The Whisperer's Pawn

Ethan and Liam left the abandoned area returned to their own, bidding each other farewell.

Liam still seemed to be suffering from the aftereffects of the encounter.

Ethan, however, did not feel anything about the encounter with the cursed creature.

He did not know why, but he felt that the creature was familiar, and he was faking his expressions to his friend, Liam. 

.....

Time turned 7PM.

Liam reached his home as he entered saying "I am home" but got no replay.

Thinking his parents were yet to return home, he wanted to sleep as he recalled today's scenes.

"This has been quite a terrible day."

He was about to open the door of the room when he heard the sound of glass breaking.

Wondering, entered room where he had heard the sound. What he saw horrified him, and he was truly shaken, falling to his knees on the ground.

Before him lay the dead bodies of his parents, had smiles on their faces and holes in their heads.

His mind went blank as he couldn't think of anything. Then he heard a voice say, "I was waiting for you."

Liam observed a man emerging from the shadows, who appeared to be in his late forties. He had seen this man in the morning, sitting beside a little boy, whom he had questioned.

The man continued, "Don't worry, I killed them before they knew it. Aren't I merciful?"

Liam, however, could not hear anything the man said.

Finally, the man asked, "Aren't you the one who said cursed being a superstition?"

Liam wanted to kill this madman or run away from this place, but his body didn't budge even a little.

Seeing the boy's struggle, the madman grinned and said, "You will play a game with this old hunter, won't you?"

And so, Liam's torture began.

.....

Ethan reached his apartment and stared into his reflection in the mirror. He noticed that there was no emotion on his face as he began hearing the whispers again.

 cradle of creation, forgotten ruin: the crimson keep, title: eternal, whisperer.

The whispers grew louder and louder. Ethan, long accustomed to these whispers, suddenly felt pain in his right hand, and a black-marked ring formed on his index finger.

If it were any other person, they would be jumping out of happiness or feeling a bit of pain, but Ethan was different as he felt... nothing.

He knew he couldn't be this calm in this situation; he should be dancing in joy, but this was wrong, why couldn't he feel anything?

On this day, Ethan became an awakened.

By the orders of the government, if any person forms a black marked ring on their index finger, they must call the Council of Awakened immediately, and Ethan knew this all too well.

But Ethan was not in the right state of mind, so he went to bed. 'I will contact them tomorrow. They don't know when I was awakened, so it should be fine.'

He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Time passed: 11PM, midnight.

Then, he abruptly opened his eyes and smiled.

Ethan approached the abandoned factory area, his eyes restless, as if searching for something.

His eyes landed on the dead creature. He walked towards it, tore open its stomach with his bare hands, and removed a blue stone.

The blue stone began to hover in the air and gradually disintegrated into powder, then reformed into a book.

Upon seeing the book, Ethan curiously touched it, and the world turned black.

....

Slums of the western city, Sanctuary 17.

People are evacuating the area within a 200 km radius, with 15 Archons and more than 100 masters overseeing evacuation.

Then suddenly, the strange energy that had been condensing into an orb for a long time turned red.

The paragon, who stood by watching it with an irritated.

Then he turned around and shouted, "The evacuation radius has been increased from 200 to 500 kilometers."

An archon who stood beside the paragon asked hurriedly, "Is something wrong, Paragon Kael?"

"Yes, I received a telepathic message from Supreme Alfer, and he will be arriving in two weeks."

The Archons were shocked beyond measure, they knew there were only nine Supremes in their world, and such a being making a move was a clear indication. The unknown energy would pose a great danger.

one Archon asked casually, "What do you think about the orb, Paragon Kael?"

Kael thought for a moment and said, "I don't know, perhaps the legendary Forgotten ruins." and added, "Whatever it may be, let's hope it won't do anything dangerous until the supreme has arrived."

The Archons shared the same sentiments: "You are right, Paragon Kael. Let's hope for just that."

Seeing the Archons beginning to slack, the Paragon reminded them, "Go and evacuate a 500 km radius and call for more reinforcements."

"Yes, Paragon Keal." With that, the Archons left the area.

.....

In the higher district of the central city, Sanctuary 17.

Dahlia was seated in the car, gazing out of the window. Sharan, a member of the Awakened Council, was driving the car.

Sharan observed Dahlia in the mirror and inquired while driving, "What is troubling you, Lady Dahlia?"

".... it's just... strange that the guys we saved should be terrified, but one of them was actually faking his expressions," Dahlia replied.

"You even noticed that. You are truly amazing, Lady Dahlia," the man said and thought.

'Once she completes her checkup and contracts with Resonance network, she will definitely gain the title 'supreme' in the future'.

They ignored about Ethan, because they will meet lot of people and there was no need to remember every one of them.

The rest of their journey proceeded smoothly as they arrived at their destination, which was a Checkup Center.

Upon reaching their destination, Dahlia inquired, "Is the mental checkup necessary?"

"yes" Sharan nodded.

"Why was the checkup plan scheduled for two months long?"

Sharan did not provide any response to her query.

she gritted her teeth in frustration. She didn't know anyone here, she would be all alone. During the checkup, one should not be provided with phones or TVs or anything related to Entertaiment. They couldn't use force for anything, since the head of the checkup was Archon.

She knows better, what an Archon can do if they use their full power.

Seriously, it is a bit of an overkill for Archon to watch over 15,000 newly awakened individuals.

She abandoned any of her ideas as she walked towards the entrance.