More than three hours had passed, and the other children who were six years old, along with another child who was Amon's age mate, had failed the Celestial Awakening.
At this point, sweat had begun dripping lightly from the foreheads of each child, and a visible tremble ran through them.
After all, this was the first time they were faced with such an intense situation, and the pressure on them was drastically increasing as time went on.
The Elder's gaze hovered over the group, and a frown formed on his face. Then he selected a lady from the group.
This was the third girl among the children to be called out.
The little girl's eyes darted around nervously before she walked with trembling steps toward the location of the Star Gate and sat down cross-legged.
Starlight began pouring from all corners of the Celestial Gate, its glow illuminating the girl seated in the middle of the platform.
Gradually, time began passing silently.
After more than ten minutes, her eyes shot open.
Seeing this, the eyes of the High-Ranking Elders lit up.
Just as they expected, within the next moment, from within the girl's Celestial Core, a little creature flew out.
It looked like a baby Western Dragon, extremely small and barely the size of the little girl's fist.
Her eyes were filled with excitement as she stared at the pale green creature.
All the Elders let out a collective breath, and smiles formed on their lips.
"Congratulations, little girl, on becoming a Gifted One." The Elder rubbed the little girl's head gently, then led her to the location of Seth, the House Leader.
Seth proceeded to teach her the method to place her Celestial Dragon within her Core in the meantime.
Her abilities weren't asked about.
This was because everyone knew it was best to keep one's ability a secret.
It was a unanimously agreed rule among the Gifted Ones.
However, due to the widespread information on Celestial Dragons, some could guess what kind of ability she had awakened.
Following the little girl's awakening, the Elder in charge called up a young boy.
He took even less time, and within five minutes, he had become a Gifted One.
Becoming a Gifted One had to do, most times, with luck, and at others with the state of one's Soul.
The Elder proceeded to call out the remaining children.
In the end, out of the twenty-five people remaining, only about ten became Gifted Ones.
It was still a good result.
And now, only Amon was left to awaken.
It was obvious that the Elders were confident Amon would become a Gifted One, so they wanted to use him to close the Awakening Ceremony for the year.
With all the expectations pressing down on him like a mountain, Amon walked briskly and took his seat in the middle of the platform.
The Elders began smiling and started discussing their next course of action.
…
Amon felt a mysterious energy gradually infiltrating his body, pulling his consciousness into a unique space entirely.
He felt as though he had been asleep for an extremely long time before finally opening his eyes to a strange new world.
Multicolored lights filled the scenery the moment Amon appeared.
The cloudy sky was filled with prismatic colors, and there was a certain warmth to the place that Amon couldn't fathom.
He glanced around, taking in the space, and noticed that he was in a vast, endless expanse.
Aside from the prismatic clouds above, the ground below him was as transparent as glass, its smooth surface reflecting the sky above.
'What am I supposed to do? I know I'm supposed to find a Celestial Dragon… but how do I find one?'
Amon glanced around, realizing there was nothing in sight.
He frowned and began walking forward.
He knew he had barely thirty minutes to find a Celestial Dragon.
Just then, there was a slight ripple, and a few meters ahead, a creature radiating a faint, illusory blue light flickered constantly before racing toward him.
Amon raised a brow in surprise and waited silently for the creature to reach him.
To his astonishment, it was a Celestial Dragon.
'I've found one already?' he thought, slightly startled. Just as he was about to reach out to touch it, he spotted something from the corner of his eye.
Another Celestial Dragon.
And another.
In the blink of an eye, more than a hundred Celestial Dragons rushed toward him, their bodies glowing in varying arrays of light.
Amon stared blankly, his mind filled with puzzlement and questions.
Barely a few seconds passed before the Celestial Dragons surrounded him, dancing around as if waiting for him to make a choice.
Amon stood in stupefaction.
He could sense their excitement.
'They… want me to select one of them?'
Amon gazed at the multitude of dancing lights, unsure which one would be the best fit.
His eyes scanned the surroundings, scrutinizing each Celestial Dragon.
During the process, he noticed five distinct ones.
Subconsciously, the other Celestial Dragons stayed clear of their path. These five radiated an unmistakable sense of superiority.
Amon hesitated briefly, unable to decide which among them to choose.
After some deliberation, he finally reached out his hand toward a red dragon. It was the most dominant-looking of the five.
With his decision made, Amon was about to place his hand on the Celestial Dragon when his mind froze.
'This… is wrong…'
He felt a familiar tug on his consciousness, and without hesitation, he distanced himself from the multitude of Celestial Dragons.
As Amon raced toward the direction the feeling came from, the hundreds of Celestial Dragons, including the five domineering ones, chased after him.
Amon wasn't concerned about them; rather, the strange feeling he felt was unsettling.
After more than ten minutes, he finally arrived at a swirling black portal spinning rapidly in the void.
The moment Amon reached it, all the Celestial Dragons froze, no longer following him as though they had encountered something dreadful.
Amon hesitated for a few seconds, then stepped forward and into the portal.
His vision darkened briefly, then brightened again.
A strange, hollow feeling enveloped him before his mind exploded with shock as he stared at the creature before him.
'What the hell?' Amon whispered in dread.
Because the creature in front of him was none other than the Primordial Dragon that had reincarnated him.
The Primordial Dragon seemed startled, its enormous golden slit locked onto Amon with startling intensity, as though it could see through his past, present, and future.
"I see it all now… so that is what happened."
The Primordial Dragon's voice was filled with ancientness and the vicissitudes of life.