Divine Path System Chapter 1 - Varian
"I will not be merciful simply because you haven't awakened," the young man remarked, casting a cold gaze down at Varian.
"The sentiment is mutual," Varian retorted, settling into his familiar combat stance. His lean physique was mirrored in the glossy floor of the arena.
The audience within the Hall continued to swell as the minutes passed. Leon Training Hall was rarely known for hosting duels; today’s event was a distinct exception.
Maid robots moved through the crowd, serving refreshments while onlookers remained fixated on a massive 3D holographic screen. The display rendered the combatants with striking clarity.
This was no ordinary duel between Awakeners.
An unawakened youth had challenged a Level 1 Body Awakener! The premise alone was absurd, but the Training Hall’s decision to back the underdog had caused the news to spread like wildfire.
"Is this a joke? An unawakened piece of trash actually taking on a Level 1 Awakener?" a high school girl questioned the friend who had dragged her along.
"It is real enough. Varian joined the Hall a year ago, and his combat instincts are unparalleled. The Hall Master himself noted that if he were to ever reach the level of a Mid-level Awakener, he could potentially hit Level 4," her friend replied, her eyes glued to the projection.
"Are you certain this isn't a scam—"
"The match begins," the AI referee announced. Everyone turned their attention to the screen, focusing intensely on the unawakened fighter.
Varian remained unmoved by the eyes upon him. Maintaining his disciplined posture, he took a steady breath, waiting for his opponent’s first move.
He had successfully overcome a dozen opponents in normal brawls and had never tasted defeat against other unawakened fighters.
However, he was realistic about his limitations. In terms of sheer physical attributes, Body Awakeners were superior. They possessed strength greater than the finest boxers, speed surpassing the quickest athletes, and endurance far beyond the best swimmers of Old Earth.
Although a Level 1 Body Awakener could not deflect bullets or block blades, they were a force to be reckoned with for any normal human. While a mob might eventually take one down, defeating such a person in a one-on-one duel was usually treated as a fantasy.
Varian understood these statistics yet remained supremely confident. If he had any chance of winning, it would come from leveraging his greatest asset: combat experience honed through years of grueling practice and countless battles where failure resulted in broken bones.
His opponent was the opposite—a newly awakened youth who took too much pride in his raw power, holding a deep disdain for the intricacies of combat technique.
The opponent made his move. With speed far beyond normal human limitations, he closed the distance and drove a punch toward Varian’s chin.
The spectators gasped, anticipating the end. Yet, before the blow could land, Varian had already ducked and countered.
'Boom!'
His opponent staggered back, clutching his bleeding nose.
While a Level 1 Body Awakener’s stats were superior, it didn't mean victory was impossible for a normal human.
"Don't think you can look down on me, you trash!" The young man lunged forward, aiming a savage kick at Varian’s chest.
"Your patterns are far too obvious," Varian countered, weaving to the right and landing a firm kick on the man's back, sending him crashing to the floor.
Boom!
A kick of that magnitude would normally leave a person bedridden for a month, but an Awakener was not so easily incapacitated.
His opponent was on his feet in an instant, launching a flurry of attacks. Even one successful strike would likely shatter Varian’s bones, yet every attempt missed by a mere fraction of an inch.
Despite the immense power behind the blows, they lacked coordination and were riddled with openings.
"A punch to the solar plexus, a kick to the gut, and an elbow to the ribs," Varian thought, reading every attack before it fully materialized. He dodged them all with ease, his expression remaining cool despite the beads of sweat forming on his brow.
To the audience, it appeared as though Varian was merely lucky, yet the pattern repeated time and again.
"Damn you! You son of a..." A sharp, well-placed punch to the chin cut him off, sending him reeling, and before he could recover, Varian delivered a heavy blow to his ribs.
Varian’s calm facade finally hardened. He struck the man’s face repeatedly and hammered at his ribs, hearing the sickening sound of them fracturing one by one.
Click!
Click!
Click!
His opponent thrashed, struggling to rise only to be countered by another precise, debilitating strike that kept him down.
Grown desperate, the opponent began kicking at Varian’s legs with inhuman force.
Crack!
Varian’s legs nearly gave way as the sound of bone splintering echoed across the stage. He grit his teeth against the agony; physical pain was a familiar companion.
Both fighters were trading heavy wounds, turning the match into a brutal test of endurance.
The audience began to murmur, certain that Varian would be the one to collapse first.
Given the massive disparity in their physical attributes, they assumed his suffering was far greater. Victory seemed impossible for him.
"They fed us lies... though it was a decent effort for Varian to survive this long." The girl rose from her seat, a few others doing the same.
"Wait!" her friend insisted. The girl gave her an annoyed glance but decided to stay for the final moment.
She cast a final, careless look at the screen and immediately gasped.
Varian’s legs were mangled, but his attack speed hadn't wavered. He continued to strike his opponent until the man’s movements finally ceased, eventually passing out from the strain.
"Varian wins!" the AI referee declared, freezing the audience in their tracks.
Staring at the screen, they stood stunned. An Awakener had been dismantled by an unawakened human.
The day’s laughingstock had suddenly become a symbol of an irrefutable truth.
"The next time you curse my mother, I will kill you," Varian muttered, looking down at his bloodied opponent before stepping off the stage.
He could barely stand, his legs near failure, yet he limped away with his spine rigid, leaving a trail of blood—mostly belonging to his adversary.
The crowd looked on with a mix of awe and pity. Awe for his ability to overcome an Awakener, and pity because he would never possess the power of one himself.
Most people awakened by the age of 16 into one of the Divine Paths. These paths were categorized into three groups: Divergents, Elementalists, and Dimensionals.
Varian’s opponent had been pursuing the Body path.
The Body path belonged to the Divergent group, the very path Varian had dreamed of joining as a child.
But that was merely a fantasy now. He had turned 18 today.
"If talented fighters like him were on the frontlines, perhaps we could actually defeat the Abyssals and survive," the girl sighed.
"Indeed. He might have even reached the Sovereign level," her friend added, shaking her head sadly.
"Pfft. Sovereign? You girls are seriously delusional. The Human Federation spans eight planets with 50 billion people. And yet, how many Sovereigns are there? Eight. Only eight," a young man in the next row interrupted, showing his fingers before glaring at them.
"They are humanity's protectors. Do not insult them by comparing them to this unawakened trash," he snapped.
"What could you possibly know? Could you even beat him if he were an Awakener?" the girl’s friend retorted, her face flushed. Comparing Varian to a Sovereign had certainly been a stretch.
"Look at the facts. If he truly wanted to awaken, he could have sought out the Dungeons. I'm sure someone would have loaned him the credit. But he never went. Not once!" The young man stood up, drawing eyes toward him.
"If he can't even fight magic beasts in the Dungeons, how can he dream of standing alongside Sovereigns who battle Abyss Kings?" He sneered and stormed out.
"I suppose we are just desperate for heroes to end this war," the girls sighed, departing with complicated feelings.
They felt that even comparing Varian to a Sovereign was a slight against the legends. Little did they know that soon, the entire world would realize it was the reverse.
Even Varian himself didn't know that his life was about to pivot forever.
He slumped into a chair in the locker room. Cleaning bots removed the smears of blood while a nursing robot, a floating sphere with two limbs, tended to his wounds and injected healing medication. The damage would be repaired in a few hours.
He felt an itch in his legs, followed by a wave of sharp pain. He gritted his teeth, refusing to cry out. Having his bones crushed by a crazed Body Awakener was unpleasant, but he had survived far worse.
Varian glanced at the dragon bracelet on his right wrist. It was an heirloom from his mother’s side of the family. It reminded him of her daily—and of that night.
The night he wished had never happened.
Exactly a year ago, he and his mother, Amanda, had been celebrating his 17th birthday.
"Varian, haven't you always wanted to be an Awakener? To fight in the war and bring peace? Just like your father," she had smiled, her voice filled with pride whenever she spoke of her late husband who had perished fighting the Abyssals.
"Of course! I've been training since I was 11, but I still couldn't awaken. There is only one path left—the Dungeons. But you never allowed me to go. I'm 17 now, Mom. I'll likely never be like Dad," Varian had whispered, his hope fading.
Amanda gave him a wry smile, repeating the same logic she had used for years.
"We don't have the funds to hire a professional party. I cannot risk losing you the way I lost him," Amanda paused, composing herself. "If only I were a skilled combatant, I could have helped you myself," she sighed, blaming her own lack of prowess.
Amanda herself was a Level 1 Thunder Path Awakener, but she was never a fighter.
"Mom, I know how hard you work to provide for us," Varian replied, never one to hold resentment, especially toward the woman who had sacrificed everything to raise him alone.
He understood her fears. He didn't want to imagine her panic if he suddenly vanished. That was why he never sneaked into the Dungeons. But the frustration remained, mixed with a suffocating sense of helplessness.
Amanda looked at his young face, one that concealed a more mature spirit, and giggled. "I won't hide it any longer. As a gift for your 17th birthday, I have saved enough to hire adventurers. You can enter the Dungeons in a week. You will awaken. I believe in you." She kissed his forehead.
"Really? Wow. I can finally see if I can awaken! I'll make you proud. I'll fulfill Dad's wis—"
BOOM!
The room’s walls were blown apart, and the power cut out. Varian turned, instinctively shielding Amanda behind him.
Through the dust, a pair of glowing red eyes stared at them.
Varian held his breath, bracing for a fight, though he knew he was out of his depth. The seconds stretched into an eternity as he squinted, trying to identify the intruder.
The silhouette became clear under the moonlight: a flaming wolf, two meters tall and five meters wide, its fur burning with blue fire. A magic beast!
Magic beasts were creatures of the Dungeon Dimensions. Seeing one outside was nearly impossible, yet Varian had drawn the short straw.
The creature eyed them. Varian was still unawakened, and his mother was only a Level 1 Awakener.
Aura served as the fuel for advancement in the Divine paths, and beasts always possessed more than the average human.
The wolf lunged at the weaker target—him.
He could have dodged, but his mother was right behind him.
"Mom, get out of here!" Varian shouted, dashing forward to stall the beast, but—
"Varian, run!" She pushed him aside, sending him tumbling to the floor.
Varian watched in horror as hot debris pierced his flesh. Ignoring the searing heat, he looked up and prayed to any god that would listen.
"Roar!" The wolf clawed at her. Its power was far beyond their expectations—a Level 2 beast, impossible for them to defeat. She dodged by a hair's breadth.
"Please, get out!" she screamed, conjuring a bolt of lightning at the beast.
The wolf dodged with ease and drove its claws into her abdomen. She collapsed, her face losing all color as she continued to push forward.
"No!" Varian tried to move, but to his terror, he was frozen.
His body refused to respond.
Amanda clutched her wound and fired another bolt, striking the beast in the neck. A smell of burnt flesh filled the room.
The wolf howled, lunging to tear out her throat. She escaped again, but the creature took a chunk of her shoulder.
Varian’s heart hammered against his ribs. He tried to move, cursing, pleading.
Just move. Move once, and I don't care if I'm paralyzed for the rest of my life. Please…
His body remained locked in place.
His mother collapsed, powerless to continue the struggle.
"Mom! Mom…" She turned toward him, her eyes devoid of fear, filled only with tears and a final, peaceful smile. She whispered something, but he couldn't hear it. He had missed her final words.
"You beast!" Varian roared, eyes bloodshot.
"Here! Eat me!" he screamed, trying to force his presence, trying to draw its attention.
He had failed.
His cheeks were wet as his vision blurred, watching the wolf open its jaws…
'Tick.'
The medical bot’s notification pulled him back to the present. The treatment was complete.
Varian was so lost in the echoes of his past that he failed to notice his dragon bracelet flashing gray, displaying a tiny string of text:
[Divine Path System Initializing… 99.00% 99.01%]