Central Neutral City, Arcanum Nexus, Awakening Ground…
The atmosphere buzzed with excitement as thousands of teenagers waited in the Awakening Ground of the Central Neutral City.
The Awakening Ground was a dome-like building with transparent glass walls. Inside, alongside the teenagers, at the very middle of the building was a floating magical orb that pulsed with rainbow colors.
That was the Awakening Orb, and it was why all these people were gathered here today.
At the age of 16, human children became eligible to Awaken.
For every race, it was different. Orc and Demon children awaken at the tender age of 12, an age where their bodies becomes fully developed already due to their superior physique among all 5 races.
Elven children awaken at the age of 18. Rumors say they actually become capable of Awakening at 16 like humans but due to their strict culture, children are restrained from Awakening till they go through all the knowledge lectures and prove that they are ready to wield magic power.
As for Dwarves, they awaken at 14.
Today was October 29th, and it was the final day of Awakening in human cities. Awakening week was an annual ceremony that spans 4 days across human cities, giving their children the opportunity to awaken and become Heroes.
By now, most children from influential families already awakened.
But Kairo Vale? He was still here, waiting in the queue, and this was despite the fact that he was one of the very first few teenagers to arrive here 3 days ago.
Well, it wasn't surprising. Afterall, he was a slum rat with no backing.
Kairo wore the same ceremonial white as the others, but it hung awkwardly on his frame, too big for his skinny and malnourished body.
He looked nothing like the proud sons and daughters of noble houses around him, and it didn't seem to bother him.
His black hair was uncombed, jagged at the ends like it had been cut with a kitchen knife. His boots were secondhand, one sole slightly detached.
His eyes? They were almost as sharp as a knife, the unmistakable gleam of street smarts hiding in their depths. To an experienced warrior, they would easily recognize the murder math in his eyes.
Murder math was a simple term to refer to the look that experienced killers give to strangers when deducing the fastest way to kill them.
It makes you wonder what a sixteen year old must have passed through to have such eyes.
Awakening was not guaranteed though unlike superior races like Demons and Orcs. Of the 5 races, Humans were the weakest. Out of 100 humans, on average, less than 50 humans may awaken at a time.
And of those 50, less than 5% has a talent of A Rank or above. 90% of Human Awakened have a talent of D Rank and below.
Talent is determined by the grade of your ability, and it spans all the way from the weakest Common grade to the strongest God-tier.
This was why Kairo's hands fidgeted slightly.
'I must Awaken!' He thought, anxious.
Born in a family of non-Awakened, his chances were slim, but all Kairo could do was hope. Hope was the only thing he had going for him.
'If I don't awaken, I'll never get her back!' He clenched his fists.
Back to the Awakening Ground…
Whispers and excitement filled the air still.
"Do you think I can have a dual-ability awakening?"
"Of course, you're from the Semedo Household, you should awaken at least two. Only those with weak bloodlines awaken just 1 ability, those rats may not even awaken at all". A student told his friend, making him raise his chin just a bit higher.
"Of course, I'm from the Semedo Household," the black boy smiled proudly.
The Semedo Household is one of the noble houses in Arcanum Nexus. Nelson Semedo, the patriarch was an S-Ranked Awakened Warrior of Humanity.
While the teenagers chattered among themselves excitedly, speculating about the Awakening, Kairo sat alone at the edge, ignored.
With how malnourished he looked, no one bothered approaching him.
"He's from the Outer Slums, probably won't even awaken," a boy who was taller than Kairo snickered as he looked at him in disdain like he was filth.
Kairo ignored him. He was used to such comments.
And then, the moment of truth came.
The announcer, the main Judge from the Hero Union, which was the foremost Awakened Alliance in the human domain stepped forward.
"Good day everyone, my name is George, and today I'll be overseeing your Awakening".
"Like you all should already know, if you manage to Awaken today, you'll start your journey as an Awakened from the F-Rank. If not, despair not, there are other things for you to do with your life".
"There are 4 different types of Ability types. There are combat types, support types, hybrid types, and mutants or deviants".
"Combat types and support types is self-explanatory. Hybrid types are mostly Bloodline abilities passed down from parents to their offspring. As for mutants, they are extremely rare abilities that are awakened only once in a generation".
"No matter what type of ability you awaken, all is important, you can be an important piece in the fight against the Demon army".
"After Awakening, you'll develop a mana core. Your mana core development determines your rank and how powerful you can become".
"It's tradition to display the awakened ability publicly for scouts looking out for talents. With that, let the event start. You already have your numbers, follow order and walk up to the Awakening orb".
Kairo glanced at his number. [No. 766]
This was despite him coming 3 days earlier. He bit his lips.
And with that, the event continued for the last day.
One by one, students walked up to the Awakening orb and touched it. If the light pulsing from the orb pulsed brighter, it meant awakening, but if it dimmed completely, it meant you failed to awaken.
Majority of the teenagers left the stage in tears as they failed to awaken, but a good number of them managed to awaken.
Afterall, since it was the central neutral city, talent was concentrated here. Despite it being the last day, two A-ranked Awakening were witnessed. When it came to their turn, the orb pulsed brighter than ever before.
"Wow… we have our second A-Ranked Awakening of the day".
But then, hours later in the afternoon, shock rippled through the crowd.
"W-what?"
"Is that S-Rank? The pulse is so bright, it has to be S-Rank right?"
Even the Judge was speechless. "Wow, it seems we have the fifth S-Rank Awakening this year. Elira Vonne, child of the Vonne Household".
"Ability 1, Stormcall. Ability 2, Aetheric Mind".
The crowd exploded with murmurs as scouts in the stands stirred, but all of them knew they had no hopes of getting their hands on a noble-born.
And then, after a few more hours…
"Number 766". The Judge called.
Kairo stood up and immediately walked towards the stage. He could hear his heart beating faster. Walking into the glowing Awakening Circle, he touched the orb as with a slight buzz, it scanned him.
No cheers, no anticipation, no excitement, just a dead-pan stare from the spectators when it came to Kairo's turn.
DING!
The system like it did for the others flared.
~----~
[AWAKENING COMPLETE]
Name: Kairo Vale
Ability: [Muscle Genesis]
Grade: ???
Type: Unknown
Potential Rank: Undetermined
~----~
Huh? The Judge was confused.
In all his years overseeing Awakenings, this was his first time seeing an Awakened with an ungraded ability whose type was unknown.
He called it nonetheless.
"Kairo Vale. Awakened Ability, Muscle Genesis. The grade and type is unknown, his potential rank is undetermined".
For a heartbeat, there was silence, then…
MUAHAHAHAHAHA!
The crowd burst into laughter.
"Muscle… Genesis?"
"Is that even real? Heck, is that even an ability?"
"Sounds like a gym technique, not a power".
"Wait… he only got one?"
More laughter erupted.
"Just one ability?!"
"And it's muscles?!"
"A single, unknown, useless mutation? What a slum among slum! I said it, the boy really is a useless piece of trash!"
"What a failure. Just one ability, and its piece of trash, I kind of pity him".
Even the Judge pitied him. "Dismissed," he eventually said.
But Kairo didn't stand immediately. He froze in place, head bowed, not because of shame but because something had ignited inside of him.
At first, he thought it was his imagination, but then, his muscles began to tremble, aching all over.
Kairo grimaced. 'W-what is this?!'
His fingers curled as pain lanced through his limbs unlike anything he'd ever experienced before. It was not tearing or cutting, but rather stretching like his very flesh was knitting itself thicker.
'What… the heck?!'
And then, the system interface appeared in full before Kairo for the first time.
DING!
~----~
[MUSCLE GENESIS INTERFACE UNLOCKED]
Welcome, User.
Initializing Growth Protocol…
Daily Requirement: 2,000 calories
Muscle Index: 0.1%
~----~
Kairo gasped as his arms bulged slightly, veins rising beneath his skin.
In the end, before the Judge could repeat himself, Kairo nodded slightly at him, barely masking his pain as he trudged off the Awakening Circle and subsequently the dome entirely.
As he walked, his muscles spasmed, bones cracking.
'What… is… going… on?!'