It went on for some time before the elder raised his hand, signalling silence."Yes, yes, it is good to see your approval showed in such spectacular manner. Don't worry, you'll get more time to scream your hearts out during the bonfire, for now, let's get on with the next person... Bente, you can go join your family." He waved his hands towards a family sitting on the second tier—a couple, and a little girl.

Bente nodded, uttering a silent thanks to the elder before she ran to the hugs of her parents and little sibling.

if the nervousness of the other participants wasn't heightened enough, it was now. The amount of approval shown by the villagers wasn't something any of them wanted to disappoint.

Elder Rhole looked at them all, watching their faces each. He was silent for a while before a name was called out. "Fenren."

Damien breathed out a sigh of relief at another lucky escape.

The person being called was a small portly boy who stumbled his way towards the elder. Rhole put a calming hand on the boy's shoulder, balancing him, and then he helped the boy sit. "Now, just like Bente did, I want you to carefully do the same. Do not rush." The elder said, his calming words apparently soothing the boy.

They went through the same sequence as before, the boy breathing in the energy from the gemstone. It took a long time, longer than the previous participant, but when he came to, a fresh calming wind swept through the auditorium, bringing in the sweet soothing smell of the ocean. A Water Cultivator.

And like that, another roar erupted in the auditorium, no less louder than before. "He shall go on to protect us from droughts! Making sure we are never In need of water sustenance. Wherever his path takes him, the barren desert atmosphere shall flee! knowing that an incarnation of sustenance has arrived!" The crowd roared louder at this, their stomping shaking the earth.

The boy's face beamed as he saw this, his eyes looking towards his family who were screaming their hearts out. A woman—probably his mother—was shedding tears of joy, blowing kisses towards him and shaking the other people sitting close by, pointing to her son, probably boasting about him.

Eventually, the noise died down, the elder sending the boy towards his family, which he took to with enthusiasm as his figure raced towards them.

"...Teskin." another name was called up.

Another boy stood up, clearly nervous, but he still walked confidently towards the elder, apparently emboldened by the success of the previous two. The other participants followed him, as their shaking bodies finally started to calm down.

Like before, the boy sat, already beginning before the elder spoke. The old man left the boy to his own devices, clearly trusting that the boy would follow the warnings of before.

They watched as Teskin drew in energy, forgetting the cautions that had been given as he drew in the energy in one huge gulp, and unlike before, something different happened this time.

Teskin had just drawn in the energy when his body immediately shook violently, and then he coughed out blood, immediately losing consciousness as his body began shaking, almost falling to the ground until two pairs of hands grabbed hold of him, one of them glowing a shining emerald.

When the healer had finished, the boy calmed and his body limp, she motioned for two people Damien hadn't noticed standing at an entrance he hadn't ever seen.

They moved closer, bringing out a stretcher as they lifted the boy onto it, and then began heading back where they came from.

Throughout this, the crowd had gone eerily quiet, with the only sound heard being the mournful scream of a woman who quickly stood up, running down and chasing after the two people, a man following behind.

Elder Rhole raised his hands. "Calm down, all is well. He's just unconscious, that's all. He'll be sure to make a quick recovery soon." His words calmed most of them, but some still looked on with troubled faces.

He turned towards the other participants. "This is a situation which is guaranteed to happen at every awakening. That's why we have the head healer here. Not everyone is cut out for what they dream of. Do not fret though, the village will not discard you." He said, his words calming nobody. "Now, let's carry on, Keilan."

Beside him, the other boy froze, his hand tightening on Damien's enough to make him wince. He looked up, seeing Keilan's eyes in him, the terror in them. Damien smiled, giving the boy a playful punch in the shoulder. "You've got this." He said, his voice low and as calm as he could make it. Keilan nodded, releasing Damien's hand as he stood up, moving towards the elder.

The elder gave him a pat on the shoulder, also reassuring him. Keilan took his seat, nervousness still on his features. Like before, the event went on a before. Keilan drew energy, and when that was done, not without some shaking, they waited in tense silence as he went through the process of opening his meridians.

Not surprisingly, at least to Damien, Keilan was done in record time, finishing far quicker than the previous successful participants. His eyes opened in a shining green glow as a soft wind swept through, ruffling hairs and clothes. Keilan's mood immediately changed as he began laughing joyfully, like a child, as he was gently lifted off the ground by the wind. His face glowing with happiness, like a child who had just been handed his first toy. The crowd roared on once again, stomping and whistling, which made Keilan laugh harder, tears streaking down his cheeks.

"We welcome our newest wind child! The breath of life itself! Who shall shield us when the wind turns wrathful!" Elder Rhole shouted, the crowd roaring harder. "Wherever his path takes him, protection shall follow, as the wind shall rise up to protect those it calls its own." The crowd continued roaring in approval as After a few seconds, he body was slowly brought down, his feet strong enough to hold him. The elder patted him on the back, sending him towards his mother, but not before the other guy ran towards Damien giving him a crushing hug. "Thanks, Dame." He said, before he rushed towards his mother who was shedding tears of joy while Leira jumped up, her hands raised in excitement. They both crushed him in two hugs as he reached them, hugs from which he quickly tried to extricate himself only to be immediately given a kiss on the brow, which made his cheeks redden. Damien snickered at the sight.

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

When all was done, the elder once again spoke. "Yes, yes, your approval is greatly appreciated. The children of the wind, as they're aptly called, will go on to protect you from the rage of the wind. We all know how destructive a riled-up wind could be, having another wind child amongst us guarantees our protection the more." Whistling and hooting could be heard as the elder finished, dying down a second later. Rhole nodded, once more turning to the other participants. "Now, for the next, Borvin!" He called out.

For once, there wasn't the usual swagger as the boy stood up, his anxiety plain. His eyes flickered from one place to another, probably looking for the nearest exit.

Like that, he walked towards the elder, getting a pat on the shoulder and took his seat, following the same sequence as before. It took a while for his eyes to open, his confidence returning, but in a reduced capacity. Even though it was clear that he had succeeded, the boy still looked defeated, his hands tightening. It didn't take long for the reason to come out as a green glow of nature erupted from his body. Damien almost lost it there, managing to hold himself back before he erupted in laughter. Keilan was less considerate.

Over the roar of the crowd, his voice could still be heard, hailing Borvin, and even chanting his name, a stupid grin plastered on his face. Anybody who saw him would have thought Keilan a genuine friend that supported Borvin, only the remaining participants knew the truth, as they looked away, looking anywhere but at Borvin. Damien looked at the boy. Atleast he did get something, unlike Teskin.

Borvin stood up before the elder could present him to the crowd, running not to his parents who sat in the first section, but instead running away and quickly out of the building.

The elder looked at this in confusion, turning towards the other participants in question, but everyone refused to meet his eyes.

Soon enough, another name was called. A fit boy with dark hair and brown eyes who came out with a fire affinity.

Boria, twin sibling to Borvin, came out with a Sound affinity, or as Damien would call it, the Noise affinity. Unlike her twin, her affinity didn't surprise him, and he was sure nobody around here was surprised either, Boria did like to make noise after all.

And so names were being called one by one, going through three more names before his time came.

"...Damien!"

Watching others go through their awakening too many times had already filtered out the nervousness and anxiety, so when his name was called, he stood up calmly, walking steadily towards the elder who raised his eyebrow, a smile tinging the corner of his lips, healer Salem too.

Following the instructions of the elders, he centered his mind onto the gem, slowly breathing in as tendrils of energy their way into him.

Ever since he saw the gem and the pool of energy within, he knew an amount of energy like that could do serious damage to him if he wasn't careful. So he was somewhat startled but prepared when the energies fully entered his body, their entry port being his energy well, where in the future, he'd be drawing power from.

The inhaled energy immediately began raging the moment all was sucked in, the force almost making him lose control.

He gathered mental energy, preparing for war, and then forcibly took complete control of the energy. They still raged, threatening to break out of their chains and rampage through his soul, doing devastating damage. But he dominated, his mental energy descending like the hand of a god, and then he began to direct them.

With his mental energy, he created a dome around the foreign energies, sealing them in. Successfully creating a cage, he then opened a small path, a tunnel leading to one direction and one direction only: his heart meridian.

The upside down star construct shone a dull silver colour in his spiritual sight, one of its tips pointed down, like the blade of an executioner.

He directed the energy towards the meridian, using his pathways as a route. Soon enough, he got there, and instead of just brute forcing it open, he tried the subtle kind, directing a small stream of energy, using his mental energy to squesqueeze shape the energy into the shape of a needle. with the desired form, he used its pointy tip, poking the meridian and unsurprisingly, finding it stopped dead. He tried multiple times, poking different parts and trying to find any vulnerable part. When he finally exhausted all his subtle ideas, he decided to go with the BIG BAM.

Drawing in the energy, again he shaped, and this time he went for the blocky type.

Shaping the energies into the shape of of hammer, he slammed it down onto meridian, hard, but still careful not to go overboard. One, twice, thrice, and then cracking lines began spearing from one side to another, another small tap and the shell shattered, turning into sprinkling silver lights that got swept up by the remainder of the foreign energies. What was revealed from the inside of the shell was another star shaped construct, except this one was grey and looking kind of ethereal.

From the middle of the opened meridian, different pathways crisscrossed as the heart meridian was the only meridian connected to all the others, serving as the gateway towards the other meridians. Done observing, Damien began moving again.

Like this, he continued, following the pathways towards the hand meridians.

He started with his left hand, since he didn't want to risk his right. His fear proved unwanted as within a few seconds of reaching the left hand meridian, he'd already finished breaking it open, revealing the same grey ethereal meridian. He continued, going to his right hand, and then to his left foot, to his right. Done with all that, he finally set his sights to the meridian he was most terrified of :The Brain.

Alot of people would argue that the heart meridian was more dangerous than the brain simply because it was connected to the heart, but Damien viewed the heart meridian as easy to recover from if you had any healing practitioner on quick standby, like the unfortunate Teskin. You're more likely to survive from the heart meridian than the brain because if you suffered damage to the heart meridian, the tells were easy and quick to see :spitting of blood and body convulsions, easy things that could be quickly countered, but who would be able to counter the quick effects of the brain meridian?

If you survived damage to the brain, no one except a mind cultivator would be quick enough to know and act, and that was if you were lucky to suffer a tiny damage which could atleast destroy a small portion of your brain.

In Damien's opinion, the brain was like the soul, it held the identity of a person, you lose your brain and your being is utterly deleted.

He'd read different books in Healer Salem's library which described the devastating effects of suffering a mind injury, and even if it was only a portion, that was still part of your identity being taken away.

Approaching the brain meridian with utmost caution. Instead of the three consecutive hits he delivered to the other meridians, he instead began with only a single tiny tap, intent on taking it very slowly, he didnt care how long he had to spend on it, he would do this right.

Readying himself, he raised his energy form hammer, tapping gently on the mind meridian. He looked at it, seeing no effect whatsoever, so he decided to add a little more force to the next hit.

He had already mentally raised the hammer, bringing it down when the meridian shattered, with panic he quickly stopped his hammer halfway.

Phewww!

The breaking of the last meridian signified the opening of the floodgates, with a a dense grey wind sweeping through his soul, consuming all the remaining foreign energies and turning them grey, with the once rampaging energy going dormant and docile.

Anybody witnessing this would have thought the foreign energies losing their essence, but Damien knew better, their essence had just been changed, and he could sense the pure utter destruction it held within.

Mentally exhausted, Damien finally pulled out, leaving the spiritual and back into the physical.

When he came to, it was to the the entire silence of the auditorium. At first, he thought somebody else had suffered another injury, but one thing soon registered in his mind quickly :They were all looking at him with eyes opened wide in shock.

"...What?" He asked, willing anybody to answer him.

Thankfully someone answered him, as they told him to look down.

When he did, he discovered two things.

One....one was that he was floating, with him being unaware until now.

The second.....the ground was turned to rubble, crushed and broken.

"...Uhhh....."