3 days later
Today was the Awakening Ceremony of the youngest generation of the Voidhaven family . The banquet hall was already bustling with people as it was also the day where many prodigies would be born . The descendants of the branch as well as the main family are preparing for the Awakening Ceremony .
The number of descendants to be awakened today were 5 . Among them three boys and two girls . Aries was the only main family descendant . His status as the main family descendant was special . He had slightly weaker power and authority as the heads of the branch families . The same was true for Rena as well .
She receives additional treatment and respect because she awakened an [SSS-Rank Ice Talent : Eternal Zero] and is also the only awakener of the [Origin Constitution] . She is a pure-blood awakener and probably the only one in the current generations of the Voidhaven family .
….
Aries was inside his room preparing himself for the ceremony . He wasn't particularly nervous because he has a system and it could be said to be his trump card and golden finger but still he didn't slack off . He needs to remain confident and focus on growing stronger even if he awakens an A-Rank talent .
He was wearing a white dress with golden linnings similar to the one Rena was wearing the other day but more vibrant . His dress coupled with his handsome face released an otherwordly aura around him . His personality was cold but that doesn't mean it was completely devoid of warmth .
"You look good , my son" a voice suddenly came from the direction of the door .
The person who said that was a lady . She wore a elegant long dress which was red in color . Her raven hair similar to Aries reaches almost her waist and those sapphire-blue eyes could capture anything within the vast sea it contained . It was Aries and Rena's mother and an Rank 9 expert 'Evelyn Von Rainhafer' . She was also the eldest daughter of the Rainhafer family and the wife of the current patriarch .
Aries immediately recognised the person as he bowed slightly and said :
"It's good to see you , Mother"
"Why do you act so formal ? I am your mother , you know" said Evelyn as she slowly came towards Aries and stood before him . She raised both of her hands to touch Aries's face as she said with a joking tone :
"Hmm…Just as I expected , you are too handsome . Be careful or you might kill some young women"
"I will be , Mother" said Aries in a serious tone .
Evelyn sighed slowly upon hearing Aries . Her son was told to be the strongest prodigy of the youngest generation but he had a distant attitude . His attitude and maturity weren't something people his age could possess . She tried countless times to open Aries's inner self and uncover the truth behind his personality but she couldn't . A force countless times stronger than her was blocking her .
She eventually left investigating but her heart seemed to have believed that her son is anything but normal . Though it didn't made her to love her son any less . She loved both of her children equally and would act like an ordinary mother whenever her children accomplished something .
Aries knew about his mother's personality very well and thus he treated her with kindness and respect . He had a mother in his past life and she died right in front of him . Until her last moment , she tried her best to protect her children from danger and was the first to be engulfed in flames .
"Mother , let's go"
"Alright" Evelyn noticed some changes in Aries but she didn't press furthur .
They both walked out of the room and reached the elevator . It wasn't a normal elevator at all . It ran with the help of energy stones and uses levitation magic . It was a grand elevator and it wasn't small at all . It's area is 100 sq.meters and was decorated with high-tech features and noble decorations . They entered the elevator as the door closed and started to ascend .
During the whole time , neither Aries nor Evelyn spoke a word . They reached the 50th floor of the building . This was the main family's banquet hall and had the capacity to accommodate more than 10,000 people . This hall was built using spatial magic and exists in a completely different space from the rest . The elevators were the key . You need to enter the place using the elevators or else you can't enter that space where the actual hall exists . It's like a portal connecting one space to another .
As soon as they exited the elevator , a butler came towards them and bowed and then , said respectfully :
"Welcome , First Young Master and Lady Evelyn . I am here to escort you" .
He started walking infront of both of them and led them towards a huge wooden door . The material appeared to be wood but the color , texture and strength of the wood made it clear to Aries that this was not any ordinary wood .
Aries was right about his observation . The door is made with a special material which can withstand attacks upto Rank 7 and is featured with high-tech technology . They came in front of the door as a scanner popped up from the top of the door frame . It scanned every single cell and detail about him on it's database . It did the same with his mother as well . Aries had his fingerprint and iris print registered which Evelyn already has . They entered the huge hall .
It was atleast the size of a football ground . The hall was brightly lit by the ceiling lights around the whole room . The hall was filled with people wearing different kinds of dresses . The dresses were different but each and every one of them released a vibe of elegantness . On the center of this hall lies a huge statue .
The statue wasn't of anyone like one would expect but rather it was an inverted sword stabbed into the ground and it was radiating some kind of aura . It was as if the sword statue was alive . Aries asked :
"Mother , is that …?"
"That is the Awakening Stone . It was brought by the first patriarch and placed here for almost 500 years"
"That's long.." said Aries . His expressions didn't show any changes but his voice was a bit surprised . Evelyn just smiled upon hearing his voice .
As soon as they entered , slight murmurs started to sound among the people present in the hall . Aries just looked around the hall with his indifferent eyes . He noticed people from various aristrocrat families have gathered here . He even noticed the members of other 4 ducal families as well . A small smile appeared on his face as he was interested to see that how things are going to unfold .
He looked around the location of the Rainhafer family once more but didn't find the person he was looking for . Then , he remembered something . The fact that 'she' was born on the same day as him made him realize that she might be having her awakening ceremony right about now . He threw the thought at the back of his head and focused .
He saw 7 grand thrones at the end of the hall . These 7 thrones were occupied by the strongest members of the Voidhaven family according to their power . These 7 members make up the 'Council' and is the major decision making body of the Voidhaven family .
Evelyn went ahead and sat on the throne on the left side of the grand throne in the middle which was the seat for the third strongest person . That's right , Evelyn who is Aries and Rena's mother and the wife of the current patriarch is actually the third strongest person in the family . Even Aries wasn't aware of this fact . His face showed a look of surprise for the first time but it quickly subsided .
He went ahead and bowed in front of the 7 thrones . He said in a tone which was serious but respectful :
"I greet the Patriarch"
"Hmm…" Argent looked down from his throne towards Aries . His gaze locked onto him for a few moments as a smile formed on Argent's lips . He said in a cold and heavy tone :
"You are something special"
"What does that mean , Patriarch ?" asked Aries who was a little surprised .
"I can sense something dormant inside you . It is not a threat but an ally . Use it well" said Argent .
"Yes . I understand" even though Aries hadn't got the slightest idea about what he was talking but he put that matter for aside .
….
Argent's voice sounded in the hall :
"Now that everyone's gathered here . I would like to start the Awakening Ceremony"
The hall was filled with bustling . These people came from different noble families with the main purpose of forming connections . They wanted to become acquainted to the young generations of the Voidhaven family to gain a significant amount of influence . The reason is that in the high-society of even this modern era requires a backer .
The ducal families or other strong families aren't under any threat about power and influence and remain in a neutral position but among the weaker sections of nobility having a backer as strong as Voidhaven family makes others stay away from them .
As soon as Argent said that 5 young people started forwarding towards the Awakening Stone . Among them was Aries who had just left his sister's side and stood in front of the statue . Argent's voice sounded again :
"Ren Van Voidhaven , come forward"
Ren came forward . He was the son of Richard Van Voidhaven who is the 7th member of the Council and also the weakest among the branch families . He went ahead and placed his hand on the Awakening Stone . The stone started to glow in an ethereal glow and suddenly a gust of wind swept past the hall and concentrated around Ren . The tornado started to grow bigger and bigger and the glow of the sword started to rise .
Ren's eyes were closed as he was inside his inner sea of conciousness watching the Awakening of his [Core] and [Elemental Affinity] . The process subsided after 15 seconds as a bright holographic screen was projected :
'Ren Van Voidhaven . A-Rank (Wind Ability) : Tempest'
Ren's face lit up with joy . His father was the weakest because he has a B-Rank ability and used many resources to forcibly increase his strength to the current place . This made him unable to breakthrough furthur and remain in that place for the rest of his life but A-Rank was different . It had the potential to breakthrough into Rank 9 .
Then came the other members . After half an hour or so , a lady walked towards the Awakening Stone . She was the daughter of the 2nd member of the Council . Everyone till now had awakened A-Rank Talents . She went ahead and stood in front of the sword and placed her hand . The sword started to glow as a chilling cold was felt throughout the hall .
Many people noticed that the walls and ceilings have started to freeze at a very fast rate . This chilling cold was slightly greater than the one felt by them when they attended the awakening ceremony of Rena Von Voidhaven . Even Aries was surprised for a moment . The chill subsided after almost 25 seconds as the holographic screen popped up .
'Lina Van Voidhaven . SS-Rank (Ice Talent) : Glacier'
The hall was immediately filled with bustling . These people have seen people the other members of the branch family until now and imagined that this batch of descendants were a little less special from before . They had some expectations from Aries Voidhaven to awaken an SS-Rank Talent but a member from a branch family surpassed that expectation .
Everyone present in the hall subconciously looked towards Aries . They expected him to look tense or confused but what they saw was beyond expectations . They saw him smiling . The smile was bright and full of confidence . People didn't understand the reason behind this .
Argent's voice rang out :
"Very good , Lina Van Voidhaven . From today , your status will be elevated to slightly weaker than the main family descendants"
This was like an imperial decree but they had to agree . Lina just bowed in respect and didn't have any arrogant look on her face . Aries planned to make her an ally but if she had an arrogant personality then he would definitely reconsider .
"Next up , Aries Von Voidhaven"
Aries went ahead and stepped on the stage . Everyone was looking towards him as he placed his hand on the sword statue . The statue started to glow but somehow it was more brighter than usual . The blinding light covered almost the entire hall . As the light subsided a bit , everyone saw that Aries was standing there and was covered in a purple flow of energy . The most terrifying part is that the space around him had started to crack as it broke like fragile glass .
Inside Aries's sea of conciousness
He saw a ocean . This ocean wasn't blue or green but rather purple . The dark purple color of the ocean was vibrant . Aries saw that a seal of an elemental affinity was forming on his sea of conciousness . The seal represented a crack which was opened from the middle . Aries knows this seal very well . He read about the different seals formed during an awakening which represents the 8 basic elements and 3 supreme elements .
The 8 basic elements are :
Fire
Water
Wind
Earth
Lightning
Ice
Light
Darkness
The 3 supreme elements were :
Space
Time
Destruction
The seal formed on Aries was of that of the 'Space Element' . But , something was wrong .
Aries noticed that after the seal of space started forming seals of other elements as well . These seals were dimmer than space seal but it formed which should have been impossible . Every person of every race awakens to just 1 element . There have been cases in history where they awakened 2 elements and are known as Dual Elementalists …
…But all of them ?
It was unheard of in the entire history of any race . Not even the celestials or mythical creatures who are considered higher races compared to humans . Aries slowly opened his eyes in his own place . He found himself standing in front of the statue and it was silent .
Too silent as if he was alone .
He glanced back and saw that all the people of the hall were silent . Even the heads of the families and the people from the four ducal families . They all stared at Aries like he was some kind of god . At that moment , two holographic screen popped up in front of everyone as a voice sounded as well .
'Aries Von Voidhaven . X-Rank (Space Talent) : Eternal Void'
'Aries Von Voidhaven . SSS-Rank (Lightning Talent) : Chaos Lightning'
A duel elementalist .
Aries was a dual elementalist and the first one to appear after 500 years . The hall suddenly begame agitated . They all started to discuss among themselves and their voices were loud enough to be heard by everyone . Aries Von Voidhaven is not only a dual elementalist but one of his talents is X-Rank , which is unheard of .
X-Rank Talents have never appeared before but their were references of them . Everyone thought that this was a legend or myth until today . They saw the birth of the first X-Rank in history . The system voice sounded inside his mind .
[X-Rank Talent Awakened]
[Congratulations , Aries Von Voidhaven]
[You are chosen to be the true pinnacle of every race]