The Awakening Ceremony [3]

After the commotion died and Lloyd finally found his seat, he could not help but feel relief wash over him while all his stress seeped into the seat under him.

However, at the same time, he could not help but feel like the future would be challenging for the likes of him, yet he still shook his head before a dedicated expression appeared on his face.

He had never heard of anyone getting race-specific abilities simply because humans don't have any, and even when races that do have race-specific abilities wear the watches, from what Lloyd knew so far, they didn't usually show as much information as his watch did.

'The headmaster said that they keep our information safe from prying eyes, but I doubt that is the case. How are recruiters of the higher academies supposed to recruit someone without knowing their abilities first?' Lloyd scratched his chin and quickly thought back to the runic pattern he saw on the wristwatch a moment before the screen changed.

'If my theory is correct, the recruiters will only be able to see the first screen while I can see the true extent of my abilities. However, this means I will have to hide my real prowess and wait until either my life is in danger or until I am alone.' Lloyd grimaced as his dreams of joining adventurer squads, growing closer to his teammates, and creating friendships along the way crashed before his eyes.

Of course, that was nothing but a child's silly dream, one that was too unrealistic for the cold world he lived in.

"You sure look like sh*t for someone who's just received 3 passive abilities and possibly more than 3 abilities. We all know you can't get fewer abilities than passive abilities, so tell me, what abilities did you get?" Zack snarled before whispering the last part and perking up his ears.

"No saying..." Lloyd snorted and ignored his friend's pleading for several minutes until the students were dismissed.

As they left, they met with the Glade and Elrod families. Benjamin, still curious about the expression Lloyd showed after seeing his stats, couldn't help but ask-

"You seemed a little stressed there for someone who already knew he was awakened. Did you not know your abilities, or is it something unique to you? I can check them if you want, and Rubert can try his best to explain them to you." Benjamin offered with genuine curiosity, and while this did not let off any alarm bells in the Elrod family's minds, Lloyd's grim expression, followed by the slow unconscious retraction of his wristwatch hand, made them think otherwise.

'He's hiding something...' All the adults thought simultaneously, yet before Lloyd's family could even think about pressuring him, Zack came to Lloyd's rescue without even realizing it.

"Wanna pick out our weapons?" Zack asked excitedly while wrapping his arm around Lloyd.

"Sure..." Lloyd replied without an ounce of hesitation.

Benjamin glanced at Rubert, and in an instant, Rubert nodded and disappeared from where he stood.

Without skipping a beat, Zack pulled Lloyd alongside him while the scrutinizing gazes of everyone made Lloyd's body shudder, and cold sweat drenched his back.

'Thank you, Zack; I will one day repay you for your kindness. I'll do you any favor... Except marry one of your sisters, of course. I like keeping my head intact with my body. Quite a nice feeling to have blood pumping through my brain.' Lloyd clapped his hands, completely forgetting that he didn't have blood.

Within a few moments, Lloyd and Zack had disappeared into crowds.

***

Millions of lightyears away laid a figure that drifted through space like a rogue planet. However, it was far from being a rogue planet. While its size did not match the size of average rogue planets since the figure was barely 9ft tall, the power it emanated caused several celestial objects to be pushed away from the entity.

The entity sat in a lotus position while several runes that looked like they had been created out of the liquified versions of the universe traveled up its limbs and burned through its clothes.

This process seemed to go on for hundreds of years as several spacial rifts, tears, and portals opened up, yet the man's expression only continued to turn for the worst.

At specific points, one could see Void tunnels beginning to form, and even when they did form entirely, the man did not seem impressed by his achievement.

His expression went from grim to rageful, and in an instant, he exploded out with the full strength of his aura, which only caused more spacial tears to form around him.

His roar echoed through the vacuum and seemed to pierce the very fabric of space.

"If only those humans, elves, and damn dwarves didn't betray my master! The Void Walker race wouldn't have to hide like this anymore! We would be-" His words refused to leave his throat while a feeling caught his attention despite being so far in the distance.

"Is that... Is that my master's energy signature... No, its a little different but..." He narrowed his eyes, but they quickly widened again as a roaring laughter came out of the man's mouth.

"I can't believe this!" The man let out tears of joy.

"Maybe... Maybe this time..." He tried his best to calm himself down, but the grin remained on his face.

"Maybe this time we can complete the mission."

Without a second thought, the man cleaved his hand through space itself and once a tear in space formed, and he entered it without thinking twice.

***

Back on planet Deroxa, several students could be seen traversing the streets and avoiding everyone that stood on their paths as if their lives depended on it.

Two youths stood out from the rest, as despite both of them being newly awakened, they moved through the crowd with practiced ease as if this was something that they had done for their entire lives.

This was especially surprising for the youth that had gained the Berserker Sub-Class, known for being violent, blood-thirsty, and an overall nuisance to everything other than battle against an unmovable battalion of enemies.

These two youths were Zack and Lloyd.

After a few minutes, they finally found themselves standing in front of a blacksmith shop where several loud ear-piercing clangs could be heard, entering everyone's ears yet not causing a single person to flinch.

"Phew!" Zack breathed out in both relief and exhaustion.

Both he and Lloyd had been running from the small recruiters for almost an hour. Many small recruiters came from small guilds, while the more influential ones came from larger guilds to huge academies. At their ages, one could choose between joining a guild, joining the army, and joining an academy. There wasn't much difference between joining the army and academy since they would still be considered minors in both, but joining a guild would automatically make them adults despite not reaching that age yet.

"Let's go in before any of those bastards come and try recruiting us again." Lloyd said with a shudder as he remembered their gazes that were mixtures of both envy and greed.

"Yes!" Zack stood up with the speed of a bullet and quickly went into the blacksmith store.

It wasn't the most luxurious store out there, as it chose to keep the layout of blacksmith stores from the medieval eras while keeping a few things that kept them distinct, unlike the ancient buildings they took inspiration from.

"Uncle Roldeck!" Zack shouted, his voice echoing within the building they had just entered. Everyone inside glanced at them for a second, but after a glance, they all looked back towards their work and continued as usual.

"You are so damn loud!" A man with short brown hair and a muscular physique walked out of one of the rooms, his hazel eyes trailing toward the two individuals who had entered his shop.

"Sorry, Uncle Roldeck!" Zack apologized, yet even his apology was loud.

"Ugh, shut up already! What do you want?" Roldeck asked, but before Zack could say anything, Roldeck glared at him and caused him to seal his mouth shut.

"We wanted to ask you if you could forge us some weapons. You know how the merchants are regarding these things, especially at this time of year." Lloyd sighed and quickly explained. He was not a big fan of talking to strangers, but he had no other choice when situations like this happened.

"Ah, I see... I have a few pre-made weapons if you want to take a look. You guys have just awakened, so you shouldn't be hasty about having a personalized weapon. You are both young after all, and even if you were once proficient with a weapon, this might not be the case anymore." Roldeck explained, which caused Zack to nod solemnly.

'Why did he choose to use daggers if he already knew he would become a berserker? Did he hope that it would somehow change his fate?' Lloyd thought while glancing at Zack, but he quickly shrugged nonchalantly despite wanting to know the answer.

Leading them to one of the rooms, Lloyd and Zack looked around for a few moments and almost simultaneously said the same words.

"How much is this one?"

After a few minutes of speaking Roldeck, they both left the blacksmith store with different expressions on their faces.

While leaving the Blacksmith shop, Zack had a beaming smile while Lloyd had the same nonchalant expression on his face.

Despite wanting to believe it was just a nightmare, Lloyd could not. A pressure continued to grow in his heart, and his steps grew heavier after every hour. He tried his hardest to think of anything other than the nightmare, but even after trying so hard, he could not forget the physical and psychological torture he went through that night.

People who got into car accidents in the past had trauma sprout in them. Immense fear would overcome them whenever they entered a car, and usually, it would take several months to several years for that person to heal from their trauma. If that was the case with something as basic as a car crash, how would Lloyd feel after having his limbs torn off for what felt like weeks despite it being only 6 hours?

"-Oyd... Lloyd!" Zack waved in front of Lloyd, making him snap out of his dazed state.

"What?" Lloyd asked, a tinge of annoyance laced within his voice.

"As I was saying, should we go test out our abilities? Maybe we should go on a dungeon or two!" Zack shouted, causing many people to look at him with stupified grins. Some even looked at him as if he was stupid, while others snickered behind his back.

"We are too weak for that kind of thing." Lloyd rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Not if we bring bodyguards with us! We will be fine, don't worry. Since my father and siblings are at your house, why not ask them?" Zack asked and caused Lloyd to sigh in annoyance again.

"You go ahead of me. I have something to do in the meantime." Lloyd explained but seemed to refuse to explain further. It was as if those words were the limit of what he could say, so he chose not to say anything else.

"What!? W-Why are you leaving me out of the scoop, bro!? Do you have a girlfriend!? GASP! Is that why you have become taller? You even put on purple contacts on for her! How could you get a girlfriend and not tell me!? You know what they say. Bros before ho-." Lloyd quickly shut him up by placing his hand over Zack's mouth. He already knew what Zack was about to say, and his mission was to ensure that no one else would have to find out.

"I don't have a girlfriend! Now leave before I remind you of what happened 4 years, 3 months, and 21 days ago." Lloyd shouted and made Zack freeze for a moment. A shudder went down his spine as the memory was still vivid in his mind even after so many years had passed.

"Ugh! You win. I'll make you tell me about that girlfriend of yours one day! Mark my words!" He shouted while getting further and further away. A pink hue threatened to dye Lloyd's face, but once he could no longer see Zack from his line of sight, his expression turned grim, and seriousness overshadowed his previous embarrassment.

'I need to get stronger no matter what... If I want to ever experience another memory with my family, my best friend, and even her, I need to get stronger.' Lloyd clenched his fists tightly to where his nails had dug into his skin.

No blood came out, but that was simply because of his Void Walker anatomy

This was no longer a game. Lloyd was no longer that same child who had a choice regarding the future he wanted for himself. There were only two paths ahead of him, one that led to an endless pit that would mean instant death and another that led a path of infinite power, enough to rule the cosmos and become an emperor whose name would shake the very souls of those who heard it.

Without another thought, Lloyd left silently, not a single sound coming from him as he merged with the crowd. He quickly looked down at his wristwatch and could see a map with a purple dot blinking while dashed lines told him his route.

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