Chapter 4 - The Awakening Day (1)
Everyone who had a chance was excited, I mean, who wouldn't? They had a chance to make it big in the world. People who had talents were incomparable to normal humans; it was like heaven and earth. Most people who awakened wanted to become an explorer, but some people who awakened wished to become a civil worker to help with the peace. Or those who dislike fighting in general could join a hospital or become a scientist.
The possibilities were endless, with a talent, one can do anything!
As Mr. Smith waited for everyone to calm down, an assistant walked up to him and handed him a tablet. He took a glance at it before addressing the crowd again.
"Let's start with the first person on the list, Maya Brown. Please step forward." A squeak could be heard from the crowd, and a young woman with long brown hair could be seen standing up. Everyone gave a round of applause to wish her luck as she walked down the stairs and stood before the crystal.
"Now, put your hand before the crystal, and you will see what your talent is." Mr Smith said softly with a smile on his lips. Maya gulped before nodding nervously. She reached her shaking hand before the crystal and put her hand on it.
Everything was silent for a moment. Maya got even more nervous, hoping with every fiber of her being that she had been chosen. And lady luck seems to have been smiling at her today. The crystal started to change color to yellowish-brown. And the crystal started to vibrate, no, the whole plaza started to have an earthquake!
Everyone was caught off guard by it; some people even fell from their seats. Though no damage was made to the plaza, since it was reinforced with barrier magic.
But that was not the end, pieces of rock and earth started to coalesce from thin air, floating all around Maya. It was like she was a giant planet before tens of planets; it was scary but beautiful at the same time. The Earthquakes started to subside, and the pieces of rock and earth started to disintegrate; all that was left was a sentence that was slowly taking its form on the crystal.
Mr. Smith calmly walked up towards the crystal and peered down on it, "Maya Brown, C-Rank [Earth Manipulation].
Gaps echoed throughout the gathered crowd, C rank! C rank was well above average; it very well gave someone a way forward in life to high-ranking positions.
"Good for her, I heard her father is a general in the army."
"Yeah, she will definitely follow in his footsteps."
"Keh, it's only a C rank in the end..."
"Ah, I'm so jealous. When I was her age, all I got was an E rank."
People whispered about her, some people cheered her on, while the jealous ones tried to downplay it. And some lamented their cursed luck. But there were a few who had their eyes set on her; those were the recruits from different organizations. While our world was united, some people founded different organizations for different purposes. There was obviously the government, the Explorer Association, and some independent groups here and there.
Maya had a bright smile on her as she skipped up the stairs again; her previous nervousness was gone, replaced by an aura of pride. She sat back down in her seat with her chin held high, pointing towards the air.
Mr. Smith decided to coninue on the ceremony and read the next name.
"David Martinez."
When his name was read, a handsome young man stood up. He wore expensive brand clothing with a silver wristwatch. That was probably equally as expensive as the rest of the items. With a completely different attitude from the first participant, he carried himself with grace and thinly veiled arrogance.
"No way, is that THE Martinez son?"
"Right! Doesn't his father work for the government?"
"How envious, he will surely get an A rank!"
From the barely concealed whispers, Jinwoo could easily deduce that David was a young master. Though the way he looked, anyone could guess that. And this young master was not particularly liked in the community. He drank publicly, made a scene wherever he went, and was a fiend towards women. And no matter what anyone did, he could always get out of trouble because of his father, who held a quite high reputation in the army. Thus, though everyone praised him openly, they were cursing him a thousand times in their heart.
David walked with a confident gait and stood before the crystal like the one before did. Mr. Smith didn't have to repeat the earlier instructions as the young master put his hand before he could even speak. Rudely brushing off the proctor.
The crystal started to change; unlike before, when it changed from yellow to brown, this time the color was fainter, a vague light blue.
The plaza was quiet, everyone was waiting for a earth shattering awakening.
But...
*Splash*
A small water orb materialized before him, a blue sphere no bigger than a baseball. It floated there for a moment before disappearing into the air like it was never there.
The plaza was quiet, not from shock, but from pure astonishment. David's face was even worse; it was as white as a sheet. His smirk? long gone like the water orb.
Mr. Smith smiled a little at this before looking at the text that had appeared on the crystal and reading it out loud. "David Martinez, E-Rank [Water Control]. E rank was an entirely different league from C; at most, it allowed you to control a small amount. For example, while C rank water manipulation might allow you to control water almost flawlessly, E rank will allow you to control a much smaller amount. And instead of flawless with minimum concentration, you have to focus on everything for a good result. So David's reaction wasn't entirely unreasonable.
He stood there for a moment, unmoving, before slowly dragging his feet back. His face was looking down towards the ground, not daring to look anyone in the face.
"Pfft serves him right, all that arrogance sure bit him in the but."
"That's what he gets for being rude."
"Hahaha, lady luck surely blessed us today!"
Now that David has gotten an E rank, his chance to get in anywhere meaningful is basically 0; the best he could be is a small-time soldier in the army. And now that he publicly got a low rank, his father, who has previously tolerated his antics, will throw him away.
Who wants a prodigal son AND a low rank?
And so, the awakening kept going.
"James butch, D-Rank [Strength buff]"
" Catelyn Miller, E-rank [Partial invinsiblity]."
"Gordon Garcia, C rank [Gravity Manipulation]
"Eleanor Truence, D-rank [Animal Communication]"
"..."
And so name after name was called up, some got powerful talents, while some got barely practical ones. Some ran off the stage happily, while others walked with shame. This was the normal occurrence on every awakening day; some would rise and gain glory, and others would watch enviously from below.
The names kept coming until a certain name came on the list.
"Kai Mercer, please step forward." When he heard the familiar name, Jinwoo turned his head left towards his friend. "Good luck now, you'd better awaken a B rank at minimum." He said with a small smile on his face.
Kai almost jumped out of his seat, his body shaking with nervous excitement.
"Don't worry, Broody-man! Watch me awaken a super duper ultra rare talent!" He flashed a peace sign along his iconic smirk before bounding off towards the plaza stage. His feet carried him forward until he stopped before the crystal, looking towards the Proctor. Waiting for the green light.
Mr. Smith kept his eyes on the young, green-haired man, satisfied with his patience. Before Nodding. After getting the go-ahead, Kai raised his hand and pressed it against the crystal.
One second. Two seconds. Three seconds.
Nothing happened for a moment, Kai's smile dimmed a little, and Mr. Smith only shook his head. He was not one of the chosen ones. He was about to dismiss him from the stage. But before he could say anything, the crystal exploded in green.
*******
"Remind me what we are doing here, again?" A voice tinged with annoyance said. A young man sat on the stands, he was leaning backwards with his hands behind his head. His hair was the color of crimson, and his eyes were golden like a lizard.
He directed the question to the young woman next to him. She had long black hair, and she wore Silver-Black round rimmed glasses that covered her beautiful grey eyes. She pushed them up slightly before answering the lazy man in a matter-of-fact tone.
"You should watch your tone, Eirik. You know it was an order from the Commander herself for us to go here, right?" She gave a side look to her overly lazy coworker. This was the 50th time he had complained today. She almost wanted to punch him in the face.
Almost.
Eirik groaned, he sounded like a tired man who had just finished a 7 hour shift. But those who worked with him knew it was more of a 7-hour sleep. He didn't even glance at his annoyed co-worker; he just closed his eyes and answered her question lazily.
"I know that, but what I want to know is why WE have to do it?" His voice tinged with indignation, "She could've sent the normal scouts like we have done each year." His frustration built with every word.
"Why do WE, actual explorers, have to watch this boring ass ceremony?" He finally looked towards his glasses friend. He only sighed with helplessness before answering his question.
"You wouldn't know it, since YOU slept through the briefing, but this year will be different." She gave a long look towards the ceremony, where a green-haired young man was skipping happily towards a crystal. "The commander has gotten information that this year might be different from previous years."
The red-haired man only snorted, "Please, it's just superstiton" His hand gestured towards the ceremony, where the previous young man with green hair stood; the crystal had 0 reaction.
"If anything, my dear four-eyed friend. Is that the information was boogus and the higher-ups were just anxious?" He said with a lazy tone. He didn't really care for the "new generation"; the gates have gotten harder and harder recently. So he just chalked this talk up to them just giving false hope to everyone. He only shook his head, eyes still at the young man who stood at the crystal.
"It's all useless in the end if you're not fated to soar in the sky. Then you're doomed to crawl on the ground." His eyes held a faint pity in them.
Elara could only shake her head. She wanted to refute and tell him where the information originated from, but before she could.
*KRRRRAAAAK*
The entire sky was split apart.