"Father, I'm coming in..." Vicente warned before opening the door to Andrew's room as he always did.

As he entered there, he ignored the stench and looked at the man who currently looked more like a human skeleton than a man.

Andrew was sitting in an armchair looking out at the dark sea, with a bottle of drink in one hand and shirtless showing Vicente his ribs.

The hair on Andrew's abdomen had grown a lot in the last months, but what was most striking about him was how thin his skin was, a sign of the low fat percentage on his body.

But not only that, his muscles had atrophied, and he now looked rather sickly, looking much older than he should be at his age.

"What is it, Vicente? I told you, whatever you decide is fine." He said in a quiet, low tone, like the voice of a man dead inside.

But he was dead. Since he had lost Kate, there was no more joy for him in this world.

Caring for his children was a concern, but as Vicente proved more and more capable and Lauren became a woman, his worries about them had been diminishing.

Maybe if he died, he would be less of a burden to his children.

Who knows, maybe he was getting in their way. They could already live without him. Andrew had noticed this in the last few weeks.

These thoughts had been going through his mind recently, so when he saw Vicente approaching him, he couldn't help but wonder what this boy wanted.

Vicente said. "Father, tomorrow is Lauren's 14th birthday. Won't you be attending her awakening?"

"Birthday?" He looked over and saw how his son had grown over the past few months.

Vincent would be 11 years old in a short time and was currently around 1.65 meters tall and 57 kilos. He looked like Kate's father when such a man was younger.

Seeing this, Andrew remembered when he first met Kate and closed his eyes. "So by tomorrow Lauren will be going through her magical awakening... Time does go by fast."

Vicente clenched his fists behind his back but said nothing to his old man.

Despite everything, he respected this man a lot and didn't think it was fair to lecture him now when Andrew was at rock bottom.

Was it right for a son to raise his voice to his father?

Perhaps neglecting his children was terrible, but at least Andrew was not hindering them or causing them harm with his actions. He was only destroying himself.

But then Vice saw his father get up and paid attention to what he was doing.

"All right, I have to get ready for tomorrow. After Kate wakes up, we'll go back." He said.

'Kate?' Vicente heard that, and his eyes narrowed. 'Are you just drunk or...'

Gulp!

"Lauren, Father. Lauren's awakening."

"Yes, exactly. We'll come home after that. So I'm counting on you to get everything ready, son." Andrew smiled at Vicente and then went into the bathroom.

...

The next day dawned a foggy day in Saltstar City.

Although the current season has warm climates, the skies of this coastal city dawned gray with heavy clouds, with signs of an approaching storm.

The sea was rough, and the waves were meters higher than normal.

The wind coming from the sea was strong, and the people of this city dawned leaving their houses wrapped in warm clothes, along with the silence of the cold days.

Amid this, Vicente left the resort next to his family, carrying Nina in his arms while walking next to Lauren.

Andrew stood in front of them, dressed in a nice suit, but one that currently looked odd on him, given the pounds he had lost.

On the other hand, even in her normal mood for recent months, Lauren was dressed in a beautiful yellow dress, a gift from her mother when they had left Martell Village.

She looked very good in it, with her well-defined curves and practically flawless skin.

She didn't want to wear it today, but her brother had convinced her. As much as her mood did not match the warmth of her mother's chosen outfit, Kate had chosen this dress for this moment, and wearing it was a way to honor her.

So the group of them got into a carriage, and without delay, they were on their way to the Awakening Temple in the central area of this city.

"Older sister, are you ready? Eager to awaken your magical abilities?" Vicente asked Lauren on the way there.

"No. I'm looking forward to going home." She dryly said.

Lauren knew her parents' talents, so she had no expectations of achieving anything different from them.

On the other hand, her magical powers should be similar to her parents', so she would probably get a Magic Gem that would give her powers over common elements.

There was no reason for her to create expectations for this moment!

Vicente understood his sister and did not question her.

'Awakening connects us more deeply to our affinities, gives us an innate ability that comes with the first Magic Pentagram, and enhances all our senses...

But that is in proportion to our talents.' Vice closed his eyes.

A great talent would attract a better-ranked Magic Gem and naturally lead the magician to a more spectacular fate.

The Magic Pentagram that would form amidst the absorption of the Magic Gem would be of the best possible quality, and its ability could develop with that of the magician.

But this was for a magician of good talent. A poorly talented one would achieve the bare minimum, not enough to generate euphoria in someone like Vicente or Lauren.

So when they arrived in front of the Awakening Temple, only Nina was interested in the surroundings, looking curiously to the sides.

She saw that building that looked like a large coliseum, five stories high, red and black, with various golden symbols here and there.

Vicente and his family followed the directions indicated by signs in the surroundings, joining a group of a few dozen people there also for the awakening of their relatives.

Only the person undergoing the awakening could enter the Awakening Platform. Still, family members, friends, and even onlookers could follow this moment from the temple galleries.

The awakening was very special, so everyone around seemed happy, the only exception being Vicente's group.

When they arrived at the temple entrance, there were two ways to enter. One was the entrance for the young people who would undergo the awakening, and the other was the entrance to the galleries.

Some men stood in front of the entrance indicating where people should go.

"Who in your group is going to awaken the magical abilities?" One of them asked the group in front of Vicente's.

"My son, senior." A middle-aged man said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Has he already turned 14, or will he be later?" That same man asked.

For some reason, the awakening happened in the middle of the day. But only young people with their full 14 years could go through the awakening.

So young people born after 12 o'clock had to awaken their abilities the next day. Only those born before that could awaken on this day.

"Yes, he is a full 14 years old." That man stated.

"Very well, he can follow that direction." The temple man indicated with his fingers, showing the path where that young man would run soon after.

Then it was the turn of Vicente's group.

"My daughter is the one who will awaken her abilities," Andrew said. "And she's already a full 14 years old."

"Then she can come this way." One of the men there said that but then Vicente asked.

"Senior, my sister is blind. Can I accompany her? I promise not to walk away at the appropriate time." He said, drawing attention from the people in the surrounding area.