"Listen carefully. This is your final awakening ceremony. Those of you who fail today will spend the rest of your lives as civilians. You'll attend regular universities, work regular jobs, and live regular lives. For the next three months, you can still work on your physical conditioning to improve your odds, but statistically speaking, your chances are already close to zero."
The instructor's words resonated in the hearts of every student in the gymnasium, including Moon, who sat near the middle of the assembled students.
Next to him was his girlfriend, Sarah.
Their relationship had been deteriorating recently, but today wasn't the day to think about that; today was about awakening his class.
Two centuries had passed since the Collapse, when rifts tore through reality and flooded the world with creatures that belonged in nightmares.
Humanity had nearly fallen, but luckily, the age of Awakeners arrived, individuals whose bodies evolved, granting them classes and abilities that defied anything humans thought was possible outside of fantasy books.
The war had been brutal, lasting decades, but eventually humanity clawed back its survival. Now, the age of eighteen represented a possibility, a chance to join the ranks of those who shaped the world rather than merely existed in it.
"We'll proceed alphabetically by first name," the instructor continued, gesturing to the crystal on the table before him.
"You know the drill. Place your hands on the stone. If you've awakened, it will respond. If not...you know your fate."
"Aaron Wells!"
A boy from the front row stood, his legs visibly trembling as he approached the podium. Moon watched as Aaron pressed both palms against the stone's surface.
After a few seconds had passed, light bloomed within the sphere; the phenomenon was brilliant and sudden. A spectral shield materialised in the air beside Aaron before fading away.
"A powerful Guardian Knight class. Congratulations, Aaron."
The gymnasium erupted in applause. Moon clapped along with everyone else; the more awakeners, the stronger humanity was.
Three more names were called, of which two were successes and one failure. The girl who failed walked back to her seat with her head down, and the conversations around her died to uncomfortable silence before resuming moments later, completely ignoring her existence.
Moon's heart hammered against his ribs. Sarah sat perfectly still beside him, with a composed expression.
"Sarah Vixen!"
Sarah stood without hesitation, smoothing down her uniform as she walked to the podium. Sarah wore black tights and a short skirt, which highlighted her curves.
Moon watched her go, willing the stone to respond; she was still his girlfriend, even if things had been hectic for the past few weeks.
They'd been together for almost two years after all.
Sarah placed her hands on the awakening stone.
Barely a second had gone by before a soft, golden, and translucent threads began to form as a phantom above her.
"Lifebinder class! That's a rare and powerful support class, excellent result, Sarah. Your class is sought after by many guilds. With enough hard work, you will be able to enter the top guilds and reach great heights!"
Clap! Clap! Clap!
The applause was thunderous.
Normal support classes were rare and highly valued, not to mention a rare variant.
Sarah would have her pick of teams, academies, and opportunities.
She smiled as she returned to her seat, but Moon noticed she didn't look at him, ignoring him completely.
His smile disappeared and a frown formed on his face, but before he could speak to her about it, Moon heard his own name being called.
"Moon Outlaw!"
'I will talk to her later…'
As Moon walked to the podium, he could feel every eye in the gymnasium tracking his movement.
The awakening stone sat on the table, still faintly glowing from the previous student's success.
Moon stopped before it, staring at his own reflection in its shiny surface.
Moon pressed his palms against the stone, which was cool to the touch, and smooth like glass.
Moon waited, focusing everything he had on that single point of contact, trying to feel something, anything that might indicate a response.
The stone remained unresponsive under his hands, its light neither brightening nor changing.
The seconds crawled past rather quickly before the instructor sighed shaking his head. "That's enough,"
Understanding dawned Moon. "Instructor, give me just a moment."
"Moon…step back." The instructor spoke with a harsh tone. He had seen this too many times, and he grew frustrated when it occurred constantly.
Moon's hands fell away from the stone.
"Awakening failed. Next, Natalie..." The instructor called out.
As Moon walked back to his seat, the instructor looked at his back with hidden pity. Sigh, he's an orphan and a null. He will struggle in life.
Null was what they called people who failed all their awakening attempts. People with null potential and dim futures. It had started as slang among Awakeners and spread until it became an insult among children and teenagers.
Moon kept walking, his vision tunnelling. He found his seat and sat down.
Sarah looked at Moon, the way someone might look at a stranger who'd stumbled in front of them on the street.
Her expression was perfectly composed, but in that moment, Moon understood with absolute clarity that whatever had existed between them was already over.
She'd just been waiting for confirmation that he wasn't worth the effort of a proper goodbye.
Moon wasn't dense enough not to understand. Sarah had prepared herself for this moment; if he failed, she would break it off, if he succeeded, she might continue, and it seemed like it was the former.
Sarah turned away, redirecting her attention to the podium where the next student was approaching the awakening stone.
Moon sat in his seat and stared at nothing in particular, the instructor's voice calling out more names fading into background noise.
Around him, the ceremony continued. More successes, more failures, more futures being decided in the span of seconds.
♢♢♢♢
The voices around Moon had become distant, underwater sounds that barely registered, until one voice cut through the fog with perfect clarity.
"Sarah, want to join our party?"
Marcus stood at the end of their row, one hand extended politely.
Marcus carried himself with confidence and prestige fitting his background. His awakening had also drawn one of the loudest reactions of the ceremony. He had awakened a bladestorm, a variant swordsman class known for its raw offensive power.
Hearing the proposal, Sarah's expression remained neutral, but after a pause that lasted just long enough to seem deliberate, she accepted his hand and stood.
"We could use someone with your talent and wits," Marcus continued, his smile widening. "Adrian's already confirmed he's joining. Lena and Mark, too. With you as our Lifebinder, we'd have one of the strongest compositions in the entire academy. We will do amazing in the First Sanctuary."
The names alone carried weight. They were all powerful awakeners with strong classes that complemented each other in a team setting.
Together, they'd form a party that could hold its own ground in the first sanctuary. Of course, this could only occur if they were placed in the same base; if they weren't, then they would have to wait until they headed to a more powerful base that the party could agree on.
The first sanctuary was the name of the land where humans had the ability to travel to. It was a different world, where races from all over the universe fought over resources and power.
Humans were one of the weakest races in the sanctuary, due to their late arrival and weak bodies.
Moon watched Marcus's face, cataloguing every detail of that self-satisfied smirk.
Rich second-generation trash.
That's what people called students like Marcus behind their backs, though never to their faces. His family owned a chain of supply stores that catered specifically to Awakeners. He'd grown up around power, around success, around people who never heard the word no. Everything he wanted, he eventually got.
And apparently, that now included Sarah.
Despite the hollow ache in his chest, despite the word Null still echoing in his brain, despite the sensation that his entire future had just collapsed,
Moon's expression became cold. He wouldn't give Marcus the satisfaction he wanted.
Their eyes met for a fraction of a second. Moon's expression was flat, offering nothing.
There was no anger, despair or any negative emotion that Marcus would enjoy.
Marcus's smirk faltered slightly, as if he'd been expecting something different and found the lack of response somehow unsatisfying.
"Give me a moment, I'll join you in a minute," Sarah said, her voice quiet but audible in the brief lull of conversation around them.
"Sure, take your time." Marcus's smile returned, easy and confident. He gestured to the other three members of his forming party, who'd gathered near the gymnasium's side exit. "We'll be over there. Don't keep us waiting too long."
He walked away, and Moon heard laughter drift back from the group. Adrian said something inaudible, and Marcus responded with another laugh, louder this time.
Sarah turned to face Moon directly for the first time since he'd failed his awakening.
Moon met her gaze and waited.
He knew what was coming, had known, before she'd even accepted Marcus's hand. Maybe he'd known for weeks, during all those small moments when she'd pulled away and created distance.
Sarah opened her mouth to speak.
"Moon, we're breaking up. Live a good life, and don't get into trouble." Sarah offered no explanation beyond that.
Moon looked at her coldly.
Live a good life... Don't get into trouble.
How noble of you… Sarah.
She was ending their two-year relationship in the same gymnasium where he'd just been branded a Null, surrounded by classmates who'd witnessed both humiliations. And her parting words were hollow pleasantries that someone would offer a random person they'd just met.
Live a good life. As if his life hadn't just been fundamentally limited by his failure to awaken. As if the upcoming years wouldn't be spent watching people like her ascend to heights he could never reach.
Don't get into trouble…The addition almost made him laugh. What trouble could a Null possibly get into that would matter? He'd be sorting inventory in some warehouse or processing paperwork in some forgotten office while she was clearing rifts and making a name for herself in the first sanctuary.
But what really made him realise how foolish he had been was her new party. Sarah had decided to team up with the same person who had many fights with Moon throughout the academy years.
Sarah knew all of this, witnessed it. She'd even complained about Marcus once or twice in the beginning.
Moon had so much he could say. About her timing, choice. About the fact that she couldn't even give him the courtesy of a real conversation, just these empty words designed to make her feel like she'd done the decent thing.
But he said nothing.
Because if he did, she'd get to walk away feeling like they'd had a proper ending, like she'd handled this maturely. Or worse, she'd get to see him hurt and take that image with her as confirmation that she'd made the right choice.
He wouldn't give her either.
Moon turned, walking away with no visible reaction on his face, as if nothing that had happened today mattered.
Behind him, he heard Sarah's quiet exhale.
Her footsteps moved in the opposite direction, toward the side exit where Marcus and his new party waited.
Moon pushed through the main doors and stepped into the sun. The campus stretched out before him.
Students clustered in groups across the quad, celebrating successes. Moon walked past them all, heading for the gates.
Nobody called out to him, and nobody tried to stop him.