Chapter 37: Unexpected Awakening

“Oh my God, Liam, I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry!” Yaela kept repeating, with both hands pressed over her mouth and her body trembling with remorse.

“How did that happen? When did you…” Liam stared at her in bewilderment. Yaela had never been a visor in her entire life, so what in God’s name was happening right now?

“I don’t know how that happened. I didn’t know I could even do that. I’m so sorry,” her voice cracked as she began sobbing uncontrollably.

“Oh, come here,” Liam said softly, moving toward her. They embraced, and he rubbed her back gently, trying to soothe her tears. It was obvious her reaction stemmed from the trauma she’d experienced during the abduction ordeal.

“It’s alright, Yae. It’s alright…” he murmured, still staring over her shoulder in awe at what he’d just witnessed, Yaela wielding magic.

Eventually, she settled down and sat back on the couch. Liam squatted in front of her, taking her hands in his. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure this out, okay?” She nodded, wiping her eyes.

“I have to go now,” Liam said, standing and heading toward the door. Yaela followed him, bolting the door behind him as he left. Outside, Liam’s feet lifted off the ground as he launched into the sky in a streak of silvery-blue lightning.

Within minutes, he’d arrived at USOV’s entrance. Walking through the facility with his hands in his pockets, he headed toward the Field Agents’ quarters to greet his friends in Team C. However, the first person he encountered stopped him in his tracks. “The hell? Mr. Silas?!” Liam exclaimed, staring at his former boss, who was now wearing a suit.

“Yooo, Vel—” Silas began, but Liam immediately clamped his right hand over Silas’s mouth. Liam pulled out his ID, which read “Liam Garry,” and showed it to Silas pointedly. Silas shook his head in amusement. Apparently, Liam had decided to change his name for reasons best known to himself—but that wasn’t Silas’s business anyway.

“Long time no see, champ,” Silas said with a grin. Before Liam could respond, the rest of Team C emerged from their room. Sarah stepped forward first, throwing her arm across Silas’s shoulders. “Hotshot! This is our new teammate, Silas,” she announced, while Silas wore a peculiar smile.

“Hey, Liam. We heard what happened…” Elaine began, but Sarah interrupted. “Oh yes! You really fought Serafina?” Sarah asked eagerly.

Amir covered his face with his palm in amused embarrassment. “Oh my God, Sarah…”

“What?” Sarah protested. “Didn’t he?”

“Don’t mind Sarah,” Elaine said, giving Sarah a pointed look before continuing. “We heard what Ray did. How is she? Your sister?”

“She’s doing fine, thank you,” Liam replied.

Amir gestured between Liam and Silas. “Seems you two know each other?”

“Yeah, he used to be my boss,” Liam said, shaking his head.

“Now we both work for the same boss,” Silas added, attempting a joke but executing it poorly. He scratched his head awkwardly.

“What happened to the arena? Isn’t it coming back?” Liam asked, genuinely concerned to an extent.

“After what happened, we lost a good number of people willing to return, and with the cost of repairs, I figured it wasn’t worth it,” Silas explained.

“So you decided to work for the government?” Liam raised an eyebrow skeptically.

“I mean, they were happy to take an A-tier, and I’m not gonna lie—the pay is better than what I earned as the arena’s manager,” Silas said with a shrug, clearly satisfied with his decision.

Liam shook his head, but Sarah jumped back into the conversation. “Now that everyone’s said what they need to, let’s get to the matter at hand. Mr. Hotshot, how the hell did you survive fighting a Ranked Visor? We want to know everything!”

Liam scratched his forehead, caught between frustration and embarrassment. “Uhm, well… uh…” He struggled to find the words, but Elaine immediately stepped in. “Sarah, that’s enough. You’re bothering him.” Then she turned to Liam with a gentler expression. “Maybe some other time.”

She grabbed Sarah forcefully by the hand and began leading her away. Amir naturally followed behind them. As they walked toward the training room, Elaine turned back slowly. “Silas, was it? You’re part of the team now, join us…”

“Ah, yes,” Silas said, then turned to Liam for a moment. “See you around, Eel.” He followed the others toward the training room in another section of the USOV facility.

Liam felt deeply relieved that he didn’t have to endure Sarah’s interrogation right now and with that crisis averted, he made his way toward the director’s office as he had a pressing matter to discuss.

He climbed the stairs to the office and knocked on the door. “Come on in,” Director Grey called from inside. Liam stepped through the doorway. “Good day, Director.”

Without lifting his eyes from the documents spread across his desk, Grey motioned for Liam to sit. “How’s your sister doing?”

“She’s fine, but she’s also the reason I’m here,” Liam replied.

Grey paused his reading and looked up. “What’s the matter?”

“Yaela somehow awakened as a visor,” Liam said with a straight face.

“Okay? That doesn’t happen every day, true, but it’s not strange either,” Grey said matter-of-factly. “You should also bring her in for tier evaluation.”

“It’s too much of a change for her. What if she doesn’t want it? Does USOV have any means to take these powers away?” Liam asked, his determination clear in his voice.

Grey scoffed. “We can’t do that, Liam. What powers did she awaken? Is it like your evolution ability?” He leaned forward, seemingly intrigued by the possibility.

“No, she awakened the power to harness flames,” Liam said simply.

“Hmm… sounds interesting,” Grey said, though his enthusiasm dimmed when he realized it wasn’t similar to Liam’s unique ability. “You should probably teach her to control it.”

“I’m not sure I know how to,” Liam admitted, especially as he never had to teach Yaela anything while they grew up. It was usually the other way around instead.

“Then do what you can, and if it proves too difficult, bring her in.” Grey said, moving his attention back to the documents laid before him

“Okay,” Liam said, standing to leave. It was evident that USOV had little help to offer him.

As Liam reached the door, Grey called out, “Oh, and be careful. Scouts for various factions are watching USOV agents, especially since news spread that one of our agents fought Serafina to a stalemate.” He paused. “So unless you want the spotlight, I suggest you tone it down a bit.”

Grey’s actual fear was that Liam might by enticed by the offers these factions would make, and he couldn’t afford letting Liam out of his sight.

Liam sighed and nodded in agreement before leaving the office.

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