Ch 4 Trial
Pegasus, the peak of human engineering, is a flying city as big as a small island and a carrying capacity of 5 million humans with as many abroad on it already.
It has literally everything, with anti gravitational tecnology coupled with anti detection and invisible mode, making it almost impossible for any monster to detect this flying fortress.
And even if they do? Well, good luck. Pegasus isn't something you can just take down. With top-class heavy machinery and an army of awakened individuals onboard, all trained to protect and maintain it... it's not a place you want to mess with.
Still, no matter how advanced it is, food doesn't grow out of thin air. Even with artificial gardens, fish tanks, and sky-farms, there are still tons of resources that have to be brought up from Earth just to keep things running, mostly being different kinds of minerals.
That's work is done by scavenger, the lowest level of awakeners mostly filled with criminals and the likes which can be used as meat shields and such.
Anyway, Pegasus first took off about 100 years ago, and since then, it has only touched the Earth's surface twice, the last time being 30 years ago.
That alone shows what kind of marvel this city truly is. It's humanity's survival — a miracle in the sky.
And Pegasus isn't the only one. There are other marvels scattered across the world too… including the three legendary hidden domains on Earth, each ruled by one of the Great Houses.
There's even a city in space where the Imperials live, untouched by the chaos below.
Humans… we're stubborn like that.... The most adaptable creatures in planet. No matter how bad things get, we always find a way to survive.
Even in this dying world, that instinct didn't fade. In fact, they say war fuels innovation and the biggest war in human history, the one that nearly wiped us out, ironically gave birth to everything we have now.
At the cost of billions of lives, resources being burned like paper and nuclear bombs dropping like rain.... We somehow, out of that madness, clawed its way out… and built these floating cities, our final lifeboats away from a ruined Earth.
These colonies still exist and stay in contact with each other and they all work under a similar management system, though direct interaction between them is rare for a lot of different reasons.
You can think of them like different cities in the same country, with each with its own government, its own rules, but still part of one larger system.
In the end, they all answer to the same central authority, even if their day-to-day operations differ.
That said, even though they're all human colonies, what happens in one usually doesn't affect the others all that much. Unless it's something major, like what happened 30 years ago, or 70 years ago.
The last big event was about 10 years ago, when a massive gathering took place involving nearly all 24 known human colonies. A rare moment when everyone came together.
Anyways, coming back, the Pegasus is divided in three levels, Top, middle and lower levels... Lower level being mostly a slum area with a population around 3 million.
Meanwhile, the middle level is where most of the ship's middle class lives, with a population just under 2 million. Most people here live an average 9-to-5 life, day in and day out.
They live modestly, not rich enough, but not poor either. They have enough to eat, drink, and get by, but that's about it. If they're given apples, they can't ask for oranges. They take what they're given, and that's the norm.
They have to pay for each meal yourself, and what you get depends on what's available and what's been approved for sale that day.
However, during special occasions like marriages or funerals, people get a rare chance to enjoy some luxury... Of course, only if they can afford it.
Funeral grounds, for example, used to be reserved only for the top-level citizens.
It was only about 50 years ago that middle-level folks were allowed to use them too. And now? There aren't many restrictions, maybe because it's just another way to make money off the middle class.
As for the top level, that's where all the elites live. Aura has never been there himself, so he doesn't know the details. But he's heard that all the powerful awakeners and rich businessmen live up there.
And one thing's for sure... They definitely don't have to worry about food.
All in all, Pegasus is still like any old human city from the past. Just... shaped by its own unique circumstances and for what it's worth, it's one of the last hopes humanity has left.
[The test will start in 5 minutes.]
The robotic voice echoed through the speaker in the hall as I looked around at the others taking the same test.
To go through Awakening, you first have to clear a written exam and only if you pass that, are you allowed to move on to the actual ceremony.
This written test system was put in place after too many people who probably shouldn't have awakened in the first place were allowed to go through with it.
The results were… costly with some awakeners ended up causing major damage, and humanity couldn't afford that kind of loss again.
Anyway, the Awakening Ceremony is held once every week and here, at least in this one thing, it doesn't matter whether you're from the Top Level or the slums... everyone gets an equal chance, as long as it's about awakening.
With just one look, it was easy to tell who came from which level, or atleast for most of them as Spotting someone from the slums wasn't exactly hard, the really do stand out.
'There are a lot of people from slum area here,' I thought and signed, it wasn't a least bit suprising. Life down there is rough... so rough that almost everyone is just waiting for a shot to escape that hellhole.
And what better shot than Awakening? Sure, you could die in the process… but if you succeed, you could shoot straight to the top in one go.
[The test begins now.]
Snapping out of my thoughts at the announcement, I looked at the the table, where a question paper had somehow appeared and... Three hours, huh? This is going to be long.
.
.
.
The questions were easy with most of them focused either on human history, the inner workings of Pegasus, other great cities, or of course, the Nine Horrors that now rule the Earth.
The main purpose of the exam was clear... to educate people and let them know on who the real enemy of humankind is... the Nine Horrors and to make sure their loyalty lies with the human race.
"Easy was to fool the masses," said the voice as I turned slightly, only to see a figure identical to me standing beside me.
'That's unusual....' I thought to myself, Ego usually only shows up when I'm nervous, scared, or angry. Well, he is just a fragment of my imagination, after all and so, I ignored him.
[PASS]
It only took ten minutes for the results to come in after the two-hour-long exam, all thanks to the highly automated AI in charge as soon, I got a notification on my E-watch about it.
'Time to awaken,' I thought, taking a deep breath. My future… Rin and Lala's future... everything depends on this moment.
.
.
.
"Im... Impossible..." Manager Grey muttered, his eyes wide as he stared at the glowing screen in front of him.
"Divine rank... Identity..." He muttered
, still couldn't believe it. Right before his eyes, someone had awakened with a Divine Rank identity.
A rank never before seen in human history and yet, no matter how much he wanted to doubt it, the truth was undeniable.
The Reading Eye Globe couldn't make mistakes—and the data displayed in front of him clearly confirmed it:
Identity: Divine Rank.
Well, how did it even happened? It started a few hours ago...
.
.
.
"We will now begin the Awakening Ceremony," Gray announced, his voice calm as his eyes scanned the group in front of him.
There were around a hundred people today, 'More than usual,' he thought to himself. It was typically somewhere between forty to sixty, but he simply sighed and shook his head.
More participants meant more potential Awakeners—and more hands to help maintain the ship. That wasn't a bad thing. Still, he knew the numbers.
Out of these hundred, maybe ten to fifteen would successfully awaken. Another five to ten might lose their lives. The rest would return from the Null World empty-handed, scarred by nightmares, if not physically, then mentally.
But that wasn't his concern after all, they had chosen this path on their own, then who was he to stop them?
"Let's begin," he said as he begin explaining the rules to them, "I'm sure most of you already know the rules, but I'll explain them anyway." his gaze swept over the room as he continued, "For your Awakening Ceremony, you'll enter the Null World, the mysterious realm from where the Null Creatures first emerged."
Gray paused for a moment, letting that sink in before speaking again, "Inside, you'll undergo a trial tailored specifically for you by the Null Tutorial System. Through that trial, you may awaken your identity."
"As for whether you'll awaken... or not?" A slight smirk tugged at his lips. "That depends entirely on you." He straightened his posture, hands behind his back and finished, "...So, good luck... and try your best to survive."