Before the incident which led to him falling into a comma, the original Ryan was living his life as a normal teenager.
Now, he had two friends named Liam and Miles, and they were attending the same academy. They’d been attending the same academy ever since they were little.
They could basically call themselves best friends…but there was something Ryan didn’t know, they became frenemies at some point.
As known, Ryan’s father was well-off, his family was rich. But that wasn’t the same case for Liam and Miles. Liam’s family was average financially, while Miles’ family was somehow poor.
While they were little, they didn’t care about the fact that Ryan’s family was rich. There were some privileges he does receive that they’d never get to receive until they enter their graves.
It was until they started growing up that jealousy started creeping in, they started noticing the fact that he was receiving some privileges they’d never get to receive in their lifetime.
Privileges like being ridden to school by guards with horses. Being ridden back home from school by guards, wearing expensive robes and bracelets, and so on.
Yes, they began noticing these things, which caused jealousy to creep in. And then jealousy transformed into hatred, but they didn’t show what they were feeling at all.
They still pretended to be Ryan’s friends, and the hatred they were feeling for him hadn’t become that strong yet…
This kept on going without Ryan having a single idea, they kept on pretending to be his friends and love him as much as he loves them.
They did a lot of things together as friends. They hunted together, visited places together, and so on. Now, there were times when they’d be coming back home from school together, and guards that do pick up Ryan from school would just arrive in front of them with horses.
Not minding that he was already coming home with his friends, they’d still tell him to hop onto the horses so they could ride him home. Even though Ryan would be reluctant to do so, he’d still have to do it.
And he always made sure to ask the guards if they could ride his friends home as well, but they always refuse…
Liam and Miles would stand there watching Ryan get ridden away by a horse, and they’d be boiling with anger. It happened more than once, so they boiled with anger whenever it happened.
..This caused the jealousy and hatred they were feeling for Ryan to keep increasing.
They kept pretending to be his friends until it got to the time for them to awaken their powers if they had the mana core in them.
The three of them were supposed to awaken on the same day since they were age mates. They visited the temple of awakening along with other kids that were supposed to awaken on that same day.
Liam and Miles got to awaken an affinity each…but unfortunately, Ryan didn’t awaken one ’cause he didn’t have the mana core in him. This broke Ryan completely, he was gloomy for days though he was receiving encouragement from here and there.
The more he thought about the fact that his two friends Liam and Miles got to awaken an ability, and he didn’t…the gloomier he became.
Apart from that, whenever he remembered his older brother also awakened an ability in his awakening period…it always adds to his gloominess.
His younger sister’s awakening hadn’t taken place by this time.
Now, his two friends, Liam and Miles, were so happy that he didn’t get to awaken an ability, but they didn’t show it just as they hadn’t been showing their hatred for him.
At least, they were superior to him in that aspect. He came from a rich family, but they didn’t. They awakened an affinity each, but he didn’t, they were superior to him in that aspect.
..That fact was just making them so happy.
And you know, whenever a person doesn’t awaken an ability, he’d be considered useless for a while, he or she would be treated a little differently in society.
The fact that Ryan would be considered useless for a while also added to their happiness.
Ryan was gloomy for a long time, no amount of encouragement could brighten him up the way he wanted. He wasn’t always gloomy all the time though, but he was experiencing a lot of mood swings.
He saw himself drifting from his friends ’cause he considered them to be superior to him due to the fact that they awakened abilities and he didn’t.
And before he knew it, he’d drifted from them completely, he didn’t consider them friends anymore. He wasn’t coming home from school with them anymore, he wasn’t hanging out with them anymore…nothing.
And they didn’t care, they’d secretly hated him before anyway, they hadn’t considered him as a friend for a long time anymore.
So when he drifted from them, it didn’t affect them in any way. They didn’t try to save their friendship or anything.
And you know what? They knew the reason why he drifted from them was because of the inferiority complex he was feeling. They awakened an affinity each, and he didn’t…so he was feeling inferior.
That fact was making them happy. So the only way in which his drifting from them affected them was to make their hearts glad…
Months passed, and it stayed that way, they didn’t come back as friends. During those months, Ryan was healing and coming to terms with the fact that he didn’t awaken an ability and there was nothing he could do about it.
Before he knew what was happening, he’d already accepted the fact completely. He wasn’t having mood swings anymore due to the fact that he didn’t awaken an ability.
And his parents were so happy to see this. Even with all the encouragements from them, especially his dad, the fact that he didn’t awaken an affinity was always getting to him.
So seeing that he was already healing on his own made them so happy. Sometimes, you won’t be able to help a person unless the person chooses to help himself or herself.
After Ryan had finished healing, he realized he still needed the companionship of his two friends, Liam and Miles. He missed them and wanted them back as friends.
It had been so long, more than a year had passed since he drifted from them. So he was ashamed to go back to them and tell them that he wanted them back as friends at first.
But he then mustered up courage, approached them, and told them what was in his heart. They accepted him back as their friend, pretending to be so happy to have him back, but they weren’t.
This time, the hatred they had for him was extreme, they hated him to the very core…
Why? Because they felt after drifting from them for more than a year, he felt he could just come back to them again when he was feeling okay to become friends with them again.
‘What does he take us for? Things he could push aside, then come back to whenever he wanted?’. That was the thought that kept running through their minds.
Whenever they discussed this among themselves, or it ran through their minds, the already strong hatred they were feeling toward him would keep increasing.
And Ryan had no idea, he thought they genuinely accepted him back as their friend. He didn’t know they’d already become enemies a long time ago…
He started hanging out with them again, they started coming back from school together again whenever no guard came to pick him up, and so on.
During this time, there were still times when guards would arrive in front of them with horses to pick up Ryan whenever the three of them were heading home together.
..This same thing repeated itself more than once when they were already feeling extreme hatred for him.
As time was passing, the hatred they were feeling for him kept increasing until they began plotting on how to kill him, it finally got to this point.
The mistake Ryan made was becoming friends with them again. If he hadn’t become friends with them again, it wouldn’t have gotten to this extent where they’d start plotting on how to end his life.
When he drifted from them, they weren’t noticing the privileges he was receiving that much anymore. But getting close to them made them start noticing the privileges once again, including the mindset they developed.
But Ryan didn’t know all these, he wasn’t aware at all. They kept pretending to be his friends while making different strategies on how to kill him until they finally came up with a nice one…