His back was filled with cold sweat. He was sure what he just experienced was definitely not a dream, but on the other side, it's not like he knew what just happened either.
He sighed as he looked at the window and noticed the droplets of rain pouring down.
He glanced at the alarm clock and was surprised to find out that more than 8 hours had already passed. He quickly got out of bed and headed outside, beginning training amidst the rain. He looked at the sky, and a premonition came to him.
"I really don't like the unknown."
Ten years later~
Today was going to be an interesting day and maybe the most important one.
Just a week ago, he turned fifteen. Meaning he would take part in the awakening ceremony that happened every year in the Moonless City.
Today, the sky was clear, and a fresh breeze fluctuated his clothes as he smelled the aroma permeating in the air.
"Lucy, take a shower. You're sweaty because of your training, hurry up. We only have one hour left."
He looked at his mother who was talking to him through an opened window.
He glanced at his clothes, which were drenched in sweat and didn't hesitate to enter inside and take a cold shower.
Ever since the day he picked up that wooden sword, he never stopped practicing, not even once in these 10 years.
After he was done washing up, he looked at the mirror proudly. His baby fat was already gone, and he had a sharp jawline. As for his other features, they also received a glow-up, making him the dream of any woman.
He looked at the clock and realized that he needed to hurry up if he wanted to make the ceremony on time.
He dressed in simple clothes. Black pants, a white v-neck T-shirt, and a black jacket on top, ending it all with cool designed shoes.
He once checked the clock on his HoloWatch. After a bit of annoying persuasion, his parents gave in and bought him one, even though it's expensive, it's totally worth it.
With access to the internet, he tried to find all the information he could.
World powers, organizations, kingdoms, federations.
The world truly was a mix of both medieval and modern society.
His current location, the Moonless city, is situated inside the Fanrona Federation. The federation hosted mostly 95% humans, and the rest were demi-humans. Till this day, he'd only seen one demi-human, and he looked exactly as one can picture them. Because the demi-human was fox-kin, he had fox ears and a tail. Other than those mutations, he resembled a human. Making him assume that he gained the perks of these mutations, better hearing and a tail. If one asked him that's better than nothing.
Fifteen minutes later.
"Come on, hop in, we're gonna be late." His father used the siren of the car.
He was ready, but of course, his mother wasn't. Women are always late no matter where he goes.
They had to wait another five minutes before she finally was ready. Thankfully there was no traffic, so they were on time.
The world seemed advanced in engineering, being able to produce floating cars with the help of mana crystals.
Mana crystals have many uses. And one of them is that they can be used as a clean energy source. They are produced by beasts inside their bodies; at first, they need to be extracted so they can be used.
So most of the engines work better with them. Air pollution and traffic are no longer a thing, he guessed.
However, as they got closer to the location, they realized there were simply too many people, so his father left the car in a parking space, and they were forced to walk.
There was a massive crowd surrounding a very large platform. The platform was high enough so nobody can jump on it.
"Let's go, it's going to start any minute now."
His father guided him, and they arrived backstage. Because he was one of the many who is going to be awakened, he was obviously allowed to enter, and so was his father for support. Because it was only limited for one, his mother had to join the crowd and watch him from there.
Backstage, there were a lot of kids his age. When he entered, all of them looked curiously and then lost interest. Each of them had a parent inside as well.
"Listen well, Luciel. No matter what talent you awaken, you'll always have us. Understand?"
His father was rather serious as he grabbed his shoulders. But such comfort was not needed; he knew that both him and mom loved him unconditionally.
"I know." He nodded and looked at his father with a smile.
"All candidates gather at the platform. The Awakening Ceremony is about to start."
"Good luck, buddy!" His father patted him on the shoulders, and he climbed the stairs leading to the platform. He immediately noticed the blinding light, making him hold his arm up. He looked around and found out he's the first to show up. There was a huge holographic screen above the platform, showing his face. He was used to cameras, so he didn't mind.
There were about a hundred tables all over the platform, and on top of each of those tables was a golden pill and a glass of water.
At first, when he heard about awakening ceremonies, he thought it was going to be a priest or something.
For one to successfully awaken, they'll have to swallow the golden pill. The golden pill plays the role of fire; it ignites their magicules in their bodies, which also play the role of gasoline.
So when magicules awaken, the interface system will be connected to them, which would also showcase their awakened talent.
Before the Will of the World appeared, the inhabitants of the world weren't acknowledged by it, that's why the only way to gain strength was through magic shared by the otherworldly newcomers. Clearly that wasn't enough against the Voidborn, so the Will of the World gave them the ability to have a talent and level up.
Talents were a game-changer, and they were ranked accordingly from F-Rank, the lowest potential, to SSS-Rank, the strongest, the highest potential.
But now with a new system in place. Awakening ceremonies were issued.
At the age of fifteen, the ripe age where their bodies are accustomed to the magicules in the surrounding, they awaken the magicules inside of them, and by doing so, they also complete the requirements to gain a talent and the system interface.
"Who is this handsome boy?" "So cool." "I'll awaken like him when I'm older."
He looked at the crowd where all kinds of ages participated. Weirdly enough, his parents never took him to these ceremonies.
After a few seconds, others started to enter the platform, and everyone went near a table. He went to the furthest corner he could find and looked at the others.
The only ones who piqued his interest were twins. A girl and a boy. Both of them had hair that was split between two colors, platinum and red. The boy had the red hair on the right side of his head, while the girl on the left side. And oddly enough, they both seemed very different.
The boy had a shy and scared expression on his face while his sister stood with her chin slightly up and a very confident expression.
Soon, the entire arena was filled with kids at the age of 15.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the awakening ceremony has begun. Let's see if we are going to get someone of high talent today and make our Moonless City proud."
A round of cheers followed behind the announcement, showcasing the excitement of the crowd.
'Tsk' he clicked in his mind. When they awaken their magicules, different colors of aura come out of their bodies depending on the affinity they have for magicules.
The lowest grade of affinity was Green. Then followed by Brown, Blue, Yellow, Silver, Red, Black, and Violet.
In the history of the Moonless City, the highest recorded is Silver. The city wasn't really popular; it was a standard city that didn't offer more than others, hence its ordinance.
He wasn't really pleased with such a blatant reveal of private information, but at least their talent won't be revealed.
"Welcome to the Awakening Ceremony, little gems. As you can see, the golden pill in front of your table will change your path of life. I want everyone to gulp the pill when the countdown ends."
As soon as the announcement finished, a hologram with a timer appeared.
15 seconds.
"14seconds"
The crowd started to count.
He took the pill in his hand and waited for the timer to hit 0.
As soon as it hit 0. He gulped the pill down and let it do its magic. Some kids were also slightly nervous as their hands shook in excitement, and some were scared they'd get a trash talent or might not even awaken at all.
If in a world where absolute strength matters and your strength is pitiful, then it will be extremely hard. So everyone is hoping for a decent talent.
Not many people cared about their magicule affinity. Only if one wanted to be a Sorcerer or a magicule related profession would they care. As for the others, they put their hopes with a talent.
Talents indeed have a lot of potential. Their range varies from the talents; they could be small, or they could be enormous.
For example, there can be a talent called {Strength}, where it boosted your strength stat depending on the rank of the talent with certain conditions for certain periods of time. Or {Tiger Claw}, It will give you the ability to shapeshift your hand to a tiger's claw
For those who have a wide range of usefulness, an example could also be {Earth Lord} which is graded at least at C-Rank. Which would give you freedom to the Earth element and will give you a wide range of abilities you can develop from.
There are some cases where a person awakens a magicule related talent, and because of the person's lack of affinity towards magicules, the talent is limited. Such is a case where elements are talked about. To use a talent regarding of the element, magicules will be used as fuel. However, for talents that are on the physical side, it would be stamina.
'I better get something good'
Those were his last thoughts as he felt like he disconnected from the real world.
…
"Where the hell am I?"