Chapter 4 – Initiation Ceremony (1)
The makings of a theory stewed in his mind. Pieces were coming together, but to what conclusion exactly? The thing he saw in the alley yesterday, the excessive presence of soldiers at an initation ceremony, the madness principle... but it was no use. He was still missing too many pieces of the puzzle. William decided to put his complicated suspicions aside and focus on the initiation and more terrestrial concerns for now. He'd humor this rather tricky theory after the ceremony ended.
A heavy air of anticipation hung over the students in the auditorium as the instructor began to explain the initation. The great three headed dragon insignia of Jormungandr, one of the big seven guilds, hung on his coat.
It was fitting that one of the mighty seven guilds sent their own member as the initiation instructor here, William thought, clearing his mind of any previous thoughts. Both the military and the guilds were keenly interested in recruiting the students from Trinity Academy, which consistently produced the most extraordinary talents per capita out of any other college. Even Cassius graduated from here ten years ago.
The silver-haired instructor, his expression as cutting as the blade hanging at his side, took a moment to let the anticipation build before continuing. "The initiation process consists of two stages. First, you'll undergo an initial evaluation using the Resonance Orb."
As he spoke, government uniformed soldiers began to wheel in a large, glowing orb mounted on an ornate stone plinth. The orb pulsed with a strange, otherworldly light, its surface swirling with gray waves that made it reminiscent of a misty ocean.
"This orb was procured from beyond the mist in the otherworld, through that treacherous place where few dare to venture. There are only five of these in the world, and each of them is priceless, which is why we have extra security today,” the instructor said, indicating towards the numerous rifle-wielding soldiers lining the auditorium. “Although if I had to be honest, I alone am enough security,” he declared with a smile.
The bald uniformed general who stood at the side of the stage bristled at that statement, which the instructor clearly noticed. The silver fox instructor winked at the bald general and continued to speak.
William had done extensive research on the subject of combat in the post-break era, and recalled what he read online. Bullets, shells, and missiles still had their place in combat, and were still effective against monsters to varying degrees. However, ten years ago researchers at the leading laboratories in the world had realized after initial experiments on captured monsters that, to their horror, almost all monsters and beings from the otherworld were immune to the effects of radiation for some inexplicable reason. Thus, humanity’s greatest weapon of nuclear power had been rendered obsolete, and only conventional arms remained effective.
Over the past twelve years, awakeners steadily gained strength and could now rival the fighting strength of organized armed forces. The silver fox instructor was right. At his level, he alone could offer a similar amount of protection as all those soldiers combined.
But that aside, it was odd to see a high ranking military general at an initiation ceremony.
“As you all know from our annual broadcasts, the awakening process is quite simple. Any human that comes into close contact with a strong source of otherworld energy will awaken their abilities. Now that means we could send all of you through the gate and have you awaken that way, but to avoid unnecessary casualties like those from the early years after the first dungeon break, we’ve developed a less gruesome method to awaken.”
Finn looked like all the blood had drained from his face.
“That’s how my big brother died,” he whispered. “He tripped and fell right into a gate that just formed. They brought back an arm and a leg to my parents the next day.”
“I’m sorry." William had known Finn for over two years now, but this was the first time he ever opened up about how his brother died.
The instructor waited for the soldiers to fully lock the orb’s plinth to the stage floor with several winches and levers before walking closer to the orb and continuing his speech. “The Resonance Orb carries in it a potent source of otherworld energy, enough to awaken a human, and curiously enough, anyone who touches the orb will also have traces of their power displayed inside of it.”
The silver haired instructor took the glove off his right hand and placed his hand on the orb. The gray mist instantly coalesced into a cascade of frenetic purple energy.
A soldier holding a scanner quickly placed it against the orb and read out the reading. “Power level of nine!”
A wave of oohs and aahs erupted from the students in the audience. A power level of nine was incredibly high, so no wonder the instructor was a member of Jormungandr.
As the instructor lifted his hand back off the orb, the frenetic purple energy dissipated immediately and the orb returned to its misty, flowy state.
“Since this is your first time awakening, your powers will forcefully manifest immediately after touching the orb. We have prepared a blast proof stage, so don’t be shy! Feel free to use your new power to your heart’s content. Your orb reading and power manifestation will determine your power level rating, which our evaluators will assign from a range of one to ten.”
“Once you have all received your power level assessments, you will split into groups with evaluators for stage two, to determine your combat level rating.”
A hand shot up from the audience from one of the first years.
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The instructor appeared amused. “What is it?”
The lanky first year stood up and asked his question. “Why are we getting two different ratings for power level and combat level?”
“Because,” the instructor began to answer, his voice booming authoritatively through the auditorium. “The ability to fight, and particularly to fight well in dire circumstances, cannot be measured by just your power level. Power level is a combination of the otherworld energy within you and your ability to manifest it. Combat level is our evaluation of how well you will fare beyond the gate in a real combat situation, no matter what your results were on paper.”
“Our evaluators will test your combat skills in spars against an instructor later this evening. We will take into account your performance during the fight, but naturally there is no expectation for you to win against the instructor. Just try to hold on for as long as possible.”
"That concludes the explanation of the initiation process. Let us begin," the instructor said with a clap of his hands, turning his gaze to the list of names in his hand. "When I call your name, step forward onto the stage.”
The room fell into a hushed silence as the first name was called. A tall, broad-shouldered student made his way to the front, his expression a mix of confidence and panic. He placed his hand on the resonance orb as the audience looked on in anticipation for the first awakening of the ceremony.
The mist inside the orb began to swirl upon being touched by the student, but its color did not change. The student frowned, when all of a sudden his arm began to float upwards as if it was being dragged by some mysterious force, and then a tuft of his hair began to stand up as well.
The soldier with the scanner quickly read the orb and then dashed to the panel of evaluators, who briefly convened to deliberate, before passing a clipboard of the results to the silver haired instructor.
“Power level of two, Telekinesis!” the silver haired instructor declared in a clear voice.
That was a fair result, William thought. Telekinesis was a rare ability branch compared to the four basic elemental branches. A level two power level was average, but in combination with his rare ability he could find himself a place in a decent guild. He didn’t even necessarily need to assume a fighting role, as Telekinesis could fill some niche roles in material extraction.
“Next, Isabella Isadore!” A red haired girl rose from her seat next to Evelyn Moon and walked up to the stage. William recalled seeing her standing next to Evelyn earlier, so they had to be friends. She had dark eye makeup and several bracelets around her wrist from that fashion brand that was trending lately. It was strange that Evelyn was friends with someone like her, because William couldn’t recall ever seeing Evelyn wear anything similar to that flashy style.
Isabella stepped onto stage and gingerly placed her hand onto the orb, making sure not to touch the orb with her painted fingernails. A surge of orange bloomed from the center of the orb.
“Ah!” Isabella yelped in surprise as flames burst out from her hand that was touching the orb. She pulled her hand back, and her fingernails were slightly darker but otherwise untouched.
“Level three, Fire!” the instructor declared.
Isabella walked back to her seat with a cool expression where she was greeted by congratulations from Evelyn.
They were sitting in the left aisle of the auditorium, and William sat in the middle aisle so he could hear them talk from across the aisle.
"That was amazing, Isabella! A level three fire ability right off the bat? You’ll have so many options. You could even get into Jormungandr if you train hard enough!"
Isabella grinned. "Yeah, but I think I’d look better in Cait Slythe’s uniforms, don’t you think?”
“Oh come on, you have to think about your future,” Evelyn said.
“Isabella Isadore, brand ambassador for Cait Slythe,” Isabella replied. “That has a nice ring to it.”
Her personality was certainly the type to awaken to a fire ability, William thought. The forums said that people with ambitious and strong personalities were more likely to awaken a fire ability. He hoped to replicate her results, and if he reached level three that would be the cherry on top. Fire was one of the four common elemental abilities, but it was certainly not weaker than any rare ability. Cassius Brightsteel was a fire user after all, although according to the media, these days his ability was more of a hybrid fire type.
The process continued, with each student stepping forward to have their power evaluated. Some were met with disappointment, others with celebration. The numbers of their power levels varied, from ones and twos to a few threes and fours, and even a five here or there.
William remembered that one of the forum posters in a non-VIP thread complained that he had been evaluated to have a telekinetic ability that later on turned out to be a wind ability. The ability classifications weren’t always right, and they were sort of just discussed and agreed upon by the panel of evaluators. Sometimes the evaluators assessed the ability’s category wrong, and later on people with errors would have to get reassessed for their government file to be changed.
William continued with his breathing exercises until a familiar name was announced.
"Luke Brightsteel," the instructor called out.
Luke strutted confidently to the front of the auditorium to the cheers of his friends. The moment his hand touched the orb, the mist within began to churn violently, taking on the same purple energy as the instructor’s from earlier. Then, to everyone’s amazement, the color changed again from purple to orange.
“What is this?” exclaimed the instructor in surprise.
A perfectly formed ball of fire appeared above Luke Brightsteel’s palm. The flames danced and crackled, then began to lower towards his palm until suddenly his entire arm burst into flames with an intense steam-like aura, the same one William had seen the day before. His navy blazer’s sleeve began to swell as if his already impressive physique had gotten even stronger.
The silver-haired instructor’s eyes widened, momentarily betraying his composure. “Unbelievable," he murmured, unable to hide his surprise. The display was far beyond what anyone had expected, even from someone like Luke.
The soldier with the scanner dashed forward, almost fumbling with the device in his haste to record the orb’s reading. His face went pale as he read the results, quickly passing the information to the evaluators. The panel exchanged hurried whispers.
Finally, the instructor stepped forward, his voice carrying the weight of what he was about to announce. "Power level of seven, dual ability wielder, Fire and Body Reinforcement!"
The declaration sent a shockwave through the auditorium. For a moment, there was only stunned silence as everyone absorbed the historic event they had just witnessed. There were multiple ability and hybrid ability users, but those were normally earned through countless years of training. This was the first time in history that someone managed to simply awaken with two abilities at once.
The silence was then broken by loud cheers and jeering from Luke’s friends, who were on their feet. Luke walked triumphantly back to his seat while basking in all the attention, and his smirk could not possibly be any wider.
“What did I say, my family’s bloodline runs strong,” Luke said in a smug tone to his friends as he sat down. “Looks like I’m about to give my dear cousin Cassius a run for his money.”
“Settle down, settle down,” the instructor said, although he himself sounded slightly rattled. “Next up, we have William Blackwood.”
The sound of his own name caught William by surprise. Did he really have to go right after that performance?