CHAPTER 24 - AWAKENING 2

"The time for awakening has arrived," the city lord declared loudly.

All the contestants moved to the middle of the city where the city lord stayed.

In an empty field was a large pool filled with a red substance.

The two moons in the sky were about the collide, they were very close to each other and about to form an eclipse, during that eclipse, they would be awakened.

It was a rare occurrence that happened once each year, when the two moons would come together and there would be total darkness, not the place just being dark but deep darkness for a short period of time.

During this time they would get awakened.

There were three pools in the open field, onle very large one, a medium sized one and a small one.

The three people who took the first position in the alchemist, blacksmith and warrior ceremony would enter the small pool.

The second to third positions would enter the small pool, and the last positions or people who didn't participate would enter the large pool.

The time arrived and the whole place was getting darker, even the torches they carried became very dim making it hard to see.

All the participants went to their collective pool and waited at the front.

Immediately as the moons covered each other they jumped into the lake.

Before entering they all saw a red substance and didn't know what it was, but immediately they entered they knew what was there.

It was blood, not the normal blood of humans, this was different, it was thicker and had a mysterious energy in it.

Immediately the world turned pitch black, in the large pool some of the children had already started screaming and leaving, not because of the darkness but because of the blood.

Those who left immediately they entered had failed to awaken.

The large pool was empty already as they couldn't bear the pain they were feeling.

In the medium pool, there were seven people still in it bearing the pain coming at them, and in the small pool, there were three individuals, Daniel, Micheal, and Scarlett.

In the medium pool, Anita sat down under all the blood covering her as she held her breath.

There was a mysterious energy in the blood which was seeping into their bodies causing large amounts of pain.

If this was harmful she would've immediately left the pool, but she found out the energy seeping into her body slowly strengthened it and gave it vitality.

The same thing was happening to the other people in the medium pool, their vitality was increased and their bodies were strengthened, some left while others remained in the pool.

The small pool was a hellish place, the density of blood was more than thirty times higher than what was in the medium pool, so whatever pain the people in the medium pool felt, it was multiplied times thirty for them, but the benefits were even greater.

One reason that people get awakened each year even if they fail is to increase their vitality, although they were geniuses blessed by the world, they were cut short of just one aspect.

They all had a short lifespan, the average person could live up to forty years old and then die of old age mysteriously.

Only some lucky ones made it past forty, but later after they awakened even if it failed, their lifespan increased.

If the awakening was successfully completed, they could live to the age of two hundred before dying of old age, while if it failed they could live up to seventy, maybe eighty if their lucky.

So every year in all the cities they had built, this ceremony happened.

If this were to be done on a normal day nothing of this sort would be happening, but that brief period when the moon blocks each other is a magical period in which countless miracles happen.

And while performing this ceremony some people could gain the talent to become a mage, although average, they could be stronger than any warrior in the future.

Those who had awakened their mage talent before the ceremony were the true geniuses.

In the pool most will gain an affinity to an element, which was needed to become a mage, but that happening was very rare, and if it happens they just manage to be above average mage.

While absorbing the mysterious energy Anita felt her connection to the wind growing stronger little by little, although as slow as an ant it was improving.

She was delighted, her master already told her she was a high-level genius, what if she could increase her talents more, what would she be then, would she be a God-level genius and be as strong as the dragons and mythical creatures that fly past?

Her hopes were increasing, even though the pain was tremendous, she would bear it for her future prospects.

In the small pool Scarlett was the first to quit, leaving only Daniel and Micheal left.

Micheal remembered the words of his master as he endured the pain, "the longer you stay the better," he continued saying it to keep himself awake so he wouldn't faint in the pool.

At the same time, everyone else had left the middle pool leaving only Anita in there.

She was on her last string already, any more pressure and she would give up.

The energy seeped into her body, and her bones and strengthened it, the continuous remolding of the bone was what hurt the most.

After a while, she finally gave up and left the pool with a lot of blood covering her.

She was taken elsewhere to go and change her clothes for the after-ceremony.

Daniel sitting in the pool was feeling refreshed, if he hadn't held his breath since the beginning till now and he was deep underwater he wouldn't even be uncomfortable.

Rather than just the energy seeping into his pores and entering his body, the blood was moving into his body.

The blood nourished all the deficient cells in his body making them stronger.

They followed a process, the small cell would be nourished then broken into half which would then be nourished then broken again.

This process created an alarming amount of new cells in his body, and drove away the old ones.

His bones were constantly being refined under the pressure of the blood and the energy inside it.

The force that was accumulating in his body increased, although not as much as the time he fought Anita in that state, it was considered much.