9 A Magic Tablet and the Ceremony
"An awakening is basically creating the ability to get stronger through a god's blessing. After a ceremony, you will be able to see your 'stats', the number value for your physical attributes. It's a lot easier to just see it and experience it, but people with a Status, as we call it, are sought out in tons of fields. Later on, if you give up on being an adventurer, it'll give you a head start in many industries. Any questions?"
After no one raised their hand, he moves on.
"Now, we're going to talk about classes. A class is basically the area of combat you specialize in. For example, the most common and important category of class is warrior. They mostly use melee weapons, but occasionally using self-buff magic. Their role in a party is to protect everyone else by standing on the front line and taking most of the enemies attacks.
"Another important class category is healer. Specializing in healing their teammates, healers are pretty much the backbone of a party. Certain types of healers can also buff their party's physical and mental abilities.
He pauses for a breath and drink of water. After clearing his throat, he continued.
"There are several different classes within the general categories. The heads and representatives of all the Class Centers will be choosing you based off of your stats and magic. Which brings us to the next step. I'll be handing out these boards, where each of you will write down your name and age. After you're done, you will pass it on.
"When everyone has finished, you will each be called randomly in groups of three. Come up and grab the sheet I hand you, then proceed into one of the three doors behind me. In those rooms, your magic affinity will be tested. Then you will move on to the ceremony chamber.
"You will get your stats and magic back a little after that, and also your three class choices. These are the the Three representatives that won the bids for your choice. This will be the future of your adventurers career, so choose carefully."
Finally finished with his explanation, Charlie hands the three nearest people to him the boards, which happens to be me, Natalia, and Matt.
My name is easy enough, but I still can't remember my age. However, when I go to write it down I automatically write 16. Surprised, I pass it to the next person.
It only takes a short amount of time for the boards to be passed around.
When Charlie gets them back, he puts the three sheets into a big cube with two slots, one on the top and a larger one near the bottom.
After a second, the cube spits out a stack of papers from the bottom slot.
Taking the top three sheets, he calls the names written on them. The people called stand up, grab their sheet, and each walk into one of the three doors behind Charlie.
After a few minutes, he calls for another three people and the process is repeated. After he calls one more group, I'm next.
"Alcone, Kairo, and Elizabeth!"
I snap my head up to look at Charlie.
Standing up nervously, I make my way over. Matt and Natalia whisper me good luck as I shuffle past them.
Glancing over to my left, I see that Sarcastic has also gotten up. Per usual, he doesn't look nervous at all and saunters up to the front.
(I guess his name is Alcone. What an unusual name. Unless his name is actually Elizabeth!)
I crack a smile and chuckle a bit, which draws the gazes of everyone in the room. Sheepishly, I grab my sheet and turn to the door.
Taking a deep breath, I walk up to and door and step through to the room beyond.
The first thing that I notice is how dim it is.
There are no candles or lamps in the room. In fact, the only reason I can see is because of the soft glow coming from a clear tablet lying on a table.
Standing transfixed by the tablet, I dont notice when the door closes and a figure steps out of the shadows.
"Hello, I'll be the one assisting you today. Give me your sheet and place your hand on the crystal."
After jumping slightly, I do as she says and lay my hand on the tablet.
It seems to be made of some type of crystal and is smooth to the touch. I can feel the cool surface pressing against my palm as red and black lights start floating around the clear tablet.
Small, green sparkles are mixed into the red and yellow. However, none of them are as large as the black light in the middle.
It doesn't move from the center, just pulses as the other lights seem to orbit around it.
The womans brow scrunches a bit, then she quickly scrawls something down on a clipboard and looks up at me.
"Peculiar. You can move to the next area for the ceremony."
She muttered the first part under her breath before handing me back my sheet.
Looking at the woman questioningly, I walk over to the door on the opposite side of the room.
I open the door into a long hallway. A man standing in white robes is facing the door.
It only takes a few steps for me to be standing in front of him.
They're hiding their arms in the robes sleeves, which are held in front of them.
"It's time for the ceremony. Are you ready?"
Their voice sounds neither male nor female, and it's strangely monotone.
I nod even though I'm totally not.
Without a word, they turn around and start walking down the hallway.
I start following them, trying to strike a conversation, but they only respond with short, one word answers.
Picking up the hint, I switch to just walking behind them quietly.
The hallway is incredibly long, but after a few minutes we finally enter a room that looks a lot like a temple.
Stark white marble columns stand on either side of a walkway that leads to a giant magic circle etched into the floor.
A circle of priests surround the circle, each of them holding a bowl full of a golden liquid. One is facing me holding a smaller bowl.
I'm instructed to remove my shirt. As I lift it over my head the cool air of the temple causes goose bumps to rise on my skin.
The priest in the front takes a brush and paints some pattern onto my skin.
The blue fluid almost feels like paint, albeit a bit thinner.
After they finish, I'm instructed to stand in the circle.
Doing as they say, I step into the center while the priests on the side pour the contents of their bowls into the circle.
It flows and evenly distributes fairly quickly.
Soon after, they start chanting in a language I've never heard before.
"Baeageas ghug na hilb em gha hethas raturb, na wuca u ravas ip jio. Trum ghes wirgul jior fingar umb seth. Dremt hew klisar gi tiblemass."
They repeat this a total of five times.
On the fifth one, the ring starts glowing, a golden ring on the outside and a scarlet red on the inside ring.
The paint on my body starts glowing as well.
I stare in wonder, until a sharp pain shoots through my entire body. Then it happens again, but worse.
Then my whole body courses with pain and I crumple to the ground.
It feels like my muscles are snapping and reattaching at the same time! The space behind my eyeballs is burning like someone's pressing a hot iron into my eye sockets!
(IT'S UNBEARABLE!)
And it's gone, just like that.
I slowly peel myself off the ground, shuddering breaths wracking my body. A sheen of clod sweat covers me head to toe.
(What the hell was that?!)
I look around and realize something strange. Everything is sharper, like putting on glasses that you never knew you needed.
My muscles feel stretched out and rubbery.
When I look down at my hand, I can see a glowing yellow light on my wrist, where I would normally feel for my pulse.
Right as I'm about to press my fingers into my wrist, the priest that lead me here steps into my vision.
"Congratulations on your awakening."
As he bows a bit, I scratch the back of my head and bow in return.
"Uh, thanks. I appreciate you guys performing it for me."
I step out of the circle and pick up my shirt. The paint on my skin melted away, so I don't hesitate to put my shirt on.
As we exit, all of the priests start excitedly whispering to each other.
