The lights in the hall dimmed slowly, enveloping the space in deep darkness, except for a beam of light focused on the golden panel. A thrill of anticipation ran through the crowd as the last position of the panel began to shimmer and vibrate, releasing golden sequins that twinkled at both ends.
Amidst everyone's impatient gazes, a number appeared first, followed by an angelic voice announcing, "72 pts!" Then, the eagerly awaited name lit up: "Ebina Hona!"
The spotlight shifted to a young girl with long, wavy blond hair, exuding remarkable elegance, her radiant face illuminated by a dazzling smile. Accompanied by a soldier, she stepped onto the stage where she stood beside the insignia, the lieutenant, and Mr. Astros.
The ninth place then came to life, and the score finally emerged.
80 pts!
"Nikito!"
A young man with short black hair and deep black eyes followed the soldier, standing beside Ebina with a certain timidity, but the crowd's admiration for him was palpable.
"Look, the eighth place is merging with the ninth place to form a two-name section!"
As the sections merged, the score for the eighth place appeared.
80 pts!
The angelic voice resonated again: "Hayashi Yoson! Due to his semi-awake nature, the committee deemed his score to be eighth, not a tie for ninth."
A young girl with imposing glasses and trembling legs stepped onto the stage.
"Isn't she going to faint? Someone strong should help her, maybe it's the beginning of a budding love affair," Rin joked next to Alliong. "This year, there are more semi-awakened than usual, which is good news for the bastion," replied Alliong, knowing that responding to foolishness would only lead to losing against impudence.
After Hayashi had settled in, the seventh place began to tremble, and the score appeared.
88 pts! Million!
Straight as a line, with eyes still wild and determined, he began to advance towards the stage before the soldier arrived and positioned himself next to his comrades, forming a semi-circle to the right of the panel.
A golden line then formed, separating seventh place from sixth, as the angelic voice explained: "Between 70 and 99 pts, you can call them geniuses."
The sixth place began to tremble more violently than ever.
144 pts!
"And between 100 and 200, they're prodigies."
The four candidates on stage took a deep breath.
Alliong looked at Rin, who seemed dazed beside him: "I told you there's a huge difference between a prodigy who gets three A's and another person."
At that moment, the angelic voice resumed: "With 144 points, the semi-awakened wind elemental, eldest son of the Genryu family known for its multitude of generations of military strategists...Shin Genryu!"
The light of a pale green cast onto Shin's silhouette, tall at 1.80 meters, dressed like a scholar with a large tunic, pale green eyes, short set hair of the same shade, and a wise gaze.
He ascended the stage, taking his place to the left of the panel. Ebina wore a complicated expression: "He's got double my points, and I'm supposed to be a genius, right? So that's the difference."
After the commotion had subsided, the fifth place trembled in turn: "160 pts!"
And the voice resounded: "With 160 points, the only one not semi-awakened among the prodigies, second daughter of the Bastion Director, King Shenzhen! Yuuki Shenzhen!"
The icy-calm girl made her way to the stage and positioned herself next to Shin, closing her eyes.
Then, the fourth seat began to tremble, and the number appeared.
174!
The presentation didn't take long: "With 174 points, the extreme semi-awakened, most sought-after stigma type, the Guérisson type, daughter of the bastion's main arms dealer... Shaana Matri!" With her confident yet gentle gaze, she positioned herself next to Yuuki.
The third seat trembled extremely violently, and the number was even more golden than the previous ones.
192!
The angelic voice rose an octave, and epic music began to play.
Rin shivered with excitement, as did all the candidates. "With 192 points, semi-awakened elemental type, the prodigal son of the Shen family, having obtained an S in all tests, having the greatest consistency between physical and spiritual possible under the complete talent... Shen Yi!" Shen Yi, as calm as the surface of a lake, was bathed in icy blue light, rising and moving neither quickly nor slowly towards the stage, positioning himself quietly.
Alliong was overexcited, and Rin couldn't help asking him: "Why are you so excited; he gave the barometric scale, so with a little calculation, it's easy to understand that you're more than that..." He looked at his friends for 2 seconds, then tapped the point on his palm. "I forgot you're limited up there."
Alliong: "...". Before he could even think of correcting the dubious individual beside him, he saw a number appear on the "206" sign.
A red light surrounded Alliong, who was quite imposing.
"With 206 pts, any score over 200 is considered a super prodigy, an extreme corporeal semi-awakener, but even among extremes, it is extreme... Adopted son of the Silver Eagle Chamber of Commerce Executive!!!! Alliong!!!" He strode with his red light and epic music to the last seat to the left of the panel, looking arrogantly at the other candidates on the podium.
As Rin watched in amusement, the proud Alliong crossed the stage; a prismatic color appeared on the first spot, no tremor, just gorgeous light.
The angelic voice, suddenly much more composed, resumed: "In the history of the bastion, he's the second, in the history of Asian bastions, he's the third, and in the world, he's the sixth... Today, we are witnessing the birth of the sixth awakened perfect complete talent in history."
The whole room was in silence not a cold silence but a silence of solemn excitement at witnessing a historic moment.
"But…" the voice resumed, "it's not over. Today, the bastion score record was broken." As she said this, the prismatic number presented itself: "352 pts." A prismatic light encompassed Rin, and he began to walk towards the podium.
Once he arrived at the podium and placed himself in the center in front of the panel, he felt a warm current running through his face, especially his eyes. He sensed that it came from the candidates of the top 5 and Shaana.
Their hands forward, they smiled at him. Rin suddenly felt bad and thought, "I forgot that during this moment, which is supposed to be my moment where the woman falls at my feet, I still have my bruised face... luckily, she is there ahahahaha." He greeted Shaana with her hands clasped, and she smiled back.
"With 352 pts!!! an unknown young man, raised in the slums, not only managed to be first in this ceremony but also broke the established record!!!!! Rin!!!"
The whole room began to applaud; even the lieutenant and Mr. Astros began to applaud the young man. Once everything had calmed down, the lieutenant spoke again: "The people on the gold list will be the closest to the awakening stone, just a few meters away, and the last on the bronze list will be far enough away not to see it. This year was better than the last, so unexpectedly, King Shenzhen decided to offer the first 10 a mana exercise to choose from in the large library of the Bastion; for the others, you must go hunting and team up to earn enough money to get one!"
The faces of many turned livid because the mana exercise complemented the stigma and allowed it to be exploited 100%. Between an awakened without exercise and one with, the latter will win against the former 9 times out of 10.
Rin followed the soldiers with the 9 others towards the awakening place and couldn't help but ask the question: "Oh the second one, are the awakening exercises so important?" Alliong looked at him like an alien: "You don't know????"
Shaana suddenly began to speak: "Big brother Rin, let me explain everything to you from the beginning." His tone was laced with gentle but assured determination. Her emerald green eyes reflected deep sincerity as she prepared to detail every aspect, making sure everything was clear and understandable to Rin.