Seth was confused; he couldn't understand the runes on the tablet or what they were trying to express, or perhaps he read them wrongly. Shaking his head, he could only explore more about the tablet later; he had to go to church now.
Packing up, he got prepared. As he left his room, he met Sin waiting for him outside. Not wasting any more time, they both left for the church. Upon arriving, they met their foster father waiting for them outside. Priest Runlove, upon seeing his boys, smiled. The fifteen years went by so fast, and now they were all grown up. He could only hope that the ceremony tomorrow went well. When he got to this point, he gazed at Seth, then sighed. He had a bad feeling about tomorrow's ceremony, and as always, Seth would be the source of this.
" you boys should go to the cleansing grounds go get ready," he said as he lead them into the church, the church unlike what one would expect of a village church was massive the hall pillars were made of rare ores, its brick were starry rocks another rare ore, which made them glow putting anyone who was there for the first time at awe of its beauty and mysteriousness, then at the end of the hall you would find three well-sculpted life-like statutes, the one at the center was the goddess Everlight, her hair ran through her back and the floor all around her, in a way that put River's to shame, her face was glowing too bright to be seen, she was clothed with garment weaved from star fibers, that made her look as though she was clothed in stars, the aura she gave of was one of benevolence and peace.
The other two sculptures were of the two demigods, namely the Northgazer and the Starhunter. The Northgazer was known as the oracle of the Everlight and was also known as the demigod of the Sun. Seeing his statue, gave off a scholarly aura, and just like the Everlight, his face was obstructed by the bright light it gave off; it was as though he were dressed with flames. In his hand was a book he gazed at. But for the star hunter, the demigod of mystery, the moon, and the hunt, his aura had a mysterious air. He dressed in a black hooded cloak that seemed to resonate with shadows.
They arrived at the cleansing grounds, which was an underground force spring that was right beneath the church. On reaching it, they undressed as they stepped into the spring, soaking their bodies in it till only their heads were left. They were meant to soak in the spring until the ceremony so that their bodies would be in the best state to walk the fated path when it descends. "I'll leave you guys for now; there are still a few hours till the ceremony begins," Priest Runlove said on his way out.
They were left alone in the spring. Sin broke the silence as he asked "What aspect do you think I'll awaken?", Seth rolled his eyes as he responded "I'd bet it's a strength-based aspect, but I truly hope it's an intelligence-based aspect, that way you can make up for what you don't have", and that lit the spark. They started bickering again, and the spring's silence was disrupted.
A few moments later, the lake was silent once again. It seemed they both got tired of their arguments. Then all of a sudden, Seth asked, "What do you think would happen if we failed to meet up with our father's expectations?" after some seconds Hearing no response, he turned to Sin, only to see him sleeping. He smiled and shook his head. This brother of his could sleep anywhere. Thinking back at his question, he frowned. "Even if I have no fate, I'll find a way to get stronger," Seth thought with resolve.
"RUMBLE"
A few hours later, the rumblings of the underground spring woke them. "The council awaits you; the path has descended," a young attendant came into the underground and said to them. Nodding, they both came out of the spring, dressed and followed the attendant as he led them to the path. The path always descends at this time every year; its purpose is to awaken one's aspect and, at the same time, measure one's fate. The further you went on the path, the higher your fate was.
The path always descended at the very peak of the church, and on reaching there, they saw the usual crowd; after all, even though they were the main subjects of attention, that didn't mean that they were the only fifteen-year-olds awakening today.
Squeezing their way through the crowd, they finally saw it—the path. It looked like an ancient stone staircase, except nothing was supporting it; it was floating on its own.
seeing that everyone was gathered, priest Runlove stepped out unto the platform that was right before the path, "We are here today to witness once again the blessing of the path, from here our children would embark on their journey towards their various paths, but do not fear even if you are not of noble fate doesn't mean anything, strength isn't the only way forward in life, and those of noble fate don't get complacent, because you have noble fate that doesn't mean your special or because your better than others, it only means you have a little bit more luck than others, also remember, just because you have noble fate doesn't make you any stronger than others now, you still need to put in more hard work than others. " So now let the ceremony of awakening begin." After finishing his speech, Elder Runlove stepped down from the platform, inviting another priest to replace him.
"The platform, as we all know, allows only two people to ascend it simultaneously, so now I will call the names of the unawakened, and you must come in or else I'll skip you, then you'll have to come back next year." The priest took a moment of pause, then continued, "Valad strong, Isabelle shorn." Immediately after he called the names, two came out: one was a boy with sharp features; his hair was pure white; he wore a stoic expression on his face; the other was a girl with average features and black hair. They both stepped toward the path as they started ascending it.
The girl couldn't move any further after reaching the third step. Not accepting her results, she tried to push forward, but the weight she felt pressing her got worse and worse until she couldn't take it anymore, and she was ejected by the path. But the boy kept ascending; he felt no weight even after he passed the third step. Reaching the eighth step, the pressure on him was too much; he couldn't go any further, and he was ejected from the path immediately the path glowed and it bathed the two in its light awakening their aspects.
"I didn't expect that we would get a noble just on our first try; this is a first," a priest said to Priest Runlove. "You're right, but don't forget that no matter how many nobles there are today, they are not the ones we came to watch," another priest replied. On hearing this, Runlove frowned as he looked towards the crowd to be more specific about his foster sons.