In the grand hall of Greenvale town, rows of sixteen year olds stood before the altar.
Today was the final day of the year, the day when every child of sixteen would attempt to bond with their guardian spirit.
Today, fate and luck would decide their path. Some would begin awakening their Spirit Core, stepping into a life intertwined with spirits. Others would fail and return to the world of ordinary mortals, their chance at power slipping away forever.
The Hall Master stood before the altar, his Adept-stage Guardian Spirit: a massive red tiger, lying beside him.
His gaze swept across the nervous, pale-faced teens.
"The ceremony begins now. Those whose names are called should enter the altar in order."
"Alaric Brown."
"Y-Yes…" A brown-haired boy stepped forward, trembling as he entered the altar and sat in the center of the awakening circle.
The Master tapped his staff against the ground, sending a surge of aether into the circle. It flared brightly, illuminating the boy's anxious face.
Two minutes passed. The light dimmed, but nothing happened.
Failure right from the start, the Master thought.
The boy opened his eyes, tears streaking down his cheeks. "Master… please… give me one more chance. I was close. I can find my spirit if I just had more time."
The Hall Master shook his head. "Go stand in the corner. If your soul lingers in the Spirit Realm without a Spirit Core, summoning your Guardian will be the least of your worries."
The boy's lips quivered as he tried to protest, but the Master tapped his staff again. A shockwave rippled through the air, flinging the boy out of the altar. He crashed onto the floor, face twisted in horror.
The Master's gaze swept the remaining teens. His voice cut sharply through the hall. "You have two minutes to form a bond with your Guardian Spirit. That is the maximum time your soul can safely remain in the Spirit Realm without perishing. Do not repeat what just happened."
His eyes narrowed, and his voice grew colder. "Whether you succeed or fail depends on whether a spirit compatible with your soul chooses to bond with you. Some of you may find nothing at all. If that happens, you were born worthless. Now, continue."
The Hall Master lifted the ledger and began calling out the names of the teens once more.
* * *
Among the rows of students, Frey watched everything with a blank expression.
He was nervous, of course, but there was nothing he could do if he failed to awaken. Bonding with even the lowest aptitude spirit could open doors.
Then, sounds of amazement and gasps rippled through the crowd.
Frey turned toward the altar and couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy as he looked at the girl.
The girl had light blue hair, and a small blue bird perched on her shoulder, its feathers shimmering like a miniature vermillion bird.
The awakening array beneath her blazed with purple light, three circles of archaic runes flaring in unison.
A spirit's aptitude determined how far it could grow through the stages, how fast it advanced, and what abilities it could awaken.
Once a human formed a bond with their spirit, their growth became intertwined. They would either rise together or remain weak together.
Through that bond, the human also gained a share of the spirit's abilities and potential. Some abilities, however, could only be used when the spirit was actively merged with its human.
The Aptitude ranks of spirits were:
Mortal → Earth → Sky → Heaven → Celestial → Mythic → Divine.
Each further divided into:Common (White), Rare (Blue), and Epic (Purple) sub-ranks.
The girl's array flaring purple meant her spirit was Epic, and the three circles indicated it belonged to the Sky rank. Her Guardian Spirit's Aptitude was thus Epic Sky.
The Hall Master's eyes lit up as he announced, "A Glacivane with Epic Sky Aptitude. Excellent. With this spirit, if you work hard, you could easily enter the greatest academy in the Serathian Empire."
He could hardly contain his joy — finally, someone worthy had awakened.
Eira smiled and bowed gracefully. "Thank you, Master."
She stepped down from the altar, her small blue bird fluttering lightly on her shoulder, and joined the students on the right — those who had successfully awakened. Their faces glowed with relief, a mixture of pride and disbelief.
Frey's eyes swept across the hall. On the left, a cluster of students stood frozen, hollow-eyed, tears streaking their pale faces. The contrast was stark, hope and despair divided by a single invisible line.
Out of the 144 teenagers in the hall, only about 1 in 4 had awakened so far. If the ratio held, no more than 36 would succeed today. The rest… would be branded with the cruel nickname everyone whispered, the Worthless.
Still… it wasn't the worst outcome. These numbers included all the 16 year old teens from the town and the surrounding villages.
Frey knew most of them. They had trained together at the pre-Awakening academy for years, learning the basics, studying about Good and Evil spirits, and honing their combat skills.
His thoughts barely settled before another wave of gasps rolled through the hall. Frey turned toward the altar and could only curse under his breath.
Henry Vale had bonded with a spirit, a wolf cub of Common Sky aptitude.
Henry was the son of Howard Vale, a respected Spirit Knight serving the Viscount of Greenvale.
He and Henry had never seen eye to eye. Frey disliked Henry's arrogance. Henry despised how girls constantly flitted around Frey.
It wasn't hard to see why. Frey's pale skin, white hair, and clear gray eyes gave him an almost doll-like appearance. Girls were drawn to him, some genuinely, most for amusement. It annoyed him far more than it pleased him.
While he was lost in thought, admiring his beauty, a voice called out—
"Frey Sinard."
Frey's heart leapt. His nervousness spiked, but so did his excitement. It was finally his turn.
He stepped toward the altar, giving a respectful nod to the Hall Master before sitting cross-legged within the awakening circle.
Despite its name, the Awakening Circle didn't immediately awaken a spirit for bonding. Instead, it projected the human's soul into the Spirit Realm, placing it near a spirit deemed compatible by fate and luck.
If the spirit accepted the bond, it would manifest in the real world, and both souls would return linked as one.
However, if no spirit was nearby, it meant no spirit was compatible with your soul, meaning you were born a failure.
The Master tapped his staff, and the circle flared to life. Frey closed his eyes, focusing as golden light enveloped him.
A sudden force tugged at his soul, pulling him into a vast, unseen realm. He didn't resist, he let himself be drawn in.
Then everything went still.