After a while, he slowly opened his eyes. He looked at his teacher and said, "I am ready. Please start the test."
The teacher gave a small nod. He made a hand sign to the other teacher, then placed his palm on Han Zhao's forehead. At once, Huan Zhao felt some of his energy being pulled out.
Then the teacher started using a spell and pressed his other hand onto the altar in the middle of the platform.
As the energy and the spell flowed into the altar, the altar gave a slight shake. A moment later, a huge gate appeared above it. The gate looked both real and unreal at the same time. It seemed close enough to touch, but also felt like it was not truly in this world.
When it was done, the teacher stepped back to Han Zhao's side and asked in a serious voice, "Are you ready?"
Han Zhao nodded.
"Then go near the gate and push it. Try to open it. If you can't, then you have failed."
The teacher paused for a moment, then added, "Remember this. Give it everything you have. Push past your limit."
After hearing this, he nodded and walked to the gate. He put his hand on it, took a deep breath, and started pushing with all his strength.
He forced the messy thoughts out of his head and tried to focus only on the energy moving inside his body from the potion. He guided that energy forward and pushed at the gate with everything he had.
The gate gave a small shake, but that was all. It still stood there, huge and unmoving, as if nothing had happened.
No matter how hard he pushed, the gate would not move even a little.
As more time passed, his body started to feel heavy. His strength kept leaving him, and the energy inside him was almost gone, but the gate still did not move.
When he saw that, his heart sank. His eyes turned red, and he looked like he was about to cry.
Still, he did not give up. In desperation, he gathered the last bit of strength left in his body and pushed one more time, but... the gate did not move even an inch.
The teacher watched the whole thing and, after checking the time, spoke with some regret in his voice. "Stop now, student. Your time is over, and sadly, you have failed."
Hearing that, he bit his lip hard to stop himself from crying. Then he lowered his head and slowly walked down from the altar.
The teacher shook his head a little and tried to comfort him. "It's alright. Most people cannot open the gate. Only a small number succeed. At least you can still live a safe life as an ordinary person."
As Han Zhao walked down the stairs, Teacher looked over all the participants and said, "For almost all of you, the result will be the same. Only people with talent, luck, and strong will can awaken. So be ready for the chance that you may fail."
"But that doesn't mean you should stop trying or lose hope. Every one of you still has a small chance to succeed, as long as your will is strong and you don't give up."
Aren watched the whole thing quietly. At first, he was amazed. Things like the altar appearing out of nowhere were completely impossible on Earth, so it really shocked him. But after that first feeling faded, nervousness slowly took over. He understood very clearly that this ceremony would decide the direction of his new life.
If he awakened, he could become a dimension explorer and see all kinds of strange and amazing things. If he failed, then he might stay like he was before, just another unknown person, same as on Earth.
Even with all those thoughts in his head, the ceremony kept going like normal.
One by one, the participants stepped onto the stage. Their eyes were full of tension and hope when they went up, but when they came back down, most of them had red eyes and disappointed faces.
The success rate was painfully low. Most of the people here were ordinary. They had no big background, no special help, and no one to rely on. If they wanted to awaken, they could only depend on themselves.
The ceremony went on. Hundreds of participants tried their luck, but not a single one managed to awaken. No matter how hard they pushed themselves or how much effort they used, they still could not open the gate.
The rest of the students were getting more and more nervous. Every time someone failed, their own hope dropped a little. It was not just disappointing to watch, it also shook their confidence.
"Next, Mike Tail."
The teacher called out his name, and a blond-haired boy stepped onto the stage. He drank the potion, then placed his hands on the gate and pushed.
At first, nothing happened.
For a few moments, the gate did not move at all. Mike gritted his teeth and kept pushing. He used all the strength he had. His face turned red, and his body tensed up as he forced himself harder and harder.
Then, finally, the door shook.
A small vibration ran through it, and slowly, very slowly, it began to open.
It was only a little. Mike could not push it open far. But even that small gap was enough. It meant he had passed the awakening ceremony. He had become an Awakener. He had opened the Dimension Origin Gate.
The moment the gate opened, Mike felt something change inside him.
A strange energy began to flow from the gate above the altar and into his body. It was new and unfamiliar, but it did not feel bad. In fact, it felt warm and nice, like sitting in hot water after being tired all day. The energy seemed to come from some distant, unreal place, something far beyond this world.
As Mike stood there, he could suddenly feel the gate inside his own mind. It was clear and real, as if it had connected itself to his consciousness. No, more than that, it almost felt like the gate itself now existed inside his head.
Then he realized something else. Through his consciousness, he could actually enter it.
"Congratulations, Mike, on your awakening."
The teacher's friendly voice pulled him out of his thoughts.
Mike blinked and looked up.
The teacher smiled and continued, "Now that you've opened the gate, there are a few things you need to do next."
He pointed at another teacher nearby.
"Go with Mr. Henderson to the Association of Explorers. They'll explain everything you need to know about awakening and exploration."
Mike nodded and went with Mr. Henderson to the association.
At the same time, the ceremony was still going on inside the hall.
One person's success had given the others some hope. It made people feel a little better, and for a while, their confidence came back.
But the overall result was still bad.
A few hundred people later, another girl stepped onto the stage and successfully awakened. She became an Awakener too.
Even with two people succeeding, the failure rate was still scary. The hope on people's faces slowly started to disappear again.
After nearly 1,600 participants, another boy walked up to the stage. He had a slightly proud look on his face. This time, he succeeded and awakened as a dimension explorer.
That caused a small stir in the crowd. A few people started whispering, and their voices reached Aren, who was still waiting for his turn near the end of the line. He was among the last hundred left.
"Isn't that businessman Nick Horse's son?"
"Yeah, that's him. I didn't think he would come here."
"Why wouldn't he? Only the empire can provide forced awakening potions without side effects. No matter how rich his family is, that won't help in this matter."
"Maybe not for that, but he still must have used other resources to help himself awaken. His father is rich, and people say he has ties with high-level officials."
"Maybe. Who knows? It could also be because of his talent. Anyway, it's not something I have."
"Sigh... becoming an explorer is really hard. I honestly don't have much hope for myself."
Aren listened to them talk and quietly thought to himself, Yeah, there really is a big difference between having support and having none.
The ceremony kept going. One after another, people went up. After around 1,900 participants, it was finally Aren's turn.
He walked to the altar and did exactly what the teacher told him to do. He drank the potion.
The moment it went down, he felt something strange inside his body. A strong wave of energy spread through him. At the same time, he felt a faint connection to something far away, like a gate hidden deep inside his mind.
The teacher then pulled out a tiny strand of energy from Aren's body and merged it into that gate.