Chapter 10

As dawn broke, the black-eyed boy rose to begin his long day. This time he was temporarily excused from his training routine as he would be leaving the farm to solve his little problem.

After eating a piece of bread along with some vegetables and a glass of water, Zirken borrowed a piece of clothing from the old man and put them on under his large cloak. After that he set off towards the hill from which he came earlier. According to some research done before arriving at the farm, that place is quite isolated and few people walked there, making it the perfect place to prevent him from being discovered or hurting anyone.

Arriving close to his goal, the boy assigned his gaze to the stopwatch fixed in the upper right corner of his vision.

[Time remaining until Taiyo's grace awakens: 6:54:22]

"I'm glad that countdown ended up there, it was going to be a pain in the ass to move around in case that big notice stayed in front of me like that." - Zirken.

In a while, the black-eyed boy had finally reached the top of the hill. He stood still for short minutes watching his surroundings to make sure he would not be found or if there were any people around. After confirming his safety, Zirken sat down on the ground and propped his back on one of the large rocks around the site.

"*Sigh* Looks like I'll need to stand here until the time comes. I should have brought something to pass the time..." - Zirken.

A few hours later...

[Time remaining until Taiyo grace awakens: 00:00:05]

"The time has finally come! I couldn't bear to wait anymore." - Zirken.

[Time remaining until grace awakens Taiyo: 00:00:00]

[The awakening is beginning!]

After that short warning, the temperature of the entire hill began to rise. The landscape began to ripple due to the high heat that was being generated there, the rocks slowly came to melt as the temperature rose higher and higher by the second. Anyone passing nearby could notice the immediate changes in the environment.

Then a strong light emerged from the tip of the boy's foot and began to spread over his entire body. In a matter of seconds Zirken was completely covered in a strong white light that further illuminated his entire surroundings.

Suddenly, the intensity of the light rose to extremely high levels and as a result, almost all the people living on the south and west side of the sea wall could see the strong luminosity coming from there, even if it was daytime.

"What's happening there?" - Resident of the Shiganshina district.

"Is the end of humanity approaching?!" - Resident of Shiganshina.

'Is it....no, there should be lightning or something similar if around in case it was one of the original titans.... Then what is it?"- Grisha Yeager.

"The sun is coming down to earth?!" - Shiganshina resident.

Indeed, it seemed that the sun had come out of the sky and headed towards that place. A great commotion was generated within the districts where the strong light reached, and at that moment one of the greatest mysteries within the walls emerged.

After a few seconds the luminosity finally began to decay and gradually the light was extinguished, until it was completely extinguished.

[Awakening complete: body modification completed]

"Body modification? I don't feel anything different with my cor-" - Zirken.

The boy was about to finish his sentence, but was interrupted by the great shock he suffered when he noticed the place he was standing. All the rocks were melted away and any trees or animals previously present were gone. All that was left was only a completely changed terrain and almost completely on fire.

"Holy shit!? Even the hill is gone! Good thing I didn't stay on the farm or even the old man would have turned to ashes!" - Zirken.

Soon after calming down, the young man started to check if there was anything wrong with his powers or anything that could hinder him in the future. After a few tests like walking, punching the air or taking a rock in his hand and accessing it without any difficulty...

"Apparently I have no problem controlling Taiyo grace. I think it's according to the goddess' words, but I'm not totally sure yet..." - Zirken.

"I don't feel any emotional change either, probably because my power is weakening from being past noon..."

"Stopping to think now, how does this auxiliary system work? Is it only supposed to warn me if something occurs?" - Zirken.

[...]

"No answer at all...Well, I'll see about that later. I'd better get out of here right away before the military arrives. I'm pretty sure all this damage won't go unnoticed." - Zirken.

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Soon after a few hours of brisk walking, the boy arrived again at the farm where he currently lives. Upon entering the grounds, he immediately went looking for the old man, but it wasn't long before he felt a nearby presence at his back and turned his body around.

"Who would you be, young man? You should stay away from this area, didn't you see the huge light a few hours ago?" - Old Ezir

"Huh? It's me, Zirken. Are you suffering from memory loss or something?" - Zirken.

Upon hearing such a phrase, the old man's eyes widened as he stared at the boy before him. He blinked a few more times and even scratched his eyes to confirm that he wasn't seeing things.

"No, no. It's impossible, the brat didn't have gold hair or gold eyes and was a little smaller. I may be old, but I'm not blind." - Old Ezir

"What?! Gold?!" - Zirken.

He immediately took off running in the direction of the lake and soon caught up with him.

'He's fast...' - Old Ezir

As he watched his own reflection in the beautiful, crystal clear lake, he finally noticed the clear changes in his own appearance. His face was a little better formed, his hair had taken on a golden tint, and his eyes were also that color.

'And I thought I hadn't changed at all...*sigh* I should have expected this.' - Zirken.

"See, there's no way you could be that boy." - Old Ezir

Hearing the old man's words, Zirken turned his gaze toward the sky. The sun was already setting on the horizon and night was getting closer and closer.

'Hopefully I will return to normal during the night...' - Zirken.

"Just wait a few minutes and you will soon confirm...probably." - Zirken.

"Patience is one of my virtues." - Old Ezir

Minutes later...

Night finally came, and it was at this very moment that the golden hair and eyes returned to their original color. Even Zirken's height diminished a little.

"Can you believe it now?" - Zirken.

"If I hadn't lived so long, I would have sent you away because I think you are cursed..." - Old Ezir

"hehehe, I'm glad you are a fairly lived-in old man." - Zirken with a playful smile on his face.

"That was the personal matter you had to settle? Was it you who generated that huge beam of light?" - Old Ezir

"For the first question, yes. And for the second, probably..." - Zirken.

"You'd better make sure you hide well. I'm sure in a few days the military will hit this farm." - Old Ezir

"I am counting on you sir to cover for me." - Zirken bowing his head slightly.

"Right, right, but I hope you will at least explain this to me at some point." - Old Ezir.

"Only when you tell me your name, hehe." - Zirken.

"*sigh* That's a deal then." - Old Ezir.

After this exchange, the two entered the old wooden house again. They both ate their supper and soon after the boy started running around the lake to make up for his day off.

After completing his 42nd lap, Zirken rested lying on the ground for a few minutes and then headed home, more specifically to his own room. He didn't roll around too much and quickly threw himself on the bed to rest. However, several thoughts came running through his mind again.

'I tried my best not to remember this so it wouldn't affect me too much, but it's ironic how I became similar to him only after awakening my powers...' - Zirken.

'It's the end of the year 843, so I have a little over a year until the fall of the maria wall. This time I promise, no matter what it takes, I will not lose any more of my family and I will reward the Yeager for taking care of them.'

Soon after pondering the future some more, the young Zirken gave in to fatigue and fell asleep quietly in his bed.