Chapter 7: The Morning After
The first rays of sunlight slipped through the curtains.
Fenrir Endarth opened his eyes.
For several seconds, he simply stared at the ceiling.
Silent.
Motionless.
Empty.
Then reality returned.
Luna's betrayal.
The alley.
OBLIVION.
The werewolves.
The killing.
The devouring.
None of it had been a nightmare.
None of it had been a dream.
It had all happened.
His new reality had not vanished with the night.
A bitter smile touched his lips.
Of course it hadn't.
Life was never that merciful.
---
Slowly, Fenrir sat up.
His body felt unusually refreshed.
The wounds from the previous day were completely gone.
Even the soreness from the battles had disappeared.
Only the emotional exhaustion remained.
He rubbed his face and sighed.
"I should feel happy."
[Explain.]
Fenrir looked toward the ceiling.
"I survived."
Silence.
Then OBLIVION responded.
[Statement Accurate.]
"I became stronger."
[Statement Accurate.]
"I gained abilities most people would kill for."
[Statement Accurate.]
Fenrir let out a quiet laugh.
"And yet I still feel like crap."
For several moments, OBLIVION remained silent.
Then, unexpectedly—
[Emotional distress is expected.]
Fenrir blinked.
That was not the answer he had anticipated.
"What?"
[Host experienced multiple traumatic events within a short period.]
[Psychological instability is within acceptable parameters.]
"..."
Trust OBLIVION to reduce emotional pain to a statistical assessment.
And yet...
The response made him feel marginally better.
---
Fenrir eventually stood and made his way to the kitchen.
The apartment felt different.
Not because anything had changed.
But because he had changed.
Every object reminded him of a life that no longer existed.
The old textbooks.
The graduation documents.
The notes pinned to the wall.
The future he had planned.
Everything belonged to someone else.
Someone who no longer existed.
As he prepared breakfast, his enhanced senses suddenly activated.
The smell of coffee from the apartment below.
The sound of a television three floors away.
The heartbeat of a bird outside his window.
Fenrir nearly dropped his spoon.
"This is ridiculous."
[Host senses are functioning normally.]
"Normally?"
[For an Alpha Sovereign.]
Fenrir pinched the bridge of his nose.
He was beginning to resent those words.
---
After eating, Fenrir sat on the couch.
For the first time since awakening, he consciously opened the System.
A familiar screen appeared before him.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Host: Fenrir Endarth
Race: Human (Suppressed)
Primary Bloodline: Alpha Sovereign God Devourer
Secondary Bloodline: ???
Level: 9
Titles:
• Last God Devourer
Skills:
• Alpha Predator's Instinct
• Bloodfang Claws
Authority:
• Sovereign Dominance (1%)
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Fenrir stared at the screen.
Level 9.
Just yesterday, he had been an ordinary college student.
Now this.
His gaze lingered on one particular line.
Secondary Bloodline: ???
The mysterious dragon bloodline.
The one even OBLIVION could not fully identify.
The thought unsettled him.
If something could surprise OBLIVION...
Then what exactly was dormant within him?
---
His thoughts were interrupted by a vibration.
Bzzz.
Bzzz.
Bzzz.
Fenrir froze.
His phone.
For the first time since graduation, he looked at it.
Dozens of notifications covered the screen.
Messages.
Missed calls.
Social media alerts.
News updates.
Most came from people he barely knew.
Classmates.
Former acquaintances.
People who had watched him be humiliated.
People who had done nothing.
His expression hardened.
One notification caught his eye.
A university group chat.
Someone had uploaded a video.
The video.
The public humiliation.
His humiliation.
Thousands of views.
Hundreds of comments.
People laughing.
Mocking.
Making jokes.
Some pitied him.
Most did not.
Fenrir stared at the screen.
His grip tightened around the phone.
The old Fenrir would have cried.
Would have felt ashamed.
Would have blamed himself.
But now?
Now he only felt disappointment.
Not in himself.
In them.
---
A few moments later, he powered off the phone.
Then he placed it on the table.
He was not ready.
Not yet.
Revenge sounded satisfying.
But revenge alone could not become his purpose.
If he lived only to hate...
Then Damien Blackwood and Luna Hartwell would control the rest of his life.
Fenrir refused to allow that.
Slowly, he stood and walked to the window.
The city stretched before him.
Ordinary people moved through the streets.
Completely unaware of the hidden world around them.
Unaware of gods.
Demons.
Werewolves.
Or the war unfolding in the shadows.
Fenrir watched them in silence.
Then he made a decision.
Not a grand decision.
Not a dramatic oath.
Just a simple choice.
"I'll get stronger."
The words felt natural.
Not because he wanted power.
Not because he wanted revenge.
Because weakness had cost him too much.
Too many people.
Too many opportunities.
Too much pain.
Never again.
He would become strong enough to protect himself.
Strong enough to protect the people he cared about.
Strong enough that no one could ever decide his fate for him again.
---
At that exact moment—
OBLIVION activated.
[New Main Quest Generated.]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Main Quest: Enter The Hidden World
Description:
The Host has awakened but remains ignorant of the supernatural world.
Acquire knowledge.
Discover the truth.
Locate supernatural activity.
Reward:
Bloodline Evolution Progress.
Access To New Features.
Failure:
None.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Fenrir stared at the notification.
Then he slowly smiled.
A genuine smile.
His first in a very long time.
The road ahead was uncertain.
Dangerous.
Possibly suicidal.
But for the first time since his life had fallen apart...
He had direction.
A goal.
A future.
Not the future he had once imagined.
But a future nonetheless.
And somewhere deep within his soul—
Beyond the Alpha Sovereign bloodline.
Beyond OBLIVION.
Beyond the seals placed upon him at birth.
Something ancient stirred.
As if responding to his resolve.
Watching.
Waiting.
For the day its true heir finally awakened.