The boy from yesterday sat alone in the dim light of his small apartment. The card Caelum had given him lay on the table, and he stared at it as if it might answer the questions he didn't yet know how to ask.
He didn't know it yet, but everything had already started to shift. A faint heat tingled in his chest, and a strange pattern appeared beneath his skin. Lines, like silver threads, forming shapes he couldn't recognize.
He flinched. Pain? Maybe. But it was brief.
Almost like a whisper against his veins. His hands shook, and his heart beat faster than it should. He touched his wrist. Nothing visible. Nothing yet tangible.
Caelum watched from afar, hidden by shadows. He had predicted this. Minor Runes often awakened quietly, almost imperceptibly, before revealing their power. This one was small, but with proper guidance, it could grow into something extraordinary.
The boy, unaware, fell to his knees. His vision blurred for a second, and he muttered a name he didn't remember knowing. The silver patterns glowed faintly under his skin before vanishing.
"This is only the beginning," Caelum murmured.
He wasn't watching for miracles. He was watching for potential. Not everyone would awaken with brilliance. Not everyone would survive the changes. But this boy… this one had something.
Caelum turned and walked down the alley, disappearing into the city streets. Observation alone wasn't enough. Preparation required foresight. Connections. Power. Knowledge. And patience.
The faint hum of the awakening Rune lingered in the boy's veins. He didn't understand it yet. He didn't understand that in three years, his life—and the world—would demand everything from him.
Above the city, constellations flickered. Silent, almost imperceptible. They had noticed. But they didn't intervene. Not yet. They waited, as they always did, for those who dared to act before the story allowed.
Caelum's steps were deliberate, measured. The first spark had ignited. The future would follow, but this time, he would lead it.
And in the shadows of the city, small threads of destiny were already weaving together.