Kaden's eyes widened in shock.
His instincts immediately kicked in, and despite being far enough, he still retreated a couple of steps back.
Piercing screams resounded an instant later, echoing throughout the chamber.
Meanwhile, the person continued on burning in fierce flames.
The stranger burned nicely.
But slowly, the flames dwindled and eventually died out. Then, a humanoid charcoal fell to the ground, cracked and motionless.
Whoever that was, it was undoubtedly dead.
'Why did he suddenly explode?' Kaden wondered.
Before long, something came to mind.
Then, he froze.
His focus then shifted to the mystical heat flowing within him. Currently, it is calm and controlled. But initially, before he entered the inner chamber, it was very chaotic.
'If this heat had not settled down in time, would I have burst into flames, too?'
His blood ran cold as the possibility crossed his mind.
It was a horrifying thought.
'Is it even safe now, though?'
His inner fire was calm and obedient.
It was under control.
It felt stable.
Kaden had surmised that he was safe, but that was only his own guesswork.
There was no confirmation, and there was no one to ask for confirmation.
'Where are the heroes when you need them?' Kaden thought to himself.
Being able to ask any of those four a simple yes or no question would've easily solved this headache.
Alas, they were nowhere to be found.
His expression grew heavy.
With the hidden danger made apparent, Kaden naturally became vigilant of the mysterious heat coursing through his veins.
The thought of having a bomb inside one's body that could trigger at any moment was appalling. The possibility was simply too dreadful, leaving him restless.
Minutes passed in tense inaction.
Throughout that duration, Kaden kept an eye on his inner fire as he waited for the ritual's conclusion.
The Awakening Rite can be divided into three segments, and from what he had learned from the past ceremonies, this part of the ritual only lasts for at most fifteen minutes.
Kaden didn't have a clear picture of how much time had passed, but he knew that it shouldn't be too far.
Fifteen minutes could be any time now.
Soon, another person burst into flames, igniting a new set of horrified shrieks. The humanoid bonfire lasted a bit longer than the previous one, but was eventually reduced into a charred corpse.
Then, something changed.
As the saying goes, heroes always arrive late.
After all those deaths, the Heroes finally decided to reveal themselves.
Kaden first noticed their presence when he looked up to avoid the fiery and gruesome sight of the second victim's demise.
The four Heroes were calmly floating in the air, maintaining the same tight formation around the shining cube. Thin metal plates circled around them, spinning faster and faster before slamming onto the cube. More and more plates slammed onto the cube, stacking on all six sides evenly, each layer damping out the radiance of the cubic star.
Soon, the blinding light disappeared. The vast chamber grew dark, with only the dim glow of the metal cube being the sole source of light.
In the shallow darkness drowning the chamber, a voice echoed, sounding far more sinister than it should have been.
"8 Awakened, 26 Survivors, 2 Casualties." One of the Heroes announced, her tone even.
"...It's a good harvest."
***
Outside the Sanctum, the crowd awaited the aspirants' fateful return with a mix of expectations and concerns.
The potential demise of their children and young heirs gnawed at their minds, but deeper considerations existed beyond that front, especially among the Elites.
Every new Awakened creates a ripple in society, no matter how small. Some may even hold the potential to become Nobles, shifting the balance of power among the Elites.
That possibility kept the many established factions on edge.
As thousands of people loitered around the dome edifice and stared at its weathered surface with a myriad of expressions, the iron doors of the Sanctum suddenly groaned.
The metal scratching on the stone floor birthed something unpleasant to the ear. A grating noise stretched for a full minute before the heavy doors partially opened, creating a gap just wide enough for a person to fit through.
The crack between the two massive doors was like a dark fissure, and from the void emerged a stream of youths, most of which were crestfallen.
The crowd could easily guess what those subdued expressions meant.
Not everyone can become an Awakened. In fact, the vast majority of humans do not have the potential to achieve Awakening. The supply never meets the demand. That is one of the reasons why every Awakened is treated with such great importance.
Those gloomy faces were a telltale sign that they had failed. That they weren't among the select few who were chosen by the Grace.
Thus, among the group of youths, eight individuals stood out.
The mood around them was simply far too different from the rest.
Kaden left the Sanctum, his soul ignited, and in his hands was a shiny bronze token, the proof of his new status as an Awakened.
A single word was carved along the smooth surface of the cold metal, and although he did not know how to read, Kaden already had an idea of what was written on his token.
'Knight.'
The very bottom of the Awakened hierarchy.
Kaden smiled faintly.
Being among the lowest of the Elite is still far better than being the lowest of society, which he had been just a few minutes ago.
'Ah.'
That was a huge leap.
It felt like a dream.
'What now?'
But now he had no idea what he should be doing.
Awakened are wealthy and lofty.
Becoming an Awakened means becoming rich.
That was what he had thought.
'But how?'
'Where do I get the money?'
Kaden couldn't just go to a store, show them his token and claim all their fortune. Knight or whatnot, that was still robbery.
Knights are simply more privileged than most; they aren't overlords, and their authority isn't high enough to ignore the laws of the city.
He would just end up in jail again if he were to pull off such a stunt.
'Wait, privileged?'
Kaden had once heard about it in passing from some city guard before, when he was briefly thrown into prison for pickpocketing, but the details were quite unclear.
'What's the privilege of being a Knight, exactly?'
As he pondered about this question that seemed to test his ignorance, the heavy doors of the Sanctum suddenly swung open behind them, stealing his attention away from that topic.
From the darkness emerged the four Heroes, followed by two charred corpses hovering gently behind their figures.
Those who couldn't find their children among the group of youths turned pale.
Kaden sighed.
It seemed that his questions would have to wait.
For now…
It was time for tears and funerals.