CHAPTER ONE: The Awakening Rite

DAKU

"This one should be here," I mumbled as I placed the Taunting Potion to its designated shelf. Only three left in my hands and then the next batch. "Huh? This is new! Tazer Potion?" I read.

Curious of its effects, I went to the workshop where my mentor usually does his work as an apothecary. I'd been his apprentice for years. He took me in when I was desperate to find a job.

"Grosi," I called, stopping the old man from mortaring the herbs with his pestle. He looked at me, brows both raised, a sign of his inquiry. "Where should I put this... uhm... Tazer Potion? What is this anyway?"

"Ah!" he exclaimed while raising a finger, indicating an idea had crossed his mind. "I almost forgot to tell you about that! What does it do, you may ask? It's uh... hmm... what does it do again?" he inquired while squinting his eyes.

I just rolled my eyes and went to the table where he put his "stuff." All sorts of things occupied the furniture arranged in a disorganized manner. This was why he lost most of his things.

I scanned through the rubbish, that's what I call it and looked for a piece of paper containing the recipe and effects of the Tazer potion. But I found out that this would take me the entire day and I didn't have that much time. Especially not today.

Today was not just an ordinary day. Today is The Awakening Rite where citizens around my age get their Class: a swordmaster, a marksman, a mage, or simply a commoner. The latter could be decided if the crystal didn't respond.

I want to be in any of the Classes, except for the Healer. Healers in this era were insignificant - much more useless. Adventurers claimed they were useless since everyone was capable of healing themselves using spells. Plus, some potions could be consumed as an alternative. Healer was the last thing you'd pick.

"Ah! Got it!" Grosi celebrated while holding a piece of paper in the air. He looked at me in great eureka and limped his way toward me. When he was a foot away, he calibrated his spectacles on the bridge of his nose, and squinting eyes followed. "Let's see. Hmm...yes, yes. Tazer potions are classified as offensive potions. They make the enemies bzzz," Grosi explained, imitating a buzzing sound of electricity on the last part.

"On it!"

I was about to turn around when Grosi added, "Let me do that myself." He snatched the bottle from my hand, leaving me dumbfounded. "You have a rite to attend to. You should be prepared by now. Look, it's almost time."

I glanced at the clock located at the top of the hearth and discovered that Grosi was right. Only an hour away before the rite started.

But my mind was still stoned on Grosi's situation if I was not here. I knew Grosi was capable enough to be on himself but managing the shop and making potions all the same time were too much for his old limping body to handle. Grosi had no one to rely on but me. And I didn't want to happen again what happened before.

"I know what you're thinking, Daku," Grosi announced as he ascended the stairs toward the shop. "I may be old and a limp but I can still do things by myself. You're worried, I can see that on your face but you should be worried about yourself instead. This is your time to follow what you really desire."

"But—"

"No buts! Do what you have to do. I'll just wait here when you're done."

I was about to concede and accept his offer when the front door opened indicated by the chime of the bells. I wasted no time and trudged toward the shop to see who might it be. Upon arrival, a group of five adventurers was busy conversing with one another. Their party consisted of a swordsman, an archer marksman, a tank, and two mages. I could tell the swordsman was their leader as he placed himself ahead of the others.

They didn't seem to notice my presence as they proceeded with their conversation, their quest as their topic. It was probably funny based on how they laughed and snickered about it. It made me envious. This intensified my desire to become a full-pledge adventurer.

Two minutes had passed and the situation persisted. As much as I love to hear the entire story of their journey, I still have some things to do at the workshop. There were still five crates of potions waiting to be placed on their shelves.

I took a deep breath, stretched my lip from both ends and greeted, "Welcome to Grosi's Apothecary!" I said it so loud that it came out as an insult. This stopped the group from their activity. At that very moment, I could say that what I did was probably not the wisest idea.

The swordsman, the leader, shot his glares at me with his face full of annoyance. This sent a shiver down my spine and induced a swallow of an imaginary saliva. I knew for myself I didn't do anything wrong but the guy before believed otherwise.

"It's kinda rude to interrupt someone in their conversation, you know that?" he pointed as he anchored himself on the counter with his two muscular arms. His body was angled across the furniture as if scrutinizing me on a closer look. I leaned back to distance myself as a sign of defeat.

"S-Sorry, Sir," I apologized as I bowed my head down.

"I'll let this slide, kid, but the next time this happens again, you'll know who you're messing with," he threatened but instead of fear, anger reigned in my body. If there's one thing that I hated the most those were adventurers who think highly of themselves. I could tell from a distance a renowned adventurer, those who have the reputation of being a true adventurer, and surely this guy was not one of them.

"Let's get this done, Kiero. I'm starving!" the archer interjected, diverting the guy's attention from me.

"Hold your monsters, will you!" the leader protested and looked back at me. "I want five bottles of anti-poison potion and three vials of Agility Booster." As soon as I got his order, I immediately went to the shelves to grab the bottles. I could hear them talking again accompanied by a few laughter.

"Here you go," I humbly presented, trying to avoid further conflicts. "That'll be 67 doquis1 in total."

"67!?" the leader exclaimed in surprise. "Last time it only cost me around forty droquis! Are you messing with me, kid?" he claimed and this time, I could vividly see his anger.

"Raw materials costs are higher than usual nowadays because of the reported ambush of the hoarders, that's why we adjusted the price." That explanation came out as down to earth as possible. If he couldn't understand, then it's no longer my fault.

"Reasons!" the guy screamed as he threw both of his arms in the air. He anchored himself once again on the counter and leaned just like earlier, "I don't want to hear your reasons, kid."

"Those are the truth," someone interfered and I recognized it as Grosi's. The old man approached the counter and faced the guy with a similar dominance and authority. "If you didn't like the price then maybe take the quest on exterminating those hoarders so you can get these at their usual price."

"Listen, old man," the guy reached for Grosi's shirt and held onto it with pure strength. I was in utter shock upon witnessing this. The effort of avoiding to escalate this failed. Even the other adventurers were not prepared for this as well. Their faces showed a worried look and a desire to end this as soon as possible before a battle broke out.

"Boss, I think they're telling the truth. I saw this quest in the guild a couple of days ago," the tank of the group supported and this loosened the grip on Grosi's. At last, he let go of the old man and composed himself.

"Too bad for you, you just lost a customer." Keiro turned his back on me and Grosi and trudged his way toward the door. The others trailed behind him until each of them escaped the shop.

But the last member, one of the mages, faced us before exiting. She's in the same age group as me but a bit older.

She delivered a smile and a message, "Sorry for the ruckus. I'll get back to those items later once we convince him. Other shops offer a higher price and we don't have that many doquis. Can you reserve it for me, Sir?"

"Because you asked for it so nicely, we will, young lady," Grosi responded.

"Thank you so much, Sir. I'll get going now. And oh, kid, you have a bright future ahead of you!" she added and then disappeared. It took me a while before I processed what she just said.

"I like her," Grosi commented and went back to his workshop while I left standing. The scene earlier happened so fast that my body failed to respond in real-time. That's when I questioned, do I really have the guts to be an adventurer?

******

Dashing down the stairs, I fixed my hair and my shirt to remove any imperfections that beyond my eyes could see. But knowing the situation I was in, with all the ruckus and the swiftness, I doubted that it would work. Upon reaching the shop's very floor, I found my way toward the only mirror that happened to exist in this room. Grosi claimed the mirror to be magical but for me, it was just an ordinary mirror.

Looking at my reflection, I examined myself. My eyes trailed from the tip of my standing baby hair to the bottom of the shoes' soles. I wore a simple white shirt, overlayed by a leather brown blazer. For the lower portion, a pair of khaki trousers concealed my hairy legs and ended with a pair of hiking sandals. A typical look for a mid-tier common citizen.

"What are you still doing here, idiot? It's almost past the deadline! Hurry up and leave! You don't want to miss this rite!" Grosi reminded, intensifying the race I was in against time.

"I'll be right back, Grosi!" I announced and bolted to the front door.

"Better be back with good news!" he favored which came out as a threat for me. He once told me that he'd kick me out of his house if I came back as a commoner - even if he was a commoner himself.

Due to swiftness, I accidentally slammed the door shut which I was certain to be a scolding matter once I got home. But that was not the main issue here. I only had one goal in mind and that was to reach the rite within the scheduled time. Only five minutes left and I was still ten minutes away. Can I make it?

"Gotta be fast," I motivated and forced my limbs for an extensive run. I shifted my body to become aerodynamic to reduce air resistance and drag. These two elements were my archenemy.

Running like this was nothing uncommon. I'd been doing this every time I went foraging for herbs in the forest. The Amber Forest was notorious for monsters of any kind and of any level, and encountering them was expected. For adventurers, fighting them was their first course of action, but for a common and unawakened like me, evading and escaping were our first and last choices.

So it didn't surprise me even a bit that I reached the place with a minute to spare. But I was dumbfounded and disappointed to discover it empty. The crowd that I was expecting to witness was nowhere to be seen. Even the line of candidates awaiting their turn to get awakened before the Appraising Crystal also missing. Where could they be?

"Better be back with good news," I reminisced Grosi's words earlier.

I had never been this disappointed in myself. This was, by far, the most disappointing event ever recorded in my life's history. At times like this, a motivational speech would flash before my mind to gaslight myself for this failure but it seemed like my brain knew damn well too that no speeches and pep talk could make me feel better.

I was on the verge of crying as my tears welled up in my lower eyelids when someone interfered, "Are you a candidate, boy?"

I quickly turned my head to face the source of the voice and found a man in his later twenties in minimal armor - a guard, perhaps. I noticed a mid-sized carriage behind him, carrying something gigantic. I failed to identify what it was because a brown thick felt was concealing it. The man approached me while I held my composure.

"You came late," the guard pointed out and I bashfully responded with a nod. "Lucky for you, we can still accommodate one last candidate," he announced and that was the best good news yet! My eyes widened in pure shock and my body froze as if I was stunned.

"Looks like you win, Bernard!" the guard shouted as he tilted his head towards the carriage.

A head poked out of the carriage and landed his gaze at me, "Haha! Yes! Another free meal tonight!"

"Alright, alright! Prepare the crystal!" the guard ordered that Bernard immediately complied. The guard turned to face me again and uttered, "Follow me."

I trailed behind him like a lost pup. We walked near the carriage's rear while I watched Bernard unsheathed the crystal ball. The crystal was still as shiny as before - unscratched and shimmered like it always does. And now that I saw it up close, it was even more magical. I'd been dreaming for this to happen and here I was, finally realizing that wish.

"You know drill: touch the glass and wait for it to glow," Bernard instructed, and just like earlier, all I could do was nod. "Go on."

"Just relax, kid. The crystal won't hurt you, at least not physically," the unnamed guard stated which intensified my anxiety as he emphasized the last phrase.

But my resolve was firm. I would not waste this kind of rare opportunity. I had to do this... no matter what the results would be.

I raised my right arm and placed my hand on the Appraising Crystal. The moment I touched I felt a tingling sensation spread throughout my body as if something flowed within me. Is this what they called magic?

"Oh! Here we go," Bernard signaled and from that moment the crystal released a faint glow of white. "That's strange. It usually glows strong right away." Fear enveloped my body upon hearing those words - fear of getting nothing but a commoner.

"Let's wait for a b-"

The guard wasn't able to finish his sentence when the crystal suddenly glowed ten-fold earlier. It glowed so bright that it brightened up the entire center. All three of us squinted our eyes in utter close hoping to evade the blinding glow but closing our vision alone was not enough.

"Don't close your eyes, boy! You have to see it yourself!" Bernard shouted causing me to gape my eyes.

I really thought the light was painful to see - that it would hurt eyes but it wasn't. The light was gentle despite the intensity of its glow. The green glow of it was also soothing. Wait, what? Green only meant one thing.

"A Healer," Bernard confirmed as he watched the crystal emanating its greenish glow.

This can't be! I want anything but not a Healer! The must be an error!

The crystal continued to shine and I persisted in refusing this Awakening. As time passed, the glow reduced in strength until it was ideal for the eyes to look at. But before the light disappeared a hint of red light briefly showed. I didn't know what that meant and I didn't have the time to figure it out. My mind was already occupied with something: how to make my life better as a Healer.

"Too bad for you, kid. It's the rarest but it's the weakest and most useless class of all," the unnamed guard explained in a sad tone.

"I know. Thank you, by the way. I'll see you again, sirs."