Awakening Ceremony [1]
Standing in front of a wide building in the Middle District, Raymond had his eyes fixed on it where people of his age were starting to flock and enter the same building.
He was nervous. But, despite the nervousness, he had excitement, too, and just looking at different people fueled it.
He took a deep breath, then exhaled afterward. And as he got to continue with the flow of the people, he finally entered the building.
The building was like an astrodome with unexplainable wideness. The interior had just one-story seats, and the center had a wide stage that seemed to be a stage for entertainment.
Raymond assessed the things he had seen and what came into his mind about the stage was that it was for the announcement and for the one-by-one calling of the people.
They were not that plentiful, in fact. There could be just hundreds of kids from lower district to higher district, but for Raymond, there were still plenty of people to attend a ceremony.
Raymond fell in line and followed the main line to the astrodome. Then, a person in a red uniform approached them and assisted them in having fewer lines and rows to keep the participants organized.
And after a few seconds of waiting, a village elder arrived.
"Uhm. Welcome dear children of our village. We are here for our annual Awakening Ceremony to test and see your profiles. But just a disclaimer: it will depend on you if you want to publicize your talent. However, the secrecy of your grade won't be a secret to everyone."
At the center of the stage, there was a 5-foot tall purplish orb. Everyone nodded, and they started calling one by one.
"Urain, please come forward."
A fat and short boy stepped forward and climbed to the stage. Everyone intently watched them, and as the boy arrived at the center of the stage, the village elder explained what was about to happen.
"You see this orb? You will put your hands in there and fight the surge of energy for about 30 seconds. Depending on how long you succeed, will be the grade of your Talent."
"The standard is that for everyone under five seconds is ungraded. Hence, your Talent is either useless or doesn't have any use. It could also mean that you don't have any Talent at all."
"Above five seconds, up to 10 seconds is an E-Grade. 10 seconds to 15 seconds is D-Grade. 15–20 seconds is C-Grade. 20–25 seconds is B-Grade. 25-30 seconds is A-Grade and above 30 seconds is S-Grade, which is rare."
"So, what is the average rate of our village? Starting from the history of our village, only three people were able to reach A-Grade: the founder from 300 years ago, the Godly Fire Mage from 100 years ago, and our current village leader, Sir Polvyster."
The village elder gave Urain a look and then nodded. "You may put your hands on the orb."
The boy nodded, then put his hands on the orb. And as the village elder gave a look at the orb, he gave the signal to turn the orb on as it was merely a device operated by humans.
The orb turned on and gave a small purple light, and just as the orb was turned on, energy surged out and pushed the boy just a second after it was turned on.
Everyone gasped and watched the boy get pushed away from the orb. And just as the boy realized, he felt embarrassed as everyone was looking at him.
"He didn't even reach five seconds. Does that mean he is ungraded?"
Whispers started filling the astrodome as they got baffled by what had just happened. It wasn't even a second, yet he had already failed.
"Yeah, he failed. He doesn't have any good grade of Talent to start with. It is just a pity for him."
Everyone looked at the kid with a disheartened expression. And just as the kid saw it, he lowered his head and then walked away from the stage.
The village elder hushed everyone and called for another kid.
"Tan, come here to the stage."
Another kid stepped forward, and it was a girl with a ponytail. And just when she arrived on stage, she put her hands up immediately, as if she couldn't wait for the result. She looked excited about it, and behind her was confidence as well.
Everyone focused their attention on her as she pushed herself to the orb as it turned on. And as the energy surged out, everyone had anticipating eyes.
"I bet that she will just get an E-Grade. Just look at her stance. She won't be able to push herself to the orb with that."
"It is not about the stance, it is about the grade of a Talent, which means, even if you are sitting, when the orb's energy is just above the grade of your Talent, you will be pushed away."
"Well, whatever."
The girl continued to hold herself to the orb. A second passed, then five, and she was still hanging on.
6...
7...
8...
A smile appeared on her face as she could already feel that she would have a grade above E-Grade. And just as she expected, she passed the first ten seconds.
Everyone had their eyes lit up in anticipation. They were waiting for the girl to pass through in the next five seconds. However, just when the time reached for her 14th second, she was pushed away helplessly.
She panted, then looked at herself away from the orb. And just by doing so, she realized she could only have D-Grade Talent.
She sighed and stood up, then shifted her gaze to the village elder.
"You may go backstage to discover what your Talent is. Next!"
Raymond continued watching them with their different expressions painted indifferently. And just as their hopes were raised, frustration took over them afterwards. Some of them were expecting to have a higher grade of Talent, but it was their fate, they couldn't fight it.
After a few minutes, Raymond was called, and he stepped forward confidently. He wasn't arrogant, but he was hoping for a better result.
He watched everyone look at him with the same eyes, and as he let out a sigh, he then put his hands on the orb and waited for it to open.
His eyes fell onto the orb, and his eyes fell deeply into nowhere. He was just staring at the orb, watching dots appear as if there was a different world inside the orb.
What was it? The dots turned into lights, as if stars on a moonless night. Looking at it, he couldn't feel anything, just preoccupied with it.