Chapter 5: A New Power Blooms

“Stop!”

As the word shimmered, a strange, ancient energy swept through the room. Time seemed to freeze—the boulder hung motionless overhead, the shadows frozen on the wall. The charge in the air was electric, like the air before a summer thunderstorm.

I yanked Lillian out of harm’s way. She stumbled, eyes wide, caught between relief and awe.

Derek stared, horror-struck. “How can you write living script with your finger?”

Only Masters and above could do that, and even then, they preferred a pen. My ‘stop’ had more power than anything Derek had ever seen—except maybe his own teacher.

He shook his head, refusing to believe it. “No way…”

Suddenly, my index finger tingled. I looked down—tiny golden flowers bloomed along my skin, shimmering and unreal.

They weren’t real petals, but some kind of primal energy. I brushed them off, startled.

The golden petals drifted onto Lillian, and the ‘mute’ curse vanished. Her voice came back in a gasp.

She explained, breathless, “That’s called the ‘miracle pen blooms.’ It only happens the very first time someone writes living script.”

She stared at me, her face pale. “You…is this your first time?”

I tried to play it cool. “Looks like it.” My hands shook. Was this really me? I’d never been special—just another face in the crowd.

Derek’s jaw dropped. He’d started living script at two and a half, wrote his first word at three. Even then, the miracle pen blooms happened for him. It was recognized by the world—you couldn’t fake it.

But how could a first-timer be this strong?

He looked at me like I’d just rewritten the rules of the world.