Kali paused for a moment, and looked at the woman in deep thought then said with a nervous tone:
"Figures, I knew my chances were low but appears I got my hopes up for nothing."
The Beautiful fair-skinned woman stared at him with a profound look on her face, her thoughts almost unreadable and then she spoke.
"Like I said earlier don't lose all hope quite yet, there are still a few measures within the procedure to make this at least feasible."
And with that, the kind doctor had given Kali a bit of reassurance. It wasn't much comfort, but it at least gave him some hope.
"If I may ask what exactly does this "test" contain."
Ms Ali thought for a moment before responding
"There will be a debriefing with one of our local Experts in all things Ember."
And with that, the well-dressed doctor left the room leaving Kalida to his thoughts.
"Today has been awful, but at least I can rest here for a while.
He remarks with a content smile on his face. As some time passes Kali notices the quality of the room he is in.
"Honestly I couldn't have asked for better, this bed is made from actual authentic wood and just earlier the nurse brought me food with actual meat!."
As Kalida sat relishing his above-average living conditions an announcement suddenly appeared on the telecommunicator in his room.
"Kalida Ardens, please Report to the conference room within the next ten minutes."
As the young man heard this he felt a nervous chill run down his spine as he realised one of the worst trials in his life was about to begin.
With this, Kali got up to change out of his hospital attire, which was oddly big for his figure—it almost touched his feet, almost like wearing a dress. Kali found a neatly folded uniform with the letters "EFA" engraved on the collar of his shirt inside the wardrobe near his bed.
"EFA huh, this is an acronym for Ember Flame Estate. The leading guild that typically takes action first when a Remnant erosions occurs.
As he finishes this thought a familiar-looking doctor reenters his room
"Kali, the announcement said to be at the conference within 10 minutes so hurry up and get ready!"
She says with a deadpan tone.
"I'll be there in a second — just gotta finish up getting ready."
Kali swiftly put on his training shoes and followed behind Ali toward what he presumed was the conference room. As Kali was walking through the spacious hospital hallway he made a left turn and saw a monumental amount of rooms all with different numbers and names on their doors.
"Ms. Ali, where exactly are we? I've never heard of a complex this big anywhere near the outskirts."
The previously talkative doctor had now gone silent she was simply acting as a guide no longer willing to even converse with her previous patient.
Kali repeatedly attempted to converse with her but to no avail.
"It's fine I never needed anyone to speak to before don't need em now."
He thought with a mixture of thoughts flowing through his mind.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
****
At this point, Kali and his not-so-friendly companion had been walking for 5 minutes before they finally arrived in front of what appeared to be a giant steel door. And then an unfamiliar raspy voice said
"Welcome Kindle Kali to your first of many (hopefully) briefings of the remnant incursions you'll be going on, my name is Ashford the leading scientist of the Flame in this wonderful institute."
Kali looked around in confusion as this voice seemed to be coming from every angle around him.
"Don't be frightened this will all make sense when you open that door right in front of you."
Slowly Kali approached the giant steel door but quickly realized there was no handle, seemingly with no way to enter kali simply said in an annoyed tone
"Hey! Unless this big hunk of metal is some type of automatic door I don't think I can get it.
Suddenly the metal in front of him bent and folded in on itself appearing as though it had never been there in the first place.
"Now tell me Young Kindle, how much do you know about the Ember!?."
Kali stood there dumbfounded at the notion that the 3-ton steel door before him just evaporated.
"The extent of my knowledge ends at what a Remnant is."
He responded half-heartedly to the old silver-haired scientist. it appeared even though he was at least in his 60s or even 70s his physique resembled that of a young man in his prime.
"So you see Young one, you might believe the flame is just some supernatural disease. But it goes much deeper than that, this illustrious disease first appeared about 150 years ago. The first human to ever contract seemed to assimilate almost immediately with the ember and gain abilities beyond that of a normal human. This person was known as the First Kindle the true awakened among the human race.
Kali listened intently to the history lesson he was receiving before answering.
"So Ashford, was it? this lesson is nice and all but I was told I'd be coming here for a briefing before taking my specialization exam."
The old man slightly disappointed said:
"Ah yes, I was about to get to that! So you see Young Kindle you have the potential to be a part of this apex of humanity, you will be taken to an arena where a piece of a Remnant none as a Remnant core will be placed, you will then walk up to it, and put ur palm on the orb and within seconds will be teleported to a scenario of what happened when that Ember monster died. You will then have to battle out the scenario and as the story progresses will gain access to your specialization.
Kali thought for a moment then answered
"I see... Is there anything else I should know before leaving?
The scientist looked at Kali with an Ecstatic look before speaking
"Of course! Awakened are Differentiated by the Amount of essence they have within their bodies. There are several different levels to awakened starting at Kindle the weakest of the 6 tiers, this is the stage you are currently at. In this form, you are almost unable to utilize any of that superhuman strength the flame gives, but once you develop your Specialization or [SP] for short you will be able to utilize it. Next is Flame Master This is attained after 10 Remnants are clear by a person and allows you to let ember essence empower your every move. The others aren't as important right now but do know if you make it back alive I'll give a rundown on every tier of awakened even the ones that are borderline legends!"
Without pause the old man continues his spiel
"But more importantly you should know the 3 types of specializations they are Ember Augmentation, Ember Synthesizer, and Ember Tamer or A.U.G, S.Y.N, and E.T for short due note that though these specializations all contain Ember in name, What u receive when gaining one can very person to person ."
"Whenever you enter a Remnant for the first time they will make a lot more sense! Regardless I have kept you for far too long. The door behind me leads to the arena chamber you best be going now.
Kali managed to say something in between all of his ramblings
"Sir Ashford, are you an awakened? You seem to be quite fit for your age.
Ashford answered with a serious tone.
"Sadly my dearest Kindle my incredible physique is simply the product of years of dieting and exercise."
Kali feeling unsure as to why he even asked simply bade his farewell to the yapping scientist and left the room.
****
Kali had walked into what appeared to be a huge dome with green vibrant vegetation growing all around him. Except for the center of this giant contraption which seemed to be burned away leaving what could only be described as a mixture of smoke, soot, and Ash. As Kali moved towards the scent of burning Wood he suddenly saw it.
"Is that a — Remnant core?!"
In front of the Frail boy was a floating orb. It was at least 12 feet tall and 8 wide. As it hovered the sphere exuded a kind of call to everything within its vicinity telling everything to come touch its surface. Kali in a disoriented state weak to the orb's illusions walked up to the floating object.
"I really should just touch it but...
Before he could even finish the thought his hand had already grasped the surface of the orb. In a blink, Kalida's entire being felt like it was warping and contorting as though every atom was being plucked individually just to be rebuilt in a second's notice, and as though not even mere seconds earlier Kali was standing on solid ground he found himself floating in an endless dark void.
"[WELCOME YOUNG KINDLE KALIDA TO YOUR VERY FIRST REMNANT]"
as soon as the disembodied voice finished its sentence, Kali regained consciousness only to realize he was falling at an alarming rate on a crash course straight to the ground.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?"