Chapter 2: Bloodlines and Ashes
514 Words
The scent of old parchment and candle wax filled Harvey’s lungs as he stood in his room, the sigil on his palm fading into his skin like a whisper. Outside, the city pulsed with energy—cars drifted through mana-powered lanes, arcane screens flickered with news, and noble banners fluttered from high-rise towers.
To the average person, this world looked modern. Safe. Controlled.
But Harvey knew better.
Behind every shining tower was a dagger. Behind every noble crest, a curse.
Ten years, he thought. Ten years until they kill me. Ten years until my house burns.
He had time—but not much.
A sharp knock echoed at his door.
“Harvey?” came a voice. Soft. Cautious. Too familiar.
His heart stilled.
That voice had screamed for him in the end. Had tried to protect him when no one else did.
He opened the door.
There she stood—Lyra Vaelthorn, his older sister. Her silver hair was tied in a loose braid, uniform perfectly pressed, and her eyes carried the sharp confidence of a rising mage. She was only nineteen now, still a student at the Imperial Academy. Still alive.
Harvey’s throat tightened.
“Gods, you're finally awake,” she said, stepping inside. “You overslept again. I was about to call Father.”
He forced a smile. “Just... tired.”
She raised an eyebrow. “You look like you saw a ghost.”
I did. Mine.
Lyra sighed and flicked his forehead. “You’ve got your ceremony tomorrow. You don’t get to slack off now.”
Harvey barely heard her. His mind was racing.
The Awakening Ceremony. It was tomorrow. In his first life, it had been humiliating. While others awakened with fire, lightning, or ancient spirits… he awakened nothing.
No one knew it then, but his magic had been sealed. Suppressed. Sabotaged by someone inside the manor.
And now he remembered who.
Uncle Darius.
His father’s half-brother. The snake who smiled too easily and spoke too sweetly. The one who claimed to "protect the family's interests" while plotting its downfall.
Harvey’s hand clenched.
Not this time.
---
Later that evening, Harvey sat in the family library. It hadn’t yet been burned to ash. The shelves were still full, the hidden vaults untouched. He wandered through the aisles like a ghost among tombstones.
He found it.
A worn, leather-bound journal—his father’s old notes on bloodline magic.
“The Vaelthorn gift lies dormant until unlocked through pain or sacrifice…”
He flipped through pages of diagrams, spells, sealed techniques. Some of these pages were missing when he searched for them in his first life. Destroyed. Hidden.
He wouldn’t waste this chance.
> [Black Crown System Notification]
Quest Unlocked: “Claim the Power They Stole”
Objective: Awaken your sealed bloodline before the ceremony.
Reward: Bloodline Skill – “Thornbrand: Phase I”
Penalty for failure: Public humiliation. Reduced house reputation. Suspected incompetence.
Harvey smirked.
He had one night.
One night to awaken a power most Vaelthorns never touched without bleeding.
He rolled up his sleeves.
“Let’s begin.”
- Writer
