CHAPTER 53: VIRAL VIDEO

She stared at him, then sighed softly, her eyes dragging up and down his frame.

His Grimmaw uniform, the same one he’d worn out earlier that day, was in tatters.

The cloth was charred in uneven patches, frayed and blackened as though he’d walked through fire.

A faint, acrid smell clung to him, and Vanessa instinctively brought a hand to her nose.

"You should have told me you were going to space," she said dryly.

Lucius blinked, caught off guard. "How did you know...?"

"Get inside first." Her voice was sharp, though the slight huff she gave afterward betrayed her relief.

She stepped aside, and he obeyed, striding into the mansion.

The familiar warmth of the living room greeted him.

Plush chairs, the soft hum of a heater, and a large flat-screen mounted on the wall gave it a comfortable modernity that contrasted jarringly with the vast silence of space he had just left.

On the couch, Emilia sat with her legs folded up, fiddling with the remote.

She didn’t even look up before chirping, "Hey, big bro."

Lucius froze mid-step.

His eyes narrowed.

’Big bro? Since when does she call me that?’

Before he could question it, Vanessa was already moving.

"Watch this," she said briskly, shoving her phone into his hands.

Lucius took it, his brows furrowing.

On the screen was an official account post, the verified check glowing a sharp blue: SpaceAwakenersOfficial🔹.

His stomach twisted with unease as he glanced at the view counter.

Hundred.

Million.

Views.

"...In hours?" he muttered.

He knew he was famous but this famous? For what? He hadn’t been aiming to put on a show.

He pressed play.

The video was silent — eerily so, true to the nature of space but the imagery was striking.

It showed him. Lucius, suspended in the void, arms spread as if he were floating through water.

Then, without warning, the footage quaked.

Space itself seemed to tremble around him.

A pulse of purple energy exploded outward, rippling like a shockwave.

His body was bathed in violet glow, his expression sharp, a smirk curling his lips as though he commanded the very heavens.

The clip ended abruptly, cutting to black.

Lucius stared at it, unblinking.

His thoughts stuttered.

’I don’t remember this. I felt... high, sure. But did I really look like that? Did I cause all of that?’

The sheer theatricality of it was almost embarrassing.

"Is it everywhere?" he asked finally, voice low.

"Yes." Vanessa sighed again, her tone heavy with the kind of exasperation that only came from watching someone unwittingly break the internet.

Her gaze softened, though, tilting slightly as she studied his face. "How does it feel? To have a mana heart, I mean. Yours must be high-ranking... it’s even changed your appearance."

Lucius blinked. "Changed my—?"

He opened the camera app on the phone, angled it toward himself, and nearly dropped the device.

The reflection staring back was not the man he remembered.

His features had refined, sharpened to near-perfection.

His skin looked smoother, his jawline more defined, his purple eyes glowed faintly with ethereal brilliance.

His hair shimmered.

For one terrifying second, he thought he was staring at a stranger.

"...My God," he whispered. "If I didn’t know better, I’d think I was a jade beauty from a cultivation novel."

Vanessa gave a small, almost smug smile.

"That happens when you form a mana heart. Your physical form takes... leaps. The energy reforges you, inside and out. Most awakeners come out looking healthier, stronger. But you..."

Her eyes lingered on him for a second too long before she coughed into her fist. "...yours is very dramatic."

Lucius groaned and rubbed his temples. "Great. So now I’m going to be even more stalked not just for my powers, but because I look like a cover model."

"You’re not wrong," Emilia piped up from the couch, finally looking over.

She tilted her head, eyes gleaming mischievously.

"Bro, you’re hot now. Like, dangerously hot. People might start simping more than they already do."

Lucius shot her a flat look. "Don’t call me bro."

"Big bro," she corrected with a grin.

Before he could retort, a wave of dizziness hit him like a hammer.

His vision blurred, his legs wobbled.

Suddenly, he couldn’t feel the ground beneath his feet.

His body rose half an inch, floating as though gravity had forgotten him.

"Ouch, my head hurts," he admitted, clutching his temple.

His voice was softer now, slurred with fatigue.

Vanessa stepped forward but kept her composure, hands behind her back.

"It’s normal. You’ve just reforged your body and soul. The exhaustion will hit hard. Just go take a bath and rest." She hesitated a fraction before adding quickly, "I wasn’t worried about you, by the way."

Lucius almost smirked.

Almost.

He didn’t have the energy.

Not worried, huh? He might have believed her... if not for the way her hands trembled faintly at her sides, or the memory of her sighing in relief when she’d first seen him at the door.

She’d been very worried.

What he didn’t know was how frantic she’d actually been.

Vanessa had spent hours pacing the living room, dialing contacts in every space-awakener division she could reach.

The official report which hadn’t been shared to the public wae that Lucius was currently seen drifting lifelessly in orbit, glowing faintly.

She had already begun preparing a retrieval request, desperate to find a way to bring him back down before something happened.

But she’d never tell him that.

Pride was too important.

She reached into her pocket and drew out a crisp slip of parchment.

The wax seal on it gleamed faintly under the lights.

"I told you I’d get you a ticket to Evergreen Forest," she said, handing it over.

Her tone was casual, but her eyes betrayed relief that she could finally distract him with business.

Lucius took it, arching a brow. "That was fast."

"It wasn’t easy. Consider yourself lucky." She crossed her arms. "But there’s a catch."

Lucius narrowed his eyes. "...What kind of catch?"

"You’ll have to meet the Silberhains first."

His jaw slackened. "What?!"

The name alone was enough to make his blood pressure rise.