Andar whispered to himself, “I have awakened? I… have… awakened!” The first words were similar to a question and then it turned into a conclusion.

Andar’s face lit up like the sun and he clutched his master’s hand in excitement, “Master Jonathan, I have awakened.” ℴ𝓋.𝒸ℴ

“Hush child, and stay still, your body is worn out from its struggles.”

Andar could barely keep himself still as he felt a numbing wave spread through his body, and his master’s jaws slowly dropped open in shock. He swallowed loudly and shook his head in utter dumbfounded.

Andar who never felt his master was handsome suddenly found him so beautiful.

Of course, it was not because of his master’s face, no matter how comical the prestigious Mage now appeared, it was the new colors he could see around his master and inside him, they were impossible to describe, but still incredibly vibrant, far more than nature could ever conceive, and his master was filled with the colors.

He found himself wanting to collect the light, but he held himself back and relaxed in his master’s warm hand and he allowed himself to feel his new body, and the numbing echo resonating inside it that was being generated by his master scanning spell.

His current body would never be equal to his Empyrean body in tenacity or strength but it may be able to beat it in the future in terms of energy control.

He felt every single wave of the vibrational energy his master was sending through his body, and he felt he may be able to interfere with it. Yet that would be foolish, he could end up hurting himself.

He had to find ways to distract himself so he did not fall into any random musings and make mistakes at this time.

His eyes went beyond his master and looked above to see the sky… wait he was two floors below the ground, why could he see the sky?

Andar saw the hole was clean and round as if a hot laser had burned through the two floors above the ground and the two floors below it to reach him. Andar became slightly nervous as he feared the cost associated with this amount of destruction.

His master did all this damage to save him, and even though he knew logically it was not his responsibility he still felt burdened, as he knew he would never feel good about himself if he did not find a way to fix it.

“Okay, there is… em, nothing I can do about your body. You are fine… better than fine. You are almost like a Dreadbeast… this is ridiculous… how much Aether was your body really containing, all my previous measurements must be way off. I will need to refine all my findings about… ” his master trailed into silence and was looking at him with a weird look that held countless complexities.

“Andar, tell me everything about your awakening, wait…”

He turned around and made a gesture. The damages behind began to reverse as the floating ashes that Andar did not notice began to return to their previous forms of mortars, metal, glass, and all the other items that were formerly within the gap, sealing the Alchemy Laboratory shut once more.

Andar sighed, “Transmutation.” His surging heartbeat calmed down and his master noticed his situation and frowned, “Apprentice, did you think I would tear through my laboratory without a plan?”

Andar smiled sheepishly, he began attempting to stand and with the support of his master, he did, and instantly noticed he had grown another inch, also, that his clothes were in tatters as they were crusted with blood. His Awakening had been truly violent.

“I should have known it was Transmutation when I saw the purple energy of your lightning, but I’m not in my best state of mind, master.” Andar coughed, “Master, I need to tell you about…”

His master seized him by the shoulder, “Hush Apprentice. It would seem I too am not in the best frame of mind. Andar we would soon be having guests. Whatever you do, don’t agree to any terms they would offer you no matter how enticing the offer may sound, and don’t tell them about the details of your Awakening, this is vitally important. Keep your Spirit Matrix secret, under no circumstance should you show anyone your Spirit Matrix. Is that clear?”

Andar’s eyes were wide with confusion as he nodded his head like a chicken pecking rice.

“Go make yourself presentable and come find me in the lounge on the first floor.” His master turned to leave and he paused, “I have sent a message to your mother and grandfather, be expecting their replies soon.”

Andar was in a daze as he turned and headed to his quarters, his master looked him over with loving eyes before they went cold and he began moving upwards, already hearing the commotion that was heading their way.

Andar entered the bathroom and started peeling his clothes off as he was walking, letting them fall to the ground behind him, he called out, “Nivi, hot, full blast.”

The ceiling above him steamed up before a veritable ocean of hot water drowned him, he retrieved soap and brush and began scrubbing himself down, and the water that escaped his body ran red.

Nivi was the name of the companion Spirit Artifact he had been working on his entire life. It was rudimentary with pitiful functionality, but every line of scripts inside it had been written by him and he cherished it.

It could only perform limited functions, but Andar hoped to one day make it a sentient Spirit Artifact and merge it with his Mage Tower.

He noticed that as he was scrubbing the sensation of the brush touching his skin was incredibly sensitive and yet he did not feel any discomfort, it was as if the vibration from the scrubbing brush was passing through his entire body, not harming him at all but he could still feel every piece of bristles in the brush.

He pushed towards the end of the bathroom and waved his hands. The blast of air that erupted from it shocked him a bit and he looked ahead to a full-length mirror and looked at himself.

The first thing that immediately attracted his attention was his eyes. His pupils were like silver metal, and as he breathed in and out his eyes would light up as if he had a bonfire inside his head.