The interior of the cathedral was vast, a cavernous hall of black marble that seemed to swallow the morning light filtering through the high, arched windows. The air was cool, carrying a heavy, metallic scent of active ozone and ancient incense that left a faint, static prickle on the back of my neck. Thousands of youths were being quietly directed by robed system overseers into tight, parallel lines across the floor, our footsteps echoing softly against the polished stone.
Ahead of us, at the far end of the long hall, stood the Altar of Unsealing. It was a massive monolith of raw, unpolished star-stone, surrounded by a series of glowing blue mana circles etched deep into the marble floor.
"Stay in your lines," an overseer's voice boomed, flat and mechanical, devoid of any human warmth. "Place your transit tokens into the slots on the pedestal when your name is called. The interface will evaluate your vessel."
Lysander was standing directly to my left, his chest heaving as his breath plumed in the cool air. His eyes were wide, fixed entirely on the blue light reflecting off the ceiling. Every few seconds, a loud, resonant chime would echo through the hall as a teenager stepped up to the monolith, followed by a bright, translucent broadcast panel that flashed their results into the air for the entire room to see.
[ UNSEALING COMPLETED ]
[ USER: REINALD ]
[ TALENT RANK: F ]
[ MAIN AFFINITY: EARTH CONSTITUTION ]
The boy left the altar with slumped shoulders, escorted toward the civilian labour exit by a pair of silent guards. The sorting process was brutal, rapid, and entirely unyielding. To the global engine, human potential was nothing more than an equation of raw attributes and talent ranks.
[ UNSEALING COMPLETED ]
[ USER: GARRICK ]
[ TALENT RANK: D ]
[ MAIN AFFINITY: REINFORCED MUSCLE ]
The standard baseline distribution, I noted silently, my eyes tracking the rapid flow of the lines. Out of every hundred youths called forward, ninety-five were being sorted straight into F and D-ranks—the auxiliary workforce that would keep the cities running. The system didn't care about their dreams or their families. It was an automated sorting grid.
"Lysander of the Ashen Frontier!" the overseer called out.
Lysander stiffened, his entire body locking up for a fraction of a second. He turned his head, casting a frantic, desperate look in my direction. I gave him a single, firm nod, keeping my posture relaxed and steady.
"Go," I said softly. "The foundation is already there.
"He swallowed hard, stepping out of the line and marching down the long marble aisle. His boots sounded incredibly loud against the stone. He approached the pedestal, his trembling hand dropping his bronze token into the slotted stone. The moment his palms pressed flat against the unpolished surface of the monolith, the blue mana circles beneath his feet violently flared, the light rapidly turning into a deep, solid iron-grey.
A sharp chime rang through the rafters.
[ UNSEALING COMPLETED ]
[ USER: LYSANDER ]
[ TALENT RANK: B ]
[ MAIN AFFINITY: PHYSICAL DURABILITY ]
[ BASE ATTRIBUTE HIGH POINT: ENDURANCE ]
A collective murmur rippled through the front rows of the crowd. A B-rank talent from an outlying frontier village was an absolute rarity—a natural warrior candidate that the elite academies would fight over. Lysander let out a massive, visible gasp of relief, his shoulders dropping as an overseer stepped forward to guide him toward the high-tier recruitment hall. He looked back over his shoulder at me, his face split into a wide, disbelieving grin.
I didn't smile back. My chest was contracting, a sudden, familiar spike of cold gravity tightening right behind my sternum as the overseer's eyes slid down to the registry scroll.
"Astraeus of the Ashen Frontier!"
The voice echoed across the vaulted ceiling. I stepped out of the line, my boots gripping the cold marble as I walked toward the monolith. The blue light from the floor cast long, sharp shadows across my face. I reached the pedestal, my fingers closing around the freezing metal of my bronze token, and dropped it into the slot.
I took a slow, deliberate breath, extended both hands, and pressed my palms flat against the ancient star-stone.