Chapter 156: A City of Hopes

Ethan remained in the training chamber for a while longer, his mind occupied by the countless questions she had left behind. The only thing he could be certain of was that she knew something about the Unknown Energy... perhaps far more than he did. Yet her parting words about growing stronger if he wanted to protect those he loved had left him even more confused.

Suddenly, the image of her eyes looking at him with that fascination flashed through his mind, and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end.

There’s nothing I can do about it now...

Even though he didn’t know her intentions, or what she had truly meant, he knew her words held truth. Finally putting his thoughts away, he left the training chamber.

By the time Ethan returned to the guest house, breakfast was already on the table. He sat down beside Amelia as though nothing had happened, and for the rest of the morning, no one noticed anything different about him.

———

A few days later, Northwatch woke to one of the most important days of the year.

The Awakening Ceremony.

Long before sunrise, the Outer District was already overflowing. Carriages lined the roads leading in from the gates, stretching back as far as the eye could see, while the streets themselves had turned into rivers of people. Families had travelled from every corner of the region... from small villages buried in the snow, from towns along the frontier, from settlements so remote that some of them had walked for weeks just to reach the city in time. Parents held their children’s hands tightly, afraid of losing them in the crowd. Some children wore borrowed clothes or garments that had been mended countless times, while other families had gathered everything they possessed just to give a single child the chance to stand before the crystal.

There were children of different ages among them. Most were twelve, standing before the Awakening Ceremony for the very first time, while a considerable number were fourteen or sixteen, trying once again in the hope of awakening at least something... something that could change their lives forever.

Most of the merchants who would normally have been shouting over one another had given up on selling anything at all. One after another, wooden shutters clattered down and stalls were hastily covered, their owners joining the crowd instead. Only a few food vendors near the gates remained open, doing brisk business with families who had travelled through the night without a proper meal. Some of them even handed warm bread to children for free, wishing them luck before sending them on their way. Everyone was heading in the same direction, to witness the new talents who would emerge in the North.

"Close up already, old man! Nobody’s buying anything today," a burly merchant called out to the man at the stall beside his, already pulling down his own shutters.

"And why do you think I’m closing?" the old man shot back, hurriedly tying a cloth over his goods. "My grandson’s standing before the crystal today. I’m not missing it for a few silver."

Further down the street, two women stood pressed against a wall, looking out at the endless crowd.

"Have you ever seen this many people in one place?"

"It’s because the ceremony is in Northwatch this year. Everyone from the region came here."

Not far from them, two boys walked side by side, trying their best to look braver than they felt.

"If I awaken a high-ranked Warrior Core, I’m joining the Black Raven Knights."

"Do you think just anyone can join the Black Raven Knights?" the other scoffed, though his voice cracked slightly. "I’m going to become an adventurer instead."

Near the entrance to the hall, Black Raven Knights stood in rows, their voices raised over the noise of the crowd. "Candidates and their families to the left! Everyone else, keep moving! Don’t push!"

Yet no matter how many times they repeated it, the crowd only kept growing.

The ceremony hall stood at the heart of the Outer District. It was one of the largest structures in the entire city, a vast stone building with high arched windows and a ceiling so tall that the morning light pouring through it seemed to fall from the sky itself. For most of the year, it stood empty. Today, thousands of people filled it from wall to wall, and thousands more waited in the courtyard outside.

The noble families had been seated along the front of the hall. Barons and viscounts sat with their children, who were dressed in fine clothes and wore calm, composed expressions. Behind them, filling every remaining inch of the hall, stood the commoners. There, the atmosphere was entirely different. A few prayed under their breath. Others stared at the floor, simply holding their children close and saying nothing at all. Somewhere among them, an old man kept telling anyone who would listen that his grandson had trained every single day since summer, as though saying it aloud might somehow make a difference.

At the centre of the hall stood the Awakening Crystal.

It was a tall pillar of pale, translucent crystal, several times the height of a grown man, resting upon an enormous magic formation carved deep into the stone floor. Faint runes had been etched along its length, one tier above another, each marking a rank, rising all the way up to Legendary.

Above the hall, on a raised gallery overlooking the formation, the officials had already taken their places. Marcus stood at the front, while Evelyn stood beside him, her crimson hair falling over her shoulders. The captain of the Mage Units and several guild masters stood a step behind them, while Elena sat further along the gallery beside Aisha, watching the hall quietly.

"Do you think there’ll be any good talents this year?" Aisha asked, glancing at Elena.

Elena watched the crowd for a moment before replying. "I hope so..." Her gaze briefly shifted towards Anna and Sepharina, before moving across the other children who had caught her attention.

Beside them, Amelia sat at the edge of her seat, her eyes shining as she looked from the towering crystal to the endless crowd below. Every few moments, she leaned further over the railing to get a better look, and every time, Sarah gently pulled her back by the shoulders, doing her best to keep the excited girl from slipping away altogether. Rune was nestled in Amelia’s arms. He had tried to wriggle free more than once, clearly wanting to go down to Ethan, but each time Amelia only hugged him tighter. In the end, the cub gave up and simply rested his chin on her arm, watching Ethan from the gallery.

Ethan stood near the middle of the hall with the Ashwood family.

It was the first time since her recovery that Elene had ventured into such a large crowd. William stood beside her protectively, but his attention remained fixed on his daughters. The longer they waited, the harder it became for him to hide his anxiety, and knowing that this was Anna’s final chance only made the wait more unbearable.

Anna and Sepharina stood in front of them.

Anna hadn’t said a word all morning. Her hands were folded tightly in front of her, and her eyes kept drifting towards the crystal, then away again. Ethan knew exactly what was going through her mind.

Sepharina, on the other hand, was doing her best to look completely unbothered... yet her foot hadn’t stopped tapping against the floor since they arrived.

Ethan said nothing. He already knew Sepharina had nothing to worry about... but Anna was different. Even he didn’t know what awaited her.

"Hey, kid!"

The familiar voice reached his ears over the noise of the crowd. He turned to see Melissa, the clerk from the Adventurer’s Guild, waving her hand at him excitedly as she quickly made her way through the crowd towards him.

"It seems you aren’t nervous at all," Ethan said, looking into her bright eyes.

"It is what it is..." she replied with a smile. "If I don’t awaken, I can still work for the guild, and I’m sure Lady Evelyn will take care of me."

During their previous conversation, Melissa had told him she was hoping to awaken this time, and that Evelyn had been providing her with resources. Yet now, Ethan couldn’t tell whether she had genuinely come to terms with the possibility of failing, or was simply better at hiding her anxiety than the others. Something about her name still bothered him... but no matter how much he tried to recall it, the memory remained frustratingly vague.

Setting his thoughts aside, Ethan smiled at her. "I hope you awaken something good."

"Thanks, kid... and if I do, I’m going to treat you to something good." She quickly brought out a pouch and showed him the few silver and gold coins she had saved, which only made Ethan smile even more.

The Ashwood family was surprised to see Ethan and the girl talking so casually, and their worries eased a little as they found themselves laughing along with them.

Nervous and excited voices could be heard from all over the hall.

"I-I’m going to awaken today... I know I am," a young girl whispered nearby, clenching her hands tightly as she reassured herself.

A few metres away stood a boy with a muscular build. From a distance, he looked calm, and his figure made him seem far older than he actually was... yet he was nervously biting his nails down to the quick, completely at odds with his imposing appearance.

The same scenes could be seen all across the hall... although most of the lower nobles seemed assured that they would awaken, unlike the commoners.

Then Marcus stepped forward to the railing of the gallery.

The moment he did, the noise in the hall began to fade. Thousands of eyes turned towards him... towards the Commander of Northwatch, the man who had held back the Beast Tide only days ago. The nobles seated at the front straightened in their seats, and the children who had been fidgeting a moment earlier went completely still beneath the weight of his presence.

"Today, each of you will stand before the crystal," Marcus said, his voice carrying clearly throughout the hall. "Some of you will awaken. Others will not. But whatever the crystal reveals, remember this... it is only the beginning. What you make of your future is up to you."

For a moment, no one spoke. Then, slowly, the hall stirred again. Some parents knelt beside their children, whispering words of encouragement, while others simply held them tighter. A few of the older candidates, those who had already failed before, straightened their backs, as though Marcus’s words had been meant for them alone.

Marcus stepped back, and below the gallery, a grey-haired mage official stepped up beside the formation and opened his ledger.

The hall fell silent.

"First candidate..."