A silence took over the audience. The children looked at each other, waiting for someone else to speak. Their body seemed to be demanding a response from them, like a debt they owed after what it had suffered. Even now, the group felt discomfort and noticeable weakness.
An idea of an answer sometimes crossed their minds and was immediately refused by other thoughts, outraged that one of their own could answer in everyone's place. The power of the mind was not to speak in one's head; it was to command. The answers could not be enough to explain the complexity of their minds that they did not even understand themselves.
"Strengthening your body comes at a cost," says Ludovic, "just like strengthening your mind offers you countless paths, all accurate in their own situations. You don't need to know, you don't need consensus – then you would be weak. You only need to learn to feel and control. Almost everything will change, but if I can give you some advice, don't force change, don't wage war inside, because if one day you manage to become a Paladin, your body will not hold up."
He stood up and waved to them.
They walked down the hall and entered a small room where a teenager in the same white outfit approached.
"Excuse me, the energy controllers have arrived."
Moments later, five figures emerged. One wore a golden white outfit, the chief priest of Cleppé; another wore an outfit of any color, the magician and administrator of Cleppé. Two figures wore golden attire with the imperial seal, the missi dominici. The last, who wore bourgeois clothing, was the bidder, having acquired the right to observe each awakening.
"We came here to test their individual and collective talent." Said the head priest.
Ludovic bowed and beckoned them to come with a servile face. "Please, please come home."
A Missis Dominici observes the teenagers. "You haven't allowed them to cultivate yet?"
" I would not dare! I was looking forward to your visit."
"You could have done so, as long as they are still there..." The administrator created a golden cube and flew it to the residence.
They could observe Nirl from above from these energy-soaked walls and the vaults against demonic creatures and the many traps that remained there, to the road to Cleppé, still very dusty and infested with grass and energy beasts.
The Paladins headed towards Cleppé, composed of walls thirty feet high and eight feet wide. They rushed to the residence built in the middle of the city, a castle formed from energy and reinforced with runes throughout.
The golden cube disappeared, and the awakeners led them inside. Servants were polishing the path, which was infested with mud, and seeing the Paladins hastily moved aside and bowed.
The Paladins built a golden energized path, so their habits were not affected. The path spread mud next to it, and once past, the servants – demonians – went back to polishing the path.
Inside the mansion, they led them through a sealed door that they opened with sacred energy and through a trap that they raised with this same energy.
"Go inside. "
Alain and the others obeyed, and soon, they were in front of a cut stone chamber where there was an altar with a stone in its center.
"Okay, then you just have to put your hand on it." The administrator said tiredly. "Don't be under any illusions: most don't have talent. Girtus will be able to confirm this for you."
The bidder nodded. That would benefit him. High talents, his father had told him, were taken and married to the sons and daughters of kings, then nobles, completing their education alongside them. The local powers share the crumbs which formed the majority.
"But no matter your talent, you are now the kings' soldiers; you have a special status worth 3 times a demonian, and twenty-one times a humanian. Money is no longer enough to buy your life, so be careful with every energetic struggle you make because no forgiveness will be granted. For this, you must serve the crown two months of the year."
The Paladins forced them to make a vow in their local language and to recite something - maybe words - they didn't understand.
"Okay, now… put your hand down, we'll explain your talent to you."
François thought he had seen the missi dominici furrowing their eyebrows. But as they spoke none, so did he.
Alain was the first to test his talent. A red light appeared.
"Grade 2 talent."
Was it good or? He looked into the eyes of the others and saw no light...
François followed. An orange light appeared.
"Grade 3 talent."
Emilie followed. A black-light appeared.
"Grade 1 talent"
Lena followed. A red light appeared.
"grade 2 talent."
"Now put your hands all together on it."
The priest entrusted them with the book, and after inspecting it, the Paldins placed it in balance with sacred energy on the sphere. It lit up with an orangeish color, having a tint of green.
"Collective talent grade 3, close to grade 4."
The bidder's eyes lit up. Four weak talents, almost reaching the intermediate power if they were together! Four talents he would get! That would make money and connections for sure.
A missi dominici with a seeing stone in his hand recorded the whole process. Then, he noted the decision in several languages, cuneiform, global, and official. The priest wrote down in these same languages, and the administrator in the local language.
"Four normal category talents. All go to the bidder, and all have royal protection. The next year sees the obligation to be passed with the bidder."
After that, the children were taken back outside with the bidder.
"The training center is not far away," he said. There were plenty of them, and this man boasted of being part of one of the best cultivators' clubs in town. That of the elites! Reserved for Knights and Paladins.
"How are our talents?" asked François.
"Well, talents refer to your reality percentage within the zone and a few other variables. Thus, each grade corresponds to one-tenth of the maximum energy output. This means that a grade 3 has at least 30% energy, a grade 2, 20%, and a grade 1, 10%. Having a lot definitely helps since each step is more difficult. But don't worry: the first levels are accessible to everyone."
"And the next ones?"
"Well, for that, you will have to increase your chances by participating in your energy mode with four people. But enough discussion! Follow me, and I will teach you how to use energy. It's always complicated, but you'll see, once you get started, it's delightful!"
On the road, they saw pigs and animals walking around more or less freely. The streets were filthy, unlike Nirl, where they were more passable. It was said that people from all walks of life went to Cleppé for their armor, weapons, and magical objects, but didn't they require some cleanliness?
The thought surprised François. It was weird. He remembered that Cleppé had always been like this and that it had never caused him any problem, but now it seemed strange.
"Are all cities like that?"
"From what I've seen, most are much smaller." Replied the bidder. Cleppé had a population of 7000, a fairly large town, especially here. It was the largest city in the region, guarded by several Paladins.
"I mean, I remember this town, but it seems foreign."
"Oh, then it's a body memory. Don't worry; the higher your energy level, the more it does that to you. Maybe you lived in a different but similar city in your world, and therefore, your body has difficulty telling the difference. Take it like a child stumbling over vocabulary."
He looked up and saw the red star. That hadn't moved.
They arrived in a clean and polite area. Several servants tried to make it clean, and the columns filled with color made this place seem like a palace.
"Come in, come in. The people here are about your age. Although having spent two years to awaken is unusual, you will see that it does not change much. Lots of weird things happen in awakenings."
He was still determining what the bidder would win. His father didn't explain this thing to him. It was a bad omen to speak after the future of awakening. Besides, they only really became adults when they awakened. Before, it was a different version that existed. Less secure, weaker mentally, more subject to the morals of the time, and that could die awakening.
They entered and prepared to cultivate for the first time.