CHAPTER — Friends Before Power
The news channel was still shouting.
Luke stood up slowly from the chair, glancing once more at the television before turning away. The screen was filled with chaos—reporters crowding around familiar faces, voices overlapping, excitement almost violent in its intensity.
"Use your aura again!"
"How rare is your category?"
"Do you realize how powerful you are now?"
Those who had already been popular before the event were now surrounded like celebrities. Cameras followed every movement as glowing energy formed in their palms—small spheres of light, crackling Aura, compressed blasts of force. The reporters didn't care about control or consequences. They only wanted spectacle.
Luke felt a tightness in his chest.
He didn't want to watch anymore.
Grabbing his jacket, he slipped it on quietly and moved toward the door.
"I'm going out for a walk," he said softly.
No one stopped him.
Outside, the world felt unfamiliar.
The streets were emptier than Luke had ever seen them—not deserted, but paused. Shops were closed. Schools were shut. Offices dark. The government had declared an international holiday, halting nearly all work so people could "adapt to the new era."
Yet it didn't feel like a holiday.
Most people were inside their homes, staring at invisible panels, checking and rechecking their aura categories, comparing stars, replaying their dreams. Some stepped outside laughing, forming aura spheres in their hands, tossing them into the air like toys—celebrating magic as if it were a festival trick.
Luke walked past them slowly.
The glow reflected faintly in his eyes.
So it really happened, he thought. The world really changed.
Still, a fragile hope lingered.
Maybe my dream was fake, he told himself. Maybe I really am just Average.
That hope, thin as glass, kept him moving.
He reached the park.
Loid and Uno were already there, standing near the benches where they usually met after school. Their voices carried easily through the quiet air.
"Luke!" Loid called out, raising a hand.
Uno was talking rapidly, barely pausing for breath. "—and when I focused, the aura actually responded. Like it was listening to me."
Luke joined them, hands in his pockets.
As expected, the conversation never left one topic.
Aura.
Ranks.
Power.
Every sentence circled back to it.
Luke listened, his heart growing heavier with every word.
After a moment, he spoke.
"So… what category did you get?"
Loid's face lit up immediately. "Average. Five star."
Uno scratched the back of his head, grinning. "Aura Blaster. Two star. Guess we're kind of the same level, just different paths."
Both categories were considered strong. Respected. The kind people talked about with admiration.
Luke nodded slowly.
Then Uno tilted his head. "What about you, Luke?"
The answer surfaced instantly.
Not the one he would say—but the truth.
Without activating anything, without effort, Luke could see it. Their aura flows, their categories, their ranks. It didn't matter that they weren't displaying their panels publicly.
That was when it finally settled.
I really am the Aura Master.
His fingers curled slightly.
"I'm… Average," Luke said quietly. "One star."
He closed his eyes and displayed his panel carefully—only to Loid and Uno, excluding the rest of the world.
Average — 1 Star
The light faded.
Luke waited.
This is where things change, he thought. This is where distance begins.
But Loid spoke first.
"One star, huh," he said, not unkindly. "That's fine."
Uno nodded. "Yeah. It's random selection. Nobody chose this."
Luke looked up, surprised.
Loid continued, his voice steady. "Power doesn't decide who you are."
"And we're still friends," Uno added quickly. "That won't change just because of some stars."
Something inside Luke cracked open.
Warmth rushed through his chest—real warmth, not forced optimism. For the first time since the sky had changed, his fear loosened its grip. His friends weren't pulling away. They weren't judging.
They were still here.
They were still them.
The conversation drifted naturally after that—about the dream itself, how real it felt, how strange it was to wake up knowing the world was different. Luke laughed softly at one of Uno's jokes, surprised at how normal it felt.
For a brief moment, life felt almost the same.
Then Uno leaned forward, eyes bright with excitement.
"So," he said, lowering his voice slightly, "should we make a guild?"
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End of Chapter.