---
The rain didn't stop for two more days.
On the third morning, the clouds finally cracked, letting in a weak strip of sunlight. Ryu stood outside the shack, washing his face in a metal bowl filled with rainwater.
As he touched the water—something pulsed inside him.
Faint. Barely there.
He blinked. Looked at his palm.
A slight shimmer. Like air trembling above hot stone.
It vanished.
---
Later, while chopping firewood, he noticed it again.
A log cracked easier than it should have.
His grip felt firmer. His tiredness faded quicker.
It wasn't much. But it was real.
That night, when Mina had fallen asleep, Ryu whispered the words he never thought he'd say.
"I think I awakened."
He didn't expect a miracle.
He didn't feel strong.
But something in him had definitely changed.
---
Mob Awakening — Confirmed: Amateur Class
---
The next day, he went to the town's Mob Registry Shack.
It was a small place, barely staffed. The examiner—a sleepy old man with a cracked lens over one eye—tapped his tool and nodded.
"Yep," the man muttered. "Amateur Class. Weak, but usable. You might break stone if you focus."
That was all.
No cheers. No applause.
Just a paper with his name stamped:
> RYU – MOB (Amateur Class)
---
As he walked home, Ryu didn't feel proud.
But he didn't feel worthless, either.
He had something now.
Small.
Quiet.
But his.
And for once, that was enough.
---
To be continued...