The city of Cyris was thriving today as Angelus and his group made their way through to the Pantheon Temple, and Angelus could understand why. Every year when the Ceremony of Awakening came, anyone who wasn't near the temple of the gods stopped what they were doing and went to go to the temple and watch as new blessed were born. And anyone who was near would try to turn a make a profit of it. Food vendors and salesmen tried to sell their goods to anyone who would give them the time of day, and for most of them, it was working.
Sadly for Angelus, they didn't have the time to get any of the juicy meat skewers or the recently popular cold cream. He was too busy keeping the younger kids from running off and getting lost, Lily specifically. Making their way through the town, the whole group talked to both Angelus and Donavin about what class they wanted.
"I already told you brats," Donavin looked like he was already reaching the end of his patients. "I'm not going to receive a class."
"Oh come on Donavin, lighten up a little," Angelus said, throwing an arm over his shoulder and bringing him closer. "Today is a day for dreams, so why don't you tell us yours."
"Sure, I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours. Though the way you speak at night, I can tell you have some fun dreams." Donavin smirked at Angleus's slight blush.
"I don't speak at night."
"Oh really? Because the way you moan says otherwise, you must have a lot of fun with Victoria." This time, Donavin laughed at Angelus's red face.
"That was you?!" Ren suddenly yelled, catching the attention of a few people. "I heard you at night too, when I asked Lily she told me that your room was haunted by a man who's looking for his lost lover. I almost believed her with how much it happened."
"Oh, he's defiantly calling out to his lover alright." Donavin chuckled, removing Angleus's arm before he could put him in a chokehold. Angelus’s face went from red to crimson as he lost hold of Donavin.
"Asshole!" He growled, throwing an open hand toward Donavin's head, missing as he ducked just in time and backed behind Olivia, who raised an eyebrow at him but continued walking.
Angelus was about to chase after him, but he paused as he felt someone pulling on his shirt. Turning around, he saw Sylvia holding on to him and her sister Juno. Angelus paused for a second, once again surprised by the contact from them. They didn't say anything, Sylvia kept her head down and reached out with her hand. Angelus immediately knew what she wanted and reached out with his as well and joined their hands.
Angelus looked up and saw that everyone in his group was looking at him and he smiled at them. Sylvia and Juno didn't make contact with anyone except Olivia when going out. Annie would attempt many times, but Sylvia would always bring the two of them to Oliva to hold her hand.
"Looks like she's starting to open."
With that, they continued through the city with short conversations. Angelus listened to the conversations, all of them talking about what new adventures would come up. some of them were talking about the soldier class, others were talking about mage classes. Angelus dismissed those conversations, the soldier and mage class were some of the more common classes among them. It was almost guaranteed that there would be at least five of both in Cyris, what Angelus was interested in was the rarer classes in the conversations. Some mentioned how there would be a Brawler class, others mentioned the duelist class. Now those were classes that got his blood pumping.
"Angelus." Sylvia's soft voice reached Angelus and he turned to her. She was looking back at her sister and listening to what she was saying. When she finished, Sylvia looked at Angelus and asked a question that he didn't expect. "Can you tell us what classes are?"
"You don't know what classes are?" Angelus gasped, almost everyone that he knew had heard about classes and what they mean, even the children that would talk to from time to time. Sylvia and Juno flinched at his questions and she put her head down and looked like she was going to apologize. "Sorry, sorry." Angelus apologized, "it's just that everyone that I talked to knows what classes are and what it means for everyone who gets one."
"Well, I know what classes are," Sylvia explained shyly, before gesturing to her sister. "But I don't know how to explain it to Juno. Everyone says that you know the most about classes because you want to become an adventurer." Angelus looked at Juno and smiled, not only was Syliva breaking out of her shell, but it looks like Juno was starting to get there.
"So you want to know more about classes do you?" Juno didn't answer him, she only nodded her head. "Well, let me tell you about the class system made by the gods." and with both of their attentions on him, he looked ahead and began talking.
"Classes are, what some would say, gifts to us from the gods. They were gifted to us because our world was swarmed with beasts, and we had no way to defend ourselves from them. that was before our gods gifted us with magic and classes. After the gods saw that the only beings that worshiped them were in danger of extinction, they gave us bits of their magic to survive. But we weren’t able to use magic naturally, so to help us, the gods gave us their magic in the form of classes. Do you understand?" Both Sylvia and Juno nodded. "Okay, that is the story that everybody knows, now let me tell you about the parts that they only teach in the Champions Academy."
Both of the girl’s heads shot up to look at Angelus as the words left his mouth, surprise evident in their eyes.
"You were in the Champions Academy Angelus?"
"Of course not," Angelus answered which left them both confused, a new question in their eyes. "The old man would tell me the stories when we were taking breaks from my training." He explained, ignoring a persistent vendor that was calling out to their entire group.
"Who's the Old man?" Sylvia asked, her voice becoming clearer with every question that she asked.
"The old man is Brutus, you probably saw him before, he told me that he would have to bring me back every time I was knocked out."
The old man that Angelus was referring to was an adventure by the name of Brutus Anderson. He was an adventurer who was past his prime with the Brawler class, a class that used their own body as a weapon.
"You mean the big, dark, bald man that likes to talk to Olivia?"
"Yep, that's him, he was the one who was telling me about these stories. Now, we need to hurry up, we’re getting closer to the Pantheon temple.” He urged, dodging the ever-growing crowd as they got closer to the Temple. “From what Brutus told me, the scholars of the Acadamy seem to think that from the moment we are born until the age of sixteen, we only have half of our souls.”
“Really?” Gasped Sylvia, Juno looked surprised as well if her eyes showed anything.
“Yep,” Angelus nodded, “And the moment that we turn sixteen, the gods give us our souls with some of their magic imbued into it. It is from that magic and their will that we are granted, classes.”
“Then what happens to those who don’t get a class?”
Angelus shrugged, “Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“Nothing,” Angelus repeated, trying to keep up with the rest of their group, but finding it difficult. With so many people around the three of them, and with Angelus trying to keep a firm grip on Sylvia to not lose her and Juno, He was starting to fall behind them. “Brutus says that even if those who turn sixteen don’t receive classes during the ceremony, they still receive the second half of their soul, they just aren’t able to use their magic.”
“But why?” Sylvia asked, still sounding confused. “If adults have magic in their body, why do they need a class to access it? It’s already there, they just need to use it.”
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“That because unlike beast, we aren’t able to use magic naturally, we need classes to help us guide the magic and tell it what to do.” Angelus looked up and saw that they were now reaching the gates of the Temple. As expected, they were crowded with people around Angelus’s age and their families. Almost everyone had their mothers hugging them as if they were saying goodbye and their fathers wishing them good luck. It made Angelus pause for a second as he saw the display of affection. For just a second, he felt his heart tighten, telling him that he would never have that. That for his entire sixteen years of life, no one thought that he was worth the investment or the love that came with raising a child. He immediately waved those thoughts off and remembered why he was trying so hard to get a class in the first place, looking back down to Sylvia and Juno.
“But what about-” Sylvia started, before Angelus cut her off.
“I’m sorry Sylvia, but we’re at the temple and I have to go.” She almost looked sad when Angelus said that, her face falling and Juno mimicking her sister. “How about after I get my class, we continue this talk.” Sylvia didn’t reply to that, she only nodded her head. Picking his head up, Angelus looked for Olivia and the others in their group. He found them close to the gate, but they had an extra person with them this time. When Angelus brought them closer, he recognized who it was.
“Claudia!” Angelus called out, walking quickly to the group. Claudia turned around when she heard her name called. She was a short woman who looked to be in her twenties, though that was only thanks to her healing magic. In reality, she was twice that age. She had brown skin and was wearing a set of white robes with long sleeves that had a gold pattern on the end of the sleeves. Her brown hair was put in a tight braid that had multiple medical tools placed throughout its length. When she finally saw Angelus, she gave them a beaming smile that showed off her pearly white teeth.
“Angelus.” She walked up to him and wrapped him in a tight hug.
“Hi, Claudia.” Angelus greeted, returning the hug, the feelings from earlier completely disappearing. “I hope you finish all of your before coming here, Claudia.”
“No Angelus, I had to leave a person with a broken leg in my clinic with the promise to come back later.” She replied sarcastically, pulling away but keeping Angelus in her arms.
“Well as long as you go back to them, it will all be fine.” He chuckled, Claudia was always like this, out of both Oliva and Claudia, she was the more light-hearted caregiver. Every opportunity she got, she would always try to tease the kids or put a joke in where ever it was most awkward. It was what everyone loved about her, despite what Donavin might tell the others.
“Angelus! The ceremony is going to start soon, we have to get up to the temple now.” Donavin said, walking up to them. Donavin, for all that he said earlier, was shivering slightly in excitement.
“Oh, I’m so excited for you two,” Claudia said, reaching an arm over to Donavin and pulling him into their hug. The hug lasted for five seconds before the both of them started to hear sniffling coming from Claudia.
“Are you crying?” Donavin asked, looking toward Claudia’s face. “Why are you crying, Claudia?”
“Because you both are growing up.” she sniffed. This was the other part of the ceremony that was rarely talked about but everybody knew. The Ceremony of Awakening was more than a chance to get a class, it was a coming of age ceremony as well. Everyone who went to the Pantheon Temple during the Ceremony of Awakening went in as a child, but when they came back out, they would be an adult. It wasn’t until Claudia had mentioned it, that both of them perked up at the mention of becoming adults.
“I had completely forgotten about that,” Donavin said, Angelus nodded in agreement. “But is that a reason to be sad, we’ll still be living with you if we don’t get our classes, and if we do, we’re only a day’s ride away from here.”
“I’m not crying because I’m sad.” Claudia sniffed, tightening her grip on them. “I’m crying because I’m happy, happy that I can finally start charging you both rent now.”
Just as the word left her mouth, both of their eyes widened. Their entire lives they had been living for free, and after today if they don’t get their classes, they knew where most of their coins were going to go.
“A-Always with a joke, aren’t you Claudia?” Angelus nervously chuckled, trying to break out of her grip, and put as much strength as he could to escape.
“Yeah, you could never get enough of them.” Donavin followed Angelus’s example and tried to get out of her grip, but both found that they couldn’t budge an inch.
“The only joke in this situation is thinking you could escape me,” Claudia said, pulling them closer. Angelus soon realized that both Donavin and he had no chance at escaping Claudia’s hug and rental agreement, not when she was a level forty healer. Though Claudia was quite weak compared to fighter classes that were ten levels below her, she had enough strength in her to throw the average man down the street. Claudia looked like she wanted to continue speaking with them, but the sound of bells drowned out all conversions that surrounded the temple. Looking up, they saw the doors to the temple open, and an aged man in white robes with a symbol on the chest and three bracelets on each wrist stepped out, followed by seven younger men in matching robes behind him.
The man with the symbol was the head priest of the Temple, a title that was simply known as The Voice. The Voice’s job was to pass on any message that the gods send down to mortals. Sure, the job seemed simple enough when put like that, but the hardest part of The Voice’s job was not to translate the god’s words, it was receiving his title in the first place. His previous name was forgotten the moment that he took the responsibility and the burden of The Voice. And with the trials that came before receiving such a holy title, Angelus came to reason that them forgoing their name was the easiest part. To even attempt to become the Voice, you must study all of the seven god’s teachings from the moment you receive the ‘Deacon’ class. And once the current voice feels his death coming, he must hold a trial where each of the Voices chosen must earn the blessing of the seven.
Angelus didn’t know them all, but the one he did know was the trial of Ignis, the god of fire. In his trial, you must keep a fire alive for three months, all while praying to it. Angelus didn’t know much about the trials after that, but if they were anything similar, then the Voice was truly a tenacious man. After receiving the blessing of the gods, he must make a vow to the gods to take the responsibility of the Voice and only use his voice to speak to their words, or during the ceremony of awakening. After accepting, he would effectively become silenced until the need for his voice came.
The current Voice rose to the position close to two years ago when Angelus had barely begun his training with Brutus. He had to skip the last two ceremonies due to Brutus’s tight training schedule and always working odd jobs, so this was the first time that Angelus had seen him. Though Angelus was at a distance, what he could see of The voice was that he looked to be in his forties with salt and pepper hair combed back and reached to his neck. He had a soft look on his face that betray the stress he faced in the trials and a smile to match. That was all Angelus could see from his distance before he noticed the Voice clearing his throat, looking like he was going to start speaking. Angelus waited with bated breath as he waited for him to speak.
“Hello, everyon-” the Voice started before he began to cough, the cough was extremely dry like he didn’t drink anything ever since the last ceremony. He continued to cough for a few seconds before one of the robed men brought him a water skin. The Voice to the water and began to drink it greedily, like he thought the water was going to be taken away from him. After drinking the entire contents of the waterskin, he turned to the crowd, cleared his throat, and straightened his poster.
“Hello, everyone,” He said in a clear tone like he didn’t nearly cough out a lung. “As I’m sure you are all aware, today is a very special day.” There was a round of excited chatter to confirm the Voice’s question. “Yes, today is the day that your children will become adults and be judged by the gods to see if they are allowed to receive one of their classes. Now, like every year, I’m sure that none of you can wait come into the temple and be judged by the seven. And seeing as I have wasted some time with my little fit, I will quickly explain what you will do.”
Angelus was a little surprised by the Voice's attitude. It seemed a lot more relaxed than what he was expecting from a man in such a high position. Days before the ceremony, Angelus was slightly worried that the Voice was going to be very high-strung and going to make this drag on for as long as possible. That was what the last voice was like from what he heard. The old man had a process, and while he couldn’t deny anyone a class on the ceremony, he would make sure that anyone who didn’t follow the process would be last to be judged.
“Everyone who is going to be judged today will wait at the entrance of the temple, where one of these young men beside me are going to be waiting, he will call each of you up one at a time. When you’re name is called, you will report to my disciple and we will analyze you to confirm your identity. After we’ve confirmed who you are, I will lead you to the judgment stone. Should you receive a class of any kind, you will be analyzed once again to see what class you have. As you all know, anyone who is given a class must report to the adventure’s guild within the week to be sent off to the Champion’s academy. Failure to do so will result in harsh punishment from the captain himself. I will also ask that nobody try to impersonate anyone or lie to us about your age, we will know and you will face repercussions.” He paused for a second to gaze at the entire crowd of people. “Is that clear to everyone?” No one answered him. “Perfect! Then without further to do, Let the ceremony Begin!” He turned around, his robes flowing behind him as though to add dramatic effect. After that, the people around us began to go back to what they were doing before.
Claudia faced us, "You should make your way up." She smiled, giving them one last hug.
"Wish us luck," Angelus said, before walking to Donavin and heading towards the entrance. The disciple that was waiting looked to barely be older than them, with black hair and sharp eyes. They had waited for ten minutes before the man had finally spoken.
"Is this everyone?" He had to shout to be heard over the noise that surrounded them. Nobody in the large group answered him, but he decided that that was enough for confirmation.
"Okay, as you heard from the Voice, I will be calling you each one at a time. I will give you ten seconds, if you don't come up, I will assume you are absent and move on to the next. Are there any questions?" Nobody spoke up. "Okay, then with that, we will begin." He looked down to his arm, where a piece of paper appeared, everyone gasped at the sudden appearance of the paper.
'A storage skill.' Angelus wondered before the disciple continued.
"Okay, we are going to start with Daphnie Adams."