Modret felt each day pass slowly, monotonous even. Yet, in the blink of an eye, more than a week had gone by. It was finally time for the awakening ceremony.
Modret had never attended the awakening ceremony before, since it was something secret held in the sacred chambers, and the results were never revealed to anyone.
Because of that, he couldn't suppress his excitement. He called up the fairy as he walked toward the awakening hall with Axel. Beside him were a couple of other youths, numbering up to thirty.
They wore varying expressions — some slightly nervous, others confident. A few stared at Modret hesitantly, but feeling Axel's cold gaze on them, they could only turn away.
With Modret being the only noble in the group, many of them couldn't help but want to curry favor with him. Axel also understood this, and at the thought, he couldn't help but frown once more.
Meanwhile, the person in question wasn't focused on the group at all. Though his eyes were ahead, his mind was centered on the fairy.
'Is my body still unable to awaken an ability?' Modret wondered.
The fairy had grown once more, and at this moment, she was the size of Modret's head. Modret had already asked her the reason for her growth, but she had shrugged off the question, stating that it had something to do with her birth.
He didn't think it was that simple, but he decided not to press her. Since the fairy could read his thoughts, she could naturally tell he didn't trust her reply. The fact that she still chose to keep silent showed that she truly was unwilling to talk about such matters.
{I've never attended an awakening ceremony before, so I don't know what might happen.}
For the first time, the fairy was ignorant. Modret even thought he heard a faint trace of sarcasm in her voice.
He ruffled his hair back and shrugged. 'Whatever happens, let it.'
After that, he continued conversing with the fairy as they finally approached a steel door.
By the time they arrived, they had already walked for a few hours. Modret glanced at the steel door. Previously, everyone had been forbidden from heading in this direction of the manor.
'So this is the reason?' Modret thought as he stared at the steel door, feeling a touch of awe.
The steel door didn't seem connected to any building or wall. It stood firmly on its own, radiating a strange, unique, oppressive aura. Modret could even feel a tingling sensation spreading across his body.
He furrowed his brows. 'It's not a sense of danger since none of my abilities are being triggered. It just seems like an instinctive reaction to this gate…' Modret realized.
He glanced at his uncle, who walked toward the door and took out a peculiar-looking crystal. It was pale green and radiated a warmth that spread into the surroundings.
Modret stared at the crystal, thinking it resembled a jewel. He saw his uncle — his father's second brother — place the crystal into the door, and immediately, as though the door were immaterial, the crystal sank into it.
The door rumbled, then slowly began to open. Everything on the other side was faintly obscured.
'How peculiar,' Modret murmured, feeling tense inside.
His uncle, Ronald, turned to everyone. "Everyone, let's head in. The awakening crystal is just behind this door."
Seeing that some of them wore nervous expressions, Ronald made his voice particularly easygoing. Everyone felt a sense of ease, steeled their faces, and entered the door right after Ronald stepped in.
'This…' Modret whispered the moment he too stepped through the door. It was like crossing into another world. There was a faint sensation of passing through a watery liquid for a moment.
'My body isn't wet,' Modret noted, glancing down at his robes. Seeing that he was still completely dry, he understood it was just the feeling the gateway gave.
Ronald turned toward a distant orb not too far away and explained, "This is the awakening orb. By placing your hand on it, it will sense if you possess the ability to become an awakened and display the corresponding ability to everyone…"
'No secrecy?' Modret frowned slightly at the thought, then gave a small shrug.
Ronald's gaze fell on him briefly before turning to another servant beside him. "Come and place your hand on the orb…"
Hearing those words, the servant's breath caught in his throat. He hesitated briefly, then stepped forward and placed his hand on the shimmering blue marble.
A warm sensation spread from his limbs toward his body, as though some mysterious energy were searching for something.
The orb pulsed with blue light for a moment before falling silent. A line of glowing words appeared briefly in the air.
[Ability: None]
Seeing the line, the servant's face paled drastically. He trembled, his knees gave out, and he immediately started crying.
Modret felt a twinge of pity and sighed. 'This would've been my fate if it weren't for the treasures I possess…' he thought inwardly.
Ronald waved his hand toward a few guards who had stepped in with them. They immediately bundled the man and tossed him out of the awakening room.
Ronald glanced at the crowd again, each person avoiding his gaze, then pointed to a female servant. Her face paled slightly, and with trembling hands, she reached for the pale blue orb.
[Ability: None!]
Everyone felt their hearts sink at the cold line of words. A chill spread among them.
Even Ronald frowned slightly. 'In this batch, could it be that there will be no awakeners? The young master is an exception, but still… he should be able to get a few bodyguards from the bunch here…'
Ronald didn't dwell on it, pointing to another female servant.
[Ability: None!]
It was as though this batch of awakeners was plagued with bad luck. Everyone called up so far had failed to awaken, up until the fifteenth person.
'This is going… not so well. I should call Axel up. He's the young master's bodyguard. Let him be the one to break the stalemate — perhaps after that, we'll see some good luck…'
With that thought, he smiled faintly at Modret.
'It's my turn already?' Modret touched his nose awkwardly. But to his surprise, Ronald's hand skipped him and landed on Axel, who wasn't too far away.
Unlike the others, Axel wore a look of confidence as he slowly approached the marble. He glanced at Modret with a reassuring smile. 'Don't worry, young master. This is just formality — a way to strengthen my ability to protect you…'
Axel touched the marble orb, and it glowed faintly for a moment. Then everyone's eyes widened in alarm…