The room of mirrors was filled with absolute silence, with only one person remaining. It was the Leader of the Ashborn Family, one of the very few Disaster-Class existences in the universe.
He was Silas Ashborn, who ruled the Ashborn Family with an iron fist. Many people even called him an emotionless beast, who couldn't care less about things like family or friends.
"Are you going to offer an explanation?" Silas broke the silence, his question directed towards the Dean of the Academy.
Only a few people in this world could talk to the Dean of the Dinsional Academy in such a manner, and Silas was one of them.
His gaze never left the mirror, which displayed the nas of those who had completed the awakening ceremony. At the end of the list, one particular na caught his attention. It was Elias Ashborn.
"Do you really want an explanation?" a voice ca from behind him. A portal opened behind Silus, and a woman stepped out.
Silus turned, observing the woman's pale face. She looked to be in her early thirties, but Silus knew she was much older than that. She was almost as old as him.
Normally, she appeared perfectly healthy. However, for so reason, she looked like she had been through a lot. Silus could still see faint traces of blood around her eyes, as if they had been bleeding recently.
"Why do you look so bad? Were you in a fight?" he asked. "That's not it. If you were fighting soone to the point of injury, the battle would have shaken this entire realm. I wouldn't have missed that. Then how...?"
"You still have the gall to ask that question? Isn't it because of you?!" the woman glared at Silus, unable to hide her frustration.
"Because of ?" Silus furrowed his brows. "I don't rember fighting you. If I had, you would be missing at least a few limbs by now."
"It's because of your request. I tried to remove your son from the trial. It seems the trial had so laws that didn't allow it. My pet, who interfered, was killed as punishnt. With my Spiritual Pet's death, I also suffered a heavy backlash."
She didn't tell Silus about the vision that she had seen, as she herself didn't understand it entirely. The only thing she was able to confirm was that her pet was killed because of the interference.
"There was a rule like that? How did you not know about it?" Silus asked.
"How am I supposed to know? Do you think we go around interfering in the Awakening Ceremony every day?" the woman snapped. Although his tone was neutral, she felt a hint of mockery.
Even though Silus didn't say it outright, she could feel that he was calling her useless and incompetent.
"Since we never interfered in the Awakening Ceremony, it seems we never triggered the rule. If I had known about it, do you think I would have sent my pet to die?!"
Silus didn't question her anymore. Although it was a surprising revelation, it did make sense. It wasn't as if they had created the awakening stones themselves. There were many things about these stones that they didn't know.
No one knew who created the awakening stones, or even how they originated. Did they co into existence naturally through cosmic chaos? Or did soone analyze bloodlines and create the awakening stones?
Many people tried to analyze them, but no one had any answers. All they knew was that the evolution stones and the heavenly pillars were discovered in a ruined world.
No one knew how the world was destroyed. Even the people who had retrieved these awakening stones and other artefacts from that world, never ntioned anything about that world.
There were no records from that world. It was as if that world's entire existence was erased from recorded history by those who discovered it. Many people tried to find that ruined world, but it was never discovered again.
"You need to compensate . I've lost my dear pet because of your request. You need to find sothing more precious!" the Dean of the Academy told Silus, bringing him out of his daze.
"Find one yourself. It's not as if you completed my request." Silus lazily answered as he walked away. The Awakening Ceremony was over, and to his surprise, Elias had succeeded, albeit with so luck.
"You're as hateful as always," the Dean frowned, watching Silas leave. "If you don't compensate , should I collect that compensation from your youngest? After all, it's also because of him that I lost a pet."
"Do as you please," Silas waved his hand as he stepped inside a portal. "You can kill him for all I care."
He disappeared inside the portal, which soon closed. The realm of mirrors again returned to silence, with only the woman left behind.
She blankly looked at the place where Silas had disappeared. She didn't understand if he was being serious or not. Was he truly going to be so carefree if she actually killed Elias?
....
Elias was completely unaware of the conversation that had taken place between his father and the Dean of the Dinsional Academy.
He was still overwheld by the fact that he had actually succeeded with the rger.
"It doesn't feel much different." He sat up after catching his breath. Physically, he couldn't see any changes in himself. His body still looked as frail as ever, but he was less exhausted over ti.
He could feel his stamina recovering much faster, and his bones felt a little stronger than before.
He stood up and walked closer to the heavy crystal sphere. Grabbing it with both hands, he again tried to raise it, curious if his strength had changed at all.
He still couldn't lift the sphere off the floor. Despite that, he felt elated. Even if he couldn't raise the sphere, he was still able to move it horizontally, sothing that was impossible for him before.
"It did increase my strength. Though more tests are needed, this is certainly a good start."
After confirming the usability of the rger, he rushed back to the edge of the pillar, rembering the other object. It had ntioned the possibility of extraction, albeit a low possibility.
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