Crossing the threshold into the room where his magic would be awakened, Ezekiel saw several groups of people mingling with one another, as well as many children the same age as himself trailing behind their parents as they greeted and talked shop with friends and business partners.
There were also numerous other people of varying ages, either older or younger who were most likely family members who were here to support the child being awakened. On the far side of the room was a large set of double doors that were much larger than the basic single wooden door that Ezekiel and his family had come through.
All the adults were dressed in fine clothing that was also practical for public gatherings. One of the things that he noticed was that many of the women were wearing dresses that he recognized as coming from his mother’s shop, and the men were mostly dressed in uniforms, similar to his father.
There were more than a handful of women dressed in uniform as well, and several men in finery that was clearly meant for business, likely being rich merchants, or other business owners from the inner and richer middle districts.
Another major thing of note was the fact that everyone who wore a uniform had a small animal perched either on or near their body.
As they approached one of the smaller groups, roughly a dozen adults with their children, Ezekiel got a better feel for the room. The most distinct thing he noticed was that only around a third of the room’s adult occupants had Spirits with them, indicating them as Hunters. These Spirits were also much larger than either Reya or Theo, meaning they hadn’t obtained a Null form, and were not at Tier Three.
The group he and his parents were approaching was entirely filled with people either in uniforms, or otherwise attached to a person who was. There were ten children in total, even though there were only nine adults. It seemed that there were roughly six of them that were the same age as Ezekiel. Whilst there were two that seemed older, and two infants being carried by their mothers.
One woman in particular was having a tough time, having to carry both her infant child in her arms while also reigning in a rowdy looking boy with wild looking hair. She appeared to be alone with her children.
Another of the women, tall, short red hair, with a large chest and dressed in a city guard uniform, with decorations indicating she was the same rank as Warren, saw Ezekiel’s family approach. Ezekiel noticed that she looked a bit older than his parents when she called out to them as she waved them over. On her shoulders was a ruby and gold snake. The rest of the group turned to look towards them, most of them breaking out into smiles as they did.
“Warren!” The woman in uniform that waved at them called out. “Good to see you. I’m happy you managed to get here on time. I’m guessing your wife woke you up early for today, right?” She said in a joking manner as she stepped forwards to give Warren a hug.
Warren turned a little bit bashful at the woman’s open display of affection, but accepted the hug, nonetheless. To Ezekiel’s surprise, his mother showed no hostility what-so-ever to the strange woman’s open affection.
“And Evelyn, I see you’re looking as gorgeous as ever!” the woman then reached over to wrap Evelyn up in an even bigger hug. Which wasn’t hard to do since she was a good six inches taller than Evelyn; at five foot ten inches. Still four inches shorter than Warren, but big enough to almost be smothering Evelyn with her enthusiastic embrace.
“Sherra, it’s good to see you again.” Evelyn said as she and the tall woman broke apart. “I see you’re still just as touchy as you were when we first met.”
The woman, Sherra, just let out a guffaw at Evelyn’s observation. A more subdued man, about the same height as Warren, with brown hair, but far less muscular, dressed in fine robes and wearing spectacles with gold rims approached from behind, accompanied by two children, one was a boy with brown hair and red eyes, he looked to be about thirteen years old and seemed arrogant, and the other was a girl with red hair and brown eyes, who looked to be the same age as Ezekiel, but clearly much more shy and quiet.
“Indeed, she is.” The man said as he approached. “My wife has always been a woman with a big, ‘personality’, but I must say it’s one of her most defining features.” His tone was quiet and not quite a whisper, but very close.
Sherra’s face gained a slight tinge of pink as Evelyn and Warren let out quiet chuckles at their friend’s expense. The young teenage boy trailing behind the man just sighed, clearly used to his parent’s eccentricities. The little girl trailing next to him just looked confused as to why the adults were laughing.
“Allon! There’s no need for that kind of language.” Sherra said in rebuke towards her husband’s comment. Her arms came up to cover her chest as she turned towards him. The rest of the group also let out chuckles or turned away with smiles on their faces as they were entertained by their friend’s teasing taunts and reaction.
Ignoring his wife, Allon brought his children forward to introduce them.
“You’ve both already met him, but this is my son, Aldor, and my daughter Shari. Aldor had his awakening eight years ago and managed to reach the peak of Tier one as a magus not long ago. It’s our hope that he will be able to enter an Academy within the next couple of years.” Allon said with pride in his voice. “Shari, on the other hand, is here to be awakened, just like your son.”
As the quiet laughter died down and Allon finished introducing his children, Ezekiel was gently pulled forwards by his mother to be introduced to his parent’s friends. When Sherry turned her attention towards him her flustered appearance disappeared. Instead, she bent forwards and picked him up whilst holding his face into her bosom.
“Oh my, is this little Ezekiel? He’s just as adorable as you said he was, Warren. He’s like a little skinny boy version of Evelyn.” Sherra said as she twirled around with Ezekiel in her arms. This went on for a little while with Sherra gushing over Ezekiel like a little girl with a new toy. Several more families had entered at this point, and the door they had entered had been closed.
Ezekiel was forced to hold his breath and pray that his neck wouldn’t snap as he was swung around like a ragdoll by the overly enthusiastic woman. His parents said nothing as they watched their friend swing around their only child. At least until they saw Ezekiel’s face turning blue from a lack of air.
“Sherra, let go, he’s turning blue.” Warren said as he rushed over to his co-worker. Sherra stopped her twirling before putting Ezekiel on the ground. When his feet were firmly planted on the floor, Sherra couldn’t help but fiddle with his clothes, putting everything back into place after her rough treatment.
“I’m so sorry, I just couldn’t help it. You’re such a cutie that I could just cook and eat you up.” Sherra said with an excited grin. Ezekiel’s reply was a look of utter disinterest. A look that persisted, even as Sherra’s huge grin began to falter.
“Hey, there’s no need to look at me like that.”
Ezekiel said nothing and just continued to stare.
“Are you okay kid?” Sherra was getting nervous.
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Ezekiel continued to stare.
“Ummm...” Sherra looked back and forth between Ezekiel and his parents, who were also looking slightly perturbed as their son’s strange reaction.
Seeing that they weren’t doing anything, Sherra turned back to Ezekiel, intent on getting him to talk when he spoke up.
“Crazy...” Ezekiel finally said with a dismissive mutter, and a shake of his head, while he stepped forwards to hug his mother’s legs. Usually, he would be embarrassed at acting so childishly, especially in front of so many people, but he felt that this would be a good exception.
The rest of the room, seeing this display, couldn’t help but break into quiet laughter once again. Although there were still some people who couldn’t help but look at the pair with distaste as if they were looking at someone far below their station.
Sherra, however, froze with a look of utter devastation across her face. After a few seconds of staring into space, she turned around, a pout on her face and a gleam in her eye. She was now intent on teaching the little brat called Ezekiel a lesson on polite behavior.
Yet, before she could say anything. The creaking of the large double doors on the far side of the room drew the attention of the room’s occupants. Turning towards the noise, everyone could see an elderly gentleman with white hair and a long beard dressed in fine robes rolling a wooden pedestal into the room. Atop the pedestal was a crystal orb that seemed to have a rainbow of lights swirling around within it. The orb was roughly the size of a bowling ball and was resting on an indigo velvet pillow.
As the elderly man pushed the pedestal to the far end of the room, Ezekiel could see the beautifully decorated ten-point interlaced star emblazoned on his back. Each encased a symbol representing one of the ten elements of magic that the Church of Ten held dear as the embodiments of the Ancients.
Turning to the rest of the room, the old man addressed the families there within; a great big smile split across his face.
“Greetings, citizens of Harkem. My name is Marid Thurst. I am one of the scholars here in the church, and a mid-Tier three magus as well. As such, whilst I am not a member of the clergy, I still have the qualifications to run an awakening ceremony in a way that is safe and secure for your children’s future as mages of the empire.” Marid said with a jovial smile on his face.
“Luckily, with the help of the prismatic orb here on the table, there is little that could actually go wrong whilst we perform your children’s awakening. As it is only when a mage tries to directly awaken another person that complications arise, due to the conflicting will within the mana being used.”
As Marid continued to speak, Ezekiel found himself with more information than he had before, but at the same time more questions as well. He knew that it was dangerous for people to awaken others without proper training, but what did he mean by the ‘will’ of the mana?
“And even if a mage has learned to successfully remove their will from their Mana, in the event that the Mana of the two parties involved in the awakening are opposed to one another, the Mana will attempt to terminate itself, causing unparalleled danger to the unawakened party.” Marid said as he continued his explanation.
“Now then, enough about the dangers. You kids are here to have your Vital Realms Awakened, so you can all get a taste of the Mana within yourselves and begin your journeys as mage’s of the empire.” Marid reached into his robe as he finished his short speech. He pulled out a scroll of parchment that had a list of names for all the children that were being awakened today.
“With that said, Lumi Alam, you’re up first. Please approach the pedestal here and place both hands on the Orb. You will feel a tingle in your fingers that will spread to the rest of your body. Do not take your hands away from the orb. After your Vital Realm is opened, the color of the orb will change to reflect your elemental affinity, and the type of Mana that flows through you.”
While Marid was speaking, a young girl with blonde hair walked up to the pedestal after her parents, a woman with glossy brown hair, and a man with vibrant green hair, pushed her forwards with a light nudge When she reached the destal, she placed both hands on the orb as it lit up in an assortment of colors.
The orb began to strobe as a few seconds passed. The girl looked like she wanted to take her hands away as a look of discomfort settled on her face. But soon the lights dimmed down as the orb settled on a single color: green.
As the girl, Lumi, pulled her hands away, Marid stepped forwards to pull her away from the orb.
“Congratulations my dear, you’re a life mage. That’s one of the more versatile of the elements, with a particular focus on healing.” Marid said as he gestured for her to return to her parents. As he spoke, Lumi’s face broke out into a great big smile as she rushed back to her parents, jumping into their arms as she did. The rest of the room gave a polite applause.
As Lumi returned to her parents, Ezekiel couldn’t help it as a confused look crossed his face. Up until this point, it had seemed like a person’s hair color reflected their elemental affinity. Afterall, his parents both had coloring that denoted their elemental affinity. However, Lumi’s hair color didn’t change to reflect the same element as her father, who was also most likely a life mage, if his hair color was anything to go by.
Looking around, it seemed like his confusion wasn’t something strange. Many of the other children also had questioning looks on their faces. Which didn’t go unnoticed by Marid.
“Heh heh. It looks like some of you are a little confused by young Lumi’s lack of color change. Well, the truth is that for most humans, hair and eye color come in shades of yellow, brown, and red. Whilst eye color will come in a variety of shades, most commonly blue, brown, and green.”
“A person’s hair and eye colors will only change after they reach a certain Tier of power. Specifically, Tier one for eyes, and Tier three for hair. There are also some magics that will change the color without the requisite power levels.”
“Said colors are green for life, dark indigo for death, gold for radiance, black for obscurity, blue for glacial, red for flame, grey for tempest, violet for lightning, brown for cavern, and white for void.”
“Now, I hope that clears things up. If not, we will be discussing it later in your classes three days from now.” Marid finished his talk and turned his attention to the next name on his list. “Next is Shari Alkena, please step forward young lady.”
As Shari walked forward with a nervous look on her face, she turned back to her parents who gave her a look of reassurance. She stepped forwards and placed her hands on the pedestal, the same strobe light effect occurring once again, but this time the light settled on a glittering brown color that denoted her as a cavern mage.
Sherra let out a quiet ‘tch’ as her husband bumped her with his elbow, a bright smile splitting his face at the fact that his daughter had the same element as him. A quiet applause followed, just like with Lumi before.
This went on for several minutes as one child after another walked up to the front of the room and placed their hands on the pedestal. None removed their hands from the orb, although many looked as though they wanted to. More and more parents expressed their joy or disappointment when their child’s element was revealed. Soon, it was Ezekiel’s turn.
“Ezekiel Luminance.” Marid finally said after roughly half the room had gone through their awakening. “Please step forward young man.”
Ezekiel was so nervous that he couldn’t move. Throughout the entire time he had been standing with his parents, no child who had awakened had awakened the Void element. Over a dozen kids had gone up, and almost every element had appeared. The only ones that hadn’t were the death element, and the void element, and of all the kids that had gone up, only two had an element that wasn’t the same as their parents.
With his past experience, and the fact that it was the Ancient of Void that sent him here, Ezekiel was certain that he was going to awaken the Void element and was terrified of the outcome from awakening said element.
“Ezekiel Luminance!” Marid called his name once again, this time with a little bit more force. Warren finally pushed Ezekiel forwards, giving him a smile when he turned his head back nervously.
Returning his attention to the pedestal in front of him, Ezekiel approached and placed his hands on the orb on top of it.
A tingling sensation rushed through him as the orb lit up in an assortment of different colors. The lights flashed faster and faster, and the tingling in his fingers grew stronger as it spread through the rest of his body. Even though it only took a few seconds, for Ezekiel it felt like it was taking hours.
Finally, the orb’s light turned totally white, before it dimmed down and became completely clear.
There was no applause for Ezekiel’s awakening. Even Marid took a couple of seconds to overcome his apparent shock.
Ezekiel quietly let go of the orb and turned around with his head tilted downwards. Snapping out of his shock, Marid cleared his throat before quietly announcing, “... Congratulations young man. You have awakened as a void mage.”
Even though he had said congratulations, it was obvious to anyone who heard it that Marid’s words were empty of any real meaning. Afterall, Marid was not a cruel man. How could he really be happy for a child who had awakened the element most commonly known for being utterly useless.
Ezekiel didn’t say anything as he made his way back to his parents. Slowly making his way passed the quiet muttering of the other parents, and the confused gazes of the other children. He only looked up when he reached them. Both his parents had shock displayed on their faces.