Awakening Ceremony: A Dip Into The Past

—ACE'S POV—

An extra?

Why do I call myself an extra you say? Well, there's no saying this without a story to tell.

My whole life feels like it has been crafted by a divine being or perhaps, my existence is being written by an author and as well being fed to the sharp minds of worthy readers who have fallen into this world by coincidence or…

Fate.

My entire existence is just the same way various authors make a name for their characters.

Same old cliché backstory that never seems to be improvised over time, miserable and poor background, a bedridden family member that is fully hinged on being taken care of by such a character.

All these have I been fated to, hence driving my conclusion on being a side character.

And the world I live in?

A world filled with walls, demons, beasts and hierarchies.

I could liken this world to my favorite anime which was brought to life about a thousand years ago; Attack On Titans.

The existence of walls which were tagged districts respectively is to keep all humans safe, but as well create a gap for hierarchy.

Only the bourgeoisie lived in the innermost walls while the proletariat could only smell the dunks sent out of the golden districts and were not allowed to dream of going into them.

But a loop can never escape this crater as the only hope, a golden ticket to a proletariat like myself could be offered a chance into the golden districts was through a special summoning or awakening of a divine talent at a prime age.

Seven.

Fourteen.

Eighteen.

The ages of awakening.

The prime ages everyone anticipates in their entire lifetime.

An age that determines the goodness that could come out of your existence after casting a lot, or setting you further away from the golden district.

An average human gets three chances for awakening a talent outside the golden district before being admitted into the academy that has been set up to protect the whole city.

Awakening a talent at the age of seven has been a rare find since the beginning of time, but two humans have succeeded in awakening a talent at this young age setting them apart as SSS-ranked mages.

An uncommon phenomenon, but every kid's dream at that age is to awaken a talent on their first try.

At age fourteen, awakening a talent was crucial as without a talent at this age, awakening one at age eighteen was futile— a sliver of possibility.

It is like playing a blank card in a field of jokers while refining the rest of your life beneath the surface.

But when I clocked seven, I was presented for the awakening ceremony. All cuddled up with a cheering grandmother and twin sister in the crowd, I mounted the podium and was welcomed with some emotionless eyes that surveyed me like a little phony.

Trash.

I couldn't understand why his eyes were filled with that much hatred for me.

I could swear I was meeting him for the first time in my life.

I was just seven years old, but I have someone who could tear a laser into me already?

Suddenly, I was engulfed in a magical barrier which was set up just in case I awakened a talent which could be either destructive as a searing dragon or calm as still waters.

After a brief observation, the man in charge of the ceremony who was named Kai received a scroll from his underlining and he read its details to confirm my identity.

"Ace Kiryū?"

I nodded curtly, wiping my sweaty palm on my tacky shorts. I could feel sweat trickle down my forehead and my hair felt like laver heating up my scalp and skull under his intense stare.

"Take three steps towards the orb and place your right hand on it. " He instructed crudely, returning the identity scroll.

It was time.

I folded my lips in and took the first step towards the orb.

'SSS-ranked talent, here I come.' I mumbled to myself in my thoughts and I could hear the tension in the crowd behind me heating up.

I knew I had to awaken a talent right in that moment to make my family proud. My grandmother was clasping her hands together and I could hear her pray in her thoughts.

My twin sister, Anya, was as nervous as an antelope trying to creep past a hungry lion.

I can't let her down.

I can't fail her.

Even if it is a trash talent, so be it.

To protect Anya, I have to be one of the SSS-ranked awakeners.

I took the last two steps and was finally standing in front of an orb which was eerily black and filled with vast void.

Taking a deep breath in, I mumbled my seemingly last words and closed my eyes before placing my right hand on the cold surface of the orb.

"Heavens, please…"

A gentle purple light seeped out of the orb and a wide gasp shot out the mouths of the onlookers forcing me to open my eyes immediately.

A wild aura of blue flames suddenly escaped out of the orb and it began searing around me, threatening to break through the barrier while my hair fluttered aggressively as the flames swept across the barrier like wind.

The ground beneath me trembled and I could barely maintain my balance as I got caught in the intensifying storm and for a seven year old kid, I was frightened, but I expected this much.

I could feel the intensity of this awakening.

My veins, my blood, this aura, this power…

I could feel something escape my body and my muscles shot up by itself, lifting me up my feet and for a moment, I was in the air while my vision got blurred with some otherworldly aura.

What was happening?

The crowd continued to gasp and murmur in surprise while the world around me seemed to blanken out as the turmoil intensified.

"Is he truly awakening a talent?"

"He's just seven years old!"

"I wish I had been friends with him before today." A silly seven year old fella moaned in regret.

"... Without doubt, he is an overpowered kid!..."

"...He is definitely going to be the third member of the SSS-ranked mages…"

"...I wish he was my kid…"

The collective murmur of the onlookers filled the ground.

In a flash second, my backbones seemed to shift from their respective positions as I slammed back into the surface with brute force.

"Ahk!" I groaned.

"Ace!" Both my grandmother and Anya screamed at the same time as they watched me fall from such height.

The barrier surrounding me shifted as Kai had unsummoned it, matching toward me steadily while the look in his eyes could go for a swift slash and kill around my tender neck and I could feel fear seeping into my skin under his dreadful gaze.

"Ace Kiryū," He began to say, his voice loud and clear enough to fill the ears of everyone in the awakening ground.

'You aced it, Ace!' I whispered to myself, allowing a lazy grin tug on the corner of my lip.

The pain from the sickening fall suddenly faded away, but I knew it was still in existence. The weight of being announced as a SSS-ranked awakener had pushed off the setting feeble pains and I couldn't care less.

"Has awakened…" He paused, allowing a wild suspense climax among the cheering crowd who were curious to find out what talent I have awakened.

He took a brief look at me and I could swear I saw his lips curl up with a faint smile. He then turned back at the crowd to continue.

"Ace Kiryū has awakened…"

"..."

And at fourteen, I awakened an F- rank talent not worthy of mentioning.

Anya was taken away for failing my redemption test.

My grandmother suddenly slumped when she came back to an empty house that day.

The world didn't end, but mine did.

I had to work tediously at such tender age to fend for myself, pay the huge bills the hospital dumps on me to take care of my grandmother, and Anya?

I pay numerous brokers weekly to find her and bring my beloved sister back to me.

But now, with death standing in line, who will look after my grandmother? Who will pay brokers to find Anya?

All this happens only in tales that are not fairy tales.

If my life is a tale…

If I am a character in a book...

Then fuck the author!