The Awakening Ceremony
After this short battle practice, Anos and his mother went back inside their wooden dwelling. The aroma of hot rice and grilled vegetables wafted through the air as they sat down across from each other at a wooden table.
The boy ate quietly, with slow bites, as Celestia occasionally glanced at him. Then she put her chopsticks aside and asked, her eyes very slightly narrowing,
"Well. are you eager to unleash your martial spirit?"
Anos raised his eyes, his vermillion eyes fixed on hers. "Mm, I'm looking forward to arousing my martial spirit." He paused, lowering his voice with a sense of something heavy pressing on his chest. "But. I hope I can awaken a good one, and not the waste ones."
Celestia's face changed minutely, but Anos did not miss it. A hint of a scowl pulled at her lips.
'Let's see how she reacts to these words,' he thought, deliberately provoking her with the phrase 'waste ones'.
"Anos…," Celestia took a quiet breath, her eyes glinting with a knife-sharp edge. "Never forget this. No martial spirit is wasted; all souls masters are wasted."
There was an air of gravity in her voice, a shadow of something unpleasant lurking in her past. A moment clouded her eyes, but then her voice chilled.
"So if a soul master is weak, it isn't because their martial spirit is trash."
She leaned forward, her fist curling up. "It's because they are trash."
Her venomous words hung in the air, and then. a curious relief flashed across her face, as if she were vomiting up a poison she'd long swallowed.
"Is that so…," Anos muttered, blinking slowly.
He smiled inwardly. Well, it appears her relationship with that man is most definitely beyond salvage. That solves one of my questions.
'Good. That works in my favor,' he silently added to himself, taking in her lovely features.
He had never in all these years asked her straight out about his father. But given all he did know. and all the men she had known in the history of her Soulspire World. well, it wasn't a very big shortlist.
Celestia suddenly stuck her hand into her space ring and produced a small wooden box, which she pushed towards him on the table.
"This box.?" Anos tilted his head.
"Your birthday gift," Celestia said, her smile finally softening.
He opened it slowly—and stopped. Inside were two rings, with symbols etched weakly onto their sides.
"Essence tools…", he whispered
"Space rings, to be exact," Celestia clarified, observing him closely.
Anos' eyes widened slightly.
"One can keep non-living things," Celestia explained patiently, "while the other. can keep a life form. But only for a few hours." She said this with a sense of pride, a dare in her voice, as if she knows she can deliver these precious finds.
'Space rings, hmm… Well, these things are nearly extinct. The way of making them is lost in history,' Anos thought, turning them in his hands.
"But she is the High Priestess of Soul Haven. If anyone can get their hands on these artifacts, it's her,"
A faint chime interrupted these thoughts.
[Discovering a space tool.]
[Do you want to bind the space tool with the No.777 System…?]
[Y
Anos blinked at the semitransparent screen hovering before him. System, what will happen if I accede?
[The system will unlock a new function called 3rd Dimension Pocket.]
As for the ring, will it be destroyed?
[No. The ring will stay. The system will lock solely into pocket space.]
Anos smirked faintly. Good enough. I agree.
A very faint white light pulsed through the ring.
[Processing
[Sc
[1%. 42%.
[Success
"The No.777 System now possesses the 3rd Dimension Pocket function."
Celestia cocked her head in interest. "Do you like it?"
Anos looked up at her and smiled. "Mm. Thank you, Mother. I like it," he said, hugging her.
Isabella stood frozen for half a second before her lips curved into a warm smile. She hugged him in return, hugging him for a length of time she hadn't meant to. "I'm glad. that he likes it."
They stayed this way for a few minutes before she finally pulled back, smoothing a wayward lock of hair from his forehead.
"Come," Isabella whispered, her voice commanding attention despite her gentle word. "It is time. Let's start your awakening ritual."
--------------------------
The Awakening
They went into Celestia's room. The atmosphere inside this room was cool with a hint of a light fragrance of herbs. Taking a crystal of a deep ocean blue color from her space ring, she began.
"Close your eyes, Anos," Celestia whispered. She put her hand on his head. "Breathe. and sense the flow of my soul power," she added.
Warmth permeated through his body, filling all of his veins, all of his muscles, all of his being.
"Warm…". With a sigh, Anos relaxed in the wave of energy.
Prior to him, a soft white light started to form. A simple white napkin hovered in mid-air.
"A napkin?" Celestia furrowed her brow in confusion.
But then—Cr
A burst of dark energy flowed through Anos. His right arm twisted, scales of pure black covering his skin as a claw protruded from his mitted hand. Above it, black flames burned with an evil intensity.
"Demonic Evil Dragon…?" Celestia whispered in shock.
But her words were hardly out of her mouth before the air split again.
A burst of golden scales erupted all over Anos' left arm, and lightning arcs swirled maniacally around him.
"Golden Good Dragon?!" Celestia blurted in shock, her
The room shook with these opposing essences—the heavy dark of black fire contrasting with the bright sizzle of gold thunder.
Celestia's eyes went wide, her hand trembling. "…Triplet martial spirits
Her mind reeled. In all of Soulspire World history, no individual had ever awakened two martial spirits, let alone three.
"But if Anos can make it into the realm of a Titled Soulmaster… he will surpass all geniuses in history. He will become. untouchable."
The voice of the No.777 System echoed in his head.
[Congratulations, Host
[You have awakened…]
[1. White Napkin
[2. Demonic Evil Dragon]
[3. Golden Good Dragon]
"Anos.open your eyes," Celestia's voice was soft now, barely above a whisper,
He did—and his crimson pupils pulsed weakly, echoing the turmoil in his own mind.
"How do you feel?" she asked, her voice a little shaky despite her best efforts to compose herself. "…Great," Anos stated simply, a small grin playing on his lips. He had expected much, but not this. Not three martial spirits. "Touch this," Celestia said, offering him a blue crystal. As soon as he touched it with his hand, a bright light filled the room. "Full soul power…," Celestia whispered, her face flickering with awe and disbelieving wonder. His son was no common genius. He is much more than a genius.