Alright! Today's the day!'
Teiyo rolled off his bed, but due to his excitement he rolled too quickly and face planted the hard wooden floor.
Today, the Zuivers seemed a bit tense and were always in conversation behind Teiyo's back.
'By the way they're talking, you'd think I'm going to die.'
Hours passed and the ceremony was to start in half an hour.
Teiyo said goodbye to the Zuivers and headed out. The ceremony this year would be taking place in the Western District, which wasn't so far from Teiyo. This was unusual since ceremonies usually took place in the Eastern District, which was where the wealthy people lived. The Western District was much smaller and considered the slums, houses were much smaller and stacked next to each other. There are many different clans living here but there isn't a significant quantity of members or wealth to establish a legit clan. Therefore, everyone in this district was just considered as one; peasants. The Eastern District however, took 70% of the town. Many established and powerful clans are situated there.
"Hey Tei!" shouted a voice from behind him.
Teiyo heard a voice behind him and turned to a light brown-skinned boy with brown hair and brown eyes walking towards him while waving his hand.
"Avo! Thought I'd see you!" Teiyo replied enthusiastically.
The pair did a cheeky handshake routine. Avonaco and Teiyo had been friends since they were young. He, too, was from the Western District and didn't live too far from him. The thing that Teiyo really liked about Avonaco was that he always had a wide smile on his face.
"I'm surprised your mom let you come, how'd that happen?" questioned Teiyo.
"Yeah, she wasn't too keen. Ever since Dad went on his mission, she's been extremely anxious about Marksmen. I think the years have calmed her down a bit, or my enthusiasm might've changed her mind."
Avonaco's father was a really strong and respected Marksmen. Unfortunately, he mysteriously disappeared on a mission years ago. Teiyo really looked up to him when he was younger. He occasionally trained Teiyo and Avonaco in basic martial arts back then.
"I can't believe we can finally awaken our marks today! I'm definitely becoming a strong Marksmen just like my dad and then become the Tribe's Aurorai!" bubbled Avonaco dreamily.
"Yeah right! I'll be stronger than you! Keep dreaming, buddy!" laughed Teiyo.
"Alright, fine! We'll see who's stronger in exactly three years from now!"
"You might as well quit then!"
"No, you should!"
"No, you-"
"Quiet down!" yelled a mysterious voice in front of them.
A tall, well-built man with short spiky dark brown hair was walking towards them. He had dark brown eyes and a huge scar across his cheek. He had an intense vibe about him, as if his power radiated to his surroundings.Teiyo knew this man wasn't one to anger. He was wearing red armor (clearly expensive) and a necklace with the same amulet as Hesutu but with some extra engravings.
"Clearly, the people around you are getting annoyed. You should be more aware of your surroundings." criticized the man.
Teiyo looked around and saw several shopkeepers casting annoyed looks towards them.
"We're sorry, sir! Won't happen again." Avonaco stammered quickly.
"Tch. Now move along."
As the man walked away, shopkeepers stopped to bow.
"Who was that guy? asked Teiyo.
Avonaco had a very puzzled face.
"Not sure… Oh crap, we should hurry up! It's almost time for the ceremony!
Avonaco was right. By the time both arrived, hundreds of kids were gathered, chatting with each other. The ceremony was taking place in an arena-like field. In the front, there was a large platform with five empty chairs. Avonaco and Teiyo found space at the end of the arena. There were many children, clearly from different economic classes. A group of boys in front of them were glancing back at them and giggling. Teiyo could just make out their whispers.
"Filthy peasants, why are they here? Look at their clothes…"
"Shut-"
Teiyo was about to say something when he was interrupted by the sound of a loud horn.
"Welcome everyone!"
Teiyo looked over and saw a bald bearded man with a huge horn in his hand. He was wearing a black sleeveless vest with chainmail armor underneath and brown pants that cut off at his knees. He also had an amulet similar to Hesetu. Teiyo noticed that all five chairs were now full except the middle one and the one in the far right that Teiyo assumed belonged to the man with the horn. All of them were wearing similar clothes.
"I will be your Awakener this year. Today, as you know, is a very important day for you youngsters. You shall all awaken a mark that will belong to you for the rest of your lives. Now, let me quickly explain who these people behind me are."
He extended his hand towards the chairs.
"The one in the middle is the head of the Marksmen Board. I introduce you to Eyota Hiamovi."
He pointed to a tall muscular man wearing red armor seating on the chair.
"What! It's that creepy guy from before!" whispered Avonaco.
"How did he get there? The seat was empty a few seconds ago" wondered Teiyo.
There were a lot of whispers among the children. Clearly, they noticed the same thing.
"The rest, including me, are teachers at the Marksmen Academy, where I hope I see you all in a month." continued the man. "Now, let me explain what marks are."
Excited whispers flooded the arena.
"Quiet down. To begin, when you were all born, you were born with a birthmark. Birthmarks are generally the result of an overgrowth of your blood vessels on your skin. Some are more prominent, while some are noticeable. However, just like how blood flows in your body, your Aura flows as well. When there's an overgrowth of Aura in your skin, an Aurik Mark is formed. This mark alone has no power, but it is a physical representation of your latent magical abilities that flows through your blood. The more Aura you use, the more prominent your mark becomes and starts to spread throughout your body. These markings represent the increased amount of Aura rushing throughout your body, which is why you can visually see the pattern. The Mark however, needs to come in contact with Aurik flow to successfully awaken. That is why you all are here now!"
Everyone was clearly getting excited as whispers began.
Teiyo looked around and noticed Eyota Hiamovi staring at him and then promptly looked away when Teiyo met his eyes.
"Alright, settle down. Now, I do need to make this point clear. Marks are based off of Tribal Gods and seem to have the same marking pattern as they do on their totems. But, the mark's power is reflected on the Tribal God itself. Some are far more stronger than others. However, this also means there are some rather useless one as well, aimed more towards civilian life. If you are ever wondering what your mark can do or who it's based off, visit the Tribe Hall where Totems of the Gods are placed there. One last thing, I don't expect any of you to be able to summon your marks as it requires relentless training to do so. However, if markings completely engulf your body, the Aura halts blood flow and oxygen won't be able to spread to your body. Long story short, you'll suffocate and die. So use your mark responsibly."
The mood around the arena took a dark turn.
"Alright, let's begin the ceremony by honoring the gods!"
Suddenly, fires lit on the platform and men wearing Totem clothing got up onto the platform and started dancing.
Clouds started forming in the sky and the arena darkened. It looked like it could pour at any second.
Then, the teacher raised a blood red jewel and a strange red light emitted out of it. The red light rained upon the anxious children like mist and engulfed them all.
All around him, kids started falling to their knees and then suddenly, Teiyo's knees weakened and he fell. He felt something deep in him stirring, slowly gathering to his left shoulder. His strength returned to him and he got up. Every other kid was still down, all struggling to get up. He was the first one up. The teachers stared at him, obviously confused. Teiyo looked at Avonaco and saw him kneeling on the floor, sweat dripping from his chin. All the other kids had started getting up.
"Avo! Here let me help-"
Suddenly, Teiyo felt a tingle and all his body hairs stood up.
Avonaco got up, face filled with sweat and the tingling got stronger.
"What the-"
On Avonaco's left shoulder was a mark with a black lightning bolt and patterns surrounding it. The patterns slowly disappeared and all that was left was a dark grey lightning bolt.
Realizing what had just happened, Teiyo quickly looked at his right shoulder where he had felt the weird sensation earlier. One large empty circle was fading into a dull grey.
"That boy got up in just a few seconds." remarked a teacher
"Yeah, that's odd. I know people with weak marks recover quickly but this was just insane."
"He's the weakest. All the other kids took a while to get up, the brown boy next to him was one of the slowest to recover. He is probably a genius with an extremely powerful mark." said the bald teacher.
"Very interesting… I shall head out now, a lot of business to tend to." said Eyota.
Eyota suddenly disappeared.
"That guy, I can never read him"
"Show some respect, he's our superior and one of the strongest Marksmen in the tribe."
"Oh come on, we all know he's just after the position of Aurorai."
"Too bad he'll never get it. What do you say we go get some tea?"
A few minutes passed and the children were getting ready to leave. However, the kids were too excited to leave and preferred to keep talking about their newfound powers
"Tei, our journey finally begins. We'll become leading Marksmen!" Avonaco announced happily.
"Yeah, but my mark doesn't look as cool as yours. I probably got a bad one," sulked Teiyo.
"Don't worry, I bet you'll be able to do cool things!" assured Avonaco.
"Alright, let's head home-"
BOOM!
The wall next to Teiyo and Avonaco blew up and they both got sent separate ways. Multiple other kids were sent flying by the shockwave of the blast. Teiyo landed roughly on the ground, but wasn't hurt. He glazed up and made out the silhouettes of men in black cloaks standing on the rubble.