Student after student had their dreams shattered, and it didn't stop. The air was heavy with disappointment, a tense silence broken only by the occasional sigh or shuffle of footsteps. Whispers traveled through the crowd, some offering words of encouragement, others quietly mourning their own dashed hopes.
After twenty minutes, not a single student had awakened, and only three more students from Class One remained in line. The weight of failure was settling in for many, and the atmosphere was thick with unease. Teachers, and other students watched in tense anticipation. This was more than a ceremony, it was the moment that could define the rest of their lives.
Up stepped the next student. His name was Jerome, the top student of Class One, known for his precision in combat training and his sharp intellect. He had consistently ranked third in the year, making him one of the most promising talents in the school. Yet now, as he walked forward, his confident posture faltered slightly. A nervous expression crossed his face, his shoulders tense, and it looked as if he might break down entirely.
Stepping into the center of the glowing awakening array, Jerome stood still. Seconds passed with nothing happening. The crowd's murmurs grew louder, some doubtful, some sympathetic. Jerome's face tightened, his eyes narrowing with determination, though there was an undeniable flicker of despair in them. It seemed as though he was about to join the countless others whose dreams had been crushed.
Just as hope began to fade, a beam of light shot out from his body, blinding and pure. The crowd gasped in shock as the glow faded, revealing new text above him, different from anything before him.
Darkness Affinity
The students immediately erupted into an uproar. Someone had finally awakened a talent. Excited chatter filled the field as heads turned to watch Jerome. His previous expression of doubt vanished, replaced by a confident smirk. He stepped down from the array with a steady stride, eyes scanning the crowd as though daring them to question him.
A teacher near the side stepped forward, holding open a massive tome filled with thousands of pages. The whispers fell silent as the teacher began to speak, their voice carrying over the crowd.
Talent Name: Darkness Affinity
Rank: C
Effect: The strength of Darkness-type moves used by the Beast Tamer's beasts doubled.
Jerome's confident smirk widened at the words. Awakening a C-ranked talent was rare, rumors said only one in every hundred students achieved such a rank. For him, this was proof of his potential and years of effort.
As the murmurs of amazement spread, Jerome was separated from his classmates who had not awakened a talent. He was directed to stand in another area that was presently empty, a quiet space reserved for those who had succeeded. Around him, the tension in the air shifted. The failed attempts faded into the background.
Excited by Jerome's success, the remaining two students in Class One quickly made their way through the ceremony. Both carried the same spark of hope that had been reignited in everyone's hearts, but that hope didn't last. Much to their dismay, neither of them awakened a talent. The crowd's excitement dimmed once more, the cheers fading into quiet murmurs of pity and disappointment.
"Okay, next class!" the teacher with the whistle shouted, his voice echoing across the field.
That was our cue. My class stepped forward, hearts pounding, feet shuffling nervously against the grass. Henry and I were somewhere in the middle of the line, giving us some time to prepare, or at least to try to. Around us, the tension was palpable. You could feel the mixture of fear and anticipation radiating from everyone, the air thick with it. For most, this was the defining moment of their lives, success meant opportunity, failure meant struggle.
As minutes passed, one by one, people stepped onto the stage only to walk back down with dejected looks, heads hanging low. Not a single one awakened a talent. Each failure was like another weight pressing down on the rest of us, making it harder to breathe. I tried to calm my nerves, but my hands wouldn't stop fidgeting.
Eventually, it was Henry's turn. He took a deep breath before stepping forward. Just before he ascended the stage, he looked back at me with his usual grin, though I could tell it was forced this time. "I'll see you over there," he said, pointing toward the section where Jerome stood, the area reserved for the talented few.
I nodded back silently, trying to offer some encouragement, but my attention caught the subtle tremor in his hand as he lowered it. He was nervous, more than he wanted to admit.
The wooden stage creaked softly as Henry stepped into the center of the awakening array. For a brief second, there was silence, the entire crowd holding their breath. Then, unlike Jerome's slow, suspenseful awakening, a blinding light erupted instantly, so bright that several students shielded their eyes. It was dazzling, powerful, and almost overwhelming in its intensity.
Gasps spread through the crowd. Even the teachers leaned forward, eyes wide.
As the light faded, glowing words formed above Henry's head, words that immediately silenced everyone.
Human Beast Coordination
A wide smile spread across Henry's face, his expression transforming from anxious to euphoric in an instant. He let out a booming laugh, turning to me with an unshakable grin and raising his thumb before stepping down from the stage.
The teacher standing near the stage flipped frantically through the massive book again, searching through hundreds of pages. When he stopped, his face went pale. His hands trembled as he looked up at the words, then at Henry, and finally at the rest of us.
When he spoke, his voice was shaky, nearly breaking from disbelief.
"Talent Name: Human Beast Coordination…" he paused, swallowing hard before continuing, "Rank: S."
The entire field erupted in gasps and disbelief.
"Effect: The Tamer and Beast merge into a single being, directly multiplying their power. At higher levels, the Tamer can merge with more than one beast."
For a moment, everything went quiet again, as if no one dared to breathe.
My jaw went slack. He really did it. Out of everyone here, Henry had to go and awaken an S-rank talent, the rarest of them all. It was said that only one in a million ever achieved it, a talent destined for greatness.
Even Jerome, who had been standing tall and proud just moments earlier, now looked stunned. His confident smirk had vanished, replaced by wide eyes and disbelief.
As Henry stood there grinning under the sun, basking in his impossible success, I couldn't help but feel a storm of emotions, pride for my friend, awe at his power, and a creeping sense of dread. Because if Henry had awakened something that rare… what chance did the rest of us have?
And now it was my turn.