After his shower, Rio wore the suit which was given to him for this ceremony days ago. It was a white color streamlined suit, with golden patterns of nature and all its element printed on the sidelines. When Rio first wore it, it was double his size but it was inscribed with adjustment funtions so it changed into a suit fit for his body soon. He remembered it's description from what the novel said -
***Dress of Ishvar - It's a uniform type artifact. It could spread the surrounding mana it comes into contact with, to its whole surface uniformly. It would've been the perfect armor to lessen any attack damage, if it wasn't for the limitation that it can only absorb and redirect static mana and not attack spells. (The dress of Ishwar symbolizes that everything and everyone is equal in front of a God)
_
Artemis found this artifact as reward in one of the instant dungeons she cleared 3 years ago. This was the perfect artifact for the awakening ceremony, as it solved the danger of excess mana gathering around your heart, and your body not being able to handle it. This helped in reducing the number of accidents happening during the ceremony.
Now pair this artifact with a body perfected by pura corpus potion, and you have clear pathways in & out your body for clear mana circulation.
And since the ceremony was going to be performed in the Blake mansion only, there was no need for Rio to be worried about anything.
_
There are many ways to go with someone's awakening, but the main thing is it requires lots of mana. You could have lots of mana stones, ores, crystal or cores to supplement that supply. Or you could just go someplace that is highly dense in mana like dungeons , mines or churches where mana gathering arrays are placed.
Now awakening increases a person's strength & potential, but still there are many unawakened people on Arcadia, just cause they either can't afford the cost for a safe awakening ceremony or their bodies just aren't suitable for mana.
_
***[If you're wondering if awakening is so good & necessary, why aren't rulers of Arcadia making it free for the public. Cause just like everything else in the world - mana is a resource, and it is limited and expensive. So why would anyone risk spending something like that when no one is sure if that investment will be successful or not. Plus the people can never be trusted, the one you helped today might grow strong & kill you in the future for other rewards. Why increase the competition.
- Though some kingdoms & churches do have some planned ways that make it cheaper or easier for the general public to awaken. Churches do it to increase faith in their God, while kingdoms do it to increase their army power to fight against monsters & dungeons.]
_
Rio walked out and found Myra waiting for him outside his room. She's been following him for days now, so he wasn't surprised.
"Good morning Myra." Rio said.
Myra nodded her head and said - "You're late, and lazy. I should ask master to increase your training a little bit more."
Rio who heard her reply couldn't deny it, as his sleep schedule was really messed up. Sometimes he'd be asleep and won't wake up till someone pulled him out of his nightmares.
So he changed the topic - "Where's Amy?"
"She's with master, they're all waiting for you in the awakening chamber." - Myra said and started following Rio as they walked towards the awakening chamber.
"You took a long time for the shower, feeling scared are you?" Myra asked in a teasing tone.
"No, I'm not." Rio replied instantly.
"You know, it's normal to be scared, even I was. When I went through my awakening_." Myra was giving out her pep talk but Rio cut her off as he said - "I'm not scared Myra not even a little bit. And your way of awakening, not a good example."
Myra was silent as she couldn't refute what he said, she really was reckless in her awakening. "But you should still be careful. When you feel the excess mana, don't try to force it and let it flow naturally. You should just focus on staying awake & not lose your consciousness. Ohh and it would hurt in the beginning, like really hurt , so don't be scared and hold on okay. And one more _ . "
Myra was saying out all her advice when Rio turned to face her and said in a confident tone to reassure her - "I'll be fine Myra. I've taken the potion and I have this uniform, so don't worry. Nothing will go wrong. I promise."
When Myra heard his words she didn't know how to respond, as she really was feeling a little scared, as no matter how prepared they were, the chance of a failed awakening is always present. Everyone can go through the awakening at any time but if they fail once, then their meridians(veins) would be damaged, and going through an awakening again, would be even more dangerous.
Plus with all that happened till now about Rio's curse, Evil Scion's plan and those traitors, everyone had their doubts. That's why today the security of the Blake mansion was on high alert. No one except his parents or their trusted aides was allowed anywhere near awakening chambers.
As Rio who knew from the plot what is to come & that there'll be no danger during his awakening, wasn't feeling nervous. He actually felt excited at the thought of that power. He could finally start some of his plans and start getting stronger.
_
Rio and Myra arrived outside a room, where several guards were standing outside securing a parameter. Myra showed her token while Rio started walking ahead, when the doors opened he could see a teleportation circle made on the ground. It was made with runic carvings and some light blue symbols and designs were lighting up the round corners. It was used to teleport people from here to the location of awakening chambers, as they were made a bit away from the mansion in case there were any accidents.
_
Rio stood at the center of circle trying to see if he could understand anything, but all he could see were weird lines & symbols nothing else, so he gave up.
Soon Myra joined him while the guards activated the circle, while Rio blinked his eyes once they were already on the other side. He could now see Artemis standing in front of him, while Amelia was standing behind her.
Rio who was busy thinking how quickly that circle worked and looking around at the new surroundints when Artemis came forward and hugged him, as she whispered - "I'll be there too okay, so don't worry about anything."
Rio just nodded his head and hugged her back. No matter how many times he did this, it always felt felt loving. He had stopped feeling embarrassed around her now.
Amelia too came and pinched Rio's hand as she said - "Be strong my lazy brother, or next year I will beat you."
Rio smiled and slapped her head as he hugged her and said - "You're getting even more stupid little Amy, if you think you can beat me."
They all started walking towards the room where the ceremony will take place, when they reached the mana room, Rio saw Agnus waiting there outside.
Agnus looked at Rio and they both just nodded their head at each other.
"It's his awakening, can't you say something positive to him." Artemis complained as she shook her head, watching this father-son interaction.
Hearing his wife, Agnus smiled and said - "He's my son, I believe in his talent. Plus he already knows everything."
"Hmph" Artemis decided to ignore the obvious as she had been explaining to Rio everything every day this week.
Since everything else was prepared and they were just waiting for Rio, they decided to move in and start.
The mana room was a white-marble room with runic language all over the borders of the walls. Even though Rio didn't know what the runes did, he could guess they were made for mana gathering and were probably some of the best ones since he was here.
Rio walked ahead towards the middle of the room, where a large circle was drawn, everyone else except him stood on the side, while Artemis made a barrier which surrounded Amelia, who didn't listen and started crying when they decided to keep her out.
Rio looked at everyone , and he could see the love and care they had for him, aside from Agnus, everyone present in the room was nervous.
'He has too much trust in his genes I say.' Rio thought as he looked at Agnus watching over his guards as they activated the rune formation.
Rio ook a deep breath and nodded his head. As he was closing his eyes the lines about awakening came ringing in his brain as if to warm him of what's about to come -
*** [During awakening ceremony, as the mana continues to flow and surge, the individual's body may start to transform. Bones may shift and elongate, muscles may grow and change, and the senses may become heightened or altered. These changes can also cause pain and discomfort, but are necessary for the individual to fully harness the power of mana.
This mana can feel like a burning sensation or intense pressure.
The duration of the awakening process varies from person to person, depending on the individual's strength and ability to endure pain or how much his body is adapt to the flow of mana.
The process can also be dangerous if the individual's body is unable to handle the surging power of mana, potentially leading to any injury to his meridians or even making him a cripple for life.]
_
As Rio opened his eyes again, he could feel the mana in the air increasing at a constant speed. He could feel the heaviness in the air, and soon enough he could feel his body getting warmer.
Rio could feel the mana moving through his suit spreading it all over his body. He winced a little as he felt pain when mana started gathering around his heart, and every part of his body started getting transformed.
His body began to change, his bones cracking as his muscles grew and his skin reddened.
The pain was intense, almost unbearable, but Rio gritted his teeth and refused to give in. He knew that this was just the beginning as changing your body was just the first step.
Suddenly, a surge of power coursed through his brain, causing him to cry out in pain.
'It's here.'
A pain that would break anyone's mind apart, that's what author called it in the novel, when world system merges with anyone during their awakening. Almost 80% of people who failed their awakening would fail at this point, and Rio who was going through that pain, was thinking - 'Was this it?'
The pain only surprised him at first cause it caught him offguard, but when that surprise was over he didn't even feel a thing. Maybe like a little tingle in his brain but that's about it.
So either this system is going easy on me, or I'm just too used to headaches.
When one survives the merging too, then comes the final part. It is now that someone can awaken their element.
*** [The elemental awakening lasts till you can feel your element and turn the mana in your body into that element. This is where most newbies hurt themselves & everyone around them. As no one who felt mana for the first time, could just transform the excess mana and turn it into any element. There's a risk of losing control , and all the mana in the surrounding would react and go berserk. In this condition if you're lucky you'll get off easy by not learning any element but if you're not, then you hurt your newly built mana veins and that ruins your future development.
- If you're successful in awakening your element then you would have an easier time learning that element, but if you give up, it just means you will have to try and learn every element available just to see which one suits you the most. It would waste lots of time, and even then your proficiency won't be as good as people who learned it in their awakening.]
_
Rio's element in the novel was darkness, one of the 7 pure elements of Arcadia. And his proficiency in it was what attracted the attention of that Goddess, and she gave him her blessing.
*** [It is only after awakening and merging with the world system that Gods can interact with anyone. So if any God is interested in you, they'd give you their blessing if they want. Getting a blessing just after your awakening is super rare, and everyone who received it, is hailed as a genius.]
- And this was the part for what Rio was most excited about. Goddess of darkness, she was the one who gave Rio her blessing in the novel and it was something that made Rio stronger than his peers.
'I don't know how Rio controlled darkness in the novel, as it was said to come to him naturally. But for me darkness is something I've lived in, Is there someone else alive who can say they've seen the REAL darkness better than me.'
Rio closed his eyes as he imagined the scene of just after his death, floating in the darkness, the void, abyss whatever it was - that was the definition of darkness for him.
He felt the mana within his body leaving and moving out. He had no problem moving the mana as with pura corpus potion the pathways were without any impurity to hinder their way.
But instead of feeling weak for losing his mana, he felt nothing. This was where Dress of Ishvar played another role. It continuously absorbed the surrounding mana and supplied him back, so he continued the same process again.
Rio looked upwards. He could see the clear bright sky through the ceiling glass just before everything around him started getting covered in darkness. As everything turned dark, only one thought came to his mind -
'Where are you?'
##
INFO - Difference between teleportation circle & teleportation gates
---- Teleportation circles are used for short distance transportation, while teleportation gates are used for long distances.
- The difference between both is that circles are made of rune language, and can be drawn by anyone and they'll stay there and as long as continuous mana is supplied. Teleportation gates are portals which can only be opened with the help of some spacial artifacts or with some advanced spacial mages.
- Portals are made two ways, while a circle drawn can only send people one way to the destination whose coordinations are set. They better know their way back, or they not coming back homie.
- Circles can be ruined & tempered with someone who has enough knowledge about runes, but gates are secured as long as that artifact is working fine, or that spacial mage didn't go batshit crazy. 😆
##
A/N ~ Next chapter Awakening part 2 - his Goddess.
I'LL BE ON THE DISCORD.
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