Luke sat quietly on the bed, his face calm, but inside, he was smiling. Like a child who had just been given Christmas present, he was enthusiastic.
A magic world… summons… awakening… it all felt unreal, yet here he was. He kept it in, but inwardly, he was grinning like someone who had finally lost his senses.
'I actually ended up inside a fantasy world…and I died reading a fantasy novel, and given a second chance in a fantasy world.'
"Luke?" He finally came back to his senses and looked up. The nurse stood beside him, checking her notes before giving him a small nod. "I've already examined you. There's nothing wrong anymore. You can be discharged."
Luke nodded once. "…Alright." this Luke was very handsome if not for the dark circles around his eyes that made him always look tired and his slim body.
She paused for a second, like she found his calmness strange, then turned and left. The curtain fell back into place, and the room became quiet again.
Ethan moved closer immediately. "You sure you're okay now?" he asked.
"Yeah I'm fine, thanks," Luke replied, then looked at him.
"No need to worry, that son of a bitch called Karl would pay when we become much stronger to defeat him," Ethan said with full confidence of surpassing him one day.
Luke chuckled softly while swinging his leg to sit at the edge and he remembered, "So… today is the awakening, right?"
Ethan frowned. "You really forgot about it…" he muttered, then sighed. "Yeah. Today is the Aether Awakening."
Luke nodded slowly, then asked, "They're going to make us show our summons, right? How are we even supposed to have one?"
Ethan shook his head. "We don't have one yet. That's what the awakening is for." He leaned a bit closer as he explained. "They take us to a place called a Rift. It's like a space filled with raw mana. Too much of it. If you're not strong enough, it can overwhelm you…."
Luke listened carefully, his eyes steady. "But if you can handle it," Ethan continued, "that mana connects you to another world, where your summon exists. That's where the contract happens."
Luke tilted his head slightly. "…So anyone can get anything?"
Ethan shook his head immediately. "No. It doesn't work like that. Your own strength decides what kind of summon you can get."
Luke's eyes sharpened a little. "If you're weak," Ethan said, his tone turning blunt, "you'll attract a weak summon. If you're strong, then stronger ones respond to you. It's like… they choose you based on what you can handle."
Summons are ranked:
Common Tier – 1.0 – 10.0
Uncommon Tier – 10.1 – 25.0
Rare Tier – 25.1 – 45.0
Elite Tier – 45.1 – 65.0
King Tier – 65.1 – 80.0
Emperor Tier – 80.1 – 90.0
Mythic Tier – 90.1 – 100.0
The numbers are the mana gauges. The higher the tier, the more powerful the summon and it was almost impossible for a student summon's to get to a mythic level but only a guy.
The strongest S-rank in the school, only his summon breached that level, but it was an early stage mythic summon, he'll be further described gradually. "People like us…" he paused, his expression darkening slightly, "…we'll probably end up with something low or a little past it."
Luke leaned back slightly, letting the information settle. So strength decides everything… even before you start.
Ethan let out a small breath. "That's why those guys act the way they do. They already know they're stronger than us. So they're confident they'll get better summons." A short silence followed.
Luke's expression stayed calm, but inside, he was smiling again. Not the same bored smile from before. This one was sharp. Interested. "…I see," he said quietly.
Ethan glanced at him. "Why do you look like that?"
Luke shook his head. "Nothing."
Ethan let out a breath and stood up. "We should get ready. We can't be late for the awakening," he said, his tone a mix of nervous and serious. Luke nodded and got off the bed, his movements steady now, his mind already focused on what was coming next.
Not long after, they arrived at the academy's assembly hall. It was massive, far bigger than anything Luke expected. The floor stretched wide, polished and clean, while rows of seats rose high above in layers, like steps climbing toward the ceiling.
Freshmen filled almost every seat, voices echoing across the hall, some excited, some nervous, others trying to act confident. The air itself felt tense. At the center stood a man.
He looked calm, but there was weight in his presence alone. His posture was straight, his gaze sharp, and when he spoke, the entire hall went quiet almost instantly. "My name is George," he said. "Head of this academy."
"This is the Aether Awakening for freshmen's. What happens here will decide your future." His eyes moved across the students, cold and steady. "If your mana gauge does not reach 10.0, you will be disqualified immediately. We are not here to train the weak. Only those with potential will remain."
"Your Mana gauges determines your rank."
E-Rank – 10.1 – 25.0
D-Rank – 25.1 – 45.0
C-Rank – 45.1 – 65.0
B-Rank – 65.1 – 80.0
A-Rank – 80.1 – 89.0
S-Rank – 89.1 – 95.0
In this case, a student can get to S-rank but not easily, the one that has not been recorded in any academy was a student mana gauge surpassing 95.0, the guy who I talked about who had the strongest summon in the academy (within the students), his mana gauge was 92.0.
A wave of tension spread through the hall. George continued, "You will place your hand on the crystal. Focus your mind. Let your mana flow into it. That will determine your level." He paused slightly before adding, "After that, you will enter the Rift. Whether you fail… depends on you."
His voice lowered just a little. "Even if your mana is high, if you cannot endure the Rift, you will be removed." Silence followed.
Then the trials began. One by one, students were called forward. Some passed, some failed, and each result brought either relief or quiet despair.
Luke stood among them, watching calmly, until suddenly the guy called karl and his gang looked at him and Karl grinned, a smile of confidence that like was going to embarrass himself in front of everyone, but he didn't even care about the guy now, since it was the former Luke and him that had a beef.
He could feel someone watching him intensely, his brows shifted slightly as he looked up toward the higher rows of seats.
That's when he saw her. A girl with crimson hair that stood out even from a distance, her ocean-blue eyes fixed directly on him. She was… beautiful. Not just normal beauty, but the kind that made people pause without realizing it.
She was among the strongest S-ranked students in Aether Academy. For a moment, their eyes met. Then she looked away.
Luke frowned slightly, confused by it. "…What was that?" he muttered under his breath. He couldn't recognize her since he couldn't see her very well, the freshmen were all standing in the ground while the row of circular arrangements of seats were above them.
But before he could think more about it, his eyes shifted again, and landed on someone else. He was still among the top students in the S-ranked and he was popular just like the crimson haired girl.
A/N: Don't forget to add book to your library if you enjoyed this few chapters.