Ascension of the last Celestial

It was the dead of night, all the children of the Wayford Orphanage were asleep in their rooms. The only one still awake was Aurelia. She was in her own room, lying on the bed with her back resting against the headboard, as a soft white light floated beside her, casting a gentle glow across the room. She was currently reading one of the books she had taken from her office.

It was a peaceful atmosphere, when suddenly her eyes snapped wide open. She turned her head downward, as if she were looking at something directly below her room.

’What is going on with the mana?’

Indeed, the mana in the air was acting strange. It was moving through the room in fast, random directions, as if it were excited or agitated. Then, suddenly, all the mana in the air stopped moving at once. Even her own mana inside her core was trembling, reacting to whatever was happening.

After staying completely still for ten seconds, which left Aurelia only more confused, the mana began to move downward rapidly, passing straight through the floor of her room and even rushing down from the ceiling. It was as if all the mana was being sucked away by a massive vacuum in one specific direction.

Not wanting to sit still any longer, Aurelia sprang from her bed. Still wearing her long nightgown, she ran to the door, intending to reach the place where all the mana was gathering.

’Whose room is in that direction?’

After thinking for a moment, a cold realization came to her.

’Valerian’s room is in that direction.’

’But he’s just five! He shouldn’t be able to control mana on such a scale. Just what is going on?!’

Aurelia moved fast through the old corridors while the mana in the air continued to be pulled toward Valerian’s room. Soon, she reached the door and swung it open. The sight in front of her took her breath away.

Valerian was floating above his bed. His eyes were still closed, and he had a calm expression on his face. The mana that was being sucked toward him turned into streams of purple energy as it got closer. These streams converged at his chest, right at the sternum, where his mana core was located...

’It can’t be... Is he awakening? But he’s only five years old!?’

Knowing the special relationship Valerian had with mana, Aurelia knew that the mana wouldn’t hurt him. This belief was reinforced by the fact that as the mana moved toward him, it seemed to be dancing in excitement and happiness.

’I have never seen an awakening like this.’

In all her years as the headmistress of the orphanage, she had seen many awakenings of the children, as well as her own, but none of them had been like this. The mana just kept coming, and by now, all the mana within the orphanage had been sucked away, but it was far from stopping.

Not knowing what to do in this situation, or if she should even do anything at all, Aurelia was completely lost.

’I guess the best thing I can do is make sure that nothing disturbs him.’

Aurelia tried to cast a simple wind barrier around the room so that any noise wouldn’t wake up the other children, but as soon as her mana left her body to form the spell, it too was sucked away. Sighing at her helplessness, Aurelia just closed the door, walked over to the chair by the desk, and sat down.

The gathering of mana continued undisturbed for a bit, until suddenly, Valerian’s eyes opened. When he looked at his surroundings, he noticed that he was floating above his bed, but before panic could seep in, he saw Aurelia sitting to the side.

"There is no need to panic, Val. It seems you are awakening right now."

Still slightly confused, Valerian turned his gaze down to his sternum. He could feel the massive amount of mana gathering in the exact place where a mana core resides.

’I’m actually awakening?! Wow, this feels amazing...’

Reveling in the warm feeling the mana was giving him, he closed his eyes again. But before he could get comfortable enough to let the awakening continue, a sharp pain shot through his entire body.

It felt like his muscles were tearing apart just to be reknit into something else, his bones breaking just to reform into something new. A burning pain shot through his body, starting at his sternum and moving to his arms, down his legs, and lastly up to his head. It felt like magma was being pushed through his veins.

The pain was so blinding that he couldn’t even let out a scream, as his voice died in his throat. His teeth felt like they were being pulled out and replaced with sharper ones; his eyes felt like they were being stabbed hundreds of times with small needles. The top of his head felt as if metal rods were being pushed into it.

And Aurelia watched his body change on a fundamental level, without being able to do anything.

Soon, the pull of the mana subsided, leaving an area with a diameter of five kilometers completely devoid of mana. Valerian’s body continued to float above his bed, when suddenly, tears in the fabric of space appeared around his now-altered form. But that wasn’t all, deep purple flames began to ignite all around his body, without seeming to harm him.

’What is happening now?’

Perplexed by the sudden ignition and the tears in space, Aurelia continued to watch Valerian’s awakening.

After the tears closed up and the fire died down, Valerian slowly floated back onto his bed. Heavy breaths escaped his lungs as he struggled to move with his new, changed body. Aurelia stood up and walked over to the bed, looking down at the altered form of the boy.

"Congratulations on your awakening, Val. It seems you have even awakened a sort of bloodline."

Confused by the remark about a bloodline, Valerian sat upright, though not without almost falling off the bed. With shaking and unsteady steps, he walked slowly toward the mirror hanging on the wall of the room. When he looked into the glass, he forgot how to breathe for a second at the sight of his newly changed body.