It was complete silence.
Everyone was staring at him.
Lucan walked forward, heart beating like a drum, but he kept a calm look on his face.
He stood in front of the Pillar of Resonance and slowly raised his palm to it. It felt warm.
Eyes closed and breath held, Lucan felt the priest's hand on top of him.
He opened his eyes, and for a brief moment, it seemed like the priest had a horrified look on his face.
The next moment, however, his expression came back to normal. The High Priest closed his eyes.
Lucan could swear that the priest had a small sneer on his mouth.
Finally, the priest opened his eyes and yelled out.
"Essence of Breeze."
The crowd went into a frenzy.
"Not even wind?"
"That's a weak one."
"That's the Grey boy?"
Lucan's world shattered. Everything he had worked for, everyone's expectations. He had failed. His mind went fuzzy.
Slowly walking back to the crowd, Lucan couldn't look at the nobles, or anyone for that matter.
"Lucan…" muttered Elias.
"I'm fine," Lucan replied.
Lucan was stuck in a daze for the rest of the ceremony. The charm around his neck now felt like a mockery rather than a blessing.
The Choosing Ceremony had concluded.
Lucan was walking home. He thought about how his father would react. The proud, gifted prodigy of the noble Grey clan, given an Essence that can barely move a plastic bottle.
As he was walking, a group of kids, around his age, appeared from beside the corner.
"Hey, you're the Grey kid, right?" the strongest-looking one said.
"Yeah," Lucan replied. "Who are you?"
"You don't need to know that."
The strong, tall one walked forward until he was inches from Lucan.
"What do you want?" Lucan asked.
"We just wanted to see the prodigy up close," he sneered. "The Grey heir… with the Essence of a fart."
Laughter erupted from his crew.
Lucan clenched his fist, but didn't do anything. His heart was still heavy from the ceremony.
"Not gonna blow us away, Breeze Boy?" another taunted.
Lucan didn't answer. He turned to walk past them.
Bad choice.
A fist slammed into his gut.
Lucan stumbled back, breath knocked out of him. They laughed again.
He could barely stand when the next punch came, followed by another. One of them kicked his legs, making him fall. The token around his neck fell to the ground.
"Ooh, what's this?" one of the boys mocked, grabbing the charm.
"Don't you dare touch that!" Lucan tried to take it back.
A kick to his ribs silenced him.
Lucan fell to the ground.
They laughed again. The boy who took the charm threw it at him.
"Tell your father that the world doesn't care about bloodlines anymore," the leader said, grinning. "Only power."
They walked away, snickering, leaving Lucan crumpled on the ground. Eyes dazed, face bruised, and dignity shattered.
He stayed there for a while, breathing heavily.
There was no one there to help him.
It was a strange coincidence that they met in a place rarely visited.
He finally stood. Not bravely. Not proudly. But… barely.
His robes had become dirty. The streets were quieter now. The celebrations had stopped.
He limped home like a zombie. Each step throbbed with pain. But the pain in his body couldn't match the pain in his heart.
And then, he reached his house.
Lucan stood at the front door.
His hand reached for the handle.
He hesitated.
Because behind that door was the man whose pride he had shattered.
Lucan opened the door.
Caelan Gray was waiting.