After everything is said and done—Lucious, the archbishop, takes a mana oath, making it impossible for anything he sees here to leave his lips until it is related to devils or dark magic—the ceremony is continued.
"Young Alex, please step forward."
Lucious spoke as he gestured for Alex to move toward the transparent slab placed above the crystal stand.
Alex was supposed to be the first one to have his status checked and his secrets revealed, as he was the reason for the ceremony being conducted at an odd time in the first place.
Alex, on the other hand, turned to look at his mother, and seeing her nod, he moved toward the transparent slab, his heart hammering against his ribs as if wanting to make him rush forward.
He was finally going to be able to use magic, something he always dreamt of and something that he didn't even think was possible in his past life.
But no matter which life we talked about, Alex was always someone who wanted more and more power in his hands, and this was something that could make him so powerful that he could have the entire world within his palm.
*Step**Step*...
He was eager to get his awakening ceremony done as soon as possible, but on the outside, he just kept smiling as he walked toward the archbishop.
He could feel Mira's gaze fixed on him, making him glance at her, only to see her nod, her expression still blank like before, and Alex returned her nod with a sweet smile.
"Place your hand on the awakening artifact."
Lucious spoke as soon as he reached the crystalline stand glass-like device, which the archbishop called an awakening artifact placed on top of it.
He could feel all eyes on him, especially his mother's cold, yet deep care and worry—worried about him not being able to awaken something good—hidden within them, and Mira's, who had the same dead expression as always.
*Inhale*
With a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves, he lifted his palm, pushing it onto the slab.
The moment his fingers touched the artifact...
*Shine*
It shone—a bright, blinding white light flashed throughout the room—causing everyone within the room to squint their eyes.
"Gah!"
Many groaned as the light was bright enough to hurt their eyes.
The only ones who weren't affected were Vannesa and Archbishop, but the moment their eyes landed on the panel, they were forced to rub their eyes in doubt.
*Crack*
A crisp cracking sound—a shallow crack, something that couldn't even be perceived in normal cases—reverberated throughout the hall, and the shine subsided, causing everyone's vision to get back to how it used to be.
"W-What the hell..."
The archbishop's voice, laced with utter disbelief and shock, was the only thing that was heard as soon as the panel showing Alex's information started hovering at the center of the hall.
It was floating right above Alex's head, the reflection showing the crack that was supposed to be on the artifact.
What shocked the people in the hall, however, were the things on the panel.
Even Vannesa, who always had that cold and distant look on her face, had shock reflecting in those icy blue eyes of hers.
Everyone in the hall was frozen in their spots except Mira, who still stared at the panel with a dead look in her eyes.
"A-Am I dreaming...?"
The silence was finally broken by the child, who had been continuously rubbing his eyes, unable to believe what he was looking at; his tone filled with incredulity and shock.
"N-No, I can see the same thing..."
Another voice answered the guy's question as all of the children stared at something that they never thought of as a possibility.
The panel that was hovering above is used to represent the talent, physique, and elemental affinity of those who touch it.
Or at least that was what they thought until now.
"T-The artifact must be malfunctioning."
The archbishop, with his trembling gaze fixed on the multicolored panel in front of Alex, uttered, trying to move toward the artifact placed on the crystal stand.
But just then...
*Crack*
The artifact cracked even more, as if unable to bear the weight of what it was trying to measure.
[You should pull your palm away from the artifact before it breaks.]
It was only when Sophie's warning echoed in his head that Alex, who was unable to look away from the panel, broke out of his thoughts, quickly pulling away his palm as he had already seen the 7 black stars on the panel going up to 8—which was literally not possible.
He had a feeling that those might increase if he didn't pull out, but he did it, so it was fine.
His eyes went back to look at the screen floating above him.
It was a rectangular sheet shining with a kaleidoscope of colors, making it hard to tell how many colors were there.
On that sheet, 8 black stars shone with grandeur and majesty, as if announcing the birth of something never seen before—one of the main reasons for the stupefaction of the audience.
That 8-star was never supposed to be possible.
In the history of the world, there had never been a case of that star mark—which represented talent—to be more than 7.
Those stars represented talent.
Those with 1 star were considered goners—a lot who were never going to be able to reach greater heights.
Those with 2, 3, and 4 stars were considered average and mostly destined to become soldiers in armies.
The ones after that were geniuses.
5 and 6 were considered geniuses with the potential to become nobles in the future.
After this came the ones with 7 stars.
Now 7 stars wasn't just a way to represent the super geniuses, it had categories as well.
If there was a single pulsating star among the 7 stars, then those guys would be considered the 1st class 7 star geniuses—highly valued by the low-ranking academies in the empires.
Then came the ones with 2, 3, or 4 pulsating stars among the 7 stars, highly sought-out prodigies, not ignored by the high-ranking academies as well.
The one with 5 or 6 pulsating stars... well, let's just say that the high-ranking academies would kill for them.
Then what about the ones with all seven stars pulsating with power?
They were invited by the biggest academy that connects the entire human domain with the other domains—Originviel Academy.
Alex, on the other hand, had 8 stars! All of them were pulsating, releasing waves and waves of energy, sending a cooling sensation through the bodies of everyone in the area.
Even that, however, failed to calm the people in the area.
"K-Keep your palm on the cryst—!"
Lucious, who was still in denial, not wanting to believe that the thing he was looking at was even possible, had his eyes widen in urgency as he saw Alex pulling his palm away; he quickly stepped forward, trying to grab Alex's wrist.
He could see the stars in the panel trembling as if wanting to increase in number, so he wanted to know if that was even possible, but before he could even touch Alex...
*Slash*
*Squelch*
A silver flash was seen, followed by the sound of flesh and bones being cut through, and the atmosphere of the hall turned still.