Upon walking through the doors to the main hall, all the conversations abruptly ended and all eyes focused on Joseph.
His entrance had stunned the majority of the people, while everybody knew what this day was about and who it was concerned with, this entrance and Joseph's aura had left many entranced, some had been left in awe and a minority with some form of hostility.
As Joseph looked at the gathered crowed, he proceeded to make his way towards his grandfather who was standing next to what seemed to be a floating crystal simply hovering in place.
Despite knowing there existed magic on this world, the sight of a floating crystal that could possibly weight several kg, Joseph's estimation would be between 2000 and 5000 kilograms but he could not sure.
When Joseph got closer to the stage, Joseph could see a gentle smile on his grandfather's face as he beckoned Joseph to come closer.
"Joseph, today is the day of your test are you aware of what will be happening? - Joseph's grandfather had commenced the ceremony, despite already knowing what going to happen and what had to be said a ceremony was a ceremony and there was a certain procedure to this sort of thing.
Under the gazes of family and friends Joseph replied - "Yes, I do".
"Then come up and stand before the testing crystal and place your hand upon it. The result will appear on the crystal with a symbol of what field you will be recommended to train in." - Joseph's grandfather who had his hand stretched outwards towards Joseph, suddenly waved his arm towards the crystal while giving a brief explanation of the process.
Joseph nodded to his grandfather and moved closer towards the crystal, when he placed his hand on the crystal a bright light shone outwards blinding those nearest to the stage while making those further back unable to see what was happening on the stage.
And within the bright light Joseph heard the all too familiar voice within his soul.
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(Warning energy source detected)
...
(No threat to the Host detected)
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(Does the Host allow the energy source to merge with the body?)
.....
"Yes, System let the energy merge with my body, just make sure to keep an eye on it" - While Joseph was positive his family members would not try to harm him and trusted those he interacted with on a daily basis, Joseph still wanted the System to double check.
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(Energy source has merged with Host's body)
...
(Energy source is scanning Host's body)
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(Energy source is leaving Host's Body, initiating full system scan.)
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(System scan complete)
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(Host's condition - 100%)
.....
With the System's announcement informing him that nothing negative had occurred during the testing process, Joseph breathed a sigh of relief and looked up to see what his result would be.
It is quite common during these ceremonies to see 1 or 2 symbols appear for the final result, 3 symbols would be rather uncommon but it has occurred previously, 4 and 5 symbols appearing on the testing crystal has been rather rare last time 4 symbols appeared on a crystal was roughly 250 years ago while 5 symbols last recorded happened to be around 644 years ago.
When the bright light started to dim down the room became quiet, so quiet it hardly seemed anybody was breathing.
On the testing crystal 4 and a half symbols could be seen, not 4 or 5 but 4 and a half. Somehow the fifth symbol failed to completely emerge or did it mean something else?
Joseph's grandfather was also stunned when he saw the symbols for Alchemy, Tailor, Restaurant and Gathering. The fifth symbol had left him slightly confused it did not seem to be anything his family had business in so what could it possibly be?
Leaving that odd fifth half symbol aside, it was time to celebrate his genius grandson. He was quite pleased with himself for having a good son who knew how to pick a great wife.
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As the party was ongoing, four unknown person's met up in a room underground and the topic of discussion just so happened to be young Joseph.
"It will be difficult to deal with that person, especially with what happened today." - One voice ushered ensuring no concrete details were being said aloud.
"Why does such good fortune come to a book reader? All he does is spend his time in the library and some how he gets 4 symbols? How is that any fair? - Said another voice with growing anger and resentment.
"Don't worry, I have been in touch with the Shadow Raven Syndicate and they have told me about a new product they were working on, it's a type of poison that targets the mind" - Another voice sneered in the darkness.
"What good will that do?" - Asked the angry voice.
"Well it will make him an idiot, possibly worse and if his mind is affected then any business he is working in will most likely become affected also." - The sneering voice vaguely explained.
"Great I am looking forward to seeing that idiot make a fool of himself." - A sense of satisfaction washed the anger away and expectations arose for what the future would hold.
With the conclusion of the conversation, the persons dispersed to leave no trace or so they thought.
.....
(Warning Hostility towards the Host has been detected.)
...
(Scanning in progress )
...
(Scanning failed)
.....
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