Lucius spent the entire afternoon touring Fire City but even with so much time spent, only about one percent of the city had been toured due to how massive the city was. He didn't even see the City Lord's Mansion or where the guilds were, fortunately the Holy Church had a branch not far from where he was, about a thirty minute walk.
It wasn't just the church that interested him but the citizens of this city or rather this world. Although their facial features differed, all of them had the same eye, skin and hair colour. The diamond-like glowing skin especially fascinated Lucius to no end. Some people had dyed their hair, some wore contact lenses but they could do nothing about their skin that looked like a treasure. And though they looked human, they were not.
Lucius saw many things like beautiful women comparable to models from Earth but the funny part was that these absolutely stunning ladies were classified as "average" looking. Lucius started to wonder then just how beautiful would those high end women of this world actually be.
There were also many shops and street merchants selling all kinds of stuff, from swords to jewelry. Some shops sold cosmetics products which were quite expensive but worth the price. After touring the city, Lucius was tired and when he came back to his room, he fell asleep.
…
He woke up the next morning feeling fresh and energised. After taking a quick shower, he left the Guest Inn and his destination was the Holy Church branch. Because Robert had already fed him the nutrient solution, Lucius didn't feel hungry which was why he didn't bother eating.
After a journey of about thirty minutes, he finally reached his destination, a huge cathedral church. It stood tall, awe inspiring and holy, especially with the material used to build it. The building was shining but the light wasn't harmful to the eyes, instead it calmed one's mind.
The double doors of the church were open so Lucius simply entered. Once inside, he found a lady wearing nun clothing sitting not far from the door. She had a kind and welcoming smile that made Lucius feel at ease.
"Welcome to the Holy Church, my name is Julie and I'm the receptionist. How may I help you?" said Julie the nun.
"Oh, nice to meet you Ms Julie. My name is Lucius… Lucius Lothra and I'm here for my awakening. I heard that the church helps with the awakening ceremony and that it was free." Lucius emphasised the word free because he didn't have money and didn't want to go into more debts, especially when he never borrowed money from anyone.
"You're here for an awakening, then please fill out this form for me. In the meantime, I'll relay the message to the relevant authorities so they can prepare adequately. And not to worry, the awakening ceremony really is free." assured Julie as she quickly left.
Lucius held the form and sat down on the long bench and started filling it out. Julie had given him a feather pen to fill out the form and the form wasn't difficult to complete as it only asked general questions like Lucius's name, surname, house address, race and other stuff. Although the language was different, he had received the blessing of universal language. Meaning that he could speak in his homeworld language and everyone would understand him vise versa.
There was one question though that stumped him and had to wait for Julie to come back and explain it to him so he waited patiently. Julie came back ten minutes later following behind an old man wearing a priest's attire.
"Welcome to the Holy Church young man. Julie tells me that you've come for the awakening ceremony. By the way, you can call Father James."
"Nice to meet you Father James, I'm Lucius Lothra and yes, I came for the awakening ceremony. If you don't mind me asking, what exactly is the awakening ceremony and why is it separated into two categories?"
Lucius was of course asking in regards to the question asked on his form, whether he wanted a Knight Awakening Ceremony or a Mage Awakening Ceremony, of course there was also the option for both.
"I see, this question has been asked many times in the past and it's not as complicated as you think."
Father James then began to explain what exactly the awakening ceremony was and why it was separated into two categories. Turns out the awakening ceremony is the test of one's talent or potential in regards to Knighthood or Magic.
Since this is a magical world, it also operated differently. Lumina is a world of the strong so those living in it are also strong. Knighthood refers to those who once awakened, their Mana spreads throughout their body instead of focusing on one point.
Once one awakens with knight talent, he/she will then begin the journey of knighthood starting with Apprentice Knight. There are six known ranks of knighthood;
Apprentice Knight, Warrior Knight, True Knight, Commander Knight, Marshal Knight and Noble Knight.
Each rank being more powerful than the last, same with mages. When one's mana focuses on one point in most cases being the heart, that person has the talent for magic. Mage ranks are also separated into six being;
Apprentice Mage, Battle Mage, Elemental Mage, Adept Mage, Mage Master and finally Noble Mage. And depending on his awakening, Lucius would either become a Knight or a Mage. Of course there were rare cases of one awakening as both a Knight and a Mage and they were called Magical Knights and were quite powerful but the chances of that happening are extremely small.
Hearing this information, Lucius was quite excited about his awakening, he wondered whether he would awaken as a Knight or a Mage or both like the main characters in anime.
"Then I'd like an awakening ceremony for both professions. It's free right?" he asked anxiously.
"Hahaha, of course it's free and even if it wasn't, we'd do it for free for you. I can sense great power from you and expect big things from you in the near future. Come, come, let's not waste all day talking about irrelevant stuff." Father James led Lucius deeper into the cathedral.
After walking for a while, they finally reached their destination, it was a huge empty hall with a massive ocean blue crystal floating at the centre of the hall. Beyond that was a massive, massive statue of a woman wearing a piece of cloth with her hands holding a cross and a book. The statue looked extremely lifelike and emitted a noble and pure aura.
Since Lucius was an ordinary person, he couldn't recognize the huge magic array formation on the floor.
"Come. Sit here. Don't be nervous, the awakening ceremony will be over in no time." said Father James while leading Lucius to sit at the centre with the blue crystal directly above him.
"Relax your body and allow the Mana to enter your body. Don't resist, allow the Mana to spread throughout your body, then we'll determine what profession you awakened as." explained Father James. Lucius did as he was told and felt a wave of powerful yet gentle energy invade his body. The energy was extremely fast and in just a few seconds, had spread completely throughout his body.
'This must be…Mana.' he thought to himself. Suddenly, a pillar of blue light emanated from Lucius's body and shot through the roof of the church and into the sky, causing a phenomenon never before seen. Everyone looked at the pillar of light that shone like a beacon of light in a world of darkness and wondered what was happening. Ten minutes later, the light disappeared and everything returned to normal. It was then that Father James's shocked voice resounded.
"IMPOSSIBLE!!!"