Awakening

" Do you know where I can find a map of this place?" Orien asked.

" You can buy a map from the Horde Guilds headquarters ahead. You can't miss it since it's the biggest building on the street."

He thanked the guard and slowly walked toward the guild. The streets were full. The sound of commerce permeated the air. There are various types of shops and stores, such as grocery stores, armor shops, and clothing stores.

' It looks similar to earth beside the weapon and carriages, but it's beautiful. Maybe I should open up a store when I get the funds.'

Orien walked down the street with a smile, admiring the sight of the city full of life. His stroll came to an end when a massive building the size of a school appeared in his sight.

' He didn't lie when he said you couldn't miss it.'

The building had the pendants' two swords and the name of the guild largely plastered on the front. Opening the doors, he saw the people inside were vastly different than those outside. The life in the room isn't there besides the loud few at the door. The atmosphere was serious. The line to the receptionist was long. As he stood there, eyes laid on the tall man with one arm. Soon, it was his turn.

" Excuse me, ma'am. The carriage driver told me to show you this."

She turned around, and Orien saw a woman who took his breath away. A tall ivory-colored woman with waist-length jet-black hair to go along with a diamond-shaped face and gold eyes. She wore a brown short jacket with a tank top that showed off a toned stomach and petite frame.

She looked up with her dark gold eyes and immediately closed his hand and whispered, " who gave this to you?"

" The carriage driver Mr. Edwards."

" My dad gave you this?"

" He's your dad?"

She let out an awkward cough and told Orien to follow her. They went back to the room furthest from the entrance of the building. The room was filled with natural light from the giant window. There were two shelves full of books parallel to each other. The desk was clean besides a few pens, a laptop, and a name plaque that said, "Andrea Edwards."

They both sat apart from each other while remaining silent before Andrea finally spoke.

" Tell me why my father gave you this? Do you know what this means?"

" Not really, he just called me his son-in-law and told me to show you the pendant."

" That old bastard. The pendant is essentially an acceptance to our guild. You don't have to go through the long process and all the bullshit that goes into it. I wonder why he gave it to you. The only other person he gave one to is my fiancé. I don't sense an insane battle prowess from you nor can I sense your magic power. This could only mean two things... hmm.

she looked at him up and down when she stopped at his eyes.

" Those beautiful eyes of yours. "

She looked at his missing arm.

" I see why you're sad, but might have potential. Have you ever worked at any other guild?"

" I just arrived in this world a few days ago."

Andrea looked at him with a face full of confusion.

" What is your magic power? Have you been awakened yet?"

"It's only C-ranked. It can't be that high."

She sighed before explaining how magic worked.

" Magic works different from other stats. If your magic affinity is low when born then your growth in magic is severely stunted. Different races have different affinities. Non-humans are born with high stats which grow over time. Their power is usually the same across the board except for those destined to be great. Elves and dwarfs have high magic affinity but their skills differ from each other. Dwarfs aren't warriors but they have high strength. Angel and demon race has high physical and magic with stats with powerful fighting skills. Humans have the most variance out of all races. They can only become as strong as they work, but our magic affinity isn't as good as any other race and it's a lot more difficult to grow unless they are blessed like you. Your talent is rare and you're not even fully awakened."

" How do I awaken then? I only have enough money for a place to stay,"

" If you join our guild, you'll receive free lodging here, training, work, and a free awakening. The choice is simple really."

" I'll join."

Orien didn't think hard or much. He needed a base and beginning. He had no money or connections. Mr. Edwards had also said they needed a healer.

" Here is the contract. Trust me, it's not predatory and we aren't taking advantage of you."

' Divine eyes should work on this'

He used divine eyes on the paper. Andrea watched his expression as he read closely, and saw his pupil change into a six-pointed star with letters that she 'didn't understand but remembered seeing around them.

' Divinity. That is why I couldn't sense his magic power. Good job dad,' she thought while a proud smile graced her face.

The contract in Orien's' eyes was green so he signed it without a second thought.

" Welcome to the Horde Guild. Let's get you awakened and then find your lodging. The awakening usually drains the body, so you'll be in the bed for a couple of days. Follow me."

They headed towards a room a few doors down from Andrea's office. Its walls and floor had magic markings and shapes.

" Stand in the middle of the five-pointed star. These markings in the room will force this world's energy into your magic core. The magic will seep into every fiber of your being. You'll have to release the new energy from your body to get rid of any impurities or leftovers from your previous core. Are you ready?"

" Yes."

Once he got to the middle of the star, the markings in the room glowed grey and he felt an alien force trying to enter his body.

"Accept it. Don't fight. Imagine sucking it in."

Orien followed her direction and allowed the energy to enter and began to draw it into his body.

' The energy feels so weird but natural to me. It feels good. I can feel my magic core changing.'

Orien began to suck in more and more of the energy. Andrea watched as the process took six hours before he stopped.

"It's about damn time you're done. Now clean your body by pushing the energy through your entire body. Push as hard as you can."

' I can feel whatever dirt this is in my body. Push it out. You can do it. Push it out.'

Orien began roaring as he forces the blockage of dirt away using his divine energy. Even though Andrea couldn't sense the energy, the sheer pressure alone was enough to send her to her knees. His yell turned deafening. His clothes were blown off and all the veins could be seen on top of his skin releasing a black goo. The building began to shake.

' Mom, what is the pressure?" said a boy in a home far away.

" I don't know, but whoever fighting is going to destroy this city."

Blood spilled from Andrea's nose and mouth. A tattoo on her arm glowed purple.

" Da... dad... please."

The door to the room burst open. With a wave of his hand, Mr. Edwards put an invisible barrier around Orien and the commotion outside of it stopped.

" I felt his potential when I first met him. I still didn't expect this. Andrea, take this."

He handed his daughter a blue pill and the color returned to her face.

" Dad, you brought a monster here. I'm glad we found him before the other races did. His magic is a national-level threat."

" Don't get your hopes up, he is a healer."

" That's even better. He can save so many lives."

Hours passed and Orien expelled tons of goo from his body. The entire room stunk so bad that Andrea and Mr. Edward had to cover their noses to enter the barrier.

As they entered the room to pick up his body, they both couldn't help but notice his nudity.

" There's no way this boy is human. He has to be part horse," Mr. Edwards said.

Andrea was speechless with a face full of awe and blush