Today, like any other day, Yohan woke up and committed to his morning rituals.
It wasn't an ordinary day, however, as shown by his parents who were anxiously pacing around the room, rubbing sweat from their forehead.
This day was his 6th birthday, and therefore, the day he would manifest his Spirit.
Although his parents informed him that whatever Spirit he would manifest did not matter at all, the weight of expectations still weighed down on him as he was aware that this would be one of the deciding factors of his family's future status.
For the occasion, he wore special liturgical clothing that consisted of a white robes with blue lining and the symbol of the Divine Spirit, the upturned golden vase.
The Divine Spirit was the deity worshipped by the inhabitants of the world, as it was said that they were the original Spirit that parented all of the succeeding Spirits.
The manifestation ceremony would take place in the temple at the heart of the city, and there would be a cleric overseeing the ritual and keeping their eye out for any potential talents.
After making all of the preparations for the ceremony, the family of three united at their front door and his parents gave him a deep hug.
He would be in the company of his mother today, so the two left the villa, finding themselves in the wide streets of Hasseima.
The architecture was simplistic and rather rustic in this part of the city, looking like it came out of an ordinary painting of an ordinary city.
As they walked through the neighbourhood, Yohan received strange looks from the other adults, who looked at him with an envious expression and ill intent, presumably due to his clothing and childlike features indicating he would be participating in the manifestation ceremony.
'It seems like everyone wants me to fail....' In this world, Spirits were hated by the elite, as they were utterly democratic and could grant even the lowliest of peasants incredible potential and power. It was for this reason that there was so much attention given to the manifestation ceremony, as any lucky peasants would be recruited by the nobles and put into their place.
There was a flaw in that logic, however, as the compatibility between a Spirit and a host wasn't exclusively innate and was also determined by upbringing. Thus, nobles most commonly awakened Spirits such as 'The Knight' or 'The Lord/Lady' while peasants were left with agricultural and useless Spirits.
It was as such, that to keep the status quo and avoid a rebellion, the ruling dynasty has made agrarian training a big part of peasant education, to maximize the chances a peasant could never shine too bright.
That aside, Yohan was a bit excited for today, and held his mother's hand tightly, nervous at today's prospects.
The center of the city looked different to the suburbs, as the monotonous architecture was instead replaced by colourful palaces and the highest building in the city and also their destination, the temple.
The temple occupied a gigantic expanse of land, with most of it taken by an exotic and opulent garden that grew flowers from foreign lands, or the living facilities of the city's clerics, which were opulent in nature.
The temple in question was constructed of pristine-white limestone and had green jade domes reaching high into the sky and golden sculptures and statuettes ornamenting the structure.
It was built on top of a hill, and a clean-looking white staircase led to its entrance.
The whole area was protected by sharp spikes and indifferent guards.
Usually, non-nobles have no business being inside of the temple, but the only time they were allowed in was for their children's manifestation ceremony, and, seeing Yohan's priestly clothes, the guards at the entrance gave them a glance but didn't object to their entrance into the temple.
Walking through the spacious garden, his mother was appreciating the fauna of the garden and started telling him a story.
"20 years ago, I was the one walking through this place with my parents. We weren't very wealthy, but they insisted that I undergo the ceremony here, in the capital and my father sewed me a robe, the most beautiful of robes. We crossed the country through a generous noble's carriage and I entered this garden, intimidated by the size of everything around me."
She looked at him as she spoke, and he smiled back.
She resumed "My parents hoped that I would manifest a good Spirit, and as you know, I was found to have the rare Spirit of 'The caregiver'. While it wasn't exactly the most suited for fighting, or farming, my parents were overjoyed, as the former king, who was loved by all before he was overthrown by the current ruling king, had the same Spirit.'
Yohan was a bit curious and asked "If he was loved by all, then why was he overthrown?"
His mother looked around, and then told him with raised eyebrows "Ignorance can sometimes be bliss, my child."
Seeing there would be no further development to the conversation, and how his mother avoided the subject and looked scared, Yohan shrugged and they kept walking.
By now, they were at the tall staircase leading directly to the temple, and they slowly went up the steep staircase.
At the top, there were guards and men and women wearing clerical clothing similar to Yohan's current clothing waiting for them.
They all smiled and pronounced a prayer while cupping their hands "Grace of the Divine Spirit. Well met."
His mother did the same and hinted at him to do so too, which he replicated.
The priests then led them inside to a spacious hall with a few dozen children that all looked his age and were similarly clothed in priestly clothing.
In the center of the hall, there was a table with a golden upturned vase and a gray blank card.
A middle-aged man with golden embroidered white clothing sat in a chair and signaled to a child to come to him.
The cleric then took the child's hands in one hand and the blank card in the other, let go of the child's hands and put the blank card inside the vase.
As if it was a miracle, when he took out the card again, there was a drawing on the card of a bronze sickle and words underneath it.
The cleric read it then shook his head in disappointment, saying out loud 'The Farmer'.
The child, although young, seemed devastated by this result and collapsed, on the ground, sobbing endlessly.
A person that looked to be the child's father was standing on the side and also started tearing up, but didn't intervene to comfort the child.
This was a heartbreaking scene, and Yohan suddenly felt more nervous about his results.
His mother, however, wasn't able to stay silent as she approached the child and hugged them, telling them it was okay. The child calmed down and went to his dad, who started screaming hysterically at the child, but was then chased out of the temple by the priests that led them in earlier.
This phenomenon continued, and most seemed unhappy with their results, although one person stood out.
There was a young boy who was wearing extremely high-quality clothing that distinguished him from the other kids and his Spirit was a relatively rare one called 'The Pyromancer' that could exhibit control over fire.
The kid looked overjoyed and looked at the other children condescendingly before approaching a man dressed in modest clothing who congratulated him "Congratulations, Young master. Your excellence was to be expected."
The kid looked proud of himself and left the temple, while held up in the air by the butler.
As the ceremonies continued, Yohan's turn was getting closer and when it was finally his turn, his back was covered in cold sweat and he could not move.
Nonetheless, his mother patted him gently on the back and told him "Go on, Yohan. I'm proud of you"
He nodded and gulped in anticipation as he stepped next to the bored-looking cleric who took his hand and conducted the same ritual he felt like he had seen a million times.
1 second...
2 seconds...
3 seconds...
As the cleric took out the card, it felt like time was frozen for the young Yohan.
When the cleric looked at his card, he gasped in surprise and screamed "The Bishop. It's a Spirit from the Chaturanga set of Spirits and is incredibly rare. In Chaturanga, the Bishop can easily infiltrate the enemy and is a strong supporting piece in the game. Congratulations!"
Yohan was pleasantly surprised but a certain phenomenon surprised him more.
On his retina, he could see a a few sentences hovering in the air.
___________________________________________________
(Yohan) (World Climber)
Current World: #44 Elam
Level: 1
Spirit: The Bishop
Skills: - Piercing shot
- Short-distance Teleportation
Status:
Physique: 10
Intelligence: 10
Spirit Force: 10
Missions: - Support the Queen.
- Find the breach to enter #43 Vecto.
We will wait for you at the top.
________________________________________________
'What is this?' Yohan was puzzled and deeply furrowed his eyebrows, but he couldn't think any longer as he felt warmth coating his body and turned around to see his mother hugging him and crying.
"I swore to myself, no matter what you get, I will protect you from everything, my son. But knowing you will have the strength to protect yourself, how could I not be happy?"
As he saw his mother crying, Yohan also felt his eyes turn wet.