The silence that followed the glow was more deafening than any roar. The white light had dissipated, but it had engraved a phantom image in the retina of all the witnesses. At the center of this absence of noise, Hakime remained standing, his hand still resting on the awakening stone, which had regained its appearance of inert black crystal. Within him, a calm, titanic ocean of energy replaced the turbulent flow of awakening. He felt every particle of light in the air as an extension of his own body.
Then the outside world came back in full force.
On the stage, it was first of all awe. The guild leaders, gaping, stared at the stone and then Hakime, unable to formulate a coherent thought. The leader of the Breisefers, who had risen for Loïd, had fallen heavily on his seat, his eyes bulging. The mistress of the Perspicaceous Ombles had lost her calculating smile; her face was a blank page, emptied of any strategy.
The ad officer frantically looked at his tablet. The data flashed, inconsistent, before stabilizing. Her voice, when she came out, was a strangled croak, barely audible.
"Ha... Hakime... Grade... Grade... SSS."
He whispered, as if he was afraid that the words, spoken too loudly, would cause the dome to collapse.
The whisper was not understood by everyone. Someone in the crowd shouted, "What did he say?"
"SSS? Does it exist?"
"It's a mistake of the machine!"
Then, the news spread like wildfire, triggering a deafening din. The confusion turned into a frenzy. The recruiters, regaining their senses, rushed to the edge of the stage, almost jostling for a better view. Their voices mingled in a chaotic chorus.
"Young man! The Breisefer Guild offers you a lifetime contract, a share of the profits!"
"Ignore them! The Insightful Shadows can offer you protection and secret knowledge!"
"The Valerius family is ready to adopt you, to make you their heir!"
It was a spectacle of desolation and sheer lust. They didn't see the teenager, only the mythical rank, the ultimate weapon.
Through the hubbub, Hakime perceived individual glances that pierced him. Lyra, of the Rares group, stared at him with a new intensity. His calm had given way to a burning curiosity, mixed with a hint of defiance. Glass and light... was it a symbiosis of destiny?
Then there was Loïd. The triumphant flame that inhabited it moments earlier had been extinguished, replaced by absolute cold. His fist was clenched to whiten the joints. There was no childish jealousy in his eyes, but a cold anger, that of a prince who sees a usurper come out of nowhere. The sun of his own awakening had just been eclipsed by a supernova.
The most striking look, however, was that of Michelle White. She hadn't moved. She hadn't screamed. She watched Hakime with the attention of a strategist examining a chess piece that changed all the rules of the game. His expression was indecipherable, but his very silence was more eloquent than the screams of recruiters. She saw beyond the rank, she saw the complications, the dangers, the unreasonable hope that this teenager represented.
The situation was threatening to degenerate. That's when Michelle White acts. With a simple wave of the hand, a sudden cold invades the air, instantly calming the agitation. She doesn't say anything. She didn't need to do that. Two elite bodyguards, who stood in the shadows, materialized on both sides of Hakime.
"Come with us, sir," said one of them, his neutral but firm voice.
Hakime, still reeling from the inner revelation, slowly nodded. He removed his hand from the stone, the gesture seeming to put an end to the ceremony. He took one last look at the hysterical crowd, with faces marked by lust or disbelief, and then turned his heels.
Escorted by the guards, he left the main room, the sliding doors closing behind him, cutting off the noise and madness. The awakening ceremony was officially over. But for Hakime, it was just the prelude. The world had just assigned him a role, and the weight of that responsibility suddenly fell on his shoulders as he walked down the silent corridor, out of sight.