"Unregistered affinity, Arcane-rank talent?!"
Dozens of figures appeared on stage, their voices mixing into a chorus of pleas.
"Mr. Atlas, join the Scouts!"
"The Dread Legion will bring you countless benefits, Mr. Vesper!"
"The Shaman division is perfect for you, Sir Atlas!"
However, before the recruiting attempts could continue, the black knight moved. He struck the pommel of his sword three times against the ground.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Immediately, the entire room fell silent, and the dark paladin began to speak.
"By the orders of the Grahan Imperial Family, all youths with Celestial or Arcane rank talent are to be brought to the capital, where they will be sent to the Imperial Academy before choosing which branch to join. The Emperor has spoken, and his word shall be law!"
He struck his sword on the ground once more.
BOOM!
"I, Royal Paladin Escobar, bear witness to Atlas Vesper's awakening and take full responsibility for his safe journey to the capital!"
BOOM!
"Hail the Royal Paladins!"
BOOM!
"Hail Grahan!"
BOOM!
"HAIL THE EMPEROR!"
BOOM!
As the last echo faded, everyone was stunned to see that the Royal Paladin, Researcher Daryl, and Atlas had all vanished. Only a few seconds later, an announcement crackled over the PA system.
"The awakening ceremony is postponed until the day after tomorrow."
The amazed crowd started to leave, and the boy at the center of it all was experiencing something terrifying.
~~~
"WHAT THE FUCK!!"
Atlas nearly pissed himself. After Paladin Escobar finished his speech, Atlas found himself being lifted onto a shoulder. The next thing he knew, he was flying through the sky at supersonic speed.
"Please be quiet, boy," said Escobar, "or I'll knock you out."
"Hahaha! Don't be scared, Atlas!" laughed Daryl, "Soon, you'll be flying through the skies too!"
The trio looked strange as they flew—at least for those who could even make out their figures before they sped past.
On one side was the imposing Royal Paladin Escobar, clad in pitch-black armor with a sword in hand. On his shoulder was Atlas, shouting for his life. Flying alongside them was Researcher Daryl, dressed in purple and gold robes.
'Who the fuck do they think they are?' Atlas thought angrily.
"Well, Daryl, let's head straight for the airship. I want to be halfway to Imperiad before the news of his awakening spreads," said Escobar.
"Shouldn't we go to the base first and arrange an escort?" Daryl asked, looking at Escobar.
Escobar shot Daryl a sidelong look, narrowing his eyes, then turned forward again.
He replied, "No."
"Well, you're the expert here, Sir Escobar. I'll do whatever you say," Daryl said dryly.
Atlas, who had regained a bit of control earlier, reflected on what had happened so far.
He knew his Arcane level talent was the highest possible absorption rank in the world. Plus, he remembered what he had seen of his affinity when he awakened.
The majestic, dark sky covered with kaleidoscopic stars that stretched endlessly, with noble birds soaring freely, and the various flowers blooming; it resonated with him on a deep, profound level.
He continued pondering, wondering what the future held for him. His thoughts drifted to what he knew about Awakened.
What he had learned was that no affinity was inherently better. Some were certainly more versatile, but every type had its own antithesis.
What truly mattered was absorption talent. It essentially determined how far you could go as an Awakened. Humans had no inherent cap on what rank they could reach, but they did have a limited lifespan. It was hypothesized that if a human had an unlimited lifespan, even with an Dormant-rank talent, they could reach the epitome of the world, the Arcane rank.
Each absorption level was based on the levels previously reached by Awakened and averaged to determine the rank they were able to grasp; each letter actually represented a range of absorption per second.
However, as one progressed through the ranks, it became exponentially harder to advance to the next, which is why most people never advanced past the limit their talent allowed.
But with his Arcane-rank talent, the peak of the world was not so unreachable anymore. Furthermore, even without being previously involved in Grahan politics, he knew how much of an uproar his awakening would cause. After all, from the billions of citizens, only seven had awakened with Arcane potential last year, and before them, there had been no one for generations.
Essentially, anyone who awakened with such potential would become a pillar of the Empire, and as such, they would be protected zealously. So, Atlas realized that, as long as no external problems arise, he could become incomparably powerful. And he could not lie: it filled him with incredible glee.
Soon, Atlas noticed their pace had slowed quite a bit, and before he knew it, they were setting down in a field in the middle of the forest, outside the titanic walls of Creedheart.
Sir Escobar immediately began to draw strange lines in the air with his mana.
"Your first time outside of Creedheart, Atlas?" Daryl asked curiously.
"Yeah," Atlas said shortly. "But let me ask you, why are we here? I thought the only way to travel between cities was the armored trains or ships?"
Daryl chuckled. "You may not realize it, but most people would be sucking our feet by now to get on our good side. Although, you probably don't need to considering that you are one of the generation's top talents."
"But, to answer your question, the way you mentioned is the only option open to the public. Who said the higher-ranking Awakened don't have their own way of travel?"
As he finished his statement, the lines that Royal Paladin Escobar was drawing in the air began to glow with a dark light. A shadowy, humongous gate formed, and a hiss echoed from it.
Soon, a flying serpent the length of two school buses flew out from the gate. Its scales were a sleek blackish-green, and it had three pairs of feathery wings, each the size of an airplane wing, all black and tinted green. Its eyes were a venomous and bright green, pupils narrow and black.
"Steady, Alpine," said Escobar. On cue with his words, Alpine flew over to them and floated in the air, waiting for his master's next command.
"Get on," said Escobar before easily jumping up to the snake's back, and Daryl followed immediately after.
Atlas was confused. Did they seriously expect him to jump ten feet? He had just awakened, and other than wanting to throw up from their trip here, he wasn't feeling any stronger.
Before he could muster up the courage to ask for a hand up, Escobar flicked two fingers from his hand up, and Atlas found himself floating through the air until he was on Alpine's back, seated upon a saddle like the other two.
"Get ready, Atlas!" said Daryl while laughing. "Alpine moves pretty damn fast!"
Alpine let out a hiss, before coiling his body. Atlas barely had a second to prepare before they had taken off. However, unlike before, he wasn't feeling any resistance from the air even though they were going multiple times faster.
'Might as well gather some information on these two,' Atlas thought.
"Sir Escobar, what's your affinity?" he asked, trying to act like a curious kid.
"Shadow Beasts," he replied curtly, without even looking back.
'What the fuck is that affinity?' Atlas thought. 'It makes this snake make sense though.'
"What about you, Sir Daryl?" he asked again.
"Mine is Resonating Wind," he said. "How do you think we aren't feeling any wind resistance right now?"
Following the rhetorical question, no further conversation ensued, and they flew on.
Atlas took the time to appreciate his surroundings, for it was his first time leaving the city of Creedheart. He had been to parks within the city, but none of them had held the untamed, wild, yet beautiful, feel of the outside world.
Although it was not forbidden to live outside of major cities, most of the common people simply could not, due to their fear of death.
After mana had arrived on this world alongside the Underworlders, some 2000 years ago, humans were not the only ones to gain supernatural capabilities. The native flora and fauna also evolved to use mana.
After all, even before the Descent, as the arrival was named, no humans could match a lion or bear in a pure physical match. Only external factors such as weapons or traps allowed humans to dominate the world before the Descent.
So, even after gaining the power to grow past their previous capabilities, humans could not outpace nature, especially after some organisms grew to the point where weapons such as guns did not work on them.
In conclusion, for the average person, living outside the walls was a death sentence.
'It truly is beautiful,' Atlas thought to himself. Before him lay a never-ending, lush, green forest that went on as far as the eye could see. They had been flying for three hours, and the sun was beginning to set in the sky.
"We have about another hour before we get to Imperiad," said Escobar.
Alpine continued to fly through the sky.
~~
Before he knew it, massive golden walls were rising on the horizon. The Royal Capital of the Grahan Empire, Imperiad, was beginning to show itself. Otherwise known as the Imperial City or the City of Golden Violet, it was the place where the Imperial family ruled from. More specifically, it was the place where the Emperor resided.
As the golden walls adorned with purple approached, Atlas could literally see the mana turrets on the wall point towards them.
'If I get fucking sniped on the back of this snake, I'll haunt these two for the rest of their lives,' Atlas promised himself vehemently before laughing mentally. 'Then again, what's life without some risk?'
But his worries were unfounded. As they neared the walls Escobar took out a glass sphere, which he crushed, and a shield of golden energy formed around them. Soon thereafter, the turrets turned away from them, and Alpine continued to fly, until they had flown over the walls.
The view inside the walls from outside was like night and day. While the outside was a rough and untamed forest, the inside was orderly farmland, which autonomous robots helped manage.
Not far away rose Imperiad, the throne of the Grahan Empire, crowned by the golden and purple palace that dwarfed even the skyscrapers in the city. Everything in the city contained gold or purple in some form, and the level of sophistication was ahead of Creedheart by leaps and bounds.
As they approached the city, Alpine continued to fly until they reached the palace, passing over the entire metropolitan area. However, he had reduced his speed significantly.
Alpine came to a hovering stop on a landing pad of sorts, where people also riding beasts docked.
"Let's go, Atlas," said Escobar as he jumped off Alpine before helping Atlas down. "I must take you to meet my superior. He will handle your processing and help you settle here in the capital."
"Well, I'll be seeing you guys around," said Daryl. "I've got to get back to the Institute."
Escobar nodded at him.
"Ok," said Atlas, responding to both men at once, too busy observing his surroundings.
He did, however, not fail to notice that a man in the crowd was staring intently at him. He did not know whether it was an act or not, for any Awakener should be able to watch him without being noticed, at least at his current level.
Atlas followed Escobar as he walked through the gates that led into the palace from the dock.
"Shouldn't there be any security?" said Atlas, wondering why they were able to pass into the palace so easily.
"There is," replied Escobar while he showed guards placed at key intersections and doors a keycard-type object. "Everyone who enters the palace is scanned to determine if they are who they say they are. Anyway, this keycard is imbued with the mana of the Emperor himself, something which none can replicate."
Atlas hummed understandingly, and finally, they reached a door upon which was engraved the words 'Leader of the Royal Paladins, Celestial-Ranked, Radon Hemisphere.'
Escobar knocked twice, and not long after, a reply came.
"Come in," the voice said, like the rumble of thunder.
Escobar stepped through, gesturing for Atlas to follow. He immediately took off his helmet and performed a military salute. As Atlas walked through the doorway into the office, a mountainous pressure descended upon him.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here? The first Arcane awakening outside the Imperial and Noble families," rumbled the same voice.
Atlas could barely lift his head under the pressure, but he was able to discern the outline of Celestial Hemisphere.
He was a towering man, easily 8 feet tall, and packed with muscle. He had a chiseled gray beard and flowing dark blue hair highlighted with silver.
The pressure upon Atlas increased manifold.
"Why aren't you grovelling at my feet, rat?"