Chronicles of the Ancient Star

"Mmpf!" Her trembling hand covered her mouth, stifling the gasp that threatened to escape as she subconsciously began to step back from terror.

Her wide eyes darted to the lifeless man sprawled before her, hollow eye sockets weeping crimson tears.

"Hnn... Gulp... Ssshh... Hk..." She struggled to quiet her breathing.

The silence of Todesfall Forest was oppressive with its shadows stretching like hungry fingers. Any sound spelled danger.

Her breath came in rapid huff-huffs as she scanned the warding stones encircling the camp, an enchanted stone that wards off monsters and beasts.

However, they were still in place, which confused her even more.

Desperate to warn the others, she began scuttling toward the nearest tent, but her maternal instincts took over.

"My son," she murmured, anxiety gnawing at her as she thought about her missing son.

Coincidentally—

"Bodily functions are within normal parameters."

She turned toward the familiar voice with an expectant expression.

A small boy stood in place.

"Huff, huff, swe-sweetie? Huff," her chest felt suffocated with rampant emotions.

"..."

She reached for his shoulders, but hesitated mid-step. "Sweetie, what happened?!" She hushed. Her eyes fixed on the blood smeared across his small hands.

"..."

She strove to remain calm for her son. "Sweetie, are you hurt somewhere?"

The boy only blinked once in response and tilted his head sideways. His eyes looked empty, but his lips curved into a faint smile.

She hurried toward him to check. "Sweetie, please talk to—"

"—To ensure complete security, the potential threats in the proximity have been successfully terminated," he interrupted in a monotonous tone.

Confused, she roughly stopped in her tracks. "W-what do you mean, 'terminated'?"

"..."

With a racing mind, her breaths were quickening, in contrast with the calming wind of the forest.

A shiver ran down her spine as she glanced at the nearby corpse then back at the boy.

Time seemed to slow as she focused on the cascading drop of blood from his small hands.

Without hesitation—

No.

—she reached out as realization dawned on her.

As if acknowledging her surging mana, the wind began to blow stronger once more.

"Where's my son?!" she cried as she tried to bind him with ice, no longer concerned with keeping her voice low.

The boy's reaction time was fast as he jumped away from her, precisely dodging her ice with an unreadable expression.

The leaves shuddered as the wind grew colder.

"Release him!" she demanded. Ice shards formed at her fingertips and launched them like arrows.

The boy calculated her attack's trajectories with simple gestures, sidestepping at the last moment.

"Energy depleting—threat detected—neutralizing," he spoke.

When cornered, he would disrupt her ice with brief but sharp bursts of energy, changing their directions.

The trees around them reverberated with hollow thunks as the ice shards pierced their bark. Those that struck the ground made a faint squelch, while those that crashed on rocks sounded like breaking glass.

Each time the woman's ice missed, a weight was oddly lifted from her heart, puzzling her mind.

That's not my sweet boy, she justified, her breaths shallow and uneven.

At this point, it's unsure whether she's subconsciously causing her attacks to miss, or if she's simply up against a true monster.

His smile, it's wrong—it's too cold.

The warm, innocent grin she had vowed to protect was gone, replaced by something that chilled her to the core.

What's happening—where's my son? Her trembling hands curled into fists, whitening her knuckles.

She remembered the way he used to cling to her, his small arms wrapping around her neck after a nightmare, the way his laughter used to light up their tiny home.

I promised to keep him safe, so tell me... "Where is my son, you monster?!!"

The noise stirred the people in the stillness of the sleeping night, rousing them from their sleep.

"Stop at once!"

"Neve? What are you doing?!"

Neve didn't even take a second to glance at the source of the voices, her eyes were completely locked on the boy.

"AHHHHHH!" A woman screamed. "His eyes... they're, bleurgh!" She couldn't finish her sentence before throwing up.

"Did you murder Ted Brandy?"

"Neve, explain yourself, right now!"

"Hostile target identified. You pose a risk to the awakening process," the boy stated, followed by the sound of crashing ice.

Everyone's attention shifted to the boy who was flawlessly dodging Neve's attacks.

"Isn't that... her son?"

"How is that small boy dodging her attacks?"

"There's no time to think. We have to restrain them both before the noises attract monsters. If that happens, we're as good as dead."

Amidst the whispering argument around her, Neve's sweat dropped.

Unexpectedly, the boy then dashed beyond the warding stones' zone.

"No!" Neve screamed.

"Stop, it's not safe beyond the stones!" a red-headed mercenary shouted as he chased after the boy.

Another blonde mercenary pinned Neve violently to the ground. "What is going on, you crazy woman? Explain yourself now, or..."

"Get away from me!" Neve protested.

"Snap out of it!" The blonde slapped her.

Without warning, the running boy abruptly stopped.

"Energy... depleted." The boy's voice faltered as the energy around him shifted. His small frame swayed before hitting the ground with a thud, devoid of control.

A whooshing wind blew through the momentary silence as they realized something.

"I've seen someone possessed by an evil spirit before, and this looks eerily similar to that."

"There are ghosts in the forest?"

"I wish it were that simple. If it's something worse…"

"My son!" Neve's heart skipped a beat while staring at the boy's unconscious body, realizing her mistake.

She wished it was over when low growls from afar shattered that hope.

Todesfall Forest was waking up, and it was hungry.

While everyone's attention was drawn to the rising danger, a faint glow began to emanate from the boy's chest, pulsing outward rhythmically, each beat stronger than the last.

The ground trembled beneath their feet.

A memory flashed inside Neve's mind.

***

'"Mama, wey I become a Mystian one day? I want to be a stwong Mystian... wike Mama."

To ordinary humans, Mystians are revered as miracles, able to bend reality to their will.

For a child, it's a dream—but not everyone awakens to that power.

"Of course you will. Once you awaken, you'll be the strongest Mystian ever," Neve responded with hope in her voice.'

***

At present, his body began to float, weightless and radiant, as his son's dream started to take shape—the air around him is tensing with mana.

Neve's breath hitched. "Sweetie…" Neve whispered as a tear fell from her eye. Her voice barely audible over the rising thrum of energy.

Leaves trembled on their branches, the ground quaked, and a chilling stillness fell over the clearing.

The boy's glow intensified, casting long, sharp shadows across the forest floor.

Light swirled around him, like radiant colorful threads, each strand pulsing with unbridled power.

The sole merchant of the group muttered under her breath, "I have seen many awakenings, but this is my first time witnessing a Mystian's Awakening this… beautiful."

An archer beside her wasn't as captivated as she pulled her bow taut. "Beautiful? It's a death sentence! Look around you!" she jabbed her finger toward the shifting shadows behind the trees.

Distant howls broke, guttural and haunting.

A flock of birds erupted from the treetops, their frantic wings cutting through the thick air.

"Perfect. An awakening in the forest of death?" the blonde said sarcastically. "We just escaped the Barony from those heretics, and now this?"

A grizzled man with a jagged scar running down his cheek, tighten his sword grip. "This is a problem, a'ight!" he clenched his teeth. "That glow is a beacon! All monster within miles will be here any second!"

A younger mercenary, wide-eyed and pale. "This—this is insane," he stammered, clutching the hilt of his dagger. "You didn't tell that your kid is about to awaken!"

The stoic leader of the group, barked an order. "Quiet!" Her sharp gaze darted between Neve and the awakening boy. "Panicking won't save us."

Neve was silent, her eyes locked on her son.

But the cost of her son's awakening was high, as it attracted the forest's threatening attention.

Suddenly, a shriek-snarl cut through the air, followed by the scream of the mercenary who had chased the boy outside the camp's perimeter.

Neve whipped her head intensely around just in time to see a human-shaped creature leap from the shadows.

"Brent!" the young mercenary called out, his voice cracking. "No..." He knelt, his strength failing him.

The red-head's head flew as his body crumpled like a rag doll. Split in two by the monster.

Blood splattered everywhere.

Neve's maternal instinct sharpened as alarm rang in her ears. Her heart thundered as she saw the goblin lurch toward her floating son.

She couldn't let it happen—not now, not ever.

Adrenaline surged, igniting her mana in a burst of heat and light that left the air brittle.

With a flare of explosive fire, she sent the blonde mercenary pinning her down hurtling through the air.

"Stay away from him!" she roared, thrusting her arms downward. Ice spikes erupted from the ground, spearing the goblin from behind.