The Paragon gazes down from the podium he stands on. His features twist in a searing grin as he gives a speech. He hails from the Eternal Empire, to which our kingdom is a vassal. I notice the absolute awe and reverence on the faces of my peers toward this being who sits at the pinnacle of power allowed in this universe.
“Today is an Honorable day,” The Paragon shouts out, “A day where our empire and your kingdom gain its new Warriors, Scouts, Assassins, Mages and many other archetypes. We've come together to congratulate them all on the end of their previous journey and send them off to the beginning of their next."
He continues for 10 minutes, before wrapping up, "Now, I think I’ve talked enough. Let the awakening process begin.”
As soon as he finishes, a portal opens and out walks 2 men in pitch-black cloaks.
Two names are called out making two kids, a boy and a girl get up and go on to the stage. My peers shift and turn in apprehension.
The cloaked men hold out staffs with a glistening white gem on the top. They say something to the boy and girl and push the top of their staff out to them. I lean forward and watch them touch it. I tilt my to try to get a better look but don’t see anything special happen. The boy lets go of the staff and collapses immediately to the floor. The girl lets go and doesn’t move for a couple of seconds. She eventually composes herself and walks off the stage. The boy gets dragged away in a cart.
I wish I could ask them what happened, I think, even though I know that they wouldn’t be able to tell me anyway. The Empire makes sure that all information about how an awakening occurs is kept a secret.
More of my peers get called up in pairs of two. I wait for my turn and by the time my name is called, I am amongst the last of the students still here. I look behind me and see that most of the town has already left. I recognize the mayor who let me into the town less than two months ago, sitting and talking with a young lady, but quickly zone it out as I reach the stage.
I reach the stage with a taller boy with blonde hair and green eyes. I notice his big frame and mentally think that he’s going to be a warrior. I walk up to one of the cloaked men and try to peer under their hood.
“Trying to see what’s under,” He says. I hear a dark chuckle and feel my blood freeze in my veins.
“Try not to faint,” he continues, putting the gem before me.
I reach out and touch it. A warm but gentle presence runs up into my arm and through my entire body. Intrigued by the feeling, I follow the path it travels and try to perceive its secret. Suddenly, I feel it yank away from me and flow back into the gem.
I realize my eyes are closed and open them to see the white gem turn black. I stagger back at the sudden feeling of loneliness, before falling onto the stage’s floor. The cloaked man in front of me tells me to get up and move off the stage, but I don’t hear him as my eyes are glued to the screen in front of me.
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Status
Age: 16
Name: Elijah Ashbourne
Level: 1
Affinity: Shadow
Strength: 8
Agility: 9
Constitution: 11
Mind: 13
Mana: 0
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Primary Artifact: None
Secondary Artifact/s: None
[Stat Points: 0]
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I feel the cloaked man nudge me with his staff which wakes me out of my stupor. I get up and walk off the stage along with the large boy.
Once off the stage, we get escorted into the Association building, where I am told to sit and wait in an empty room. As I enter the room I see a desk with a single chair on one side and two chairs on the other. It looks like an interrogation room, I think dumbfounded. On the desk is a round orb the size of a melon propped up by three small legs.
I walk in to sit down on one of the chairs and wait. And wait. And wait. When are these idiots going to come?
Bored I pick up the melon and throw it into the air and catch it. I wonder how much this is worth. I continue to play with it until I hear the door open and a small woman with brown eyes, brown hair and a large scar running across her face enters along with a huge man with white hair. They take a seat and stare at me apathetically. Feeling like a child that got caught doing something wrong, I go take a seat and gently place the orb back on its feet.
“So Elijah Ashborne, Parents ascended at age 8, all other relatives deceased or ascended,” the mini-sized woman says while reading off a paper, “It seems you barely even have any formal education.”
“That’s me,” I say with a bright smile.
“You’re awfully happy,” the giant says, “That doesn’t go right with your profile.”
“What can I say? I’m awakened now. I can finally catch up to my family,” I say in my most cheerful tone.
They stare at me as if I have two heads before continuing.
“Well, regardless of your past,” the woman slides me a sheet, “Your aptitude showed that you possess an affinity for darkness and have the Mana attribute. That means you can either become an assassin or mage.”
“Does it make sense?” the giant says in askance.
I nod my head.
“As you know, once you awaken, you get to see the system. It gives you your affinity or affinities. Your affinity is what dictates the type of artifacts you’re able to use. Almost all artifacts have an affinity and you can only use artifacts that pertain to your affinity. Now, Artifacts. They come in all shapes and sizes. The system provides your primary artifact. It’s impossible to change it and it will grow with you. You’ll get it once you hit level 25 and it’ll show up as a tattoo on your skin.” The giant stops talking and stares into my eyes.
“What about secondary artifacts?” I ask weirded out by his silence. Weirdo. You’d wonder if he thinks I’m pretty by the intense stare he’s giving me, I think jokingly while subconsciously batting my eyebrows at him.
He shakes his head and continues talking, “Primary artifacts give you skills that are yours. They are the easiest way to get abilities. The amount of abilities and when you get them depends on your artifact. Now, secondary artifacts. They can be granted by the system once you clear a dungeon, a dungeon tower or when you defeat monsters. They rank from F to S grade and are pretty self-explanatory. They don’t grow with you and each of them provides different abilities. You can enhance their abilities using essence stones from monsters. The amount of secondary artifacts you can bond with is different for every person and will grow as you grow.”
I stare at both of them as the giant finishes his speech. I start clapping my hands to break the silence.
“Well that was informative,” I say, “Can I leave now?”
They both burst out laughing and simultaneously say no. Damn.
“You’re going to enter a dungeon and level up to 25. Then you're going to come back and we'll document your status and artifact,” the little woman says, “and for your trouble, we’ll throw in a free E-grade artifact.”
I sigh and nod my head. E-grade artifact, my foot. I bet it’ll be useless. They both get up and motion me to follow them. I walk with them and they stop in front of three more rooms. Out of the first room came the boy who awakened with me and out of the last two rooms came two red-haired girls. The four of us walk silently toward the elevator while our two Captors talk quietly amongst each other.
We enter the elevator and I see the giant press his hands against the tablet and press a button that causes our elevator to zoom down. I hold on to the railings that line the sides of the elevator we’re in and send a glare toward the giant and mini-sized women. Could’ve warned us. We make it to the ground floor and get out. We get out and see 2 guards standing on both sides of the elevator.
“IDs,” one of the guards says. Our two captors pull out their IDs flashing them to the guards. I notice their all-black clothing. I shine them a huge grin and a thumbs-up.
We walk along a large hallway and stop at one of the doors as it slides open. I look inside and can’t suppress my shock.