CHAPTER 48: AWAKENING CEREMONY (PART 1)

When Azrael saw Silas’s stiffened face, his heart shuddered.

’Could it be that I’ll really have to eat some kind of sci-fi alien dish for dinner?’

"Dad, Mom’s cooking... is it similar to her fashion sense?"

Silas snapped out of his thoughts upon hearing Azrael’s voice and shook his head.

"No, she’s actually a very good cook."

Azrael breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this, then asked with a confused expression.

"If she’s a good cook, then why did you stiffen up when you heard she’s going to cook today?"

Silas’s mouth couldn’t help but twitch at his question.

’She hasn’t cooked for me in years. Every time I asked her to cook, she’d say she only knows how to cook enemies using her fire.’

She was his wife, damn it!

Why was she cooking for this brat and not for him?

So jealous!

Azrael glanced at Silas strangely, watching his constantly shifting expressions and wondering what could possibly be going through his mind.

"By the way, Mom said Grandfather will also join us through hologram during my awakening."

Silas, who had just been entertaining the idea of beating Azrael for no good reason, was stunned.

"Dad will be here as well?" He was genuinely surprised.

Zyrek—his father—was always busy and rarely came home. The last time Silas had spoken to him was about eight months ago, and that had only been a brief phone call.

That old man hadn’t been home in nearly three years.

Silas rubbed his chin and looked at Azrael thoughtfully.

"What?" Azrael asked when he saw Silas staring at him.

"That old man has a lot of good stuff on him. Try to rip him off when you see him later."

Hearing that, Azrael gave him a strange look, wondering what kind of unfilial son would scheme to rob his own father.

From what Azrael had heard from both Ashara and Silas over the past year, he knew Zyrek was very fond of his grandsons.

Azrael had never met him, and his impression of the man was neutral at best. So even though he was told Zyrek would be attending the awakening ceremony, he wasn’t particularly excited or anything.

"What kind of good stuff are you talking about?" He asked.

Silas shook his head and said calmly, "He always carries a lot of valuable things. Since today is your birthday and he’s joining us, it’s likely he’s already prepared something good for you. But just in case you don’t like what he’s brought, you should ask for something else."

"I thought it’s basic manners to accept whatever gift someone gives you on your birthday," Azrael said, his eyes twitching.

Silas rolled his eyes and responded irritably, "If you don’t want to ask that rich old man for good stuff, then don’t."

He turned around and muttered under his breath. "Kids these days just don’t listen to the good advice their parents give them."

Azrael rolled his eyes at Silas’s words but decided not to respond. Just then, he sensed something and raised his head, looking toward the door.

As he did, Ashara and Kael came into view.

Ashara walked in cheerfully, her hands completely empty. Meanwhile, Kael followed behind, lugging five heavy-looking bags, his face twisted in bitter frustration.

When Ashara entered the house and saw Silas, her eyes lit up, and she immediately approached him.

"Did you bring it?"

Silas nodded.

"Should we start right away?" He asked.

"Of course," Ashara nodded, then turned to Azrael. "Are you ready?"

Azrael nodded and stood up. He looked over at Lia, whose eyes were filled with curiosity, and smiled.

"Do you want to come too?"

Lia was startled by Azrael’s words.

"Me?" She pointed at herself, hesitating as she looked toward Silas and Ashara.

She truly wanted to see Azrael’s awakening—after all, she was the one who had trained him for the past year.

Ashara smiled at Lia’s hesitant expression.

"You don’t need to hesitate. If you want to join, then just come."

Lia’s eyes lit up as she bowed respectfully.

"Thank you, My Lady."

Kael then placed the heavy bags on the table and rushed over to Azrael.

"Brother, make sure you awaken something powerful! Once I turn sixteen and awaken too, we’ll join forces and..." At this point, he sneakily glanced at Ashara and snorted.

He would definitely take revenge on his fated enemy.

Ashara gave a sweet smile when she noticed and silently decided to kidnap Kael again for shopping tomorrow.

Azrael smiled awkwardly at Kael’s bold statement. Even if both of them awakened, it would still be impossible to defeat Ashara any time soon.

So, he completely ignored Kael’s words and quickly headed toward the training ground.

Once they reached the training area, Silas and Ashara led the way to one of the closed rooms at the far end of the facility.

Over the past year, Azrael had used nearly every training room in the compound—gravity rooms, cosmic energy gathering chambers, skill testing halls, and more.

However, he had never once entered the room they were now approaching. Ashara had previously told him it was only used for awakening ceremonies and had no use for him until now.

Silas stopped in front of the closed door and pressed a button at the side.

With a low hum, the door lifted upward, revealing the room beyond.

Azrael peered inside and saw a 10x10 meter chamber, completely empty except for a cylindrical pillar about one meter tall placed in the center. Resting at the top of that pillar was a shiny, round stone, about five centimeters in diameter.

The entire floor was covered in a complex formation, with the pillar and the stone placed perfectly in its center.

"That stone..." Azrael stared at the gleaming orb, his expression turning strange.

’Isn’t that the awakening stone?’ He thought inwardly, confused about why Silas had gone to get another one if they already had one here.

Ashara noticed Azrael’s expression and explained.

"It’s been a long time since that awakening stone was last used. Although it looks completely fine, what if something goes wrong during your awakening because it’s old? That’s why I bought a new one for you."

She smiled proudly and asked, "How is it? Are you touched?"

Silas wanted to say that he was the one who had gone out and bought the new stone, but he wisely kept his mouth shut, knowing he’d be beaten by his wife if he spoke up.

Azrael looked at Ashara’s proud face and nodded.

"Yes, very touched. So touched I feel like crying."

In truth, Azrael was quite shocked. Acquiring a rare item like an awakening stone was not easy.

Because it was the very foundation of human strength, awakening stones were strictly controlled by the Federation.

Even people of high status couldn’t easily get their hands on one. Normally, if someone wanted to awaken, they had to go to the Awakener Association—which was fully controlled by the Federation.

An awakening stone typically had enough energy to awaken around a thousand people. Azrael was fairly certain that the one resting inside the room hadn’t been used much.

And just because they thought it might affect his awakening, they had gone out and obtained a new one just for him.

Even with their status, he knew that getting one wouldn’t have been easy.

’They really go overboard sometimes...’ Azrael thought, a small smile forming on his lips.

’But that’s also one of the things I love about them.’

Silas walked into the room and carefully replaced the old awakening stone with the new one.

Once he was finished, he looked over at Ashara.

"Call the old man."

Ashara nodded and pulled out a crystal orb from her storage ring. She placed it near the side of the room and infused her cosmic energy into it.

The moment she did, the orb lit up—and in the next instant, a holographic image of a man appeared in the room.