Bloodline Evolution: I Can Choose Opposing Paths-Chapter 9: Borrowing Heaven’s Judgement

There was only one week left and the sky was still refusing him.

His eyes kept lifting to the clouds. Some gathered briefly, and darkened just enough to raise his hopes, only to thin and scatter by the afternoon.

But by the first day of the week, heaven had finally answered.

Clouds rolled in low, piling on top of one another until the sky dulled into a gray.

Rain began to fall.

Aren started setting up immediately.

The copper wires went into the ground first.

He drove them in deep, spacing them carefully. The metal disappeared into the soil, anchoring itself firmly before he tied the exposed ends together.

When he straightened, his clothes were soaked, but there was more work to do. With the leftover wire, he twisted it into the shape of a sword, well, just a bar.

Aren took position.

One hand closed tightly around the bundled wire going to the dirt. The other lifted slowly toward the sky. He exhaled slowly...before channeling his ether to the tip of the bar.

The air cracked once, then twice, then—

BOOOOM!

Pain exploded through him. For a single instant, the world turned white as lightning slammed down from above, tearing through his raised arm and surging into his body.

His ether channels screamed as the foreign power flooded through them, burning and ripping away everything in its path.

Impurities disintegrated on contact.

Aren began to lose his consciousness under the sheer force, but with pure willpower he held on.

Immediately, he commanded his water ether to fill in the paths left behind after cleansing. As expected, his ether channels were charred and a mess, but this was where the Water element shined.

Slowly, it filled in the cracks, sealing them and restoring them to be even stronger than before, more rigid.

In that split second, he felt the lightning travel through his body and left just as quickly down to the wires in his left hand.

Aren’s legs gave out. He fell face-first into the mud, breath knocked from his lungs as rain splashed against his cheek.

"...Alive."

Pain roared through him, loud enough to drown out everything else. His limbs wouldn’t respond properly

Still, he forced his awareness inward.

The dark blotches were gone. The blockages that had plagued his ether channels were finally burned away.

I survived... he thought

And then the world slipped away.

***

The first thing Aren noticed was the smell, the pungent and sterile smell of chemicals.

His eyelids felt heavy, like they’d been glued shut. When he tried to move, something tugged lightly at his arm, followed by a dull ache that radiated through his chest and shoulders.

He groaned.

A soft rustle answered him.

"...Aren?"

The voice was quiet but unmistakably familiar.

He forced his eyes open. White ceiling and fluorescent lights.

Tubes and wires ran down from his arm to a machine beside the bed, its steady beeping was the only sound in the room.

And sitting in the chair next to him—

Lily.

Her head was tilted forward, cheek resting against her arm on the edge of the bed. Dark circles sat beneath her eyes, hair slightly messy, as if she hadn’t slept properly in days.

She jolted upright the moment she realized he was awake.

"You—" Her voice caught. "You idiot."

Aren swallowed. His throat felt dry. "You’re... here."

She stared at him for a long second.

"Do you have any idea how reckless that was?" she snapped, words tumbling out faster the longer she spoke.

"Do you know how worried everyone was? You disappeared, lied to your dad, and then nearly—"

She stopped herself, fingers curling tightly at her side.

Aren turned his head slightly, wincing at the movement.

The words came out hoarse, but he didn’t hesitate.

"I didn’t want to worry anyone," he said quietly. "I thought... if I handled it myself, it’d be fine."

Lily let out a short, humorless laugh. "And how did that turn out?"

He didn’t answer.

"...I ended up worrying everyone anyway," he said after a moment.

"You scared me," she said softly.

Aren closed his eyes. "Sorry."

Footsteps stopped outside the door before it slid open slowly and casually.

A tall man stepped inside, his suit was perfect despite the late hour. His expression was relaxed, like he’d never truly been in a hurry a day in his life.

CEO Wright, Lily’s father—Brian Wright.

His gaze swept the room once at all the medical equipment before finally settling at the bed. The moment he saw Aren’s eyes open, a faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"So," he said mildly, "you finally decided to wake up."

He crossed the room at an unhurried pace and stopped beside the bed, eyes sharp now as they studied Aren closely.

"Does it hurt?" he asked.

Aren hesitated. "...Yes."

"Good," Lily’s father replied without missing a beat. "That means you’re alive."

Lily shot him a look. "Dad—"

"I know," he said calmly. "I’m not praising him."

His attention returned to Aren. "You scared your father. You scared my daughter. And judging by the equipment in this room, you scared the doctors too."

Aren lowered his gaze. "I’m sorry, Uncle Brian."

"You always apologize when you think you’ve crossed a line," Brian said. "That hasn’t changed."

He reached out, placing two fingers lightly against Aren’s wrist. His expression shifted slightly, but just enough for both Aren and Lily to notice.

"Hm."

"What?" she asked immediately.

"...Interesting," he murmured.

Brian withdrew his hand and straightened.

"You’ve grown," he said. "More than you had any right to in this short a time."

Lily frowned. "Is that a good thing?"

He glanced at her, then back at Aren.

"That," he said evenly, "depends on how much he paid for it."

Brian studied Aren for another moment, then smiled faintly.

"Aren, you’re extremely talented. Reckless, but talented."

"If you were my real son," he added casually, "I’d have no problems handing the company over to you one day."

Lily sputtered. "Dad!"

He waved her off. "Relax. There’s a simple solution."

His eyes flicked between the two of them, amused.

"Marry into my family. Problem solved."

Aren choked on the water he’d just taken a sip of, pain flaring through his chest as he coughed.

Brian laughed softly before turning for the door.

"Jokes aside," he said, tone settling, "rest. You’ll need it."

Aren tried to straighten instinctively and immediately regretted it.

"Uncle, wait," he said. "Don’t tell my dad about this. Whatever the hospital bill is, I’ll pay it back."

CEO Wright paused just past the doorframe, then turned back.

"Stupid boy," he said lightly. "If you’re being pampered, just let it happen."

With that, he flashed Aren a smile and left.

The door opened again a few minutes later.

This time, the man who entered wore a white coat instead of a suit. He carried a thin tablet in one hand, eyes already scanning the data displayed on its surface.

"You’re awake," the doctor said, glancing briefly at Aren before looking back to the screen. "Good."

Lily straightened immediately. "How is he?"

The doctor paused beside the bed and reached out, adjusting one of the sensors attached to Aren’s arm.

"There’s no lasting physical damage," he said. "You’ll be fine, especially quickly because of your first element being Water."

Lily visibly relaxed, shoulders dropping.

"That’s it?" she asked.

"For the most part." The doctor’s gaze flicked back to the tablet. His brows knit together slightly.

"...However."

Aren’s heart sank.

The doctor tapped the screen once, then again, bringing up a different set of readings. "During a deeper scan, we noticed something unusual."

He hesitated, choosing his words carefully.

"There’s an unfamiliar energy source inside his body," he said. "It’s not harmful or interfering with your ether channels or ether flow."

"Then what is it?" Lily asked.

The doctor shook his head. "I don’t know."

Aren frowned faintly. "It wasn’t there before?"

"No," the doctor replied. "We have prior records. This only appeared after the incident."

"That doesn’t sound reassuring," Lily muttered.

"It isn’t necessarily dangerous," the doctor said. "But it’s not something I can classify either. For now, we’ll monitor it."

He looked at Aren directly. "If you experience anything unusual, report immediately."

Aren stared up at the ceiling, listening to the steady beeping beside him.

A week.

That was all he had.

As long as it doesn’t become a problem.