The Awakener's Hall was where individuals came to awaken their professions once they turned eighteen.
It was under the complete control of the World Awakener Association, an organization tasked with protecting citizens from awakeners who misuse their powers and maintaining order.
There were hundreds of Awakener's Halls around the world, and every year, candidates from the surrounding regions gathered at their nearest hall to undergo their awakening.
During this time, universities sent their recruiters to these halls to scout and recruit promising candidates.
Ethan walked along the busy stadium.
Though called a stadium, it was not one where events or matches took place.
Instead, it was a massive, stadium-sized facility that served as a central hub of information regarding professions, monsters, skills, and much more.
With new types of monsters, professions, skills, gates, and dungeons being discovered every day, there was a constant need to process and distribute that information.
The place also handled the processing, selling, buying, and trading of Awakener materials, which made it perpetually bustling with people going in and out.
It operated day and night, just like every other Awakener's Hall across the world.
However, today was especially crowded because it was Awakening Day, the day when those who had just turned eighteen would awaken their profession for the first time and officially become Awakeners.
After walking for around fifteen minutes, Ethan finally reached the second stadium, which was connected to the first.
This building resembled an arena, complete with bleachers for spectators to sit and watch the awakening process.
Ethan stood at the top entrance and looked down at the center grounds, where a wide pavilion with an open roof stood.
At its center was a human-sized, translucent reddish-white crystal surrounded by protective layers.
At the far end of the arena hung a massive, circular rift suspended in the air.
It resembled a wormhole, with a thick green outer ring that gradually darkened toward the center until it became pitch black.
This was known as a Gate. Walking through a gate, an awakener would find themselves transported into a dungeon filled with all sorts of monsters.
There were different kinds of gates, which could be distinguished by the color of their outer railing.
Green Gates were permanent gates; they wouldn't disappear even after all the monsters inside were cleared.
The dungeon within would continuously regenerate monsters, resources, and materials.
These gates had to be cleared at fixed intervals; otherwise, the monsters would begin to emerge from the gate and cause havoc in the outside world.
Blue Gates led to dungeons that could only be cleared a limited number of times before disappearing completely.
Then there were Red Gates, which appeared randomly anywhere in the world.
As soon as they emerged, they would immediately start releasing monsters outside.
In contrast, Blue Gates provided a two-hour preparation window before the monsters began to pour out.
Lost in deep thought, Ethan failed to notice the person walking toward him.
"Excuse me," a woman in professional attire called out.
"Yes?"
"Are you here to awaken your profession?" she asked.
"Yes."
"State your name."
"Ethan Ashenfall."
"Ethan Ashenfall…" The woman scrolled through her tablet. "You're already registered. Follow me."
She led him down to the ground floor, into a private, spacious room where many others around his age sat quietly.
Some looked confident, others uneasy, and a few didn't seem to care at all.
Ethan found himself a good spot to sit, unbothered by others, and others didn't seem bothered by him either.
Still, he noticed a few of them murmuring to themselves while watching him.
Ethan could see that everyone around him was dressed in fancy clothes and naturally seemed to come from wealthy backgrounds.
Compared to them, he was wearing nothing more than a simple long-sleeved black T-shirt and brown track pants, with no accessories other than...
"Shit, I left my backpack in the car."
Ethan sighed.
He spent the next hour quietly keeping to himself, and no one tried to strike up a conversation with him either.
Eventually, the same woman who had brought him here returned and instructed them to follow her to the arena.
There, they were joined by hundreds of other Awakeners around his age.
The candidates stood neatly in rows and columns, while Ethan was placed at the very end, wearing the number tag 777.
Including Ethan, there were exactly 777 people awakening their profession that day, and he was the last in line.
The sound of constant chatter filled his ears.
When he looked around, he counted hundreds of people sitting in the bleachers, most of them likely family members or acquaintances of the candidates.
He then watched as eight people, excluding strong presences, walked forward and took their positions in front of the candidates along their way to the Pavilion.
Four stood on each side, each wearing high-quality robes, each adorned with distinct insignias, eight in total, gleaming brightly on their chests.
They were the eight recruiters sent to this Awakener's Hall to recruit promising candidates and oversee the awakening process, ensuring that no mishaps or acts of sabotage occurred.
After them, two more people entered, both dressed in professional attire and clearly high-ranking awakeners.
Ethan recognized them as the manager and vice manager of this Awakener's Hall.
As always, they would be leading the awakening process and acting as representatives of the World Awakener Association.
They walked straight toward the third candidate and stopped in front of the pavilion as the manager began to speak.
"I'm the manager of the Awakener Hall's Reemus Branch. I'll be overseeing this year's awakening process," he announced. His voice, enhanced by some power, vibrated through the air, allowing everyone present to hear him clearly.
"Now, even though most of you already know how it works, I'll still explain the process of awakening."
"Following the number tags given to you, approach the pavilion one by one, place your palm on the awakening crystal, and let the crystal's force seep into you. Please do not resist; it will only make the process harder."
"Once you awaken your profession, head inside the Green Gate leading to the Verdant Hollow Dungeon. You'll have six hours to hunt as many monsters as possible and level up as much as you can. Based on your performance, the recruiters from the eight great universities will decide whether to offer you admission."
The manager, whose name was Rovan, waved his hand, and the candidate with tag number one stepped forward toward the pavilion, looking uneasy as the others watched with curiosity.
Candidate 01 stood in front of the awakening crystal at the center of the pavilion while Rovan stood beside him.
"Place your palm gently on the crystal and let its force flow into you. Don't resist," Rovan instructed.
Candidate 01 nodded, placed his hand on the crystal, and waited for a few seconds before the crystal began to emit a faint red glow.
It pulsed softly as it transferred energy into him, and the next moment, something inside the candidate awakened.
A series of system prompts appeared before his eyes, showing the profession, skills, and possible traits he had gained.
"Candidate 01, Profession: Swordsman," Rovan declared.
The personnel nearby quickly took notes as Rovan instructed Candidate 01 to proceed into the Verdant Hollow Dungeon.
"Swordsman profession, huh? Not a bad start."
"Yeah, even if it's a low-grade profession, it's still a Combat-Class profession. He'll be considered valuable."
"Don't forget, the Swordsman profession has plenty of evolution paths. It could become a high-grade one."
Ethan could hear the other candidates whispering.
He agreed, even though the Swordsman was a low-grade profession, it had many potential evolutions, such as Holy Swordsman, Magic Swordsman, or even Sword Saint.
"It'll still be fine even if I awaken a low-grade profession, as long as it's from the Combat Class," Ethan sighed as he watched each candidate step up, awaken their profession, and head toward the gate to enter the [Verdant Hollow Dungeon].
Dozens of candidates awakened; most gained Support or Controller-Class professions, with a few awakening Magic-Class and even fewer Combat-Class ones.
Still, even the Support and Controller professions turned out to be useful and full of potential.
None of them seemed weak or worthless, which even surprised the recruiters.
...
[A/N: If you enjoyed the chapter, please consider adding the novel to your library and donating some Power Stones as well. Arigato!]