Crux stared down at the floor in front of him, waiting silently for his spirit to show itself. Around him was a crowd of fifty people, all who lived in the village that his orphanage was in. The other children of the orphanage, the ones who hadn’t awakened yet at least, sat in one part of the circle while the adults and teenagers that had already awaken but were not strong enough to enter an academy filled the rest of the circle.
In just two more minutes, Crux’s spirit beast would arrive; bestowing upon him an element and possibly massive amounts of power. The time ticked by slowly, the soft winds that came from the mountains would occasionally shift a grain of sand that happened to be within his view. And then, all at once, it happened.
From the nape of his neck, a golden energy flowed and spun around his body. What little chatter that the crowd had made immediately died down as their focus was drawn to the spectacle before them. The golden energy shined with a bright light as it began to form around his body. Slowly, a massive golden tortoise shell appeared on his back, spikes rippling down its center. The rest of the body of the tortoise formed itself around Crux’s arms and legs before vanishing back into his body. All that was left of his transformation was a soft golden light that slowly retreated into the depths of his pupils.
After a moment of silence, the crowd around him erupted into cheers, clapping and shouting for the boy before them that obviously had immense talent. Not only an unidentified element, but also a never before seen defense-class spirit.
The eldest of the village, a man known as Wise William among the people of their small community, rushed forward and wrapped the stunned boy in a massive hug. “Oh, child of the village, may you grow strong like those few before you!” His cry reached the sky and Crux slowly regained himself, finally realizing what had happened. “Soon, you will be sent to the capital so that the academies my fight over you, picking among the freshly awakened children. We must not delay, as it is a crime to hide or hold useful spirit masters away from their destinies at the academies. Quickly, take the clothes on your back and whatever else you own and we will depart.”
All Crux could do was nod as he stood and stumbled towards the orphanage all the while everyone around him cheered and clapped him on the back.
Crux quickly gathered what little belongings he called his own throughout his nine years living in the orphanage. All he owned were the clothes on his back, a worn grey robe, the small blanket he had been left with at the orphanage and a small jar, his most valuable possession, filled with old copper coins. It was all his money in the world, the little that he had. He packed his minimal belongings into a torn leather bag and walked back out of the orphanage. The town’s people had dispersed and gone back to their homes, preparing for the night that was to come.
William the Wise waited outside the orphanage for him with a small carriage with enough room for a few bags, some food and two people. “Come, child. We must not delay. You are lucky for the day you were born, so close to the recruiting week. You will be snatched up by an academy rather quickly, if I am one to know anything of academy life.” Crux simply nodded, still trying to comprehend what was happening to him.
His life had just been turned upside down. He had been expecting to gain a basic spirit, or more commonly known as a trash spirit, such as a ferret or a pigeon. He had never expected that he would gain a never before seen spirit with his own element. He could hardly comprehend what was happening to him. Crux jumped into the back of the rickety old cabin, placing his small leather bag next to the bags of dried foods.
He and William rode away from the village, whose name no one ever mentioned, towards the capital that no one had taught him the name of, in a country that cared not for his tiny village.
During the three weeks of travel that Crux and William made to the capital, no words were exchanged between the two, although William had tried to spark a conversation multiple times. Crux, over the long journey, had slowly come to terms with himself. He now completely understood that he was an abnormal existence, someone who was out of the norm just as he had been for most of his tiny life. It was rare for a child to gain an unknown element, especially a one-of-a-kind element, let alone an unheard of spirit. He just hoped that his life would be “normal” soon enough.
The duo had arrived in the capital only one night prior to the beginning of recruiting week, hardly making the deadline to sign up. William had sent him to a room in some cheap, obscure inn in the poorer corners of the capital the day they had arrived, going to the center of the capital to sign Crux up for the recruiting week. He arrived just an hour before they closed until the next year.
The next day, William woke Crux from his restless slumber and dragged him along through the streets of the capital to a large pantheon like building. Bright white pillars ran from the floor to a massive stone awning many feet above them. Wandering around outside and just inside the doors of the massive building were people from few walks of life. Most children, accompanied by their parents or guardians, were lavishly dressed in hues of purple or bright red, showing that they came from longs lines of powerful spirit masters.
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The children were slowly funneled inside the building while their guardians were asked to wait outside and mingle amongst themselves.
Inside, Crux as well as twenty other soon to be students were pushed into one of many rooms. Inside each room were five Master Tier spirit users, each a representative for one of the five great academies that littered the continent. The first wore a bright orange robe with thing black seams crisscrossing all over his body. The seconds robe was much more subtle, a soft green the color of leaves. Its seams were a deep, majestic blue that entranced the eyes of every student in the room. The third wore robes of solid black, seemingly sucking the darkness out of the room. If his head and hands hadn’t been showing then the man would simply be a black blob floating in space. The fourth representative wore a deep, crimson red with crisp white trimming around the robes edges. The fifth and final representative wore bright gold robes with seems of what seemed like pure silver.
In front of the five representatives was a small crystal that would show the child’s spirit essence level, or how much essence they held within their bodies currently.
“Hello, my new prospects! Or should I say students?” The man in the soft green robes spoke first. “I am Mr. Tao, of the Jade Dragon Academy. Nice to meet you all. This man beside me in the black is Mr. Seto, of the Raven Lotus Academy. He doesn’t talk much.” A wide smile pressed its way onto his face. “The man is orange likes to be called Tiger, or Mr. T. He enjoys talking but I have asked him to refrain while I do instructions. He comes from the Burning Phoenix Academy. The scary man over there wearing the color of his fallen enemies is Mr. Remoro. He comes all the way from across the country, representing the Crimson Sprit Academy. I say he is scary, but he’s really just a big ball of fluff. Really, he is. His spirit is the Ram! HAHA!” Mr. Tao held his stomach as began to laugh to himself. All of the students were too nervous to laugh along with him. After calming himself, Mr. Tao continued, “The man dressed in gold is the representative from the Royal Academy stationed right here in the capital. His name is Gamma, or Mr. Eclipse. I’m not sure why he has two names, honestly. They only take the best of the best so try your best in the hour to come.”
Mr. Eclipse took the stage next, looking over their small batch of twenty students. His eyes stopped on each of the well-dressed noble children, a small smirk forming on his face, while his eyes passed directly over the rag clad Crux, a child of little import. “Hmmm… It seems we have quite the interesting bunch before us. Well then, let us see which academy each of you will be joining. Perhaps we can make some proper spirit users from you bunch.” Some of the wealthier students beamed with pride as he said this, ready to show off the spirit beast they had just recently gained.
The children gathered themselves into a line and waited patiently for their turn at the essence testing crystal. (AN: This is mainly used to test essence level and in some cases to find the actual name of the spirit beast, such is Crux’s case.) Crux was situated around the middle of the line of twenty students, just behind a group of five of the wealthiest students in the room.
The first boy in line was wearing flashy clothes lined with golden embroideries. As he laid his hands on the crystal, a warm yellow light poured out, filling a quarter of the crystal and after a few seconds turning into the silhouette of a lion. An ancient sounding voice boomed out of the crystal, startling everyone in the room but the representatives. “Spirit level of 4, Element of Sun Fire, Spirit Beast of Sun Maned Lion.” The ancient voice left just as soon as it came and the nine year old boy puffed his chest out in pride, happy that he could show off his family’s spirit beast. “HAHAHA! Good! Good!” Mr. Eclipse cried. “I will take you into my academy, young Marcus. The Sun Lion family is always welcome in the capital.”
As the line moved forward, more and more students of noble lineage showed off the pride of their ancestors. Only one other student had gotten into the Royal Academy, a girl named Joanne Rivers. Her spirit beast was the Mist Fanged Devil Viper, a rare water element beast said to patrol the rivers of the soul planes. Her essence level was the highest in the room so far, gather to just under the two fourths mark at a spirit level of 7.
Crux stood before the crystal, staring down at the small orb before him. The representative from the royal academy coughed mockingly and looked away as Crux began laying his hands on the crystal. He could feel his very being drained through his hands and into the crystal as a gold liquid energy rushed from his palms and into the orb. The level tester filled to the three fourths section, and the ancient voice creaked out once more. “Spirit level of 12, Element of True Force, Spirit Beast of… Celestial King Tortoise.