Chapter 4
The Imperial Knight Institute: Grade Nine Training Ground
All the grade nine apprentice knights gathered at the training ground, waiting for the Instructor to announce the start of the morning assembly
“All right, before we start our morning training, I will be announcing the top five in the tournament which will participate in this year's annual awakening ceremony,” the Instructor said, making all the apprentice knight tense as they listened carefully
There are more than 200 grade nine apprentice knights in the training ground. Every year the Instructor would choose the top 100 to participate in the annual tournament, with the top five attending the awakening ceremony.
Half of the apprentice knights in the training ground don’t know the result of the annual tournament, making them quite eager and excited to hear the result.
“The five names that I say, come forward and stay at the front of the assembly,” The Instructor said as he looked at the paperwork in his hands.
“Deon”
“Rayner Whitehill”
“Lucien”
“Caleb Thaller”
“William Aigner”
One by one, the Instructor announced the top five of the tournament
“Yes!!” One of the youths in the crowd shouted, making the others look at the youth as they whispered amongst each other.
“It’s William, after all”
“I knew the top five would be either William or Thomas.”
“Damn, I feel bad for Thomas.”
More and more apprentice knights started to whisper amongst each other as they processed the result of the annual tournament.
“If only those four monsters weren’t in our grade, then maybe we could’ve been in the top five too.”
“I’m guessing deon is the top one again since the instructor said his name first.”
“Who knows, maybe Rayner is the first.”
“How come the instructor never said who is the first?”
“Lucien and Caleb are only the top five because deon is helping them. I wish I have that kind of friend.”
“Please, you are not even in the top 100.”
Deon and the rest of the top five apprentice knights walked in front of the crowd, not minding the whispers of others.
The Instructor looked at the five before him, nodded in approval, and continued speaking: “All right, that’s enough. Quiet down. I know some of you are disappointed in today’s result but don’t forget there is still a chance for you all next year, so make sure to train harder this year, and maybe, you will get the spot next year.”
“But for now, congratulate your fellow apprentices for becoming the top five and participating in the awakening ceremony since they will represent our institute in the capital.”
The crowd congratulated the five youths before them, although some apprentice knights weren’t clapping and felt heartache as they didn’t become part of the top five.
The significance of the awakening ceremony was well understood by all. By unlocking their mana, they could attain a respected status within the kingdom, the same level as nobles. The possession of mana also made it possible to rise to the rank of high knight, a level above that of a regular knight.
In the imperial knights, there is a hierarchy with apprentice knights being the lowest, above them are the regular or official knights, and above that are the high knights with the same status as a noble as they possess mana.
Many young people aspire to become high knights, as they are widely regarded as the foundation of the kingdom. Unfortunately, only a select few are granted the opportunity to achieve this prestigious title.
“All right, that’s enough,” the Instructor said, stopping the clapping crowd, and looked at the top five apprentice knights. “From today onwards, you five will be exempted from training. However, you will use this free time to prepare and study more about the awakening ceremony.”
“Make sure to study well, or you will regret it when you fail,” The Instructor said coldly, making the top five apprentices shiver. “You five will leave in three days to capital, and as your instructor, I wish you all good luck.”
………
After the morning assembly, Deon, Lucien, Caleb, and William all headed to the library of the institute to learn more about the awakening ceremony.
In the institute, many books are forbidden to apprentice knights, which include all the books about the awakening ceremony. That’s why deon and others barely know anything about the awakening ceremony.
Of course, that only applies to the four youths since Rayner already knows everything about the awakening ceremony as part of the Whitehill noble family.
The four youths rushed to the library. They were full of worries and excitement.
Worried because they don’t know if three days are enough for them to study all about the awakening ceremony and commit them to their memory
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They were excited because they were officially going to participate in the awakening ceremony, and it was no longer just their assumptions.
The four youths quickly enter the library and rush to the librarian, who is at the front desk.
“Excuse—” Deon, who is about to speak, stops when he sees the librarian raise his hand, signaling deon to stop.
“I know what you guys want. Follow me. I already prepared everything,” the librarian said as he stood up and walked deeper into the library.
Deon and the others followed the librarian into a secluded private room, and inside the room was a large table with countless books.
“Everything here is related to the awakening ceremony. Come and get me if you need something or don’t understand something. I will try to help,” the librarian said before dismissing himself.
Deon and others already knew the librarian and didn’t mind the haughty attitude that the librarian showed.
They were more focused on the books on the table and were quite shocked by the countless books laid on the table.
“How are we going finish all these books in three days?” Caleb asked out loud, echoing all the questions that the other three youths have
“Let’s focus and try to learn as much as we can,” Deon said, feeling a large pressure.
Upon hearing Deon, the other youths quickly began sorting the books without any further delay.
The book pile appeared larger than it actually was because each book had four copies for each of them which made deon and others sigh in relief.
Deon arranged his books based on the number of pages they had. He began with the books with the fewest pages and quickly flipped through them without bothering to read their content.
For now, Deon has decided to wait to read the books. Instead, he plans to store them in his dreamscape.
By briefly viewing each page, his dreamscape will instantly record the information, even if Deon doesn't fully comprehend the content.
The other youths looked at deon confusedly but eventually returned their attention to their study since they couldn’t afford to waste time watching deon and his eccentric behavior.
After recording all the books in his dreamscape, deon looked at the clock at the library and saw it was already 9 am.
“Hey guys, should we eat first before we continue?” Deon asked. They haven’t eaten breakfast since they rushed to the library after the morning assembly.
Normally they would take their breakfast after the morning training, but since they were exempted, they had forgotten about it and got immersed in studying.
Upon hearing deon, the four youths looked at each other and looked at the clock.
“It’s already nine? That was quick,” Lucien said but quickly put his book down.
“And here I thought, we are skipping breakfast,” Caleb said. He was the only one to remember breakfast but didn’t say anything when he saw his friends immersed in studying.
“I mean, I don’t mind skipping it since it’s already 9 am, and we can just have lunch at 11 or something,” Deon said, agreeing to Caleb’s “Idea.”
“What?” Caleb said, dumbfounded
“Yeah, we can do that,” Lucien replied
“Wait…. Isn’t skipping breakfast bad?” Caleb asked with his weak excuse
“Not really, since we didn’t do our morning training,” Lucien replied with a mischievous smile on his face while looking at Caleb’s hungry face
“If you’re hungry, just have breakfast, Caleb,” Deon said. “Studying on an empty stomach isn’t very efficient.”
“Yeah, especially with that brain of yours,” Lucien said with a mocking grin.
“What about you, William?” Deon asked the other youth in the room
“Uhm… I don’t mind skipping,” William said after pondering
“Bah… I can still last for two hours,” Caleb exclaimed
“Caleb, don’t force yourself,” Deon said
“I’m fine. We are only reading anyways,” Caleb replied
After Deon and the rest of the youths planned their day, they proceeded to focus on their study. They spent the majority of their day in the library, learning everything they could about the awakening ceremony.
Lucien, Caleb, and William wanted to borrow the books to read in their rooms, but the librarian did not permit it, making them quite dissatisfied.
Deon continued his study in his dreamscape and learned more during his time in his dreamscape than in the waking world since, in his dreamscape, he didn’t get any mental fatigue while studying.
………
Two days later
In the library, deon and the other youths immersed themselves in studying, and for the last two days, the four youths had more or less completed their knowledge about the awakening ceremony and were fully prepared for the ceremony.
The awakening ceremony holds great importance and is highly respected as the most esteemed ceremony in the entire kingdom, as it involves the Gods.
The main point of the awakening ceremony is about the church communicating with the Gods and asking for their blessing to give the participants the ability to awaken their innate mana.
And like any Ceremony, it has rules, with the most important rule being that every participant must be at least 13 years old, as those that are less than 13 years old won't be able to withstand the power of the ceremony and might receive a large backlash that might kill them.
Any individual who dares to cause disturbance during the ceremony will be subjected to severe punishment from the kingdom and will be declared a heretic by the churches.
The Everwinter Kingdom has two major Churches: The God of Light Church and The God of Sea Church. Because of this, The Awakening Ceremony is divided into two parts.
The first part goes to the God of the Light Church, with one thousand youths participating in the ceremony, with the second part going to the God of Sea church, with only 500 youths participating.
The God of Light Church is the main religion of the kingdom and has a much stronger influence in the kingdom than the God of Sea Church, with the royal family adhering to the God of Light faith.
According to the books in the library, the two churches have different ways of conducting their awakening ceremony, but the outcome is usually similar.
Deon and other youths also learned what to do during the ceremony and what attitude they needed to show.
But what deon was most interested in was how much a person could participate in the awakening ceremony since it was completely different from what he previously thought.
Deon thought that a person could only participate in a limited amount, but according to the books he read, it was completely the opposite.
Anyone could participate as much as they wanted, and the more they participated, the higher their chance of awakening.
This baffled deon since the imperial knight institute only gave the apprentice knights two chances to participate in the awakening ceremony, and if they failed their two chances, they would no longer receive any more chances.
Deon even read some statistics about the success rate of the participants in the awakening ceremony:
New participants have a 30% chance of awakening, while those participating for the second time have a higher probability of 60%. For third-time participants, the chance increases even further to 90%. Additionally, for every subsequent participation, their probability of awakening will increase by an additional 1% on top of the already high 90% chance.
This means that with enough participation, anyone can awaken their mana which made deon doubt why the apprentice knights were only given two chances for the Awakening Ceremony.
At first, it seems like a stupid decision since the participants will have a 90% chance of awakening by the third try. However, as deon read further, the more deon understood the decision of the imperial knight institute, and it involved the talent system.
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Thought for Thoughts
* First-time participants have a 30% chance of awakening
* Second-Time Participants have a 60% chance of awakening
* Third Time Participants have a 90% chance of awakening
* Fourth time or more, increase the chance by 1%
* 13 years old Requirement in the awakening ceremony
* It is not recommended to cheat during the ceremony, or you might get killed by the kingdom and the church