Chapter 24: Beginning (Edited)

Returning tired and sore to my room, I open the door and head to my desk; In a drawer, there are about 8 potions, 3 high-grade and 5 low-grade.

"Hehehehe, I stole them from my parents."

Taking a low-quality potion, I remove the cap and bring it to my mouth. I feel a very cold liquid going down my throat. Naturally, any other day I wouldn't waste a potion, but since I'm leaving tomorrow, I need to be at one hundred percent. My body heals the wounds, and I feel much better than before.

"It's refreshing," I murmur.

After bathing, I sit on my bed and think about what happened in the duel.

"Sistema, what happened?"

[¡Timbre! It's the host. You went through a state known as pre-awakening.]

[The host, being in the silver rank, couldn't awaken properly.]

"I see."

I felt powerful and energetic, but the process was painful. Lying on the bed, I close my eyes to sleep peacefully.

***

It's a bit cold. I'm outside the house; It's still dark, and I estimate it's around 4 in the morning. I'm heading to the stables to pick up my horse. Being purebred, we can reach our destination in 8 or 7 days if we accelerate the pace.

Arriving where my horse is, I see him sleeping. As I approach, he lifts his head and looks me in the eyes. He's a beautiful animal, as black as the night itself. Lifting him, I take him out of the stable and outside.

As I put on the saddle and everything else, I hear footsteps approaching; I don't need to know who it is.

"I see you're ready," my sister says.

"You know I need to get there fast. Good morning, sister," I reply.

"Will you be okay? You know the forest is very dangerous."

"I know very well, sister. I'll be careful, you know? After all, I don't want to die," I respond confidently.

With everything ready, I turn my gaze to her.

"Brother, who are you? Are you really my brother? I've been watching you all these months; you change so radically, your attitudes and personalities are very different. Who are you?"

Looking her in the eyes, I sigh. It doesn't surprise me that she noticed; My personality, compared to Anthony's, is very different. A part of me wanted her to realize, but the other part was afraid of how she would react.

Looking her in the eyes, I hesitated for a moment. I've always considered myself an honest person, thinking that honesty strengthens and makes a relationship more reliable, but now I was doubting. Multiple options crossed my mind at this moment.

Taking a deep breath.

Putting on the fakest smile, I respond, "Of course I am."

I looked her in the eyes; There was a slight hesitation.

"So, why did you decide to change? Why are you training? Why do you care about the academy now? Why are you so different than before?"

I kept in mind what I had just said; I was aware that sometimes I felt like someone was watching me from somewhere, but I thought it was just in my head. Over these past months, I tried to act as normal as possible, but of course, some things simply cannot be hidden, like my dedication to my training. In the vague, blurry memories that sometimes passed through my mind, I saw how my father tried to get his son to pick up a sword and train. He trained for one or two days and then locked himself in his room again.

Then, overnight, they see how their daughter never stops training for 6 months without missing a single day. It's strange, unusual. My father is strong, very strong, I know that very well. As the second strongest man in the empire, he can see my soul sea, but there's one thing: he won't be able to identify if I'm his son or not. After all, I have the same essence as his son, just a different personality. The essence of the soul cannot be changed or modified; the only way it can happen is when you are corrupted by defilement. It turns black, and the light of the stars disappears forever.

With that in mind, I look at my sister. It's quite complicated to answer her question, but "Why can't I be different?" I didn't directly respond to her question; instead, I replied with a question, so she'll have to think of an answer to her question, not me.

She furrows her brow, sinking into her thoughts for a few seconds, clearly confused, but the easiest way to end this conversation, I spent a few minutes, and she said, "I don't know, but you're definitely better than before."

I smiled and climbed onto my horse and looked forward; the sun was starting to rise: "It's better to be different and change than to live like garbage, and I definitely don't want to keep being garbage."

Urging the horse, he starts to ride, having gathered all that was needed, there were no more words to express, everything had been said, right now I have to think about my next move once I reach the city, looking back for the last time I see my sister.

Emily looked at her brother's back and said, "See you at the academy." After those words, she began to walk towards the house. Memories filled her mind; During these 7 years, he had ignored her. She knew it, and it still hurt her a little. Although he had been watching her for all these months and had changed, she had forgiven him, but she was still angry. It's a contradictory thought, Emily thought, as she sighed. She didn't know very well what to think, but she had all these 6 months to think things over very well. Her figure disappeared behind the door. There was no one in the house, just the two of them and the servants. My parents had to go to the empire to do some things, so this day was perfect for him to leave.