SSS-RANKED Awakening: Supreme Fate-breaker System

[Major Changes had been done to the last chapter, if you've read it before the edit, pls reload and reread, you won't regret it, sorry for the inconvenience]

Ethan's throat felt tight. He sighed, his free hand running through his hair in frustration. "Mia… it's decided. I'm leaving at dawn. There's no changing that."

Darius exhaled through his nose, leaning back in his chair. He shot Ethan a sideways glance, something hard flickering in his eyes.

Then he forced a crooked grin. "Well, I guess we can't stop you. You are all stubborn as hell." He jabbed a thumb at himself. "Present company included."

Dan finally set down his knife and looked up, his stoic face giving Ethan a rare, approving nod.

Ethan could feel it now — the fight in them had drained away. They knew there was no point in pressing him further. He and Gareth had made up their minds, and neither would back down.

As if on cue, Mia suddenly got even clingier, wrapping both arms around his side like a vine and burying her face into his shoulder. "Then I'm not letting go," she mumbled, voice muffled but thick with tears. "I'm going to spend every second with you before you leave, so deal with it!"

Ethan groaned softly, trying to shake her off. "Mia…"

But her grip only tightened like a vice.

Darius let out a low chuckle, leaning over to nudge Ethan with his elbow. "Just let her be, little brother. You'll be gone soon — let her have this."

Ethan sighed in defeat, slumping slightly in his chair. "...Fine."

He glanced at them all — at Mia clinging to him, Darius with his half-grin, Dan with his arms crossed and eyes steady, and his mother who watched quietly with a gaze that pierced deeper than anyone else's.

He took a breath. "But don't worry. I'm not planning to die out there."

His voice firmed. "I'll make sure I come back… stronger."

The table went still again.

His mother's lips pressed into a thin line, but she nodded slowly, accepting his vow.

Darius grunted and smirked. "Well, you better. We're not done bullying you yet."

Even Dan let out a faint snort — the closest thing to a laugh from him.

As dinner wound down, the family lingered at the table longer than usual. No one said it aloud, but none of them wanted to call it a night just yet. Not when tomorrow would change everything.

Later, as they all stood in the hallway, Mia still clung stubbornly to Ethan's arm.

Darius tried, half-heartedly, to pry her off. "Alright, squirt, let the man breathe. He's not dying, he's leaving."

But Mia just glared at him and buried her face even deeper against Ethan.

Ethan looked around at all of them.

The weight in his chest was heavier than any sword. This warmth, this family — he was leaving it all behind at dawn.

His voice was quiet, but resolute.

"...I'll make you all proud."

His mother's face remained calm, but her eyes shimmered faintly in the low light. She simply nodded.

Darius smirked again, clapping Ethan on the shoulder — hard enough to sting, but meant as affection. "Just make sure you come back. I expect to see you stronger…"

Mia sniffled but loosened her grip. Barely.

Dan crossed his arms and gave one final nod.

Ethan swallowed hard, feeling the knot in his throat tighten. Tomorrow, he would leave as a Drakethorne. But tonight, he was just their little brother — their son.

And for a few more hours… he would let himself simply be that.

Dinner continued, but the lively talk from earlier dimmed into a quieter, more comfortable rhythm.

Darius did his best to keep the mood from sinking entirely — cracking a joke about how Ethan would come back so buff they wouldn't recognize him, and how he'd have to fight off the girls at Valeron Cross, Which Mia frowned at not finding the joke funny at all.

Even Dan gave a rare snort at that, though he quickly masked it with a sip of his drink.

As the plates were cleared and the servants withdrew, the family lingered longer at the table than usual, none of them quite ready to call it a night.

The golden glow of the chandeliers above painted their faces in soft light, and for a long moment, no one spoke. The clatter of dishes in the distant kitchens faded away, leaving only the faint crackle of the hearth and the steady beat of the grandfather clock against the far wall.

Mia, still seated close to Ethan, had her fingers clenched tightly around the hem of her dress. Her eyes flickered to him more than once — desperate, searching, as though memorizing every detail of his face before he walked into the unknown. She opened her mouth once, then closed it, biting her lower lip.

Across the table, Dan let out a quiet breath through his nose. His arms were crossed, that ever-stern gaze softening, just a little. His usual sharp tongue had been silent tonight, and that said more than any words he could've spoken.

His mother sat with her hands folded neatly in her lap, her posture as straight and regal as ever, but even she had lost some of that cold sharpness that always clung to her. Her eyes, deep and unreadable, lingered on Ethan — and there was a flicker there. A glint of something raw and fragile. Worry, perhaps. Or something close to fear.

A servant passed by to collect a forgotten cup, but even he moved slower than usual, as though mindful of the thick, heavy air in the room.

Ethan felt it. All of it.

The unspoken words hanging in the air.

The weight of what tomorrow meant.

The way their usual walls had cracks in them tonight.

Mia shifted suddenly and reached out, her hand grasping Ethan's sleeve. "Just… be careful, okay?" Her voice was small, strained. "Don't be stupid out there."

He gave a faint smile, but said nothing. Words wouldn't help.

Mia whimpered but finally loosened her grip.

Dan crossed his arms, giving Ethan one final, quiet nod of approval.

And with that, the family began to part ways for the night, each stepping away — but their presence lingered, heavy and comforting like an invisible thread tying Ethan to this place.

As he watched them go, Ethan stood alone in the corridor, the flickering lanterns casting long shadows on the walls.

His fists clenched at his sides. 'Is this what it feels like to have a family and depart from it?'

It felt strange, he was an orphan back at earth so he doesn't quite understand this feeling...

Outside, the night wind stirred, whispering of the dawn to come.