Heavy rains were pouring down on Hana village. In one corner of the village by the cliff was a run-down building. This building was the Hana village's orphanage. Once where this orphanage stood was a nice church but now it looked beaten and battered. The glory it had as a church was all lost as time passed.
The rainwater was falling on the orphanage's windows making loud sounds as if the window will break in the next second. On the first floor of the orphanage facing the cliff, there was a cracked window. And through that window, a small boy of 7-8 years old could be seen sitting on a bed folding his knees close to his chest. The boy didn't have any special features. Black hair, black eyes, and an innocent face.
Knock
Knock
"Come in" said the boy without looking at the door.
A woman opened the door and said "Are you ready?... Blake we are already going to be late because of the rain. Why are you still in your bed?"
The woman was in her early 40s. Her name was Sheila Taylor. She and her husband Josh Taylor are the ones who run the orphanage. Sheila was a beautiful woman but she had a fiery temper while Josh was a soft-spoken man. In the entire orphanage, there was no one except Blake who could ignore Sheila and make it out without a beating, not even her husband Josh.
Seeing that Blake had a solemn expression on his face, Sheila stopped talking and slowly walked toward Blake and sat beside him. She kissed his forehead and said
"What are you thinking little devil? You have been waiting for this day for so many years. But now look at you...sitting here like a scaredy-cat" and she giggled.
Seeing her giggle Blake frowned and said "Who are you laughing at old hag? I am not scared of anything. It's just that..." Blake voiced lowered as did his head.
"You are afraid that what if your soul spirit isn't a strong one? Then how will you fulfil your ambition? Am I right? Or are you thinking about the letter? " Sheila asked raising her eyebrows.
Blake tried to retort but he couldn't say anything as what Sheila had said was the truth. When he was 4 years old he had asked Josh and Sheila where his parents were and all Sheila said was that one day at midnight they found an infant Blake in a small basket and at the steps of the church. And the name Blake was woven on the cloth in which he was kept. There was a letter at the bottom of the basket which read 'Blake open this letter after you have awakened'.
To respect the wishes of the one who wrote this letter Sheila and Josh hadn't opened it and kept it safe. Despite numerous attempts Blake to find the letter, he was unsuccessful. He was nervous because today he hoped to find out why he was abandoned. And the second reason as Sheila said was Blake was worried he might awaken a low-level soul spirit.
"Blake how many times have I told you there aren't useless soul spirits but useless soul masters. Every soul spirit has potential, the master must be willing to trust it and explore it further. Now get ready I am waiting downstairs." Sheila said and her last sentence was an order because her voice had become stern. Blake nodded and Sheila left the room.
After 10 minutes Blake stepped out of the orphanage. He saw Sheila waiting with a purse in her hand and was talking to a man in spectacles who was her husband Josh. He had 2 umbrellas in his hand. Seeing Blake come out Josh said "Oh Blake you are here. Let's go Due to the rain the awakening ceremony seems to be delayed." Josh passed an umbrella to Sheila who pulled Blake with her in her umbrella. Josh opened the other umbrella for himself. The three of them stepped out in the heavy rain and followed the road that came down from the cliff. On the way, they met many acquaintances and greeted them. In Hana village and the surrounding villages, the Taylor couple was very well known.
10 minutes later the three of them stood in front of a big hall. The hall was white and golden in color. The guards and some people around the hall were wearing white robes with golden designs.
Seeing Sheila and Josh one of the guards said "Mr. and Mrs. Taylor. It seems like only one kid is here for awakening this year from your orphanage."
"Yes Remi, this is Blake. He turned 8 last month. I hope I am not late for the awakening."
"Of course not. Priest Tom and Sister Mary just reached here a couple of minutes ago." the guard named Remi said.
After chatting for a few more seconds the guards let the trio in. As they entered the garden surrounding the hall Blake could see different colored flowers.
"Blake these flowers maintain a high concentration of mana inside and around the hall. Let's go in fast. I haven't met sister Mary in a few months. I need the latest gossip from Shell city." Sheila said and Blake and Josh could only sigh. They knew that Sheila and Sister Mary would gossip for hours every time they meet.
As the trio entered the hall Blake saw the hall was completely round and it had a hole in the middle of the roof. The hall had 20 pillars inside it in a full circle and in front of every pillar was a circle that had lines going to the middle. Many people along with their kids were standing at the borders of the hall which were behind the circle. In the middle of the hall, two people were standing. Both had worn golden robes as well but one thing was different. One of the two people was Priest Tom who had long white hair which reached his shoulders and a monocle on his right eye and two golden stars on his collar. The other was a woman in her 40s who Blake knew as Sister Mary. She had blonde long hair and one golden star on her collar.
"Sister Mary" Sheila shouted and Mary who was Talking to Priest Tom looked at the source of the voice and a smile bloomed on her face. She quickly ran up to Sheila and hugged her
"Sheila long time no see. How are you?" Mary asked. Josh and Blake decided to let them do their thing when they saw that the monocle-wearing old man was also heading their way.
Josh quickly bowed and said "Priest Tom it is good to meet you after such a long time." Seeing this Blake also followed Tom and bowed.
"Haha...Josh, it has indeed been a long time." Tom said and seeing Blake also bow without knowing why he laughed again and said "haha...kid aren't you sweet one. May God bless you, my child."
"Don't be fooled by the sweet smile Uncle Tom. This kid is no less than a devil" Sheila came from behind Blake and put a hand on his hair. Blake looked up toward Sheila with a wronged expression which made Sheila grin more.
"We will have a nice lunch after the ceremony. Let's get the awakening started." Tom said walking toward the middle of the hall and Mary followed him. The mood of the hall suddenly became serious. One by one Mary started announcing names and the kid whose names were announced would come forward and stand inside the circle in front of a pillar. In total the priest took the names of 20 students. Blake was also one of them. He followed the others and also stood inside a circle. He looked around and saw everyone was almost the same age as him. The awakening ceremony can only be held after 8 years of age.
Tom looked at the kids standing in the circle and said "Kids I will send pure mana from here to you through these mana lines which will eventually reach the circles in which you all are standing. Due to this extremely pure mana will enter your body nourishing the soul spirit that has been incubating inside your consciousness from the moment you were born."
As Tom said this he joined his hands and said something making the circle he was standing in glow blue in color. The circle had many lines connected to it which also lit up. The lit-up mana lines traveled and reached each of those 20 circles. As soon as the circles in which kids were standing lit up, the bodies of the kids became stiff. Sweat started flowing from their forehead.
This kept going on for a minutes until a pop sound was heard.
POP!!
POP!!
the sound of popping started coming from every kid and within five seconds every kid had made that sound once. They weren't making it from their mouth but the sound was coming from inside their chest and one by one the soul spirits of each and every kid started appearing behind them.
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