The awakening

The coma Yacha fell into wasn't just a deep state of unconsciousness—his mind was processing. He stood there in his armor, watching his younger self with his mother, eating, laughing, and enjoying life. But he couldn't interact with them.

With each step he took, time moved faster. He wandered outside the wooden house and saw his younger self playing with a girl—a younger version of Shino. A smile crossed his face as he watched.

Suddenly, the same girl appeared behind him.

"It's a beautiful scene to look at," she said, approaching him.

He remained silent, merely glancing at the boy defending the girl from some bullies. Turning to the other side, he watched his younger self making a promise to Shino before a man—his father—cast a curse on him.

"Someday you will understand, Yacha. When the time comes, I won't be around. And if you manage to break this curse, remember one thing," his father said with a sad look.

"Don't trust the gods." His final words hung in the air like a will before death.

Yacha's father had known the Akkadians were coming but had no power to stop them. Instead, he prepared his son by casting a spell to make him forget Shino. His father knew Shino wasn't just a normal homeless child. He was a spy of the Gutian kingdom within Akkadia, he spent years gathering information for the Gutians, until he came across Sigurd. Both of them made a discovery when they were sent on a mission to Cedar Forest.

The forest wasn't just a place that the gods had no control over. But a place that contained an infamous group called the Smofyious Order. 

A revolutionary group formed by a man named Rigel, the most wanted man in Akkadia. Whoever came across that man didn't live to tell the tale. And those few who made it turned against Akkadia.

His father understood that if the memory curse was cast again, Yacha's core would resist it, unlocking the thunder attribute. A method to unlock the fifth attribute. How that worked remained a mystery—perhaps unlocking the thunder attribute this way was just one of many paths to power.

Yacha wandered through his memories until he opened a door. A door without a house or base. The scene before him was more familiar than a memory—it was the last thing he recalled: his mother being slaughtered by Seiken scouts.

A voice called out to him. He turned and saw himself, like looking into a mirror.

"What are you going to do now?" his other self asked.

"I don't know…"

"Let me rephrase that. Which path are you going to take now?"

Everything turned white, leaving only Yacha and his other self, standing face to face. Yacha didn't know what to do, but he had a purpose. He had been dragged into this game, drugged by it, and was now left with so many unanswered questions.

Why did his father know about the thunder attribute? Even the temple of polytheists had no idea how the fifth element was unlocked. Why did he know the gods' plans? Was his father even truly dead?

More questions surged into his mind.

"I will stick by her side," Yacha answered.

His other self smiled as if he wasn't expecting this response—or maybe it was simply the right one. He smiled and began to fade.

"Go then… make your choice."

Yacha opened his eyes. He wasn't agitated or confused. His eyes scanned the room, searching for Shino. Though he could barely stand, he gathered the strength to rise. Ursang was there, watching over his friend, but he wasn't surprised to see Yacha awake.

"Where is Shino?" Yacha asked.

A look of disappointment crossed Ursang's face, his dissatisfaction clear.

"You've been out for more than three weeks, and the first thing you ask about is that girl?" Ursang replied, his voice heavy with disapproval.

"Ursang, I don't have time to explain. I need to find her," Yacha said, rushing toward the door.

"We received a dangerous mission, Yacha… to the continent of Thraundrakk. The dwarves have asked for the Empire's help," Ursang announced, hoping for some kind of sympathy.

Yacha paused and asked about the mission. It turned out that the dwarven city of Threundir had been attacked by a creature identified only as a dragon. But that couldn't be possible—the dragons were said to have been wiped out by the gods, long extinct.

Ursang then begged Yacha to forget about Shino and join them. He pleaded with him to return to their former team of four, to grow stronger together. He begged him not to leave for a girl he barely knew.

Yacha turned around, staring at Ursang for a moment before shaping a thunderbolt between his palms.

"The reason I can use thunder, Ursang, is simple. You just have to fight back the memory curse they cast on us when they took us from our homes."

He paused, waiting for Ursang's response.

"I knew Shino long before I joined the Seikens. The dreams I had, Ursang… they were memories of my—"

Before Yacha could finish, Ursang punched him in the face.

"You're accusing the Empire of this blasphemy? And you're saying it in front of me? We are children with no past or homes. The Seikens are our home," Ursang stated, though he kept his tone calm despite his anger.

Ursang went on to inform Yacha about Mastrata joining their team and how they planned to make him a permanent member since Yacha wasn't planning to come back. The squad grew, and Ursang got promoted to its official leader.

Naramsin had promoted Ursang to squad leader of twenty-one soldiers, all under his command. Ursang wished Yacha would come back to lead them, but as he saw it, Yacha was already gone, belonging to a different path now.

Yacha didn't argue. He didn't speak or fight. He simply left the room and dressed in his armor, his mind was clear. He wasn't sad or jealous. On the contrary, he was happy his friend had made it to a captain. But his thoughts were consumed with Shino.

When he arrived at the palace, he learned that Shino had been sent on a mission to retrieve a stone tablet of life called sefirot. That lay at the Forbidden Continent—a place of ice and unknown creatures. This nameless land was the homeland of the Exes, a once great realm now reduced to a frozen forest of snow and mystery.

But deep inside yacha's core, something new got unlocked, he felt a faint sensation of his new power , two doubles edged attributes that may or may not be useful. -Mana demonstration ability- The power to control and use mana without any attributes, just pure mana power.