Stand tall

Let alone Silas, even Nero held his breath as he watched the card glow. What they had just done was, strictly speaking, not the proper way to craft a card. They had skipped some important steps and taken some shortcuts. But considering the fact that Silas could not control aether, it could be forgiven. After all, it was impossible to craft a card without aether.

After a couple of seconds, the glow faded, and the card was left, still upside down on the table.

Fear, excitement, anxiety, hope, all emotions gripped Silas' heart at the same time, making him afraid to look at the card. His mind was a blur, and he still had not even gotten over the fact that he had completed the whole process in one go!

How was that even possible? It takes an insane amount of practice to become proficient enough to perfectly create a card recipe without the ingredients reacting with one another prematurely. He did not even have aether to guide him, he has used pure theory to do everything. Yet nothing went wrong! If he picked up that card, and it had actually formed a Summon light orb, then he… then he…

"Pick it up," Nero instructed, his voice even and devoid of any emotion. It almost seemed as if, to him, this was merely the natural order of things.

On his own, Silas may never have summoned the courage to inspect his creation, but he obeyed Nero's words without even a single thought. He picked up the card without delay, and flipped it revealing the most resplendent sight Silas had ever seen.

There was an image of an orb of light, suspended in the darkness. He had done it!

"I DID IT!" Silas yelled as he suddenly jumped up… and hit his head on Nero's bed above him. "Ow!" he said, as he grabbed his head, but even so the massive grin on his face didn't twitch in the slightest.

Nero did not interrupt his celebration. Instead, he focused on the card.

Name: Summon light orb

Image: An orb of light suspended in the darkness.

Type: Illusion

Star rank: 0

Ability: [Produces an orb light that can be controlled by caster.]

Flavour text: "We fear the darkness no longer" - Iskunder Macedon.

"Can I see that?" Nero asked as he held out his hand. Silas, of course, quickly handed the card over, his whole body trembling, though now out of excitement, not fear.

He felt the texture in his hand, and compared it to the ones he bought from Maxim's card shop. They were incomparable. The one Silas made felt frail and flimsy besides, meaning it likely had a very low durability.

Nero channelled some aether into the card, and felt a connection form to 'something' outside his body. Then a tiny orb, a couple of centimetres wide, giving off a dim light appeared in the air in front of him. It was quite… modest, if Nero was being polite. If aether had been used more purposefully, instead of randomly fused into it through a crushed aether shard, the results would have been better. But that hardly mattered. Just the fact that the card even worked was incredible, since it had been made entirely by a normal person!

Silas, who was hopping from one foot to another with excitement at the sight of the orb, suddenly froze. His expression changed to that of confusion, then disbelief.

"Nero I… I think I just stabilised," he said, his eyes out of focus. "I felt something in my body click, and I can feel it… it's… I don't know, but I'm sure I stabilised."

Nero raised an eyebrow. That was quite the coincidence. Stabilisation was a process that was hardly understood. It was affected by too many things, just in the way abilities could either be inherited from parents, with some alterations, or completely influenced by one's environment, or both.

It was impossible to determine what the deciding factors were, at least as far as Nero knew. There were, to this day, countless think tanks trying to come up with ways to influence the kinds of abilities that were awakened, but there were more factors at play than they understood.

Regardless, Nero did not doubt that in some small way this success had played a part in him stabilising, and perhaps even in the ability he would unlock.

Nero placed a hand on Silas' shoulder, this time gently, and looked at him in the eyes.

"Silas, I know you've struggled for a long time," he said, his voice finally containing a trace of warmth. 

"I cannot imagine what it must have been like to struggle to do what everyone else could do so easily. After you synchronise that problem should go away, and even if it doesn't, by the time you become an Initiate it will definitely go away. Then you'll be able to run, hop, skip, fight and do all the things you've always wanted to do. But your self worth shouldn't come from any of that, because what you have done today is something that no one else can replicate. 

"Even if you end up lacking in one department, no one will be able to deny that you will be a genius as an artisan in the future. So stop beating yourself up, and be proud. Today, you have earned the right to be a part of my group. So stand tall, not many people get my recognition."

Silas grinned even harder, and his eyes began to water, though he managed to keep his tears from falling. He could not believe it. This was probably the most memorable day of his entire life. It may sound stupid to others, but he had always looked up to Nero. That was also why he was so afraid around him - he was afraid of disappointing or embarrassing him. But now, getting his recognition meant more to him than he could explain. Maybe, just a little bit, it meant even more than what he had achieved with the card.

"Here, take this, and call a cab," Nero said as he held out the Summon light orb card. "It's going to be dark soon, and you'll want to reach the AAB before that. Also call your family, or at least someone, so that you don't have to go back alone when it gets dark. New Neophytes are susceptible to curses."

"Oh, yes, right! I'll do that!" Silas said, his voice no longer stuttering as it had before, and even filled with a semblance of confidence he had lacked. He quickly packed up his things and ran out of the room, taking out his phone to make a call. The sight reminded Nero he needed to buy a new phone. He'd get to it later.

With this small task done, he left the room and made his way back to school. Although the school day was over for most, the school campus would remain open constantly. Before he did anything else, Nero wanted to spend some time training. Not only was it important, it was also therapeutic.