Today, on 17th of August, the Awakening Ceremony will take place. We left home few days before to get here and accommodate ourselves in the inn. I reviewed the notes about forming mana core, relaxed in the city and tried to not think whether I will be talented enough to get my father’s approval. After six years I got used to rigorous training and I would lie if I said I hate swordsmanship. It is quite an exhilarating feeling, wielding the sword and feeling the adrenaline of true battle, controlling your own destiny.

Yet when it comes to magic and all other techniques and abilities, my heart can’t calm itself down. After all, when it comes to controlling the piece of metal or controlling the very nature, the choice is not that difficult.

The requirement that my family imposed on me and my siblings to study magic is to gain either Achromatic Core or condense first World Ring during the ceremony. Either of those is a ridiculous condition. The former has mind blowingly low probability, while the latter requires inborn, heaven-defying talent in mana control and willpower.

The Mana Cores are graded in terms of potential according to their colors. It determines the person’s affinity and gives a hint about his or her power. Though the result depends on the effort and hard work, since there were quite a few mages who defied the rankings. From the weakest to strongest they are:

* Mixed Core - a core with few colors mixed, often murky and dull; they have high cultivation speed, but low potential, with almost no hope of becoming a powerful individual;

* Singular Core - it represents a high talent in a single element; the purer and more vivid the color, the higher is the talent;

* Duality Core - only cores with two colors equal are considered as such and indicate high talent to wield two elements; the more vivid the colors, higher the potential;

* Achromatic Core - near transparent core signifying the high talent to wield all elements. After cultivation the elements will be represented by small lumps of color that will be equally deposited inside the core. The more transparent the core is, the higher talent they have.

All of them are rated by vividness into four categories: Low, Middle, High and Top. The problem with getting Achromatic Core is its rarity, a chance being 1: 1 000 000. According to world-spread information, there are currently only about forty mages with Achromatic Core. In comparison the population of a single human country reaches almost a hundred million citizens.

Anyway, after forming the core, the mana gathering increases according to personal talent. The gathered mana enters the core, where it’s refined from gaseous state into liquid. After some time the liquid fills the core to the limit, allowing one to advance to higher rank by condensing all the mana into a ring surrounding the core. Only by creating perfectly circular shape following the direction of mana core spin the mana can be condensed, instead of just falling apart.

Those rings are called World Rings of the Elements. By creating it outside of the core, it allows its power and potential to expand, while the ring itself serves almost as a second mind. The spells are easier to cast, mana flow is faster and easier to control, spells can accumulate more mana inside and talented magicians can even cast multiple spells at once!

At least that’s what my teacher said.

The runic formation used during the ceremony gathered mana from outside few times faster and aided in mana control by transforming it into a really calm and slow form. Additionally, the formation grows in strength with time, so the pressure of being overfilled with mana also increases. Thus creating World Ring during the ceremony is almost impossible. One would have to form a mana core, then using newly formed organ to quickly transform ever-growing mana into liquid state and condense it into a solid ring, all while suffering from mental pressure and exhaustion of spirit.

I sighed aloud after thinking of such ridiculous task that I will no doubt attempt. It resulted in annoyed glances of few boys that stood nearby in complete silence with haughty attitudes. To think that they are nobles from the same country, when our behaviour and most likely upbringing is so different. If that is what my family wants me to fight for, then I will politely refuse and lock myself in my wardrobe.

I was waiting for the ceremony to start. A guide in front of the Mana Hall brought me here after telling him what I came for. When he opened the door I saw twenty-something boys and girls my age, separated into few groups and chatting or just barely acknowledging each other’s existence. We were in a fairly well lit and aired room that had few windows facing the city market. Except few desks filled with snacks and drinks and about three dozen chairs, together with some small decorations, there was nothing else inside. Seeing as no one seemed familiar I sat down in the corner and absentmindedly looked out through the window.

‘I sure hope it will start soon.’

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“Middle-grade Fire Core!” Shouted a middle-aged man, a supervisor of ours for the duration of the ceremony. A boy shakily stood up and with a tired smile bowed to the man, before returning to his friends.

By now already sixteen boys and girls underwent the ceremony, each taking no longer than ten to fifteen minutes. Eight of them had Mixed Cores, six had Singular Core and two even got Duality Core! Obviously, none got Achromatic Core and probably none of the rest will get it, including me. Though having it would save me the trouble, I didn’t stake my all on it. Instead, I focused on creating the World Ring. Though, with how nervous I was, my thoughts were directed more towards failure.

“Next, Astrelia Rythorn!”

“Here.”

“Go and sit in the middle, we will begin as soon as you are ready.” The middle-aged man said, visibly bored. Though considering the fact the ceremony is only done once a year, he must have started early in the morning.

I quickly made my way to the middle of runic formation and sat down cross-legged. I spent few minutes taking deep breaths and trying to stop my hands from shaking. But seeing the thoughts like “Uwaaah, I wanna go home!” and “Can’t someone do it for me?” didn’t stop, i could only sigh quietly and give up on trying to calm down. I turned my head to the supervisor, only to see him frowning, really annoyed.

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‘Ohh, right. No one actually took their time to calm down, at most twenty seconds per person …’ Were my thoughts.

I smiled stiffly to him and finally nodded my head, signaling him to start. Without any response from him, the runic formation once again started shining with dim blue light. While I’ve seen it before from outside, sitting in the middle gave me a different time of excitement. It was then that for the first time in my life I felt the existence of mana in my body. It felt like cold water, or rather cold air, was coursing slowly through my bones. It was a really weird feeling, like my bones were made from ice, slowly and steadily spreading the cold around my body, while cool air was sinking into me from outside.

I couldn’t say that I had absolute control over all the mana. It felt more like trying to guide smoke with a fan. Having lost myself in this feeling I fought for control. Yet no matter what I did, the mana sooner or later ended up gathering at the right side of my chest, at the same height as my heart. Few minutes had to pass, during which mana gathered more and more and I started feeling itching in my bones, for me to remember I had a core to create. I hurriedly gathered my thoughts again and started following the steps I learned before.

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~3rd POV~

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The process which normally took around fifteen minutes, still didn’t end after an hour passed. Mana flowing from runic formations, though at first was barely like a stream, seemed more like waterfall after so long. The excess mana pushed itself into the body, forcefully flooding thin mana channels and tearing them apart bit by bit. The pressure was like a hammer to the heart, slowly limiting the amount of air he could take.

Astrelia Rythorn sat drenched in cold sweat, trembling and taking shallow, uneven breaths. His blond hair stuck to sweaty forehead and neck and his fair skin was few shades paler, almost white. He could feel the enormous amount of mana flowing within himself. Adding the pressure of formation to his own control, the mana should easily condense into a pellet the size of walnut. Yet for some time the small, uneven sphere barely half that size was covered with copious amounts of liquid mana. Neither pressing with force or spiralling it at high speeds to fuse by itself helped at all.

The Elder Nayte Hogan, the bearer of fourth World Ring and supervisor of this year’s Awakening Ceremony, stood at the edge of formation, looking at Astrelia with a deep frown. He could more or less feel what was happening thanks to abundant amounts of mana, yet he did not make a move. He also didn’t understand why the core had yet to form and wasn’t ready to interfere. Had he stopped the formation, all the mana would return swiftly to its natural, more berserk form and instantly tear apart the boy. He could only wait and hope for the best.

After first half an hour passed, other children looked at Astrelia, scared and nervous. Those who already passed were thinking what if it was them and those that had yet to pass, if it would happen to them as well. During this time, because of delay, other personnel showed up to inquire. As he learned of the situation, he ran out to call others, who swiftly arrived troubled by the news. After talking with supervisor Hogan, they left and healing mage awaited at the side instead, ready to step in at any time.

All of a sudden Rel’s control over mana slipped. The mana immediately expanded and started running wild throughout his body. His internal organs immediately took the hit, most of them started bleeding. Skin on his body cracked like earth’s surface and started bleeding as well. At the same time he changed from his previous position and bent forward, vomiting large mouthfuls of blood. He supported himself with his trembling arms, still conscious only because of years of beating he got from training with the sword.

The mana, having escaped his control, started decompressing. He immediately once again felt the cold, though now it was more akin to being submerged under the iceberg, feeling as his body and mind slowly stopped working. He could feel less and less pain, while the blood before his eyes started losing color. His eyelids started weighing down and he felt more and more sleepy. He didn’t even notice how blood started dripping from his mouth.

Many of the children started trembling or at least paled, with most girls turning their heads away. The healing mage and supervisor whitened as well, clearly wanting to jump in and stop the ceremony. Yet they knew that either stopping the formation or casting any of their spells would spell his certain death. Thus, they were slowly preparing to once again note new death during the ceremony.

‘Is this … my fate? ‘ With a hazy consciousness Rel more or less understood his situation. Yet his mind refused to shut down, a form of clarity allowing him few more moments. ‘... No. I … I don’t want this … I refuse to let it end that way. I will not bow down to such a fate! I WILL NOT ALLOW IT TO STOP ME! ‘

With this shout everything stopped. The pain, the haziness, the overbearing pressure of mana. Yet he could not move his body. He could not feel his body. The only thing he could see is his mana and the only thing he could control is his mana.  In this state all his feelings were somehow suppressed, his amazement silenced, his fear tamed. The only thing in his mind allowed to exist were curiosity and a need to survive, to form his own core.

He looked at his core.  A flowing mass of liquid mana got in his way, annoyed, he commanded it away. Like moving his own limb, mana listened without resistance and revealed the uneven sphere. Small, white-ish core, upon closer observation was getting transparent. Without being covered in liquid mana the core maintained its form, thus confirming his line of thought.

‘It isn’t pretty, nor big enough, but it’s holding, right? So, I formed my core. But what to do with this mana … the core doesn’t have enough power to stabilize and refine all of that… should I instead let my core advance, force it to evolve? ‘

He remembered the words of his family. To achieve either Achromatic Core or first World Ring. Though his core looked white and transparent, to not let his family complain he decided to ensure his success.

The freely flowing liquid mana immediately abided his command to gather once more.  He extended, flattened and formed it to create a flowing circle, a pure white ring surrounding the core. He commanded it, pressed it with his will, yet the ring stayed like liquid. So, he instead guided the ever-growing amount of the mana in his body to concentrate and flow into the ring. The slightly transparent ring slowly filled with white color and barely grew in size, but had yet to condense. He tried and tried again, pressing it with all his might. But the ring under pressure merely thinned and actually grew closer to the core.

He noticed his core turning violet, purple strings forming inside. Yet before he could even think about it, the core cracked. The intense pressure of mana and his will multiplied the cracks and before he could stop it, the core completely crumbled. It seemed almost like a star in the sky, destroyed by it’s own gravity. It collapsed inward, in it’s center a black hole, capable of devouring everything, appeared out of nowhere. As fragments of the core disappeared after contact with it, violet strings extended from it. They touched the forming ring, which upon contact instantly solidified. On its surface appeared runes of the same color.  After that more and more of them flowed out, all seeping into the ring, colouring about 2-3% of it.

Few seconds passed during which he could feel all the mana calmly flowing through his battered body and being refined by his new pseudo-core. After that his amazing state of isolation ended and pain, fatigue and pressure knocked him unconscious. The last thing he managed to barely see is fading light of the runic formation before darkness swallowed everything.