Memphis is now five years old and he has reached an important part of his life; Awakening. Awakening was a process where people awoke their elements and became mages. It also allowed the person to find out if he had any innate characteristics. Generally, Awakening ceremonies were held when the individual was 8 to 10 years old but for those in Noble families, they had it five years. This gave them an early start in magic and by the time they reached the normal age, they would have broken through to the next level.
In the Awakening ceremony, there were many things needed. There were three crystals needed. An awakening crystal, a white crystal to check innate characteristics and a purple one to check mana capacity. All these had been bought beforehand by the Lerains and it was left with the ceremony to begin.
There was a lot of activity going on in the Lerain family mansion as servants could be seen moving quickly and carrying out their duties, decorating the mansion and arranging the room in preparation for the Awakening ceremony.
Memphis was bare chested, sitting in a lotus position in the middle of the Ancestral room. In front of him were three crystals on a pedestal. In the middle was the Awakening crystal and on its left was the innate characteristic crystal. The right side had the mana capacity crystal. The whole family was present in the room. From Memphis' cousins to his aunties and uncles, grandparents and his parents. Memphis took a deep breath to calm himself down. This ceremony would show whether he was going to indeed become a favoured son of heaven as the goddess Daphne had said. It wasn't uncommon to hear of noble families discarding their children for having weak talent in magic and Memphis was hoping that it wouldn't happen to him too.
Everyone was nervous, tense or anxious with his parents at the forefront of it. They were all hoping that they will be graced with a genius with great magic power who would take their family to new heights. Of all those in the room, Arudiz and Arius were the least tense, with relaxed looks on their face. Arudiz knew that Memphis was going to be a prodigy and was very interested to find out the outcome of the ceremony. Arius too knew this grandson of his was special and was eagerly waiting to see good results.
"What elements do you think little Memphis would awaken?" Loyce quietly asked her brother Philip. "Honestly I can't tell. I just hopes he at least awakens our Light element. After all, our family is renowned for Light mages so it wouldn't be too surprising for him to have the Light element," commented Philip. The others seemed to agree with this. This was because, most noble families had an element which was synonymous to their name. The Lerains had a high affinity for the Light element, the Murkhams were well known Water mages and the Zerons were renowned for their aptitude for the Lightning element. Even other smaller families and clans like the Malcoms were known for the Earth element, the Kincaids were known as powerful Fire mages and the Syphars had strong affinity for the Shadow element. This could be attributed to genetic factors or blood so it was only natural for those related by blood to have similar affinities.
"Let the ceremony begin!" commanded Irias Lerain. Memphis rose up from the ground and gave a bow to the family. Taking a deep breath, he walked up to the pedestal in the middle and took a knife from beside the crystal. He raised it in the air for all to see and made a small cut in his left palm to let blood flow. He made his palm into a fist and held it over the Awakening crystal. All were very quiet as they watched the ongoing Awakening process.
The blood from the cut dripped onto the crystal, turning it a bright red, acknowledging Memphis' blood before the crystal dulled and faded. For about a minute the crystal remained dull and there were murmurs in the room. Everyone was worried as it seemed not to be reacting even after absorbing Memphis' blood. "Is the crystal broken?" asked Talis Lerain with a worried look on his face. When another minute passed and the crystal remained dim, even Irias Lerain was sweating like water had been poured onto him. "If worse comes to worse, we might have to purchase a blood and bone pill for the boy," said Loyce Lerain but Memphis' mother sent her such a fierce glance she shuddered.
Memphis was feeling scared. It seemed as if his journey was over before it even begun. As he was about to break down, suddenly, the crystal began to let off a pure white glow which kept increasing in intensity. "It reacted! Finally!" Philip heaved a sigh of relief. "It seems his element is the Light element," observed Suzanna Lerain, Memphis' grandmother. The white glow continued to increase in intensity and very soon the whole room was filled with white light. Everyone was stunned. "This intensity is golden Affinity!" blurted Donlan Lerain in shock. Affinity of Mages was determined by the intensity of the glow that the Awakening crystal gave. It was ranked from Average, Medium, High, Bronze, Silver, and Gold with Average being the lowest and Gold the highest. Affinity determined how good the mage will be at a particular element and those with silver and gold Affinity had extraordinary control and mastery.
The family was overjoyed. Even if he had awoken one element, he had a gold Affinity for it. Or had he only awoken one? The glow of bright light faded only to be replaced with a fiery red intensity which quickly filled the room just like the light. "Fire element! He awoke the fire element!" exclaimed Maureen Lerain. "Forget that! Look at the intensity! It's a peak Gold Affinity!" said a surprised Donlan Lerain.
As they all thought that was it, they began to jubilate. "Even if he doesn't awake an innate characteristic, this kind of talent will take him very far," thought Sarah Lerain. Of course, Memphis proved them wrong again. The crystal emitted a silver light which was far intense than the fire. Fluctuations of energy began to happen in the room with the very space cracking and distorting. The family couldn't take it anymore. Irias Lerain's eyes went wide. "A golden Affinity with the Space element too?" He thought in surprise. Meanwhile the others were on cloud nine. "Space?! he awoke the Space element too! This is insane! As expected of my nephew!" said Philip proudly. The Space element was one of the most rare elements in the world of Balvan. Space mages were few and far between. In fact, they were in much need of as they were crucial in making long distance teleporters and rescuing people. The element was mysterious and anyone with it had a very bright future ahead as many powerhouses would fight over him.
"This must be it now right? I mean he has awoken three elements with gold, gold and gold Affinity in them!" said Loyce Lerain. Memphis also thought it was over and was about to move on to the Innate crystal when his grandfather spoke. "I can feel another element. The boy has awoken a fourth!" As if on cue, a tremendous roar filled the house and the sound of galloping and neighing and hissing and growling came alongside an intense golden light! This time, even Arudiz failed to contain his shock. The Summoning element! One of the most sought after elements! "Genius!" Philip couldn't help but exclaim. "He has a golden Affinity in Summoning too!" exclaimed his mother in joy. "I'll be damned boy! What on Balvan is this?! Remind me to treat you to twenty Silver Apple fruits after this!" said Donlan in shock and happiness.
After a few minutes, the light dimmed and faded, leaving Memphis in stupor. "WTF just happened? I just awoke four elements!" he thought in surprise. "Can you just believe it! He awoke four elements and he has gold Affinity in all of them!" exclaimed Loyce Lerain in shock. "He's a well rounded Mage if I ever saw one; Light for defense, Fire for attack, Space for movement and Summoning for support! Splendid!" Suzanna couldn't help but clap.
Everyone was excited about what had happened but they calmed down and moved on to the next part of the ceremony, the Mana capacity check!