Staring up at the domed ceiling, Wayne attempted to take in details from the intricately styled grand mosaic of stained glass through strands of his longer black hair. The longer he gazed upwards, the more he couldn’t help but feel that it was incomplete.

The artwork’s edges were wrought with small and brilliant green and yellow shards before transitioning to wider blue glass panes. The total effect had been used to make a series of what looked like wheat fields and forests under a wide sky, but the center at the top of the dome was curiously blank. It was clearly representing some religious ideology based on where Wayne was currently, but if it held some meaning beyond just decoration he couldn’t make sense of it.

Letting his head drop, Wayne saw more wealth adorning the walls than he had seen in his life before a week ago. Gold and silver were used to decorate in an abundance that would have been blasphemous if it wasn’t serving a holy purpose. As his gaze dropped further Wayne quickly and purposely avoided looking at the caged Monsters snapping viciously at their restraints around the perimeter of the room.

Instead, he listened to the garish priest directing the ceremony as he struggled not to get lost in the grandeur of his surroundings. An Awakening was an important day in anyone’s life, so Wayne ought to do his best to stay focused.

It was hard, especially when the priest used so many words that didn’t mean anything.

“...and we thank Luminos for consecrating this holy ground on which we now stand. Our Lord and Giver of Light we thank thee for the light of your glorious System and this momentous occasion in which we bestow it upon the next generation. All those now gathered before you…”

Wayne looked out over the crowd of young initiates around him. They stood in lines, but spread out enough that he could see everyone with little effort. It also helped that Wayne had three years of additional growth on everyone else participating, letting him stand head and shoulders above them with a few notable exceptions.

One was another boy that towered above his peers at the front of the lines, causing Wayne to believe he may not be the only older participant here, the difference was so extreme. His black hair matched Wayne’s own in shade, although the other boy’s was cut short and neat.

In that same front row was a young woman who stood above the crowd as well, although she didn't tower to the same extent that Wayne or the other boy did. Instead she appeared willowy, and proud.

In between them, was a girl who was almost a head shorter than the rest of the collected children, much less the other impressively tall thirteen year olds. With long golden hair that extended the length of her body and warm, bronze skin she was the last of the people standing at the front of lines, everyone else was standing behind them.

It appeared Wayne wasn’t the only one looking at them, as the priest in charge of the ceremony was almost exclusively speaking for them, and only occasionally glancing at the rest of the assembly.

“...Lord, thank you for the Blessing of the Sun, and the Warmth of the Light. Our Empire was built in service to you, so that we may spread the healing and warmth of your Form, Function, and Formations to all those who would accept their savior. Today we move ever closer to unity, by welcoming those worthy into the ranks of the Awakened, who would serve in Luminos' name. May he watch over and favor you all. Come now, children. Commence with and connect your nascent souls to our glorious God.”

With that, the priest's endless speech was over, and the purpose of today’s congregation began to take place. Wayne felt his breath catch, as a life spent waiting was about to be realized.

It was finally time for him to enter the realm of the gods and become a Shaper.

Every young child in the Luminous Empire dreamed of this day all their lives, though most only got the opportunity when they came of age at eighteen, and even fewer had the honor to do so here in the capital, at the Grand Cathedral of Elwin. An Awakening here was a right usually reserved for the highest of nobles, and Wayne had lacked such qualifications.

Until recently, that is. A week ago, a letter arrived at the Saint Lewiana’s orphanage along with an unmarked carriage to the capitol. The letter had only said that he would be allowed to attend the Awakening ceremony here by order of his birth father, with no mention of a name.

Then at a hidden cue, most of the golden priests ringing the chamber began chanting together, words of supplication followed by action as they descended to their knees in unison, they called out to the Empire’s god in harmony.

The few priests who remained standing began to wheel the cages around the room. There were exactly as many desperately thrashing Monsters, as there were young Humans waiting to slay them.

This time, Wayne had no choice but to look at their horrible forms, twisted and scaled unholy abominations that would kill endlessly if given a choice. Leathery wings sprouted from their hunched backs, turning them into enormous threats in the cover of darkness or in open air.

Finally, the priest with Wayne’s cage arrived, also handing him a weighted spear with a long steel tip. The sanded wood was heavy in his hands, and Wayne hefted it to a ready position. Around him, the others were doing the same.

The head priest garnered their attention to the front of the chamber once more, his hands raised high into the air before he paused. Then the priest’s arms fell, and with them so too did the collection of spears. Ripping sounds and splattered blood erupted all over the tiled flooring. The gargoyles’ tortured cries echoed along the marble, making several of the assembled children flinch.

Light began streaming in from the multitude of stained glass windows, bathing the cathedral in an ethereal glow. Suddenly, the air seemed to taste… sharper, and suffocating in a way that Wayne struggled to describe, other than it felt like being stared at, uncomfortably.

The otherworldly light bent, forming a large eye with a golden iris suspended centrally in the dome. The beautifully worked glass shards gained sudden, intimate meaning to everyone in the room, showing the whole of the peaceful Empire, with Luminos watching over it all

However, soon the sight of the dome vanished behind the continually intensifying rays. The glaring colors melted together into a searing white, and suddenly Wayne felt naked. The god’s presence scoured him down to his soul, almost causing Wayne to topple.

Then the feeling of falling reversed and Wayne found his feet again. Only this time when he opened his eyes, Wayne was no longer in the Grand Cathedral. No, he was in Luminos’ Realm now, gilded ground as far as the eyes could see, and a sky full of fading ethereal hues.

* * * * *

Wayne was alone.

The other participants were nowhere to be found even though Wayne hadn’t taken a step. Wayne was alone. The only other movement was a strange golden smoke, that sometimes gleamed like metal as it billowed and twisted. For a while he stood there, simply taking in the strange and unusual sights of a God’s Realm.

Then his perception shifted, and Wayne was face to face with himself. He saw his body stand on the hardened sunlight of the God’s Domain, from a different perspective.

Long black hair covered his slightly gaunt face, sweat visibly beading on his chest and arms. For some reason, his normally pale gray eyes were blurred out, their shape indistinct. Looking downwards, Wayne was forced to confront a hard truth. He didn’t consider himself weak, but looking at his arms and legs from the outside was an awakening. Wayne still looked like a boy, not a man.

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Then, the smoke separated into small strands, the tendrils beginning to quest about the landscape. Wayne knew they were hunting for him instinctively. It was like the certainty of a blade against his throat, cold and merciless.

He tried to resist, to push the gaseous forms away from him but couldn’t move his limbs, his mind disconnected from his body. The tendrils slowly converged on his location, and although he couldn’t move, Wayne distantly felt as they began to tear through his skin.

Quickly the smoke had burrowed deep inside of him, burning passageways through the fabric of Wayne’s being. Distantly he felt his feet leave the floor. Things inside of Wayne twisted, and then suddenly the light he felt inside of his soul pulled its way back out, not following the same tunnels but shooting straight to the closest exit point.

As the last of it ravaged through his spirit, it left a whisper on the wind.

‘Fortune has favored you today.’

It pierced him, and it was all Wayne could do to keep conscious as he snapped back to himself, falling to his knees. Barely aware, he vaguely sensed the light leaving him.

Distantly, he heard several grunts and, but he was too focused on his spirit to notice. For the first time in his life Wayne was aware of his soul, the pain’s source made abundantly clear by the misery it was being subject to.

Then, a glowing script appeared in Wayne’s sight, stabbing into his consciousness directly.

Luminos welcomes your subservience, and graces you with his power.

Name:

Wayne Clive Aouris

Tier:

Mortal Tier (0)

Affinities:

Light, Fire

Open Statistics and Skills? (Yes/No)

No… dread crept over Wayne even as he recovered from his scouring. Here was the infamous Order, the blessing that Luminos gave the citizens that made the Empire the strongest nation on the continent.

But it had to be wrong in Wayne’s case. He knew that most people remained tierless even after their awakening, but this last week had made Wayne think that wouldn’t be his fate. Suddenly, the hope that had been keeping him running since his mother’s death flickered under reality.

I’m tierless. I’m…

Before he could dwell on it, a surge of energy flooded the room, this one thankfully not bringing any pain with it. Wayne forced his eyes to focus, so he could look for the pulse’s source. What he saw took his breath away again.

All the other participants were still suspended above the ground, coated in a golden glimmer that seemed to shift with his movements. It was a mesmerizing sight, almost as brilliant as when Luminos himself had been descending. Then, another pulse burst forth, and most of the participants fell to the ground and their knees, similarly to Wayne.

Still, some of the participants remained suspended, the light surrounding those who remained brightening by several degrees. They were like glittering stars, fallen from the sky amongst the unworthy.

As another pulse of the God’s energy washed out through the throng while Wayne admired the beauty of the moment. The rest of the participants floated more gently to the floor than the others had, another boon offered to the greatest among them. All of them stood on their own two feet.

Except for one person.

At the front of the procession, the smaller girl ascended further into the air amongst brilliant beams of light that began to overwhelm the eyes. She alone exuded another pulse of the energy, although it easily matched all the other’s for intensity.

Still, she ascended higher, rising upwards into the dome above. The girl took the space Luminos had just held a few minutes ago, gleaming like the God himself had returned to conclude the ceremony. One, final wave of energy washed over the room, forcing those bearing witness to their knees.

The girl gradually descended to the floor, clearly exhausted but still radiating off a faint inner glow. The sound of her heels clicking against the marble echoed in the silence of the Grand Cathedral.

For long moments, no one dared to intrude upon the sacred nature of the moment. Then, the priests collectively burst into supplication, as the rest of the participants staggered back to their feet, staring and mouths agape.

“By the Blessing of Luminos and your own grace, your highness Holy Princess Ainne, your humble servant thanks you deeply for the chance to witness such an event. Be thankful all, for you have witnessed the birth of Luminos’ newest Champion! May his glory shine upon us all, as the Holy Princess leads us to a new age of glory for the Empire!”

Wayne was still in shock. Champions were a thing of myth and legend, the appointed Avatar of a god that walked amongst men. The caretaker had often told him and the others stories of Champions and Legionnaires of the past, and no small part of him had secretly hoped to walk out of the cathedral today as the Luminous Empire’s newest hero.

But I’m the opposite of a Champion. A nobody.

At that thought, Wayne’s situation began to truly sink in. Not only was he not a legendary hero, he hadn’t even awakened to being an Acolyte. All of Wayne’s childish fantasies had been shattered, and the awe in his gut turned sour, leaving him only with poisonous thoughts of the future.

As he stared at the girl across the room from him, Wayne wondered what it would be like to have things go his way for once.

* * * * *

Wayne barely noticed as he followed the group out of the Grand Temple of Elwin to the marbled paving of the Divine Pavilion. On any other time he would likely have been gawking like a country bumpkin, like he had been minutes ago.

Now it was hard to enjoy the once in a lifetime sight. Even though the notification box had long since disappeared from his vision, it was still all he could see. With an effort of will, Wayne forced himself to live in the moment, if only so he wouldn’t appear rude to those before him.

The Empress herself had attended the event, and as a result the other Nobles in attendance had worked themselves into a tizzy trying to cozy up to her. However, the ruler of the Empire didn’t deign to respond, instead remaining silent from inside her palanquin floating amongst a collection of mystic clouds, as the Nobles circled around her like a horde of gnats.

However, as the front of the participants' procession reached them, the swarm parted, and the new Champion of Luminos made her way to the Empress. When she was ten feet away, the short girl dipped into a respectful curtsy, and began quietly speaking.

Wayne was too far away to recognize what she was saying, but he was still close enough to see when a familiar man walked from behind the palanquin, and embraced the Champion in a firm hug. Even at a distance, upon seeing the man, Wayne knew.

Even as he noted the similar hair textures and eye shape, Wayne felt his confidence drop further still. If he could, the young man would stop time just so he didn’t have to experience what he was now sure was coming.

However, as the pit in his stomach lost its bottom, the Empress emerged from her shaded box and looked out over the assembled Nobles and Priests. And of course, her eyes crossed over Wayne, as well.

He could have sworn that she smiled slightly as it happened, but she started speaking too quickly for Wayne to believe it was more than just his imagination.

“I hope today will become a pleasant memory for all that have participated. I know that I, Ariane Elia Lumina, will always remember, and celebrate this day. As such, I have decided to host an official Royal Banquet, to commemorate my daughter’s ascension to Champion, one week from this day. I hope all of you here will be able to attend the event. That is all.”

With her short speech, the Empress once again retreated into her shaded palanquin, leaving the crowd to slowly disperse as the participants reunited with their families, successfully integrated with Luminos’ light.

The dread Wayne felt only built, as he saw a man begin treading towards him. The man wore finely made state attire, complete with a sash and epaulets. This was the man that had just hugged the short Champion. He was also, without a doubt, Wayne’s father.

Eventually, the distance between them closed, and brought the two men face to face.

From this close, Wayne could see that he had inherited his eyes from this man, as the cold gray color was unique enough that Wayne had never met someone else who shared it, before now. Wayne’s black hair and thin face were mirrored across from him, only the difference of a couple fingers between their height, before Wayne bowed his head.

“I can’t see her in you…”

Wayne wanted to meet the man’s eyes, to ask about his family, but he did not take the chance.

“You are still Mortal.” The Emperor Regent finally said.

There was a strange tone in the man’s voice that made Wayne uncomfortable, and suddenly the dread wasn’t content to sink to the bottom of his stomach, the emotion flaring out and trying to rip through his abdomen.

“Yes… your Highness. I am sorry I have failed you.”

Wayne responded as he stared down at his worn shoes, trying to fight the emotions out of his voice. It was because of this, that he did not see the second man who joined them, until his boots joined the other’s in Wayne’s field of vision.

“Your Highness, my lady has sent me to fulfill your bargain.”

At the newcomer’s words, Wayne managed to find the courage to look up once again. The new man was dressed in ridiculously garish clothing, so colorful that it almost made the churning feeling in Wayne’s gut erupt, but he didn’t say or do anything.

Instead, he watched as the Empress’s servant held steady eye contact with his father, before the man gave a slight nod.

“You will take the boy to Jaemeson, and enlist him with the first Century. I’m also trusting you to remain there until relieved by the man I appoint to replace you in your duties.”

“Yes, your highness.”

With that, his father looked back to Wayne. His face was tense, stern, but the corners of his mouth curled up into a smile.

“Good. You have not failed me yet. Make it back alive.”

With those few parting words the Emperor Regent of the Luminos Empire turned and left his only son behind, confused.