Several hours had passed since Instructor Windsong gave the group their mission for the day. They had the simple but important task of forming a pact with the Will of World, finalizing their commitment in becoming contenders. This wasn't a difficult task to accomplish, all you had to do was enter and state your intent to the Will of the World.
That was all it took to become a contender and receive an Alma from the Will. She had never heard of anyone failing in forming a pact with it. After all, it was a soulless existence that did not possess an ego. It was a machine-like being that only existed to manage the underlying components of the world.
So how did that boy screw up what should have been an automatic process? But most importantly, why hasn't he come out yet? It's almost been half a day and he still hasn't been thrown out by the Will of the World...
Angela, Axtorius, and the rest of the instructors peered at the sinkhole from above. Various expressions covered their faces as they individually speculated on the situation. It seemed none of them knew what to do, or rather, hesitated on making a move. Even though they were conquerors, not a single one of them dared to act rashly in front of the Will of World.
They knew what it was capable of and understood the enormous power it possessed as beings that were blessed by it. Sure, the damn thing had didn't have an ego, but that didn't mean it lacked basic instincts.
Throughout history, some particularly powerful conquerors sought to control and subdue it for their benefit. Every single idiot that tried doing so was erased from existence without fail.
A harsh lesson was taught since then, and that was that no one, man or god, should ever even consider offending the Will of World.
As a result, the only thing the instructors could do was wait for something to happen. None dared trade their lives just to save a single youngling. Although it was a pity, they still had the others to raise.
Hushed tones could be heard down below as the students discussed the situation amongst themselves. Apart from the larger crowds, a small group peered into the sinkhole. Astor, Horatio, Ophelia stared at the pit, hoping that something would happen soon. Even Astrid and Sebastian had serious expressions as they also continued to gaze at the sinkhole. None of them were in the mood to quarrel or joke with one another at the moment.
Given their backgrounds, they knew exactly why the instructors had not made a move, and despite understanding their reasoning, felt frustrated at the situation. They discussed amongst each other and confirmed that none of them had ever heard of such a prolonged ceremony. This was going to be an important event that would stir up the world once news spread.
It was extremely rare for the Will of World to do something like this, and it generally meant one thing - there was something special about Reed that caused this to occur. Whatever that 'special' trait was, no one knew. The problem was that some people would eventually want to know what that special quality was and those people were the types that did not take 'no' for an answer.
Astor sighed as he stared at the sinkhole and said, "Well, it looks like he's going to be a real popular guy once he comes back. No matter what, this is going to attract the attention of all four empires. It might even arouse the interest of the sovereigns..."
"It might be a bit too much to say that even the sovereigns will take note of what happened today. They've stopped paying attention to the mundane world a long time ago in pursuit of their goals," said Astrid. She sat down at the edge of the sinkhole and made herself comfortable as she waited for Reed's return.
"But you're certainly right that everyone else will be paying close attention to him from now on. I'd be surprised if everyone on the outside hasn't already heard about this by now. It's been half a day, so I'm sure we can all agree that the whole world has already been informed about him."
Sebastian interjected and said, "I do not doubt in my mind that the higher-ups have already been discussing his fate. It wouldn't even be unusual if we all received orders to rope him in from our families by the end of the day."
"Say, Kingscrown, you know him the best out of everyone. What does he seek? Money, fame, or authority? Women, perhaps? He might get played to death if the top brass decides to get him in their pocket. You'd do well to advise him with haste once he comes out, or else, hahaha...."
The group's expressions hardened when they heard Sebastian's words. They all hoped things wouldn't develop in that direction, but what Sebastian spoke was the truth. It was all too common for regular people, who had no association to the upper echelons of the world to be bribed, manipulated, and oppressed by the major powers that ruled the world.
The money and authority these individuals possessed essentially let them do as they pleased without any repercussions, as long as they did not offend a royal family or some high ranking clan. Someone like Reed who had no real backing or strong background was a prime target for them.
"That's not an issue because I already planne-"
"No need to worry, because I'm going to as-"
Astor and Astrid both looked at each other as they cut each other off mid-sentence and a moment of silence passed through the group. Even Sebastian who only commented to tease Astor was left speechless. Horatio and Ophelia bitterly chuckled as they stared at Astor's trembling back.
"Here we go again," they both thought as they stared at the golden volcano that was about to burst.
All of sudden, the ground shook violently and the sky began to darken as dark clouds began to form across the area. Lightning struck and deafening booms were heard in the distance. Even the temperature seemed to have taken a turn for the worst as condensation began forming on everyone's breaths.
Everyone in the vicinity of the sinkhole ran for their lives and rushed as far away as they could from the sinkhole. Only the instructors remained undisturbed as they shifted their gazes towards the skies and observed the storm above the sinkhole.
Space starting warping as enormous waves of Anima leaked out the storm, which created an area of incredible pressure around the sinkhole. The students who had immediately backed away when the storm formed escaped the effects, but a large majority of the students got caught in it.
It felt an actual mountain had been put on their shoulders and as a result, nearly all of the students crumpled under the pressure. Even the likes of Astrid and Sebastian were unable to even resist the ridiculous weight of the Anima wave and kneeled on the ground.
An older-looking instructor with a long beard of grey hair noticed the situation down below and swiftly waved his hand in a vertical motion, brushing the Anima wave away. He smiled at the students and said, "It's too dangerous for all you to be here right now, so take this opportunity to get as far away from here as you can get. I'll block the Anima waves for a couple of minutes of so hurry along now."
Everyone used the time the old man had given them and bolted off into the distance until they no longer saw the surging waves of Anima in the sky.
Back at the sinkhole, the sky continued to worsen as the clouds turned darker and the lightning grew fiercer. Some of the bolts that struck the ground had grown so powerful that they alone could kill the weaker kinds of contenders in a single strike. The Anima waves had grown so strong that they would turn anything other than the strongest contenders into a meaty paste.
The instructors cared little about the weather though as they stared at the raging storm. They knew that storms like these were usually a prelude to some sort of larger event that would occur. It was likely related to the boy, which made them all slightly anxious, considering the mysterious relationship he had with the Will of the World.
Eventually, the storm reached its peak and the waves had Anima waves grown so strong that they broke apart space itself, as spatial tears formed around the sinkhole. Where these tears lead to was a mystery no mortal dared solve and only the likes of conquerors possessed the right to understand.
Suddenly, the raging storm had abruptly stopped at once. The lightning and spatial tears stopped dead in their tracks, with some bolts not even touching the ground. An oppressive force had frozen everything around the sinkhole in place.
Terrified, the instructors also had been forced into submission as well and were unable to move so much as an inch. Space had been locked down around the sinkhole as if something had revoked the world the right to move.
It was then that the instructors finally saw it, the cause of the storm, and the force behind the space lock.
It was a hand. A giant hand that had descended from inside of the storm itself. The hand was beautiful in a way that could not be described and belonged to, without a doubt, the fairer sex.
The way the hand was positioned, in a sort of lightly clasped manner, gave one the impression that it was carrying something down to the ground. It gave them the impression that it was being gentle so as not to damage whatever it was carrying...
The woman's hand continued to descend until it finally reached the ground beside the sinkhole, whereupon it released the contents it had been carrying.
A brilliant light shone around whatever it had carried, blinding the instructors for a brief moment. By the time their vision came back, the hand and the storm had disappeared.
Their movement restored, the instructors immediately rushed to see what the hand had left and discovered that the hand had left an egg.
A large, white-gold egg that had complex runes and symbols of unknown origin. They all paused in reflection as they tried their hardest to burn the symbols into their heads, but were shocked out of concentration as a dull crack reverberated into their ears.
It was the egg. Whatever was inside was already beginning to hatch! But what followed after gave them their first real shock in thousands of years.
A human arm viciously burst out of the egg. "A human arm," they thought absentmindedly as they stared at the egg, dumbfounded.
Another arm then burst out the egg and eventually, a pair of legs also came out, too. Finally, the creature inside had enough and shattered the egg into a million pieces as it came out.
That day, all of the instructors of the Northern Kingscrown Training Academy witnessed something they had never seen in all their years alive.
They saw a young boy hatch himself out of an egg. Reed had finally returned.