You lucky fool

Quiet murmurs spread in the audience. A few teachers' eyes widened in surprise. Some of the students also understood what was happening. But even those who didn't, recognized that something special was going on.

With bated breath the audience stared at a man and woman among the awakeners. So far, they hadn't shown any reaction. The teacher who came with them was already slumped in his seat in the VIP area, dreading his employer's rage. If both their trainees this time didn't show any potential, they would have wasted a lot of time and resources.

But suddenly someone tapped the black-haired man's shoulder.

"Hey, Irz, open your eyes you lucky fool!"

Irz was confused. He wasn't on bad blood with anyone, right? Why were they mocking him? Gritting his teeth the teacher just wanted to lash out at his rude colleague, when he stared at the stage in disbelief.

More precisely he stared at his two students. He rubbed his eyes. Could something this good really be true? Suddenly he wanted to break out in laughter but quickly put his hands before his mouth. He couldn't disturb his students during this important moment.

On the stage Doan and Tann had caught everyone's attention. The siblings, who hadn't shown any signs of awakening so far, were now envied by everyone. All of this only because a slight green light appeared on their skins. It was still weak, looking as if it would extinguish at any moment. It flickered feebly. But it was there.

Vyrohna also noticed the phenomenon. Compared to others her mind was more stable. Reacting immediately, she directed more of the white light towards the two bodies.

Tepo noticed that even the old man on the stage, who looked completely disinterested so far, rose his brows slightly. His reaction was in stark contrast to those shown by other bigshots.

The president of Blue Hawk School nodded with praise in his eyes, while the mayor couldn't suppress his excitement. He was already contemplating how to recruit the two outstanding siblings.

With the missionary's help the green light around their bodies gradually strengthened. After a few moments it finally stabilized. Irz looked at his students with excited eyes. He rose from hell to heaven. Who would have thought that both siblings he trained had so much potential?

Meanwhile a lot of students were still confused. Luckily the teachers remembered their duties and lifted the students' doubts.

Finally, Tepo also understood what was happening. It turned out the siblings on stage had directly awakened cores of a higher rank. According to the teachers the chance of this happening was around 1:10.000 for a single person. In was unbelievable that the siblings awakened higher ranked cores at the same time.

This information made Tepo frown. He remembered that the rank of his core seemed to be damaged. Then what was his rank? And how could he repair it? Could the damage drag him down? The young man sighed lightly. His situation was too strange, not confirming to the common sense in this world.

Suddenly excited applause rang out. All the youths opened their eyes slowly. Some had delight on their faces, some were confused, and some broke out in tears. Heartbroken, they realized that many of their dreams were doomed to remain unfulfilled.

Unfortunately, their plight was overshadowed by the two dazzling stars at this moment. Even missionary Vyrohna only spoke a few encouraging words to them, before addressing the siblings.

"Congratulations, Doan and Tann Lynbon. You have both awoken a squire ranked core. A bright future awaits you."

Tepo was surprised, watching everything that was happening. The two siblings smiled at each other, showing an incredible maturity. They weren't jumping in joy or clapping their hands. Their faces only showed confidence, as if it was only natural to awaken a higher ranked core.

After the missionary had spoken, even the mayor stepped forward. He praised the siblings highly, almost openly poaching them.

In the VIP area everyone was also congratulations Irz. Some joked that he should tightly hold on to the siblings, or the mayor might steal them away. But as their teacher Irz knew Doan and Tann better than anyone. With how stable their minds were, others could only dream about enticing them.

And indeed, the mayor talked a lot but in the end the siblings only responded politely. Taren felt like he was dealing with experienced politicians. He wasn't able to get more than a few shallow words. With so many eyes present the mayor felt like he had already embarrassed himself enough, so he sat back down after a few seconds.

As the excitement gradually died down, Vyrohna sent everyone back down the stage. A few of the unlucky youths were still in denial. They hoped for some kind of miracle to happened, but as the soldiers politely guided them back on their seats, they knew their chance was over.

Seeing the bitter eyes of those youths as they returned towards the first row, how could the second row remain calm. Nervousness and tension spread as Vyrohna called them to the stage.

The same process from earlier repeated once more. This time, nothing exciting happened, though. Some youths awakened common cores, while others failed. Tears of joy and sadness flowed as the second row returned to the seats.

In this manner the ceremony continued. After the VIPs' own proteges were already finished, they stayed to study the other youths. Could they stay calm under pressure? Did any of them awaken interesting cores? Who was a good target for recruitment?

Almost two hours passed until it was finally the turn of Tepo's row. Taking a deep breath, the young man nodded at his friends in encouragement. Although he didn't know what might happen, but at least Tepo already had his core. He already had what it took to step on the path of a warrior. Now he could only wish his friends the best.

With much apprehension the youths walked towards the front. From all sides, eyes were studying them, imagining their potential. After the two siblings at the beginning no squire ranked cores had appeared. But this didn't diminish everyone's hopes. All the youths wished to be the chosen one and advance towards the heavens in one step.

This thought occupied their minds as they lined up before Vyrohna. The missionary showed first signs of exhaustion. But no one could accuse her of not giving her all. So far, she never hurried anyone. She showed perfect impartiality, earning her the crowd's respect.

Even Tepo had to admit that this follower of a god didn't show any signs of insanity so far. She perfectly adhered to her own words. But the young man's prejudice couldn't be killed so easily. The more this woman appeared like a normal human, the more unsettled Tepo felt. He smelled some kind of big conspiracy.

Right at this moment Vyrohna looked at the former investigator. His body shook. What was this? Did she feel anything off? Could she read minds?

"Please, relax everyone.", sounded the missionary's soothing voice.

But to Tepo it appeared to be directed at him. Was this woman so sharp?

The young man realized that his thoughts went astray. Right now, it was important to blend in. Only if he grew stronger could he travel the world and investigate the believers. He forcefully suppressed his emotions as he listened to Vyrohna's hypnotic voice.

Gradually Tepo fell into a trance. He observed his body. The youthful energy could be felt in every cell. Only now did he get a better perspective of what it meant to return to his youth. Gone was the old body corroded from booze and covered in hidden injuries. Now, his heart was strong, his lungs active, and his kidneys at their prime. This young body still contained unlimited potential.

Especially with the addition of the mysterious Core of Time. With such a name Tepmodus could naturally tell that this core wasn't simple. But right now, it was in such a weak state.

Nestled in his chest, the core resembled a bird with broken wings. Only after it recuperated could it soar through the skies again, arrogantly looking down on all of creation.

Suddenly Tepo's mind jolted. A warm, white light invaded his brain. A pleasurable feeling spread through his body. A stream of gently energy ran along his nerves. It passed his neck, arms, stomach, legs, before turning around and shooting towards his chest.

Watching in apprehension, Tepo hoped for the best. What would happen now? The white energy rapidly approached his chest. It knew its purpose. It was going to awaken another core.

It gently tried to unfold its effect in this human's body, when suddenly… an irresistible absorption appeared. Tepo gulped heavily as the white light vanished into his core.

Although a feeling of happiness radiated from the Core of Time, Tepo didn't know what to think. It dawned on him that he wouldn't awaken a core this time.