Re-Awakened :I Ascend as an SSS-Ranked Dragon Summoner Chapter 101 A token?

Noah's eyes were fixed on the man in the pristine suit standing in front of him. Suddenly the man began to walk towards him.

The man's movents were precise, almost chanical, as he reached into his pocket. His face remained expressionless, like he was delivering a package rather than shattering soone's world.

"Your parents wished for you to have this," he said, extending his hand.

The moonlight caught the tallic surface of the token as it passed between them. Noah's fingers closed around it automatically, the tal cool against his palm. A simple design—a moon crossing over a sun.

"They said it would be their last service to you," the man continued, his voice devoid of any emotion. "This will pave your way when you need it most. They wish you well."

Then he turned and walked away, footsteps fading into the night, leaving Noah standing there with twelve years of absence condensed into a single piece of tal.

'A coin.'

The thought echoed in his head, hollow and bitter.

'A fucking coin.'

His fingers tightened around it until the edges bit into his palm. Mrs. Harper's hand on his shoulder felt distant, unreal.

'Twelve years.'

Noah stared at the coin, watching it blur as his vision swam. 'Twelve years of nothing. No letters. No calls. Not even a goddamn birthday card.'

The rage built slowly, like a wave gathering strength before it crashes.

'You missed everything,' he thought, his jaw clenching. 'The ti I broke my arm climbing that stupid tree. When I cried myself to sleep because the other kids had parents at their graduation.'

His hand shook. 'Did you even care? Did you ever wonder if I was alive? If I was eating? If I was happy?'

The coin seed to mock him with its simplicity. A moon crossing the sun. As if that ant anything. As if that could make up for years of empty chairs at dinner tables, of explaining to teachers why his parents couldn't co to etings, of watching other families and wondering what he'd done wrong.

'I got into the academy,' he thought, bitterness coating each word. 'Did you know that? Did you care? I fought my way into the second best class,' be almost chuckled there at the thought.

"I almost fucking died twice this month alone. Cannadah, Mrs. Harper cried when she heard. But you? You send a fucking coin?'

He wanted to throw it. To hurl it as far as he could, let it disappear into the darkness like they had. But his fingers wouldn't release it.

'What am I supposed to do with this? What kind of parents abandon their child and think a piece of tal makes it okay?'

The mories hit harder now. Birthdays spent pretending their absence didn't hurt. Holidays where Mrs. Harper tried her best to fill the void they'd left. Nights spent staring at the sky, wondering if they could see the sa stars from the Ark.

'You were supposed to co back,' he thought, the anger giving way to sothing rawer, more painful. 'You promised. You stood there, holding my hands, and you promised it wouldn't be forever.'

The coin felt heavier now, weighted with all the words they'd never said, all the monts they'd missed, all the explanations they'd never given.

'Was it worth it?' He wanted to scream the question into the void. 'Was whatever you found up there worth leaving your son behind? Was it worth missing everything? Was it worth becoming strangers?'

Mrs. Harper's grip on his shoulder tightened, but she remained silent. She knew. She'd been there through it all, picking up the pieces they'd left behind.

'A coin.' The thought ca again, this ti tinged with hysteria. 'Twelve years of silence, and you send a coin. No explanation. No apology. Just so cryptic bullshit about paving the way.'

Noah closed his eyes, feeling the cool tal press against his palm. Inside, the gala continued, music and laughter spilling out into the night. Life went on, just as it had after they'd left. Just as it would continue to do.

'Well,' he thought, finally slipping the coin into his pocket, 'I hope whatever's up there was worth it. I hope you found what you were looking for. Because you lost sothing down here, and a coin isn't going to bring it back.'

He turned and pulled Mrs. Harper into a tight hug, his voice barely a whisper. "If Sophie asks... tell her I called it a night."

He caught one last glimpse of Mrs. Harper's face as he turned away—the heartbreak in her eyes, the dawning realization that she'd unknowingly led him to this mont. She'd been so excited earlier, probably thinking this was going to be different. Probably hoping for actual answers, not... this.

The walk back to the dorm passed in a blur. One mont he was leaving the gala, the next he was lying on his bed, still in his grey suit, the fabric wrinkling under his weight. His fingers found the coin in his pocket, rolling it between his knuckles.

'A fucking coin.'

The thought sparked sothing volatile inside him. Before he knew it, he was on his feet, stumbling out of his room, down the stairs, into the empty courtyard. The moon hung overhead, bright and mocking—like the Ark, floating up there sowhere, housing the people who'd thrown away their son for a piece of tal.

"IS THIS WHAT I'M WORTH TO YOU?" The scream tore from his throat, raw and primal. "TWELVE YEARS OF NOTHING AND YOU SEND A FUCKING COIN?"

His voice echoed across the empty campus, everyone else still lost in the gala's festivities.

"You want to know what I've been doing?" He was pacing now, gesturing wildly at the sky. "While you were up there playing scientist? I learned to tie my own shoes. I learned to cook my own als. I learned that parents are supposed to show up when their kid is sick, or scared, or proud of sothing they did!"

Tears stread down his face, hot and angry. "I'm going to climb every fucking rank there is! I'll beco the best soldier this world has ever seen! And when I finally see you both—" His voice cracked. "When I finally see you two... there will be hell to pay!"

His knees hit the grass, fingers digging into the earth. Sobs wracked his body, violent and uncontrolled. The perfectly tailored suit was stained with dirt and grass, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

Everyone was at the gala. Music drifted faintly across campus, a cruel reminder of the celebration continuing without him. He was alone. Always alone.

'No,' he thought, sothing dark and desperate clawing at his chest. 'Not always.'

There was one thing left. One companion that had never abandoned him.

"Domain," he whispered, the word heavy with need.

The response was imdiate. Dark purple energy materialized around him, pulsing with an otherworldly rhythm. It wrapped around his body like a cocoon, an embrace more real than any his parents had given him in twelve years.

As the energy swallowed him whole, taking him into its depths, Noah closed his eyes. At least here, in his Domain, he didn't have to pretend the abandonnt didn't cut like a knife. Here, he could let the darkness consu him, if only for a while.

He disappeared from sight, leaving behind nothing but trampled grass and the lingering echo of his pain.