Two months had passed since Arai's birthday, and the day he had eagerly awaited for years had finally arrived.
It was the day of the Awakening Rite!
Every year, the
Awakening Rite takes place at the Truth Court. Children who have reached the age of five are gathered there to undergo the awakening process.
What happens during the rite?
A child must stand on a magical circle, inscribed with intricate runes, and through its activation, the child awakens their latent magical talent.
The awakening results in one of three outcomes: a Grimoire, a magical mark, or a mana core.
A Grimoire is a magical book filled with spells unique to its owner and powerful sorcery. Those who possess Grimoires are exceedingly rare.
According to what Arai had read, the inheritance of Grimoires was unpredictable. A grandfather might possess a Grimoire, but his son might not, while his grandson might rediscover it. It was entirely random!
The second possibility is the magical mark—a totem-like or tattoo-like symbol that appears on a random part of the body during the rite. There are various types of marks.
What abilities does it grant?
A magical mark provides substantial enhancements to vitality and physical strength. Marks are often connected to the essence of magical beasts or extraordinary plants.
Most individuals with marks become enhancers since the mana reserves in their bodies are comparatively less than natural sorcerers. This is due to their continuous focus on enhancing their physicality through the magical mark, making their mana pool smaller than usual.
The third and final outcome is the mana core.
What if a sorcerer doesn't receive a Grimoire or a mark?
The solution is simple—they must create a mana core!
Also known as the Essence, a mana core is a spherical construct formed by continuously compressing mana within the body near the heart. This process begins during the rite through the magical circle. Once formed, the sorcerer becomes fully capable of storing mana and practicing magic with ease.
The majority of the world's sorcerers rely on this method, and even Verdi was no exception.
The History of the Mana Core:
Long ago, ancient humans sought to mimic the mana hearts of dragons. After countless experiments, they succeeded in creating a smaller version, what is now known as the mana core. Unlike the dragons' nearly infinite mana hearts, mana cores are limited and can only expand their capacity by advancing in rank or using rare resources.
Advancement:
Once awakened, the mana core starts in an ethereal, gaseous state. Over time, by absorbing mana from magical crystals, the air, or the cores of magical beasts, the core gradually gains a solid physical form.
This process of refining mana from an intangible to a tangible state is arduous and requires immense patience, akin to shaping raw ore into a precious metal.
Above all, it demands substantial resources!
For this reason, the life of a sorcerer is often filled with hardship, danger, and theft. Without support or resources, progress becomes incredibly difficult. Before acquiring one of the three outcomes—Grimoire, mark, or core—a sorcerer cannot cast anything beyond basic zero-level spells.
Zero-level spells require no ranks and are universally accessible.
However, more advanced spells have more requirements, such as Sufficient mana reserves. Elemental affinity. Memorization of the spell, high focus, etc...
Memorizing spells is the most critical and challenging of these conditions.
Grimoires are considered a natural gift, as they eliminate the need for memorization. The spells are pre-inscribed within the book! Similarly, enhancers bypass this hurdle by relying on their combat skills and innate abilities. If they do wish to use magic, they can craft spells from scratch with ease.
In contrast, mana-core sorcerers face the harshest challenges. They must memorize spells word for word—a reason why most of them opt to develop their combat style, utilizing mana in their unique way.
Arai's Perspective
"Why are we in a carriage? We could use an easier way to get there! You have such, right?"
Inside the carriage, I couldn't help but complain.
"No! That's too wasteful, and I don't want to imitate those nobles."
Verdi leaned lazily against his seat and said, "If you ever try living as an adventurer someday, you'll realize the value of money and learn how to manage it well instead of wasting it on worthless things like carriages!"
"I'm a noble; why would I experience such a life?" I replied proudly, like a young master.
Verdi and I were heading to the Truth Court to perform the Awakening rite. Despite the tower's distance from our mansion, he insisted on going by carriage! Man, the ride took several hours; imagine how bored I'd be during all that time!
He didn't even let me bring a book to pass the time.
After arguing for a while, we did not conclude because he was adamant about traveling by carriage and remained as unmovable as a mountain.
I changed the subject and asked what I was most curious about: "So, Father, what do you think will happen during the rite? I was able to use fire earlier, so at least I have that element."
My engagement to the princess, the prince telling me I have exceptional talent, the nobles not being surprised by anything happening—and most importantly, the royal family's desire to tie our family to them every few generations; something strange is going on!
Verdi fell silent for a moment, seeming to recall something.
"Neither I nor your grandfather inherited a Grimoire, but your great-grandfather was different," he said.
"Therefore, in this generation, your chances of inheriting a Grimoire are quite high."
"!!!"
The first question that came to my mind—our family has a Grimoire? This is shockingly surprising.
'Is this the reason I was engaged to the princess?'
'Does the possibility of me having a Grimoire make the royal family wary, pushing them to tether me to their ship? But the probability isn't even certain…'
'Is this Grimoire very powerful or what?' Many thoughts raced through my mind.
Well, I didn't find it strange that our family possesses a Grimoire, given how remarkable and distinguished our family is.
But there's something odd about this! It's not like this Grimoire is supremely powerful, is it? I mean, they're sacrificing a princess every generation.
Hmm, if I think about it from another angle, maybe they have a hidden motive to steal the Grimoire through my lineage? That's possible!
However, the royal family's Blue Clover emblem is very strong, so why would they try to steal our family's Grimoire? Do they want to deepen their control over the Rolan family? Or does this Grimoire hold a deeper meaning?
If they wanted to steal it through shared lineage, they would've done so generations ago.
I felt a headache from all this. I think pondering over it is meaningless.
"What kind of Grimoire is it?" I asked.
"Ugh, forget about it! I don't have the energy to try to explain its type because it'll take time. Ask another question."
This man...!
Looking into his lazy eyes and his relaxed posture, I felt suspicious.
Is he the same strict duke in the palace? In reality, Verdi knows how to act well.
"What about the magical mark?"
"You should forget about it. Even if we're related to the royal family, it doesn't exist in our family's lineage." He shook his head.
I nodded and didn't ask further, but suddenly remembered something.
"Hey, wait a minute! Since you said it doesn't exist in our family's lineage, why did you say earlier that I might become an enhancer?"
Years ago, when he forbade me from using magic until the age of five, he said something like, 'You don't know your path yet; you might become an enhancer or a mage in the future.'
Of course, I wasn't an obedient child and practiced magic from time to time. It was for experimentation and to see how much my mana increased.
Naturally, Verdi gave me some training a week ago in preparation for the rite.
I saw Verdi's lips twitch for a second. But he handled it well and said, "...What I said is true! There's no enhancer in our family's bloodline, but what about your mother? As you know, Mizuki has great talent in sword art! Yes... that's why I said that!"
'Tsk, he managed to deflect...' I clicked my tongue. I said that because I wanted some compensation, like increasing my allowance a bit, but Verdi handled it well.
Mizuki hadn't started learning sword art at that time, but I chose to overlook it.
After hours, we arrived at the place.
"Creakk!"
The driver opened the carriage door, and Verdi and I stepped down 'like nobles.' Then we stood before the Truth Court.
The Truth Court was located in one of the secluded areas of the Loclover Kingdom and wasn't within any land owned by nobles! Well, it was close to our territory. Standing here and seeing its building gave me a vague sense of fear.
The Truth Court was a dark, black tower stretching beyond the clouds. Calling it a skyscraper wouldn't be an exaggeration. It was massively huge. In front of it were large walls and a central fountain.
The tower gave off a mysterious feeling, and I also sensed that the mana here was denser than at the palace.
Many children with their parents gathered in front of the Truth Court; in fact, at least 10,000 people filled the outer walls.
Hearing their clamor was very annoying.
"Isn't this number of people too much?"
"No! This is a normal number relative to the population of the Artemis Islands and other surrounding islands. After all, besides the Truth Court, there aren't many organizations that undertake the duty of overseeing the awakening rite." Verdi replied while looking at the crowd.
"But what's the benefit?"
It's not like they're doing it as a charitable act, right? From my perspective as a former CEO, helping this massive number of people for free and without any significant benefit would be foolish. Only that kind of people would do that.
Verdi turned his head and stared at the towering tower.
"Well, I don't know where you inherited this selfish side of you, but helping people for free isn't wrong. Keep that in mind! Besides, it's not like they don't gain any returns from it. On the contrary, the benefits are immense. I don't want to spoil your childhood by telling you some things, but hmm..." Verdi scratched his head.
"Simply, they can identify and recruit talent early before anyone else. Especially commoners or children without connections. With minimal effort and some incentives, they can bring them in. It also bolsters their reputation significantly. Most importantly, it increases their overall strength by expanding their members."
Oh, looking at it from an angle I forgot. Isn't this marketing for themselves?
"Also, this organization isn't simple; I've seen two of their branches in the Western Continent, and they were much bigger than this branch!" Verdi's voice carried a touch of respect.
Bigger than this? Wow, this tower has at least 100 floors.
Verdi ordered the carriage to wait afar, then we moved to enter through the main entrance.
As a duke and a mage, Verdi didn't have to wait long in line. We were quickly led inside the tower.
"Kuban Morientes at your service."
"I was informed of your arrival in advance, Lord Verdi. We've prepared a room for you; you can wait in the room during the rite as Mr. Clayton is waiting for you. Meantime I'll take the young lord to the rite place.'
Placing his palm on his chest, a man with slightly dark brown hair, ordinary features, and glasses on his face bowed.
Kuban wore a long black coat with square patterns extending from the shoulders of his robe to the bottom of his sleeves. There was a white tower emblem with a strange codename on the shoulder area, which seemed to announce his affiliation with the Truth Court.
He is polite and professional; their official attire is very stylish. This robe suits my taste perfectly.
"Is that so? Very well."
Verdi nodded indifferently, gave me an encouraging look, and walked away.
Isn't this what I said earlier? He's back to his "strict duke" mode!
"Follow me, young lord."