Allen didn't understand what Barron meant.
SERRA. Cosmic beings. Sacrifice. Weeks, months, maybe years of total stillness no food, no sleep, no guarantees.
But he had no choice.
Barron's condition was final:
"I won't teach you a damn thing until you unlock it."
And with a cruel smirk, Barron turned to leave.
"Good luck," he sneered. "Might take years. If you don't give up and crawl back to your brother like always."
Allen said nothing. He just sat.
And so it began.
He sat. And sat.
No food. No water. No sleep.
Just silence and faith.
They're real, he kept telling himself.
The Brokers are watching… I believe they're real…
Then His body stopped responding.
And Allen died.
Not in the way mortals die.
He was submerged in something vast an ocean of emotion.
Joy, sorrow, shame, longing raw and ancient.
It wasn't pain it was everything.
An abyss pulled him inward, devouring his mind.
Then light.
He opened his eyes.
He stood in a dream too dark to be real.
And around him, they waited.
The Brokers.
Ancient, faceless clones identical beings, tall and hollow-eyed without eyes.
Their heads were smooth and featureless, their bodies wrapped in blackened robes that didn't move with the wind they moved with intention.
Despite their lack of faces, he could feel them studying him.
He couldn't understand their words, but he heard them in his bones. They were… welcoming him.
He followed shaking.
They moved with calm certainty, but Allen felt the cold stab of dread rising with every step. His heart raced. His breath caught. His legs wanted to run, but his mind his very will had been left behind.
They led him to a door if it could even be called that.
It stretched upward forever. Carved into nothingness itself.
And when it opened
Only void remained.
Dark. Silent. Endless.
In its center: a throne.
A figure sat upon it.
Wrapped in white. Skin pale as ash. Hair, eyes, even mouth hidden beneath layers of flowing cloth like a funeral shroud for a god.
Allen froze. Terror gripped him.
His legs buckled, his chest heaved he couldn't move, speak, or breathe.
It was like standing before the end of time.
Then the being spoke but not aloud.
"What are you willing to sacrifice?"
The voice wasn't sound. It was force. It pierced him.
He gasped, thinking the worst had passed.
But then he looked down A hole.
Clean. Hollow. In his chest.
He couldn't scream. Couldn't cry.
Only stare in mute horror as if he was watching his very soul unravel.
Then Darkness.
He woke up.
Gasping. Shivering. Terrified.
He was naked. His limbs trembling. Skin shriveled and sunken, like he had aged years in hours.
The ground around him was cracked. Burned. As if something had torn reality itself.
His heart thundered he looked again at his chest, his hands, his body.
He felt violated, hollow, and shamed beyond anything he had ever known.
He whispered, barely able to believe it.
"I failed…"
Before he could rise, Liora appeared with her students. They looked down on him with visible disgust and pity.
"Pathetic," one of them whispered.
"Did he crawl out of the sewers?" another sneered.
Liora scoffed, folding her arms. "What a spoiled little coward. I knew he'd give up eventually."
They didn't hide it. Everyone thought he'd run away. Like he always had. Like he was known to do.
They threw a rough cloak at him like garbage and dragged him off to Ikki.
Ikki met him with quiet concern.
"You've been missing for nearly a week," he said. "Not a trace of you. Not even a flicker of your SERRA."
Allen tried to explain what happened—about the Brokers, the door, the throne.
But something stopped him.
Each time he tried to speak, an invisible force choked the truth away.
Ikki told him to rest and left.
That's when Barron appeared.
"Disgraceful," he muttered. "Look at you. Naked, starving, crawling back after all that barking. I'm done training you."
As he turned to leave, he sneered in his thoughts:
This boy is just a loser. Same weakling as always.
And then Allen answered. Out loud.
"I'm not a loser."
Barron froze.
His back still turned, he blinked.
Did he just?
He turned around slowly.
"…What did you say?"
Allen looked confused. "I… I said I'm not a loser."
But Barron wasn't listening to the words anymore.
He was remembering what he'd just thought.
If not for your brother, I would've fed you to my pet by now.
And again Allen responded.
"I dare you to try. I'm not your food."
Barron's eyes widened.
He stepped forward. Slowly. Almost cautiously.
"You little…"
He reached out and placed his palm on Allen's chest.
A faint pulse. A whisper of something ancient.
Then his expression cracked.
His mouth hung open.
His hand trembled against Allen's chest.
"…No…"
He yanked his hand back like he'd touched fire.
Then again, pressed it harder confirming.
His voice dropped, almost a whisper of disbelief:
"This can't be…"
His eyes locked on Allen like he was seeing a ghost.
"It's there… It's really there… You've… touched SERRA."
He stumbled back a step, visibly shaken.
"Barely noticeable but it's there. I felt it. Like… like something ancient curled up inside your bones."
He stared at Allen with wide eyes, more confused than angry.
"…How the hell did you do that in a week?"
He almost laughed not out of humor, but pure nervous disbelief.
"…You weren't even supposed to last a week."
Next Morning,
Allen stood up.
His body moved, but not with exhaustion. He hadn't slept couldn't sleep. And somehow, he didn't need to.
Something inside him had changed. He felt it deep in his bones.
He was lighter. Sharper. Stronger.
His breathing came easy. His heartbeat steady. Sounds were clearer. The world around him more vivid, like reality had been turned up a notch. The air itself felt different on his skin.
And yet…
He didn't understand what was happening.
He stepped into the corridor, unsure where to go, when he passed a small group of trainees gathered by the courtyard.
That's when it hit him.
A stabbing pain. Loud no, not loud, but many. Thoughts. Voices. A thousand whispers erupting in his mind like firecrackers. Doubts. Hatred. Lust. Jealousy. Regret. Nonsense. Noise.
All of it. At once.
"He looks like death."
"Probably faked it. No way that loser survived the Brokers."
"If I was as lucky as him, I'd be a king by now."
"Why does Ikki even bother with trash like him?"
He clutched his head and staggered back.
Pain. Real pain. Behind his eyes, in his skull, tearing at his brain like glass.
His knees buckled. The world spun.
No he couldn't collapse. Not here. Not in front of them.
He turned and ran.
Barron's office was dimly lit, papers and relics scattered across the room. Liora stood beside him, arms crossed, flanked by two of her most loyal students.
They were speaking, not quietly.
"This isn't right, Barron."
"He must have cheated. There's no way that runt reached awakening on his own."
"We've trained for decades he sat for a few days and this happens?"
"He's dangerous. We don't even know what he is."
Allen stepped into the doorway, still trembling, heart racing.
They didn't see him at first.
"You should put an end to this charade," one said. "Send him back to his brother with whatever dignity he has left."
Allen's eyes narrowed. Their thoughts screamed louder than their mouths.
"He's a fake. Just like always."
"Coward."
"I should have been the one."
He didn't know if he was shaking from the pain or the rage.
Then Barron looked up. His yellow eyes locked on Allen.
"Enough," he said coldly.
The room froze.
"I said get out."
The students bowed reluctantly and left, but Allen could still feel their thoughts scratching at the edges of his mind until the door closed behind them.
Barron looked at him in silence for a moment.
"…Stop reading my thoughts."
Allen flinched.
"I… I'm not trying to," he muttered. "They're just there. I hear them. All of them."
Barron stared at him. Then crossed the room slowly.
"You're not supposed to be able to do that," he said. "Reading thoughts telepathy isn't part of SERRA. It's not part of anything. At least, not like this."
He placed two fingers on Allen's forehead, focused. Then pulled his hand back sharply, like he'd touched static.
"…And you already have the Iron Chain."
He sounded less angry now, more… cautious. Curious.
"That's your gift what you were born with. A unique trait. People don't gain a second. Not unless…" he trailed off.
Allen looked down, breathing heavy.
"What's happening to me?"
Barron didn't answer right away.
Then, slowly: "Something is… growing inside you. Not just SERRA. Something else. I don't know what. But it's ancient. And unstable."
Allen swallowed hard.
"I'll look into it," Barron said, turning away. "I've seen a lot in my life. But this…? Never."
He turned back, voice more serious now.
"But for now, stay away from people. Crowds will only tear your mind apart. Until you can control it what you're hearing, what you're feeling it'll only get worse."
Allen nodded, still visibly shaken.
Barron grabbed his coat and headed toward the door.
"Well?" he barked, throwing a glance over his shoulder. "Don't just stand there like a corpse."
Allen blinked.
"The real training starts now."