As they arrived in the lab, four men armed to the teeth immobilized Vael. He offered no resistance as they strapped him onto a cold metal table.
Above him, a cluster of floating needles and strange instruments hovered ominously, casting jagged shadows on the walls. The room looked more like a torture chamber than a laboratory.
"Behold, Subject 2467," said Dr. Smith calmly. "This is where you will undergo a transformation so profound, most can't even fathom it. To awaken you, we'll inject raw, unfiltered mana directly into your core. Most subjects die. Odds are you will too."
Without hesitation, a needle filled with deep blue liquid stabbed into Vael's chest, just beside his heart. He winced at the pain but clenched his teeth, refusing to give them the satisfaction of hearing him scream.
As the mana entered his body, something strange happened. Even though an unawakened core was typically imperceptible, Vael could feel it — not vaguely, but with unsettling clarity. He could trace the path of the mana as it spread, feel its pressure build.
Then, all at once, pain erupted from his chest.
Agonizing, blinding pain.
His entire body lit up with fire. It felt like his veins were melting, like his flesh was being shredded from the inside. He couldn't scream — the pain had stolen even that from him. His body convulsed violently. Bloodshot eyes, seizing limbs, shallow gasps — every part of him cried out for death.
And then — something changed.
The space around him twisted.
The walls warped. The distance between him and Dr. Smith began to distort. Objects in the room stretched and bent unnaturally, as though reality itself was being bent around him.
His core — once dormant — ignited.
And at that very instant, a surge of space mana burst from his body in a shockwave. The table restraints snapped as he blinked, vanishing and reappearing in a heap on the floor, several feet away.
The researchers panicked, shouts erupting across the room.
But Dr. Smith only watched, wide-eyed and enthralled.
"Fascinating…"
Vael collapsed, his vision going dark.
But it was done.
Verdict: Core awakened.
Affinity: Spatial.
Stage: 1.