Lucas walked between Helena and Lisa, hands in his pockets, whistling a melody he made up on the spot — which, for some reason, deeply irritated his sister. She walked just behind, arms crossed, cheeks puffed like a balloon about to explode.
"Do you have any idea how stupid that sound is?" Lisa growled, glaring at her brother's back.
"I do, but it matches my soul. And your size too," Lucas replied without even looking back.
"SILICONE-INFLATED COW!" Lisa shouted, pointing at Helena, who hadn't even said anything.
"Is it always my fault now?" Helena sighed, adjusting her generous cleavage like someone who knew exactly what she was doing. "Are you two going to keep fighting or do you want to know how the awakening process works?"
Lucas laughed and finally fell silent. The place ahead looked like a modern temple, made of black steel and glass, with a strange aura pulsing around it. At the center of the structure, protected by layers of security and reverence, was the crystal.
"Normally, meta-humans awaken on their own," Helena explained, now with a serious tone, her deep voice echoing softly through the corridor. "But the more powerful the ability, the longer it takes to manifest on its own. This process… speeds things up."
"Like a cosmic nudge," said Lucas, staring at the crystal from afar, as if it blinked back at him.
"Something like that," she replied. "The crystal is an ancient artifact, still not fully understood. It reacts to the genetics of meta-humans, resonating with the dormant potential in our blood. It's like it screams to the sleeping part of the soul: 'Wake up, lazy!'"
"And those who already awakened?" Lisa asked, still with her arms crossed. "They go straight to the aptitude test?"
"Yes. No need to touch the crystal. But neither of you has awakened yet… which is strange, considering where you come from."
"You mean 'children of the greatest heroes in history'?" Lucas grinned. "No pressure, right?"
"Absolutely no pressure," Helena said sarcastically. "But if you touch the crystal and it doesn't react… maybe you're just two losers with a fancy last name."
"I'm adopted," Lucas commented. "So that makes my mediocrity a little more charming, right?"
"Shut up and walk," Lisa muttered, picking up her pace.
The hall where the crystal rested was vast and silent, but filled with tension. Rows of young meta-humans waited their turn, most trying to look confident. Others were sweating just from looking at the three-meter-tall structure, as if they feared what it would reveal — or not reveal.
The crystal was a living gem, pulsing like the heart of an ancient creature. Everyone who touched it felt something different. For some, it was a flame. For others, thunder. For a few, a void.
"Next!" said a woman dressed in a black uniform, clipboard in hand. She looked bored — until the crystal started to glow.
A skinny boy with spiky hair stepped onto the pedestal, hands trembling. As soon as he touched the crystal, it glowed light green, almost white. A good reaction. Everyone applauded.
"Rank A. Wind and atmospheric pressure manipulation," the evaluator muttered. "Promising."
Another girl stepped up. The crystal glowed bright yellow, with small sparks around it.
"Rank B+. Electricity. Partial control."
The comments continued, with glow after glow. One red, another golden. Until a young man tried and… nothing. The crystal remained still, opaque. An awkward silence followed, and he walked away with teary eyes.
Lisa watched it all with narrowed eyes, as if she didn't want to care — but cared too much. Lucas, on the other hand, was chewing imaginary gum and trying to mimic the sound effects of each crystal reaction, like a cheap anime narrator.
"Now, Lisa Gracefall," the evaluator called.
Lisa took a deep breath and walked up to the pedestal. Her steps were firm, but her heart pounded like war drums. She reached out and touched the crystal.
Nothing.
For a moment, the crystal remained opaque. No glow, no color, not even a tremble.
"Th-that's not possible..." the evaluator whispered.
And then... CRAACK!
Cracks. Thin, almost imperceptible at first, but growing like veins under the surface of the crystal. No light, no glow. But the crystal cracked, as if it held something too big within.
"This shouldn't... be happening..." said a man in a lab coat, stepping closer.
Lisa stepped back, confused, pale.
"The crystal didn't react," the evaluator said hesitantly. "But it... almost broke."
Lucas said nothing. He simply walked up to the pedestal, giving his sister a light pat on the back.
"That was badass. Congrats, cosmic plank."
"DIE."
"Lucas Gracefall," the evaluator called, now a bit more intrigued.
Lucas placed his hand on the crystal with disturbing calm, like greeting an old friend.
Nothing.
The crystal remained opaque.
The evaluator opened her mouth, but before she could speak, a new crack appeared in the center. Not as large as Lisa's, but still... visible.
However, unlike what happened with her, the cracks stopped. They stagnated. As if the crystal was being held back by something invisible. As if the energy threatening to burst out had been pulled back in.
And then… a faint light. A deep, dark blue glow, like the color of a starless sky.
The crystal beeped.
— Assessment complete — said a metallic voice from a speaker above the pedestal. — Primary ability: Energy Generation. Rank S.
The room fell silent.
Lucas looked at his hand.
"Hm... looks like I passed. Is there a prize?"
The room was still silent, except for a faint humming from the cracked crystal. All eyes were on Lucas, but he didn't seem to notice. Or rather — he pretended not to. His hand was still on the crystal, eyes fixed on the fractured surface as if seeing a reflection no one else could.
'That was close.'
The thought came calmly, serenely, like a cold breeze over a battlefield after the war has ended. Lucas slowly removed his hand, feeling the heat dissipate from his fingertips.
'I didn't expect the crystal to resonate with the cells altered by the Stellar Body technique...'
That technique he received from the blue-eyed figure — it was heresy against human biology. It forced every cell in his body to slowly transform into something that imitated the core of a star. Lucas's cells were still far, far from even 1% similarity to a real star — but there were many. A human body has trillions of cells. Three trillion almost-stars.
The result?
Too much energy.
'The crystal... wouldn't withstand it. It was already giving in. If I hadn't contained the flow, it would have shattered. And then…'
Then the disguise would've been over. His quiet life, his hidden intentions — all would've crumbled with that crystal structure.
He took a deep breath, controlling his pulse. His cells still vibrated. They sang. It was a song of light — muffled, hidden, silent.
And the system, the test's AI, detected only what it needed to: energy generation. An S Rank. High, powerful — but common enough to not raise too much interest.
Perfect.
"What the hell was that crack...?" someone murmured behind him.
"Two siblings damaging the crystal? That can't be a coincidence."
Lucas smirked, turning to the group of instructors and students with his usual mocking air.
"Maybe... just maybe..." he said, theatrically putting a finger on his chin, "it's a residue of Lisa's power. She touched it first, right? Maybe she left the crystal a bit... unstable."
A suspicious silence filled the room. Some nodded. Others frowned. The evaluator checked panels, trying to confirm any anomaly.
Lisa glared at him, eyes narrowed. Not because she was suspicious, exactly. But because...
"That was way too logical coming from you," she said, raising an eyebrow. "You'd usually say something like 'the crystal got shy because of my galactic charm.'"
"I'm feeling humble today, sis," he said with a lazy smile. "Maybe my genius is maturing. Like wine... or cancer."
Lisa opened her mouth to snap back, but hesitated.
Maybe he was right. Maybe.
Helena crossed her arms, stepping between the two, her heels echoing on the hall's metal floor.
"Enough theatrics. You still have the real aptitude test," she said with the authority of a sexy teacher who knows everyone is paying attention for all the wrong reasons. "The crystal reveals the type and raw potential of your ability. But the real test... is what you can do with it."
She gestured with her hand, and the doors at the back of the hall opened, revealing an observation room above a large arena.
"You'll be placed in controlled simulations. Various situations, from combat to decision-making under pressure. The goal is simple: push your abilities to the limit."
"And if I don't want to be pushed?" Lucas asked, raising his hand like an irresponsible student. "Goes against my life principles to work too hard."
"Lucas," Helena said with a subtle smile, "you're literally a living bomb. I doubt you can not blow something up just by breathing deeply."
"Fair enough," he shrugged.
"But why test like this?" Lisa asked, now visibly more serious. "If the crystal already gave a result, why isn't that enough?"
Helena answered with a sharp look.
"Because the real world doesn't care about rankings. I've seen D-Rank meta-humans take down S-Class monsters just by using their heads. And I've also seen people with absurd powers die because they were idiots," she paused, staring at both of them. "The test measures control, adaptability, strategy... not just raw power."
She turned and walked toward the stairs leading to the arena.
"Even the simplest ability can become a devastating weapon in the right hands. And even the grandest one can be useless if you don't know what to do with it."
Lucas and Lisa exchanged glances for a moment. There were no more jokes in the air. The test wasn't just a formality — it was a chance to prove, maybe for the first time, that they weren't just someone's children.
"Then let's do this," said Lucas, breaking the silence with that half-smile that blended contempt for the world with a childlike glee at the thought of causing trouble. "Time to show that my S-rank energy generation ability is good for more than lighting up lamps."
"And maybe my crystal-cracking power is good for breaking hearts," said Lisa, puffing out her chest proudly. The effect would have been better if she actually had a chest, but the effort was respectable.
"I thought breaking hearts was my specialty," Lucas teased.
"You only break brain cells, idiot."
"STILL A TALENT."
They headed toward the arena, where instructors and drones were preparing the testing environment. Cameras followed them, and the audience in the closed bleachers — made up of instructors, veteran heroes, and investors — watched closely.
The arena floor changed. From steel to concrete, then to forest, then to a ruined city. An illusion created by nanostructures and holograms. The battlefield was real, but mutable.
"Lisa Gracefall. Urban combat simulation. Level 1. Initiating," announced an artificial voice.
Lisa stepped up, taking a deep breath, eyes fixed ahead. On the other side of the arena, three humanoid figures appeared: autonomous armored suits trained to react like real villains.
"Oh... great," she muttered. "Perfect targets to vent my built-up rage on."
Lisa's gaze sharpened, and her ability manifested almost instinctively. The three opponents, seemingly prepared for a strategic fight, didn't understand what was happening until it was too late.
She extended her hand, and the air around her began to tremble. It was as if the space itself bent to her will. The first armor tried to advance, but the pressure around it increased exponentially. The sound of twisting metal was followed by a muffled cry, and the metallic figure was crushed to the ground without Lisa even moving. Just a gesture of her hand reduced the armor to a heap of wreckage.
The other two approached, but Lisa was already one step ahead. The space around them began to distort, the concrete beneath their feet rising as if it were quicksand, swallowing the bases of their armors. They tried to move, but their bodies were stuck in a solid mass that seemed to have a life of its own.
"Yeah... well, I guess I really am angry," Lisa said, a cruel smile forming at the corner of her lips. Her energy was boiling, but there was something more. She was beginning to feel the true extent of her power. She didn't need perfect control. Didn't need to be precise. Her ability only needed a desire — and the will to command everything around her.
The two remaining suits struggled to break free, but the ground beneath them rose like metal spikes, trapping them even further. Lisa closed her eyes for a second, focusing her mind. When she opened them again, a threatening gleam danced in her eyes.
"You don't need control, Helena," she murmured, more to herself than to the spectators. "When you have enough strength, control doesn't matter."
She extended her hand, and the remaining opponents were crushed against the arena wall with the force of a concentrated storm. Nothing was left but lightning and a vibration that echoed through the arena.
Helena watched from above, arms crossed, with an expression that mixed appreciation with a hint of concern. She knew Lisa's ability was impressive, but what fascinated her most was the lack of control. The destruction Lisa could cause was terrifying — and she hadn't even reached her full potential yet.
Lucas watched beside her, arms behind his head and a lazy smile.
"Well, you really do have a unique way of breaking everything, huh?" he said with his usual lightness, as if what had just happened was a casual game.
Lisa rolled her eyes, but the truth was that adrenaline still ran through her veins. She felt the weight of her own strength, as if she had broken more than just the armors. Something inside her, something repressed, was surfacing. She didn't care if she was the strongest or not. She wanted more. More than the arena could offer.
---
End of chapter.