It was an almost equally difficult day in the province of Metrodorian. After a few days of planning and anticipation, the Application Day had finally arrived.
It ignited King's City in a fever of gold and desperate ambition.
From the highest spires of the basalt palaces to the lowliest cobblestone plazas, banners fluttered in a chaotic dance of heraldry.
One could just smell the tension in the air.
It smelled like expensive incense, horse sweat, and high blood pressure.
This wasn't just the usual competition for the Hero's disciples; this was the birth of the Heroes' Party.
The stakes had shifted.
Previously, there was only one sun—the Hero—and then six other Awakeners standing by him. But now, under the command of the Kings, there were a total of twenty slots.
Twenty positions to be filled by any Awakener as long as they held the power.
So the tension was at an apex.
And of course it would be.
See it this way, in Evernia, power was not a straight line.
