The Awakening Error - The system's Greatest Error

For days, Ethan and Ronan trained relentlessly under Veyrn's watchful eye. The initial excitement of learning under a powerhouse had long since faded, replaced by the brutal reality of how far behind they truly were.

Veyrn rarely spoke. He didn't shower them with praise or corrections. Instead, he watched, his sharp gaze picking apart their every movement, their every attempt to push beyond their limits.

He had always known his resonance allowed him to absorb, reflect, and adapt energy-based attacks.

But after countless trials, he discovered something far more profound—

He could resonate with objects themselves.

It wasn't immediate.

It wasn't easy.

But through constant failures and bruises, he slowly grasped it.

When he resonated with a rock, he felt its stillness—its unyielding nature.

When he resonated with water, he sensed the way it flowed effortlessly around force.

When he touched metal, his body hardened slightly, reacting to its dense structure.

It wasn't perfect. It wasn't even close to mastery. But it was there—a breakthrough.

Ronan's clones had always been powerful, but now he was learning to synchronize them better.

Instead of brute-forcing his way through, he experimented with using enhanced senses and speed in combination, making each clone act with a different strategy instead of all attacking at once.

Each day pushed them further. But Veyrn remained unimpressed.

On the seventh day of training, Veyrn finally gave them a real test.

He walked to the center of a clearing and drew a small circle on the ground, no more than five meters wide.

"This will be your first real challenge," he said, voice calm, almost indifferent. "You two against me. Your only goal—make me step outside this circle. If you can do that, I'll acknowledge your progress."

A simple task.

An impossible task.

"I won't use my advanced abilities," he continued. "I'll limit myself to my initial trait—just like you. So give me your best shot."

Ethan and Ronan exchanged a look. This was their chance.

"Ready?" Veyrn asked, stepping into the circle.

"Come."

Ronan was the first to move.

His super-speed clone blurred forward, attempting to attack Veyrn's left side.

Another clone materialized a few feet away, using aura suppression to disrupt Veyrn's focus.

At the same time, Ethan sprinted in, resonating with the ground, making himself feel heavier, denser.

None of it worked.

The moment Ronan's first clone attacked—

BAM!

Veyrn didn't move, didn't dodge. He simply adjusted his mass, making himself so impossibly stable that Ronan's attack shattered his own clone on impact.

The second clone, the one using aura suppression? Destroyed in a single step.

Ethan barely managed to halt his charge before colliding into a human wall. Veyrn hadn't even budged.

"That's it?" Veyrn asked, voice neutral. "Try again."

Ethan gritted his teeth. He had to think differently. If raw power wouldn't work, then…

They changed their approach.

Ronan's clones didn't attack outright. Instead, they moved unpredictably, circling Veyrn at blinding speeds.

Ethan focused—not on brute force, but on resonance.

He touched the ground beneath him… and felt something.

The earth itself had weight. It had momentum.

If Veyrn was controlling his mass to stay rooted, then Ethan had to match that resonance—or disrupt it.

He had an idea.

"Ronan—give me a strong impact! Just one!"

Ronan's eyes flashed with understanding. He created a single clone—one infused with every ounce of speed he could manage.

BANG!

The clone struck the ground just outside the circle, sending a tremor through the earth. At that exact moment—

Ethan, resonating with the ground's natural vibrations, sent a subtle wave through the soil beneath Veyrn's feet.

For the first time, Veyrn shifted.

Not much. Just half a step.

But enough that he noticed.

His eyes locked onto Ethan, sharp and unreadable. "Interesting."

Ethan and Ronan had no time to celebrate.

Veyrn stabilized instantly, as if nothing had happened.

"You two actually made me move," he admitted. "But once isn't enough."

They needed one final strike.

Ronan used enhanced senses, watching Veyrn's stance, searching for the smallest imbalance.

Ethan resonated with Ronan's clones, subtly adjusting their force to synchronize with his own.

They had one last shot.

Ronan's last two clones dashed in from opposite sides. Ethan lunged forward at the same time, resonating with Ronan's speed.

Veyrn countered the first strike effortlessly.

He countered the second just as easily.

But Ethan had already placed his hand on the very ground beneath them.

And in that instant—

BOOM.

A perfectly synchronized force erupted from below.

Veyrn's stance faltered—only for a moment. But in that moment, Ethan and Ronan pushed with everything they had.

Veyrn's foot crossed the line.

They won.

Silence filled the clearing.

Veyrn looked down at his foot, now outside the circle. Then he exhaled, shaking his head with a quiet chuckle.

"Not bad."

Ronan collapsed onto the ground, breathless. Ethan fell to his knees beside him, every muscle aching.

Veyrn walked toward them, his expression unreadable. Then, after a long pause—

"You're worth training."

Ethan barely managed a grin. Ronan let out a weak laugh.

They had finally earned his true acknowledgment.

But deep down, both of them knew—this was just the beginning.

Because if Veyrn was this powerful while holding back, they could only imagine what awaited them when he stopped restricting himself.

And the real training had yet to begin.