Wake-up ceremony

Jake couldn't concentrate in class and constantly opened the Artstart app to continue creating his movie.

By the time they were called to the awakening ceremony, Jake had almost finished the entire movie. He just had to do the final scenes, some adjustments, and remember the soundtrack.

"The awakening of martial spirits is a long-standing ceremony in this school, and although few may awaken, the best behavior is expected from all of you." The school principal looked sternly at all the students in the gym and the eager parents watching from the sidelines.

"Martial spirits are still a mystery to this day, but they are believed to be the representation of our souls. Without further delay, we will call the students one by one to come up on stage."

"Elena Thompson."

A very tall and lanky girl stepped onto the stage and touched a white sphere.

Jake looked on, not understanding what everyone was expecting to happen but never happened.

"Elena Thompson without a martial spirit."

The long list of names continued for a long time. Out of more than 200 students who had stepped onto the stage, only 1 awakened their martial spirit.

It was just an average boy, in fact, he was one of the boys who suffered bullying alongside him.

According to the teacher, his martial spirit was some kind of unknown lizard.

His name was Damien Creep.

'Yes! Excellent name,' Jake thought sarcastically.

After a while, they managed to awaken three more. It might even be cliché, but those who awakened were Sara Mars, the most popular girl in their year, Tristan Blake, one of the bullies at school, a close friend of Zeth, and finally Reese Conors, just an ordinary guy like him.

After number 350 or 400, Jake heard his own name.

'Alright, let's get this over with.'

He didn't have much hope of awakening since the probability was very low. There were over 500 students in his year, but only 4 had awakened.

A probability of less than 1%.

When Jake put his hand on the crystal, an electric current ran through his body searching for something, and then time stopped.

[Special Absolute Choice]

[Do nothing, continue your life as usual. (Without martial spirit)]

[Invisible Man]

[Walker]

Jake's eyes sparkled with excitement when he saw the absolute choice appear. But his heart stopped when he read the fourth option.

It couldn't be!!

Jake felt like screaming, jumping, and dancing with happiness.

This was a power that shouldn't exist in this world. No, it was more accurate to say that it shouldn't exist in any reality.

It was a power from fiction.

It was...

[Sharingan]

Oh my god!!

Jake didn't hesitate for a second and selected the Sharingan. Even if its power was diminished or it was an inferior copy, he didn't care.

Time resumed, and Jake lifted his face with a smile that could clearly be seen from the large projections around the gym.

"He did it—" Jake couldn't finish his sentence because a strange burning sensation began to occur in his eyes. At first, it felt like a bit of sand or debris, uncomfortable but not painful. But that sensation lasted very little when he felt as if his eyes were burning, as if someone had taken a piece of molten iron and placed it in his eyes.

"Aaargh!"

Jake's screams of pain were heard throughout the gym, frightening both students and parents in the audience.

"What's happening to that boy?!"

"Will our children have to go through that too?!"

"Hey, hey, can someone explain what's going on?!"

Principal Morgan had no choice but to stand up to calm the growing unrest in the crowd.

"Please, everyone, remain calm, nothing is wrong." The principal gestured with his hands to Professor Jane, who had a spirit with the ability to heal to help Jake and make him stop screaming.

"Principal, what's happening to that boy? Will our children have to go through the same thing?" Asked one of the parents, still anxious.

"As I said, nothing is wrong." The old man shook his head with a smile. "I've only seen this happen once in my teaching career, and if I'm not mistaken, that boy is awakening a mutated martial spirit. And to answer the second question, your child would be lucky if they had to go through the same thing."

Whispers filled the gym with amazed parents and excited kids.

Jake stopped screaming after the pain disappeared, but his eyes felt very uncomfortable, so he didn't open them immediately.

"Are you okay?" Professor Jane asked worriedly. Her martial spirit couldn't heal him because he wasn't actually injured.

"Yes, I'm fine." Jake raised his head and opened his eyes.

"Ugh!" Jane took two steps back upon seeing two bleeding red pupils looking at her.

A black comma appeared in each of his eyes like small black spots, making him look asymmetrical and incomplete.

"What is that?" Jane wondered, just like the other people who were looking at his eyes.

Some boys and girls even took photos feeling that their eyes looked really cool.

"Here." The principal handed him a handkerchief and gestured for him to wipe his cheeks, which were stained with blood that had come out of his eyes.

"Thanks," he said as he cleaned up and stood next to the other 4 students who had awakened.

All 4 looked at him with curiosity, intrigue, or in Tristan's case, amusement.

But the last boy's look intrigued him a lot. His eyes were completely widened as if he were seeing something truly incredible.

His expression was that of someone who couldn't believe what they were seeing.

It's incredible, but it's not that big a deal... Reese.