Silent Awakening: Sign-In To Destiny

---

The rain had begun to fall lightly over the countryside.

Asher Raven crouched beneath the gnarled limbs of a twisted old oak tree, soaked and shivering but alert. His thin clothes clung to his skin, streaked with dirt, blood, and sweat. The pain from the leap out of the van still lingered in the bruises dotting his limbs, but the dull ache had already begun to fade—his regeneration ability humming faintly in the background like a silent guardian.

He had escaped.

But it wasn't over.

His heart pounded not just from exertion, but from the clarity of it all—the realisation that someone out there had tried to purchase him. Not ransom. Not threaten. Purchase. That meant a world existed beneath the veil of calm normalcy, one where people could make others vanish without a trace.

And for the first time, the system had acted on its own. A forced sign-in to save his life. A defensive power, one that had already proven itself vital.

He sat still, hidden beneath the tree, watching the distant lights of the road. The kidnappers were searching. Their voices echoed faintly in the rain, distorted by distance.

> [Daily Sign-In Complete]

Reward: +2 System Points

Lucky Draw Ticket Gained

The familiar flicker of the system text danced across his vision. Even now, with adrenaline still burning in his veins, the system remained as consistent as ever.

He mentally selected the Lucky Draw.

> [Lucky Draw Activated…]

Congratulations! You have received:

Advanced AI System Architecture: Design and Implementation – Level I

He blinked. "AI again…"

The system had already granted him foundational knowledge in machine learning, computer vision, and neural networking in past draws. He hadn't fully explored those subjects yet, but they were in his mind—accessible and complete, like digital blueprints stamped into his thoughts. Now, with this new layer of AI design, it was starting to form a pattern.

Not weapons. Not magic. Knowledge.

That was his path.

He reached up, wiping a smear of mud from his face as he stood. He needed to get home. But not through main roads—not if those men were still looking.

The estate had its own private helpline. All he had to do was reach one of the nearby outposts along the Raven family's holdings. He remembered the old storage facility near the orchard fields—it was about a kilometre east. If he could get there, he'd find a secure phone line.

His legs trembled from the effort, but he pressed forward.

---

It took him nearly an hour.

By the time Asher reached the edge of the rusted chain-link fence that marked the storage facility's boundary, the rain had thickened into a steady drizzle. His limbs were numb, his hands scraped raw from brambles and uneven ground. He crawled under a broken section of fencing and finally collapsed behind a stack of old crates.

There, he waited.

Another ten minutes passed before he mustered the strength to climb the small hill to the entrance.

The keypad beside the door blinked faintly, covered in grime.

He typed in the emergency override code.

A soft beep.

The door hissed open.

He staggered inside, flicking on the emergency generator switch. Lights blinked on slowly—dusty, yellow-white fluorescents humming overhead. A desk. An old comm system.

And a secure line.

He picked up the receiver and dialled.

The estate's emergency response team answered after three rings.

"This is Asher Raven. Trace the call. Send extraction. Code: Marlowe Nine."

A pause.

Then: "Yes, young master. Location confirmed. ETA fifteen minutes."

He exhaled and sank into the chair.

Finally safe.

---

True to their word, a black SUV with tinted windows arrived sixteen minutes later. Four men in suits rushed out, sweeping the area before one of them wrapped a thick security blanket around Asher's shoulders.

"Young master, we're so sorry—"

"No questions," Asher said quietly. "Just get me home."

---

He sat in silence during the ride back, replaying the events in his mind.

He had survived. Escaped. And now… he knew the truth.

The world wasn't simple.

The normalcy was just a mask.

And worse—someone had targeted him. Not for who he would become, but for who he already was.

Once he was safely back at the estate and checked by the family physician, Asher requested privacy. The bodyguards hesitated, but eventually agreed—his word still held authority, even at six years old.

Alone in his room, Asher sat cross-legged on the floor.

"System," he whispered.

The glowing interface appeared once more.

> [System Status]

Daily Sign-Ins: Active

You can now get defensive abilities through normal sign ins

Forced Sign-In: USED (One-time activation under lethal threat)

Abilities:

Beginner Regeneration Manual (Passive)

System Points: 27

Lucky Draw Tickets: 0

So that was it.

Only one forced sign-in because I was in danger. Only defensive abilities. 

Which meant he couldn't rely on becoming physically strong—only smart, resilient, and prepared.

A long game.

A shadow game.

He tapped into his stored knowledge and began drafting a memory map. AI, computer systems, encryption layers—he had the tools to build something.

Not a weapon, but a network.

A surveillance AI, perhaps. One that could track the estate's security and flag unusual behaviours. It wouldn't protect him from a bullet… but it might warn him before the bullet came.

He smiled faintly.

No golden finger? No god-given power?

Fine.

He would make one with his own two hands.

One point, one draw, one step at a time.

---