'If you jumped down and died right now, no one would notice.'
Hikaru thought this as he sat in the upper gallery of the awakening hall, watching the floor below him slowly fill up with bodies.
He calculated the distance down again and decided it wasn't more than four meters, a fall at that height probably wouldn't even kill him, it would only lead to a lot of broken bones.
He pulled his legs back and sat properly.
There were maybe two hundred other young people in the hall, they were all around his age and they were all here for the awakening ceremony.
Everyone in the country looked forward to awakening ceremonies from the moment they were born. It was the single most defining moment of their lives.
Those who awakened their souls were called Ethereals, they gained the ability to summon beasts. The strength of a Summoner depended entirely their rank, the higher their rank, the stronger the beasts they could contract, and the higher their soul rank, the higher the number of beast they could summon at once.
Meanwhile hose who failed to awaken went home and that was the complete summary of the rest of their lives. They went home and lived mediocre lives, becoming the kind of person that history did not bother to record.
As a tall and muscular man stepped forward and headed to the stage, the murmuring in the hall died. Hikaru could immediately tell that this man was an Ethereal, The man's name was Raiden.
Raiden climbed the stage and cleared his throat. "It is time for the awakening ceremony to begin." He said.
As he said this, Hikaru could feel the tension in the hall thicken.
Raiden picked up a large card from the podium and read the first name. "First. Lin, Mei."
A girl stood up on shaky legs and walked to the stage. She pressed her palm on the orb and it immediately turned green.
Mei's hand flew to her mouth and she giggled excitedly. "I… I did it?"
Raiden didn't glance at her as he called out. "Next."
Meanwhile Mei skipped back to her seat and Hiruka watched her all the way.
"Lucky you." He thought.
Raiden read the next name. "Kato"
This time a stocky boy stoood up, his jaw was set as he climbed up the stage and went to the orb. He placed his hand on it and…
Nothing.
The orb didn't glow and Raiden scoffed. "Not awakened. Move along"
The boy stood remained motionless for a moment, unable to process what had just happened, then he stepped back and began walking back to the crowd.
His face had become blank with grief.
Someone in the back row muttered. "I told you he wouldn't awaken."
The rest of the ceremony proceeded in a similar manner, Raiden would call a name and the person would come forward, the orb would turn either green or not and the person would either celebrate or walk back dejectedly.
Hikaru felt it had a cruel undertone to it, but that was life, there were winners and there were losers and in a few minutes, he was going to find out which one he was.
Raiden called another name and this time to boy didn't awaken, he was crying as he walked back to his seat and he didn't bother to hide it.
Hikaru felt his palms become clammy and then it was his turn. Raiden looked at the card and called out. Hikaru.
Hikaru felt himself detach from his body the moment he heard his name, he managed to stand up and walked to the podium. He walked to the orb and took a deep breath, then he placed his hand on the orb.
At first there was nothing, he felt his stomach drop as he stared at orb praying frantically for it to glow.
"Please." He thought. "Please glow, I have nothing in this world except my hope."
Then as if responding to his prayers, the orb finally glowed, if it could be called a glow. Instead of the brilliant flash of green it usually showed, this time the glow was pale and sickly.
Hikaru frowned. "But it's still green, that counts right?"
Raiden looked at the pale green glow for a second and made a loud scoffing sound. Every year, there's always one scrub that barely awakens his soul."
"Just watch out," he continued, "The last scrub didn't make it past his first gate."
With that he returned his attention to his card.
However Hikaru wasn't listening to him, in fact, hikaru hadn't moved at all. He was still standing on the podium, staring straight ahead with his mouth wide open.
***
In this world, the Astral Gates had ripped open without warning four centuries ago, unleashing hordes of monstrous creatures that ravaged humanity for generations. Several cities crumbled to dust, and countless lives were lost in those years, and it seemed like humanity would be eliminated from the face of the earth.
Then luckily for humans, a few of them began to awaken their souls, these awakened people were known as Ethereals, and they had the ability to summon beasts.
Ethereal grew stronger from two main mechanisms, the first one was that every monster they killed counted as one soul core and as they killed more monsters their soul rank increased.
The second mechanism was by conquering the floors of the astral tower that had appeared alongside the gates. When an Ethereal conquered a floor of the tower, he/she increased in rank. And as their ranks got higher, their physical stats got higher too.
The summoned beasts could also grow on their own through battles but thier growth was limited by the Ethereal's current rank. For example, a beast could never reach the rank of Dreadlord, if its Ethereal had not reached the rank of Monarch.
Hikaru remained frozen on the podium. What had made him stare into space in surprise was the sudden appearance of a translucent blue panel directly in front of his eyes.
The words on the panel read:
[The Summoner god, Imanthi finds you suitable.]
[High potential, low status detected in you.]
[Activating the Ultimate Summoning System.]
After a moment, Hikaru caught himself and quickly started walking down the stage and back to his seat. As he walked his eyes roved around the hallway, but none of the others seemed interested in him.
'They can't see the panel.' He thought. 'Only I can see it.'
He sank into his seat and processed the information. There was a summoner god? And the god had decided he found him worthy? Why?
The panel blinked and more text appeared.
Name: Hikaru
Rank: Disciple
Summons: 0/1
Soul Rank: Threat
Soul Cores: 1/30
As he stared at the panel, understanding suddenly dawned on Hikaru. He had read many webnovels so he was able to immediately recognize that this was a system.
He began to get excited. Systems were essentially cheat codes that helped the user surpass every one else if used with wisdom. Of course some systems were dangeous and often had ulterior motives, he would have to be watchful for that.
But still…
"Ah.." he muttered. "It seems among the plenty lucky today, I am the luckiest."
He then checked his profile again. He was at the lowest rank, Disciple, but this didn't surprise him, since he had not yet conquered any tower floor. His soul rank being Threat meant that he had only one soul core, that was also expected.
A voice cut through his thoughts, pulling him back to the present.
"All newly awakened Ethereals, follow me" Raiden called out, "It is time for you to learn to summon your first beasts."
Hikaru and the other new ethereals stood up from their seats and followed Raiden as he dissapeared behind a curtain.
They all ended up in a smaller hall, most of them were chatting excitedly among themselves.
Raiden cleared histhroat and silence fell on the hall. To summon your first beast you need to first feel the tug. Close your eyes and try to feel the tug at the back of your heart."
Hikaru closed his eyes and tried to focus. At first he could only feel his heartbeat but then eventually he sense the tug, a soft pull deep in his chest. It felt like a fine thread that pulsed with life.
Raiden's voice continued. "Once you feel the tug, draw on it gently and your first beast will answer the call."
Hikaru concentrated on that inner thread. He imagined grasping it and pulling it forward with a purpose. A rush of warmth bloomed in his chest and spread outwards.
The air in front of him rippled subtly, and then a figure began to form in front of him.
However what materialized in front of him wasn't a beast, It was a person.
Everyone in the hall turned toward him in stunned silence.