After the fight with the Magami Clan, life… returned to normal.

  Surprisingly normal.

  Days passed.

  Missions continued.

  Meetings dragged on.

  Arguments broke out over food, chores, and whose turn it was to clean the training hall.

  The Navraan family lived on—loud, chaotic, alive.

  And just like that…

  another year slipped by.

  The calendar quietly turned.

  Year 2005 arrived.

  None of us knew it then, but history was already holding its breath.

  ***

  The night it happened felt… strange.

  Too quiet.

  The air itself seemed tense, like it was waiting for permission to move.

  I remember standing near the window at headquarters, half-asleep, when—

  Fwoooooosh—

  The sky exploded.

  Light tore through the heavens, pouring down like liquid fire.

  Brighter than day.

  Brighter than anything I had ever seen.

  For a moment, the world stopped.

  The buildings outside glowed white.

  Shadows vanished.

  Even sound seemed to die.

  My heart slammed against my ribs.

  "What the—"

  Before I could finish the thought, the light swallowed everything.

  Then—

  Silence.

  And when the glow finally faded…

  Chaos followed.

  People screamed.

  Some collapsed.

  Others clutched their bodies as if something inside them had awakened violently.

  I felt it too.

  Heat surged through my veins—thump, thump—my pulse roaring in my ears. My vision blurred as something deep inside me cracked open.

  Around me, it was the same.

  Soraya dropped to one knee, gasping, her eyes glowing faintly before dimming again.

  Alok shouted in shock as sparks danced briefly around his fingers.

  Shahin staggered, shadows twisting unnaturally at his feet.

  Rihan laughed hysterically, then froze when the air around him trembled.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Even Sifan—who rarely reacted to anything—stood frozen, breathing hard.

  One by one…

  all of the Navraans awakened.

  Power.

  Raw. Unfamiliar. Terrifying.

  The world had changed in a single night.

  And yet—

  Amid the noise, the confusion, the fear—

  I noticed something wrong.

  Very wrong.

  I turned my head.

  Jihan Navraan was standing there.

  Still.

  Silent.

  Unaffected.

  No glow.

  No pressure.

  No surge.

  Just… Jihan.

  Calm eyes.

  Steady breathing.

  Exactly the same as before.

  While the rest of us struggled to understand the power tearing itself awake inside our bodies—

  Jihan Navraan did not awaken.

  Not that night.

  Not at all.

  ***

  The next morning—

  Master Jihan was gone.

  No dramatic farewell.

  No warning.

  No explanation.

  Just a single sheet of paper sitting neatly on his desk.

  I picked it up.

  The handwriting was unmistakable.

  'I'm going on a trip. So, I won't be able to come for a few days.'

  The smile at the bottom was badly drawn.

  Mocking.

  Infuriating.

  We all stood there in silence.

  The room felt… wrong.

  Too quiet.

  Like something important had slipped away without making a sound.

  Soraya stared at the note.

  Her lips twitched.

  She smiled.

  A forced smile.

  A very, very dangerous smile.

  "T-This bastard…" she said softly, gripping the paper.

  "He just leaves a note… like this?"

  Crk—

  The paper crumpled slightly in her hand.

  No one spoke.

  No one dared to.

  One by one, we began backing away from the desk. Slowly. Casually. Like civilians retreating from a ticking bomb.

  Step.

  Step.

  Then—

  "Where," Soraya said coldly,

  "do you think you're going?"

  We froze.

  Every single one of us.

  Slowly—very slowly—the six of us turned back to face her.

  Shahin smiled stiffly.

  Rihan looked up at the ceiling.

  Alok whistled.

  Ishan suddenly found the floor fascinating.

  Sifan nodded like he agreed with everything in existence.

  All of us wore the same expression.

  Pure innocence.

  "Nope?"

  Rihan tilted his head.

  "Why would we go anywhere?"

  "Yeah," Alok added quickly.

  "We were just thinking… maybe we should start working?"

  "Mhm," Shahin nodded.

  "Productivity."

  The silence that followed was sharp enough to cut steel.

  Soraya's eye twitched.

  "Stop making excuses," she snapped.

  "Go. Search. Him. Everywhere."

  The word everywhere echoed in my ears.

  I swallowed.

  "B-But—" I started.

  "But what?"

  Her gaze locked onto me.

  If looks could kill, I would've been buried already.

  "N-Nothing, mem," I said instantly.

  "We'll start searching now."

  Immediately.

  Too immediately.

  The six of us turned around at once and bolted for the door.

  Footsteps echoed—tap tap tap tap—The door slammed shut behind us.

  Only one thought echoed in my head as we ran:

  Master Jihan…

  You're dead when we find you.

  ***

  A week passed.

  Then another.

  And another.

  But Master Jihan never returned.

  No message.

  No trace.

  No sign that he was even alive.

  Days continued to move forward, uncaring, piling on top of one another until absence itself became routine.

  With our leader missing, we had no choice.

  Ishan was made the temporary chairman.

  He was the strongest among us now.

  Low-tier A rank.

  Soraya stood just beneath him at mid-tier B.

  Shahin had reached top-tier B.

  Alok and Rihan followed closely behind.

  Sifan and I… we were still climbing.

  In this new era, strength had been redefined.

  Power bloomed everywhere.

  S-rank awakeners were rare—but A-rankers were not.

  And the man who had single handedly defeated Asia's strongest clan...

  had not awakened at all.

  And he was gone.

  In this new era, Navraan fell behind once more.

  To catch up with this new era, we needed more power.

  So we started recruiting new people.

  With an A-ranker and multiple B-rankers under our banner, people came willingly. Strength attracted strength. The Navraan name still carried weight—even without its founder.

  But no matter how many faces filled the headquarters…

  one was always missing.

  A month passed.

  Still nothing.

  Worry turned into fear.

  Fear turned into quiet despair.

  Soraya changed the most.

  Her eyes lost their light.Her presence felt hollow—like she was moving only because stopping would shatter her completely.

  Watching her like that…

  something inside me burned.

  Anger.

  Not at the world.

  Not at the new era.

  But at him.

  Even if he never awakened…even if he became the weakest among us…

  none of that mattered.

  We never wanted power from him.

  We never needed strength.

  We just wanted him here.

  I kept thinking—maybe he would return suddenly.Maybe he would walk through the doors like nothing happened.Maybe he was preparing some stupid surprise.

  A foolish hope.

  A comforting lie.

  One year passed.

  He still did not come back.

  And then—

  something new appeared.

  For the first time in history, a floating gate showed up.

  Glowing Blue.Unnatural.

  And its location—

  was Cumilla City.

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