immense amount of Psi struck his barrier.

“What?!” 

Surprised and bewildered by the sudden and unexpected occurrence, Micheal's eyelids snapped open violently. Jolted awake, his heart pounded loudly, threatening to burst out of his chest.

‘What was that?’

Exhaustion now erased, a sharp and alert mind took over his body. Micheal’s vast experience kicked in. He steadied his heart and calmly analyzed the situation. Running through his mental library, he searched for a reference to comprehend the situation. When a certain thought crossed his mind, the aura around him shifted drastically

His mind sharpened to its utmost limits. The Psi emission had come and gone in a fleeting moment, but with his exceptional Psi Sense, he pinpointed the explosion's epicentre in that brief window. 

Moving to the balcony, he shed his teenage form to become an adult, orientated himself in the right direction, and then launched forth, the

floorboards and the sound barrier shattering in his wake.

***

“Ah, what happened? Where did that come from?”

“Dammit, is someone attacking? Don’t tell me it's the Shadow Raven - let's get out of here quick.”

“Hide, hide in the basement. Don’t come out till I get back.”

In the aftermath of the explosion, Kladek descended into total chaos. Man and beast alike entered a frenzy.

The intense wave of Psi had momentarily overwhelmed the souls of all it came in contact with, causing their minds to go blank and their balance to crumble.

Looking in from the outside, the sight of the collective tumble seemed almost comical, but for those experiencing it, their hearts pounded with panic and terror. Shouts and cries filled the town as the residents scurried around, confused and scared at what the Psi burst meant.

The frightened townsfolk conjured up dozens of interpretations. The one commonality was that it all meant bad news. With this being the pervading notion, they moved like headless chickens.

The incident would later be known as the Hysteria of Kladek.  

***

In the Fawkes household, at the same time.

“Argh ugh...”

On her knees, Hana groaned with blank eyes. In the blast zone, she was hit the hardest by the over-pressure phenomenon. After a few seconds, her quivering soul stabilized enough for her mind to once again form coherent thoughts.

“Ah, Ralf!” she cried out with a pale face.

She shifted her attention to his room. While most were ignorant of the cause of the Psi emission, she knew the truth. Anxious, Hana had her aura invade the bedroom. Taking in everything with her Psi Scan, she captured Ralf’s lame body sprawled on the bed. Seeing it intact and noting no obvious injuries, she felt a wave of relief. Probing deeper, her Psi penetrated his body, allowing her to capture its inner workings. Seeing his heart beating steadily and his lungs inflating and deflating as they should, Hana was further relieved.

She got to her feet and dusted herself off. Hana's motherly spirit propelled her forward.

‘That explosion…what was that? I've never heard of such a thing happening during an awakening. Could Ralf be a…’

The thought wasn’t allowed to finish as a male voice suddenly sounded from her rear.

“Good evening.”

The voice, despite its pleasant tone, struck her like a lightning bolt.

‘When?’ she questioned, completely shocked.

Her Psi Scan had been up this entire time, so why hadn't it registered the stranger? More importantly, why wasn’t it registering him right now?

Her face tensed up.

Hana may not have been the sharpest tool in the shed, but she was no fool. There was only one reason someone would appear here and now. Her protective instinct kicked in, causing her Rank 3 Telekinetic aura to flare up as she turned to face the stranger.

But upon taking in the man, the fierceness on her beautiful face faltered. Just as Ralf and many others had, she was stunned. Drinking in his exquisite features, her memories stirred, and a moment later, the identity of the other became clear in her mind.

“Micheal…Ascania,” she muttered in disbelief.

Hana had no doubt that the person before her was the real Micheal Ascania. As an artist, she was always beautiful things to inspire and recreate. In her younger years, Micheal Ascania was that to her. In an effort to recreate his beauty in her sculptures, she had spent a great deal of time researching his likeness through various artworks and, of course, Psi videos. When combined with the current magical feats he was displaying and her son's account, Hana was convinced the man before her was the real Micheal Ascania. Settling on this conclusion, Hana dropped her guard.

Micheal's reputation was stellar. His long history of contributions and accomplishments had built up a mountain of trust and goodwill in the public’s heart. 

Hana bore these same feelings toward him. 

“You’re Micheal Ascania, right?” She spoke, this time more clearly, admiration echoing in her voice.

Micheal patted his chest while showing a friendly smile. “Indeed, that is me. I’m sure Ralf must have told you about our chat the other day.”

“Ah, yes, he did mention something about that. I can’t believe he was telling the truth.”

Micheal nodded. “Mmm, yes. From our conversation, his exaggerations were quite frequent.” 

Traces of agreement showed on Hana’s face as she smiled wryly. Seeing her somewhat relaxed, Micheal moved on to the purpose of his visit.

“That explosion just now, it was quite shocking. I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

“Even you haven’t?” she said in disbelief. She had assumed she was just ignorant, but to hear Micheal, who had been around for three centuries, say this gave her pause. What hadn’t he seen? Her nerves began tightening up again.

“There’s no need to worry. While I don’t know the specifics, what transpired is almost certainly an automatic activation,” Micheal said, examining Ralf's unconscious body through his Psi Scan.

“Automatic activation, then that means he is…”

“Yes," Micheal nodded. "Your child has become a Unique class psionic. Congratulations."

Hana’s mind buckled at the claim. It was just that amazing. After the shock, happiness flooded her heart.

The Unique class was by far the rarest psionic class. Billions of psionics had come to be in the three hundred years of magical powers. Still, of those billions, not even twenty had been Uniques. It was a class known for its world-altering abilities and housed some of the most influential and powerful characters the world had ever seen.

Case and point, Micheal, with his power of creation and destruction, was a member of this class. Upon recalling this fact, Hana’s spirits ascended further.

“Enough standing around. Please come inside. Ralf will be thrilled to see you again,” she readily offered before turning around.

Micheal didn’t dally and followed after her. They entered the living room, where Hana gestured to the couch. “Make yourself comfortable. I doubt Ralf will be content with a few lines."

“I’m sure.”

“I’ll get him right away. Give me a second.”

Saying so, Hana headed to his room. Entering, she went to his bedside and attempted to wake him.

 “Ralf Ralf…Ralf. Hey, wake up, sleepyhead. You don’t want to miss out on this. Hey, Ralf, wake up...” 

Still not getting any response, anxiety began building in her anew. Eager to quash it, Hana got hands-on.

“Ralf, hey Ralf, wake up…”

Her voice grew louder, and her shaking became more vigorous as the seconds passed. Even shaking violently, Ralf remained unresponsive. He was like a rag doll in her arms. Hana’s heart sank, and panic filled her expression.

Her mind being most cruel began imagining the worst-case scenario as she took in his unconscious form. Tears welled up in her eyes. ‘No, I can’t lose you too, Ralf. I won’t let you leave me as well.’

Re-energized at the thought, she continued her attempts.

Hearing the commotion from his couch, Micheal strode over.

“What’s wrong?”

Hearing the Raven's voice, Hana’s panic subsided briefly. Glancing back, she said, “Ralf…he won’t wake up.”

Micheal frowned. “Can I have a look?”

She nodded and stepped aside. Micheal took her place and lowered himself. He placed his finger on Ralf’s exposed neck and repeated what he had done days prior. His fingertip transformed into many microscopic tendrils, which went on to pierce into Ralf's flesh. His Psi invaded the youth's body.

A few seconds later, Micheal retracted his finger and reported his findings.

“Physically, I see nothing wrong with him. He is perfectly fine.”

Hana was relieved to hear this.

“Then his sleep is…?”

“A product of his Unique class power. I don’t know what type of power would cause one to fall asleep, but Uniques are very strange. In terms of awakening, it could be much worse. That Psi explosion, as intense as it was, was harmless, thankfully. Soren’s awakening saw everything within two kilometres of him torn asunder by rippling gravitational waves."

"So, he's just in a deep sleep?" Hana said with a hopeful tone.

"No, it's not so simple. As I said, this isn't a matter of biology. The state he's in is magically induced and concerns his soul." Micheal placed his palm atop Ralf's forehead and concentrated. "To wake him, I'd need to dive into his Mental Domain - huh?" 

The Raven’s eyes flickered in surprise. The telepathic energy he had sent to connect to Ralf's Mental Domain had been instantly shredded, as though running into a blender at max rotation. This came as quite a shock to the Raven. While his telepathic prowess wasn't his forte, it nonetheless rivalled Mental Masters.  

“Micheal?”

Micheal, now with a tense expression, ignored Hana and refocused on the task at hand. Hana’s world turned golden as the Raven's aura flooded the room. Telepathic energy, much more voluminous and powerful than before, rushed to make contact with Ralf’s Mental Domain. But again, it was instantly shredded.

Micheal didn’t let up and made several more attempts. But after twenty failures without anything to show for it, he ceased.

“Micheal?”

“I can’t enter,” he admitted with a stony expression as he returned his hand to his sides. Narrowed eyes fixed on Ralf’s forehead, he continued. “Ralf’s power is preventing my telepathic energy from making a connection. From my brief stay, it feels like a storm of blades. Whatever is being formed in there...it’s no joke.”

Hana’s gaze moved to her son. Her eyes were shaky, and her nerves were taut.

Micheal noticed her distress and moved to reassure her. “There’s no need to fret. Whatever is brewing in there will run its course. We just have to wait for it to do so and for Ralf to wake up. He could do so any second now, no?" 

"Right," Hana responded weakly, transfixed on her son's unconscious form.

Micheal nodded and moved to the exit. "You stay by his side. I’m heading out to deal with the disarray. I’ll be back in a few minutes. Hopefully, Ralf'll be up by the time I return.”

"Hopefully," Hana repeated in a mutter.

Micheal's lips squirmed, but he didn't speak, knowing no words would be enough. He made his exit in silence. Hana became a statue as she anxiously awaited her son’s awakening.

But he wouldn’t be waking anytime soon.

***

‘Still nothing.’

Micheal retracted his hand from Ralf’s forehead. Whatever was shredding his telepathic energy hadn’t weakened an iota.

‘What will wake you, Ralf? Hopefully, it's not true love’s kiss,’ he thought with a bitter expression.

Today marked a month since Ralf had entered his mysterious coma. Micheal was completely stumped. He had tried several methods to wake Ralf, but all failed.

‘What power would require him to enter an extended sleep? No, more importantly, how is he able to maintain it for so long?’

Staring at the youth's face, a sliver of guilt passed through his eyes. He sighed a lengthy sigh.

‘Sorry, Ralf, it had to be done.’

The World's Light had done many wicked deeds in his days, but even so, he couldn't help but feel dirty to his core for wronging the youth. Still, as terrible as he felt, he didn’t move to undo his actions. While it hurt his consciousness, he knew that it was necessary. His sense of duty demanded that he take the precautions he had.

‘I can’t risk another Astra situation.’

Hearing footsteps behind him, Micheal was snapped out of his thoughts. Glancing back, he found Hana. Taking in her haggard form, Micheal’s chest tightened up. Ralf’s state had taken a heavy toll on her. Dark circles found themselves around her eyes, which showed a blank listless look.

“Ra…lf?”

Micheal shook his head with a heavy heart. “Nothing.”

“I...see.”

Her despondency pained Micheal so much that he was forced to avert his gaze. Focusing on Ralf’s resting form, he spoke.

“Waiting is all we can do. We have to trust that whatever Ralf is experiencing is temporary.”

Micheal moved to a cabinet and dragged his fingers along the smooth wooden surface till he reached the edge. Stopping, he turned to Hana. 

“I’ve been in Kladek too long. I’ll be leaving shortly.”

Disappointment instantly showed itself on Hana’s face at these words. Yet she couldn’t find it in herself to request more time from him. He had been a big help over the last month. She was grateful to him. He was Micheal Ascania, the Micheal Acsania. He had no doubt a thousand pressing matters to attend to, so Micheal spending a month idle in this small town meant a lot to her.

“I see. Thank you, Micheal, for everything. I’ll manage from here on out.”

Micheal shook his head. “Don’t misunderstand. I’ll be leaving, but I’ve already made preparations.”

“Preparations?”

“Yes, I’ve contacted one of my companions. She’ll be here by tomorrow morning to assist you with the move.”

“Move?”

“Yes, you have to move. Ralf’s explosion has already garnered a lot of outside attention. If not already, it won't be long before this incident lands on the Shadow Raven's radar."

At the mention of the infamous faction’s name, Hana’s tension spiked. She quickly understood where Micheal was getting at. Her lips parted with a tremble and out stuttered a name synonymous with fear and dread.

“Dimitri.”

Micheal nodded gravely. “Yes. That man is always in search of special vessels. Should he come to know of another Unique emerging, Dimitri will definitely make a move.”

Hana’s face paled at the notion of her son's body being targeted by such a fearsome character. Where Micheal was the Light of the World, Dimitri Drazan was the World's Shadow.

"No, that can't happen..."

"Of course," Micheal nodded. "We have to avoid that future at all costs. As such, moving is necessary. Ralf's identity as a Unique must stay in the darkness. As for where? That's up to you. You can choose wherever, but preferably somewhere in the Southern Central Region. The Shadow Raven’s information network isn’t that prominent here.”

Micheal walked across the spacious room to a relatively empty section. His Unique Psi gathered up, and ten large wooden crates flashed into existence a moment later.

Hana’s eyes flickered a bit - just a bit. By now, she had seen him conjure up dozens of things and wasn't too surprised. She watched Micheal lift one of the lids and retrieve a glass vial. The purplish contents swirled as he brought it closer.

“These are high-quality stamina potions. I’ve been injecting this stuff into Ralf’s body to keep it from deteriorating. You'll have to give it to him the old-fashioned way once I'm gone. I’ll leave you a few hundred of these. One a day will suffice.”

“Just one?”

“Yes," Micheal confirmed. "These things pack a hefty punch. You can try one yourself to feel the effects. One will be enough - actually, with his body as it is now, even a few drops will be enough.”

Hana’s brows quirked up at his words. Noting her confusion, Micheal quickly explained.

“I’ve left Ralf a gift: a powerful inheritance potion. It is currently working its magic, altering the very make-up of his body. Strength, agility, regeneration, senses; these and more will be enhanced to ridiculous heights.”

“Really? That’s great! Thank you so much, Micheal."

The Raven's face flickered as he was struck by a pang of guilt. He collected himself before Hana could notice and waved his hand. "Think nothing of it; I consider it an investment," he said with a strained smile. "I have no doubt that Ralf will one day join my side and fight to further peace and prosperity."

Hana’s gratitude spiked. Another round of ‘thank yous' left her lips.

Micheal didn’t stay much longer after that. After leaving Hana in the capable hands of his companion, Lisana, who arrived the next day, the Raven departed, leaving Kladek for good.