Year 1730

In a private chamber located on the Curtana mansion, on a podium, a man in a priestly robe holds a spear, talking quite solemnly to an audience of kids. He was there to for the introduction and some preaching before the ceremony.

Priest: "Listen closely, younglings; today marks the most special day; the most privileged of day of your life; this will be the day of your awakening."

The priest was explaining the significance of being awakened; he was fervently grumbling about the history of the blessing bestowed by heaven, and awakening is accepting the grace and connection of people in heaven.

Priest: "Not all humans has the ability or chance, but-"

"Ehem." said the person at the corner of a room.

"Please wrap up the dialog and proceed with the essential part of the awakening. The awakening rooms have been prepared half an hour ago."

The man grumbled, clearly distressed, that the person talking on the podium had been talking for almost half an hour without substance about the awakening process.

Priest: "Fine..." said the man on the podium, clearly disgruntled that someone suddenly interrupted him.

Priest: "The awakening process is complex, but to simplify for you kids, you will need an offering to the gods."

"It's awakening materials." countered the man in the corner.

Priest: "These materials are necessary to receive the blessing of the gods; without them, you cannot proceed with your awakening." he proceeded to take several things out of a pouch and show them to the kids in the audience.

Priest: "Firstly, an enhancement stone. This crystal contains raw mana used for enhancing your strength and when awakening." he began describing the use of each and every component.

Priest: "Next is a Promotion Gem." he raised a shiny transparent jewel.

Priest: "This gem will contain your innate attribute when you awaken."

"Lastly," pointing to a paper, "A conduit," the man on the podium shows a magic circle on a paper.

Priest: "To successfully awaken, you will be needing a connection between yourself and a greater power. This conduit is necessary and will be imprinted on your body near your heart; this symbol will serve as a channel between your gem and your body."

Priest: "By dropping your blood on the gem and conduit, you will be initiating the awakening process. The most crucial step will be integrating the enchantment stone into your gem. This will increase your chances of gaining better stats when you awaken." he emphasized

Priest: "You can incorporate up to 10 enhancement stones into your awakening."

Priest: "This process will be painful since your body is not adapted to mana; therefore, as more enhancement stone is integrated, the more painful it will become. Also, remember to stay in a comfortable position during the awakening process. Clear your mind and focus on the conduit." he said as a warning

In the audience, a platinum-haired boy has been bored out of his mind listening to the lecture of the man in the priestly robe. He has already been taught about the stuff being lectured about by the priest.

Honestly, the details about the awakening process lecture are a bit lacking, maybe intentionally or not he didn't really care either way.

'Looking at the enhancement stone being presented at the front, it is lacking a bit of luster compared to the stone provided by the Gacha,' Nicholas thought silently.

'Instead of a comfortable position, a meditative pose is better to circulate the mana on the intake of raw mana. Well its not like kids would know a meditative pose.' he commented again in his mind.

'The 10 enhancement stones on your awakening are also a bit misleading; it is only the average amount of stones needed to completely fill the promotion gem, which depends on a per-person basis. However, you can also "overenchant" your gem up to 50%, but this method is significantly risky and painful. Since the awakener will be risking breaking your gem and being crippled and unable to manipulate mana, maybe that's the reason the priest didn't disclose the technique.' he grumbled silently as he was listening in the crowd.

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Priest: "And lastly, your conduit symbol will turn into your signature weapon symbol, making the awakener able to learn skills, but only skills that are related to that symbol can be learned by the awakener. While your transparent gem will turn ethereal and a different color, the color is based on your base elemental affinity."

Priest: "You kids, you should prepare your resolve for the awakening. The material for the awakening will be provided by the count's household while the conduit is provided by the church. Be grateful to your beneficiaries and repay them well in the future."

Priestly: "And to the successful awakeners, I will congratulate you after we meet again in the lecture hall inside the church's compound. Goddess be with you children."

Finishing the dialogue of the man on the podium, he went out of the room. After that, the room slowly filled with multiple chattering from the kids, either commenting about their awakening or greeting their friends.

"Hey Brad, I can't believe you made it."

"I hope you don't pee your pants later, Tomas."

"I heard that awakening is really painful."

"I really don't want to study if I awaken, its boring."

"Maybe, you won't awaken since you're an idiot! HAHA"

Nicholas is listening to the chatter of the kids, because there was nothing to do in this chamber.

Maria: "How are you, Master? Are you ready?" softly said by the person beside him.

She is a maid with a cute, chubby face, wearing a maid outfit, and from her face you can see that she has quite an aloof personality, not allowing people to see her facial expression.

Nicholas: "Are you nervous, Maria? It will be fine."

he looked back at the maid and said something while slightly smiling then extended his hands hers to comfort her just a little bit. Feeling his touch, the cute maid is slightly bowed her head with a light blush on her cheeks, not saying a word.

Nicholas: "Same goes to you, Clarice. Just follow my arrangements and tips, and it will be fine."

he said it as he looked to his other side, he saw a cute and anxious girl with her head down. He then slowly extended his arms to pat her head to reassure her that it will be fine.

Clarice: "I will not disappoint you, my liege." said the girl as a reply, with renewed confidence surging in her

...

Nicholas POV

It was few months before the awakening day.

I was currently in my room, sitting on a chair next to a desk late at night, my were eyes staring at the translucent panel as I waits for the timer to tick down.

Some might think, why would a child be staying late at night staring at a system panel to oblivion. Well, I was currently waiting for the story quest to unlock. I have been waiting for almost a decade before it finally unlocked so my excitement is definitely justified.

Nicholas: "10..9..8..7..6..5..4..3..2..1.. Finally!"

The countdown was finished, and the story quest button, which was grayed out, lightened, indicating it was now interactable.

I didn't wait anymore and quickly tapped the button in the panel, which switched the panel to a new one. Then it displayed a bunch of new text for me to read which depleted all my adrenaline from the wait.

Nicholas: "... I am to tired to read all of this." I grumbled but I still force myself to read it since it might be important.

On the panel

[Welcome to the world of Asterik.]

[A game world situated in a medieval time where magic is the norm, this world is full of opportunities and perils alike. Follow the story quest to receive rewards and explore the world to gain an understanding of this world. But, be careful not to lose your life since mysteries and danger are hidden everywhere. The system wishes you a great play through and hope you enjoy your experience in this world.]

[Story Quest 01 Tutorial]

[Nicholas Alexander Curtana, You were born into an aristocratic family. The atmosphere is peaceful right now but this world is full of peril and danger. The future is full of mysteries and deceit, so it is important to get stronger to avoid or overcome hardships.]

[Quest: Awaken a soul core (0/1)]

[Rewards: Random Gacha Card]

I forced myself to read through the text in the system panel carefully.

Nicholas: "Soul core? I think I heard about it somewhere..."

I thought for a moment as I finished reading the quest that popped up on the story quest panel that I needed to accomplish.

Nicholas: "Ahh! I remember! Soul core! That is the thing you will acquire when awakening."

I sighed in relief; I thought the system was forcing me to awaken some weird thing just to receive a reward he had no idea about.

Nicholas: "Gacha card, what is that?"

I was also silently thankful to the system; most of the systems I knew and read often forced the user to do the quest by imposing a penalty if the user didn't accomplish it.

Nicholas: "Gacha card as a reward? What is a gacha card even?" I mumbled silently.

I knows that the gacha card is part of the possible rewards in the gacha you can earn when you do a wish.

Nicholas: "But currently I have no Gacha cards, is it important? Maybe I'll learn about it later."

I then took note of the Gacha card but decided to put it on the back burner since it was not urgent. More importantly, he needs to know more details about awakening and getting a soul core.

I first heard and learned about it when conversing with the soldiers on the training grounds.

Nicholas: "Let's first gather detailed information about this soul core."

I decided to work on it tomorrow, since it is late at night. My excitement also diminished really quickly after reading such a wall of text after expecting something like a reward after waiting for almost a decade.

Nicholas: "Reality is often disappointing." I mumbled before drifting myself to sleep.