Blood Resonance

Chapter 7 – The Weight of Awakening

They told him to lie down.

The stone slab was warm from mana. Runes crawled across it like veins—subtle, alive, pulsing with a dull white glow. The chamber was circular, built of black ironwood and polished sandstone, reinforced by decades of enchantments. Heavy, sealed, sacred.

Lucien stood in silence.

Seraphina’s hand lingered briefly on the edge of the slab, then withdrew.

Elaris watched from behind a viewing screen. She hadn’t spoken since the night before. No one had. Not really.

Caelus said nothing. He lay down slowly, arms resting by his sides, eyes open, chest still.

Across the room, an elder mage whispered an incantation.

The process began.

Mana surged.

The first wave entered his body like fire. It wasn't gradual. It wasn't gentle. It was invasion—a river of raw energy shoved into veins that had never carried it before. His body convulsed slightly, instinctively.

And then... stillness.

The runes glowed brighter. Rings of layered magic locked over his chest and spine, pushing mana deeper. The veins beneath his skin began to bulge faintly, then glow. His back arched for a moment—brief, tense—and settled again.

The watching elders exchanged glances.

Ten minutes passed.

Then twenty.

Sweat beaded on Caelus’s forehead, but his jaw remained clenched. He didn’t scream. He didn’t speak.

“Fifty minutes,” a mage whispered. already past the average time for a mage.

His muscles spasmed. Mana slammed into his core like molten glass. His nerves lit up. Any normal child would be crying—thrashing.

But Caelus lay still.

He blinked once.

Lucien’s fingers twitched.

Seraphina’s eyes were sharp, but her grip on the edge of the glass had gone white.

“An hour and twenty... Still enduring. at the regional genious level.”

Elaris stood with arms folded tightly. Her lips were pressed in a line, but she didn’t look away. She couldn’t.

Mana pressure built again.

The chamber darkened as the energy levels surged. The slabs began to hum—a high, painful sound. The light from the runes flooded the room.

“An hour forty-five— this is how long thorin lasted! ”

“He should’ve passed out by now this is crazy!,” someone murmured. 

He didn’t.

He kept going.

Two hours And ten minutes. 

When the chamber dimmed and the light began to fade, Caelus was still awake. Eyes open. Silent.

The mana had nearly torn his internal pathways apart—and reforged them.

His core pulsed faintly with golden light. Threads of qi danced with raw mana, sparking with early signs of rejection. The two forces had not yet made peace. But they would.

Not now. Not yet. But one day.

Caelus sat up.

The chamber was silent.

Lucien exhaled slowly.

Seraphina closed her eyes just once, then turned away.

Elaris stared as her brother stepped off the slab like nothing had happened.

He didn’t look victorious. He didn’t look proud.   

but he quickly put on a proud and pleased expression that didn't match his eyes