NOVEL WEB Chapter 4: Imprints
Wu Yuan's room was spacious and sleek. A seamless glass wall showed a changing cityscape. His bed hovered slightly above the floor, and there was a slim console beside it.
Wu Yuan lay in the Queen-sized bed.
"Tch, my body feels even weaker than before," he whispered, slowly opening his eyes and pushing himself upright.
"Hmm, Sister must've brought me back. I wonder what kind of trouble the destruction of the Star Awakening Orb will cause." A few possibilities flashed through his mind, none of them good.
"Wu Yuan…" His mom appeared in the room, her voice soft but filled with worry.
"Mom? What are you doing here?"
"If I hadn't appeared, who would deal with the trouble you've caused?" Her voice was stern.
"Ohh!" Wu Yuan scratched his head.
"How do you feel?" She asked, her voice gentle with concern.
"I'm fine, it's just my body that's a bit weak."
"Hmm, that's good. Now let's figure out what's happened to you. Ying Yue said you shattered the Star Awakening Orb. What happened?"
"I don't really know. I placed my hand like I was instructed, and the next moment, it shattered." He couldn't exactly tell the truth, could he?
Her expression darkened. "This is the first time the Star Awakening Orb reacted this way. Too bad it would be the last," she said softly.
"What kind of trouble will the destruction of the Star Awakening Orb cause?" He asked, his voice was quiet but also serious.
His mother gave him a long look, then sighed.
"Let's leave that for now. It's not something you need to burden yourself with. This matter will cause a lot of problems in the Alliance and its something you can't interfere with. At least not now."
As if remembering, she looked at Wu Yuan with worry.
"What I find strange is that you managed to summon that beast, and it was able to defeat wei jian sent by the alliance."
Wu Yuan lowered his head and thought a little, trying to find a reasonable answer. "Yes I summoned it during a desperate situation and it was beyond my limit.
"Hmm, that's strange. I've never heard of your case since the discovery of the Star Awakening Orb 300 years ago.
"Summoning something that powerful that's far beyond your realm… What were you thinking?" she whispered, her voice trembling with both fear and awe.
She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, her eyes misty.
"You could've died, Wu Yuan. I understand that during that situation you had no choice, which is why what you summoned had faults, but promise me you won't summon something you can't handle."
"Okay, I promise," he said softly, lowering his head.
"Still, summoning something that strong means I'm awesome… right?" he grinned, tilting his head with mock pride.
"You this rascal," She tapped the back of his head gently. "I have seen a lot of things that you couldn't even imagine."
"Don't be so smug." She tapped his head again.
"Why does everyone keep hitting me on the head." Wu Yuan complained even though he couldn't feel the pain.
"There are other talented people out there, like that girl, Mei Li, who awakened a Planet-level Job with an Aspect. Don't underestimate others just because of a momentary win."
"Of course, Mom. I won't underestimate anyone," he said, knowing she was only trying to look out for him.
"That's good. Remember to come to me if there's anything wrong that you can't handle." She breathed a sigh of relief
"If anyone asks whether you awakened, just say you're a late awakener. There have been others who didn't awaken immediately after touching the Star Awakening Orb, but awakened some time later."
"So I'm officially a 'late bloomer,' huh? Alright, I'll go with that."
"Huh…" He looked around, confused. "Where's sister? Has she gone back?"
"Yes, Ying Yue went back to the academy two days ago."
"Two days ago?" His eyes widened. "How long have I been asleep?"
"You have been asleep for five days now."
"Five days? Then isn't the competition for the Trial tomorrow?" He jolted to his feet.
Held annually, the competition for the trial is open to all newly awakened students.
Its purpose is to select the most promising candidates who will qualify for the true Trial held by the Five Academies.
"Yes. You're not thinking of attending, are you?" his mother asked.
"Of course I am. How else can I protect you and Dad if I don't join an academy? Joining one of the Five Academies is the best way to do so," Wu Yuan said with a resolute tone.
His mother blinked. This was the first time she had seen Wu Yuan act this way since he was a child.
"No. You're still too young to be thinking of that. Although you have mysterious powers, you are not an awakener in the normal sense, after all. And besides, your body is still too weak to attend such competition," she said surprised as she was, but still refused to let him go.
"Mom, like I said, you don't have to worry about me. The students attending the competition just awakened and would be at the first level of Initial Awakener at best," Wu Yuan said with confidence.
"Okay then." She could only sigh knowing Wu Yuan Wouldn't listen
"But promise me if you couldn't handle it, you'll give up the competition and won't force yourself."
"I promise. I won't let you down."
"That's good. Oh, what do you need this for?" As she spoke, the remaining few star shards appeared on the bed. "Ying Yue said you needed this. Is there anything you're not telling me?"
"Yes, with this I'm sure to make it into the first of the Five Academies." Wu Yuan looked at the remaining star shards with a smile.
The few remaining star shards had dimmed, with only a few lights still twinkling inside them like stars.
"Even if you had awakened, there's no way you could gain such power so quickly. I don't know what you're using them for, but taking them back to the Alliance would be useless.
You must remember not to tell anyone about the destruction of the Star Awakening Orb. If word spreads out, it would cause panic, and the fact that you were the one who destroyed it would be known."
"I won't," Wu Yuan nodded.
"That's good. I've been away for five days now. It's time to return to the Alliance and figure out how to handle this matter," she sighed, ruffling Wu Yuan's hair.
"Don't worry about me, Mom. Go do your thing."
""Call me on your Halo Band if you need anything," she said, then disappeared, leaving Wu Yuan alone in the room.
He glanced at the star shards on his bed.
"…To think something like that came from this."
As he stared, he recalled what happened.
"What were those…?" he questioned. Then he saw them again, threads, faint and ghostlike, flickering around the shards.
They weren't just floating. They were intersecting, forming patterns.
"Imprint…" he murmured, eyes widening. "No… these are Awakening Imprints."
Wait… Could that be why?
His gaze sharpened as he stared at the faint threads flickering between the shards.
"When I placed my hand on the Orb... I should have awakened something resulting in the shaterring of the orb."
A chill ran down his spine. The Star Awakening Orb hadn't revealed a path. Instead, it broke.
And that beast that emerged
"What if… it wasn't summoned through me alone… but shaped by the countless Awakening Imprints stored in the Orb?"
The thought hit him like thunder.
"No, it wasn't a summon. I created it without meaning to, out of desperation and will, just pure instinct. It formed from those imprints at once. No wonder it was incomplete and unstable. With so many mixed paths and no control on my part, it's no surprise it collapsed."
It was a construct of chaos, a creature made from paths, aspects, talents — all overlapping.
Every time a student awakens, they leave behind an Awakening Imprint, a spiritual blueprint that records their awakened Job, Aspect, and innate potential.
"So that's it!" His eyes widened in realization, and a wave of excitement rushed over him. He couldn't hide the grin spreading across his face.
Countless students had awakened with the help of the Star Awakening Orb… Just the thought of a vast archive of imprints he could study and draw from in the future made his heart race.
But then he paused.
"But it's already broken…" The excitement drained from his face. What use is a broken orb?
When the orb shattered, most of the imprints scattered with it. Only a few remained clinging to the shards. And some of those were used in constructing of that beast
"Is that…? There's only one complete blueprint left." He focused on the lone silhouette. "And it's already starting to fracture."
"How do I keep it from breaking?" He questioned, eyes fixed on the trembling silhouette of the imprint.
As he thought that, the fracturing imprint flickered… then slowly drifted toward him.
It entered his chest without resistance.
"What…?" His eyes widened as he instinctively touched his chest, searching for any trace but there was no sign of it.
But he could sense that it hadn't vanished. Following the lingering sensation, he closed his eyes and focused inward, trying to sense where it had gone.
There, deep within him, he sensed a vast, boundless space, quiet and unfathomable.
"It's this place… I came here during the awakening…" he murmured, eyes still shut.
"That's the imprint." Off to the side, faintly pulsing at a corner and was suspended in this space.
"I seem to understand." He stared at the drifting imprint.
"So… everytime I come here, I can understand the imprints better and faster," he said, realizing the purpose of this place.
He let out a breath, both excited and afraid.
Beep!
A sharp tone pulled Wu Yuan out of the space, dragging his awareness back to reality.
Wu Yuan looked at his wrist, where his Halo Band was. "Twenty-three messages? Who could be this desperate?"
He tapped on it, and the Halo Band projected a virtual screen into the air.
Shock etched on his face as he scrolled through the barrage of messages.
Message 1: Wu Yuan, where are you?
Message 3: I heard you didn't awaken?
Message 10: Is it true? Why aren't you replying?
"News really spread fast." He shook his head.
What Wu Yuan didn't know was that the schools would release detailed information about the path the students awakened to compete among each other
"Even schools in other cities, ones far from mine, already know," Wu Yuan muttered, touching his forehead.
One of the people who sent a message was his childhood friend, who lived in another city and attended a different school.
"I should reply before he sends another message." With a sigh, he tapped at the virtual screen floating in front of him.
"Of course I awakened. I'll explain tomorrow when we meet for the competition."
After replying to the flood of messages, Wu Yuan let out a deep breath.
"The competition is tomorrow. I should try to understand the imprint as best as I can to improve my chances." With his eyes closed, he sat cross-legged on the bed and slowly slipped back into that strange space once more.