…
Time passed, spring came, and so did winter, and in the blink of an eye, Kranos was almost eight. In the few years he had lived in this new world, he had become a renowned prodigy; everyone was looking up to him for his great intelligence. He was easily able to grasp writing and reading in a few months; after that, he went on to read about this world in the royal library.
Kranos hair had become much purer as he grew; it looked as though his hair had never carried any stain. Along with his white, sword-like brows and pupils, he looked like an otherworldly being. If it wasn't for the fact that he still had the height of a seven-year-old with little baby fat on his chin, he could have been mistaken for an immortal.
"Is that him? The fourth prince?!" A voice came from the side as a maid pointed at Kranos, who looked like a refined scholar as he was walking.
"Yes, you don't know this, but it was just recently that he finished solving a problem that Professor Nalan was having difficulties solving."
"Is that true? Even a professor had to come to him for solutions. I wonder what elemental affinity he will awaken."
"Probably fire just like his dad."
Kranos ignored the discussions as he entered into his mansion where he stayed with his parents. As soon as he stepped in, he saw his mother smile at him; he smiled back and noticed that there was someone else in the room with her; it was a middle-aged man; he had a slight smile on his face as he looked at Kranos.
"Fourth young master!" the man said with a nod.
"Kranos pays his respects," he replied calmly.
"I came to tell you that next week, on your eighth birthday, will be the awakening ceremony. Because of the high expenditure of spirit stones to head to the awakening land, we decided to delay your cousins and wait for your birthday before the awakening."
Hearing his word, Kranos came to a realization: So it is next week, huh? It had been almost eight years already; I better cherish my memories with my new parent. It seems my life is about to change; I thought I would be able to control time in my next life and no longer be worried, but it seems like that was a pipe dream.
"Okay, sir, I will be ready next week," Kranos replied.
"Yes, fourth young master," the man replied as he turned to leave.
…
"Who do you think will shine most today?" On an elevated platform stood multiple elders and princes, along with the king. They were watching a silvery portal a distance away from the platform. Above the portal was a screen flickering with black light. This was the portal to the awakening secret realm.
Inside the portal was the awakening secret realm where only a single divine black orb was; in order to awaken, one had to place their palm on top of the orb, and their cultivation aptitude and elemental affinity would be displayed to the person in their mind and outside on the screen above the portal.
The king, some elders, and the princes looked at the portal with varying expressions as they were discussing, "In the previous years we have gotten three experts with exceptional B and A grade aptitude; I don't think this year would be any worse," the king said calmly.
The elders nodded in agreement. In the past decade, during the awakening ceremony, there had always been that one person with A or B grade aptitude. Because of that, their kingdom had no longer been in decline in recent years. This had always been a thing worth celebrating, and the elders felt that this year would not be any worse.
The second prince, Raphael's elder brother, said after some thought, "There is no need to wonder who will shine most today; we just have to wait and see." saying so, a glint flashed across his eyes.
This awakening ceremony had a lot to do with who would inherit the throne in the end, so all of them had paid a certain price to ensure their children awakened a great aptitude just like in the previous years.
Hearing what the second prince said, they turned to glance at the children that numbered up to 100; most of them had nervous expressions, some of them were calm, while others looked afraid. Of course most of the children here were commoners that the elders had discovered; there were only a few like Kranos who were royalty.
After everyone was present, an elder appeared on the platform. "Children, be at ease; just be hopeful, and you will awaken an exceptional aptitude in the end." saying so, the elder waved his hand for Kranos and the others to follow him.
As soon as they stepped inside the portal, Kranos felt a wave of strange feeling before his view changed; as soon as his view changed, he felt irritated and had the urge to vomit but held it in. Most children weren't as strong-willed as him, and they puked their guts out due to irritation from the spatial travel.
The elder waved his hand after everyone was done, and the waste was purified in the bits of white light; this surprised Karnos greatly, increasing his urge to awaken an elemental affinity. The children saw that the place they appeared in was something like a holy ground with only a marble in the middle; the marble was glimmering with a dark light as though it was glowing in the night.
…
Outside, the elders looked at the screen that had changed to show what was happening inside; they nodded inwardly seeing Kranos and the others calm behavior after the spatial teleportation.
"It is finally the time."
…
The elder turned to the first child that caught his eye; it was a young boy with black hair. Seeing the elder look at him, his nervousness increased. "Go and place your hand on the marble, and your aptitude and affinity will be displayed."
The boy didn't hesitate for a moment and went forward to place his hand on the marble; after a few moments, the marble glowed a neutral light. At the same time, the information was displayed on a screen in both the secret realm and outside of it.
[Name - Awara.]
[Cultivation aptitude - D-grade.]
[Elemental affinity—none.]
Seeing the information, the elder sighed. It wasn't uncommon to have no elemental affinity; in fact, it was very common; having an elemental affinity was the rare case. But having no elemental affinity didn't mean there was no way for one to get an affinity with an element; when one reached a certain realm of cultivation, they would comprehend an element.
But reaching such a realm was far away; having an elemental affinity could cause one to progress along the cultivation path much more easily. Besides that, the kid had a low cultivation aptitude. Cultivation aptitude grades were divided into f, e, d… a, s, ss, sss. In order of increasing effectiveness, D-grade aptitude could only be considered average at best; they wouldn't progress far at best.
"You did well, the elder said to Awara before turning to the next child."
Kranos was behind, as he saw the first awakening he had witnessed since he came to this world; he couldn't help but feel sad for the little boy, although he knew that only 1 in 10 people could awaken an elemental affinity. He didn't think that the first kid that was called would be so unfortunate.
I hope I awaken an element, and a good one at that; besides, I hope to have an A-grade aptitude in cultivation. I don't ask for much; since I am a reincarnator, I at least need to progress much easier than my peers.
The awakening ceremony continued.
[Name - Johanna.]
[Cultivation aptitude - C-grade.]
[Elemental affinity—Water.]
…
[Name - Gathoda.]
[Cultivation aptitude - D-grade.]
[Elemental affinity - Earth.]
…
[Name - Harold.]
[Cultivation aptitude - B-grade.]
[Elemental affinity—Fire.]
…
Time passed, and the children continued on with their awakening. It was finally Kranos's turn, since he was the fourth young master, and he had been a prodigy since he was young. The elder decided to pick him first among his other cousins.
Kranos was stunned for a moment before calmly walking up. After taking a deep breath, he placed his hand on the marble; the marble fluctuated for a moment, but there was no response. Kranos was shocked, and so was the elder, as well as everyone else.
"No affinity or aptitude? Could something be wrong with the marble?"
…
Outside the king, princes and elders were stunned. "He is just a mortal?" The king muttered with a frown.
Raphael was shocked for a moment before calmly shaking his head in disappointment. Whatever he is, he is still my son. I will just get him to live a good life as a mortal. The throne doesn't matter after all; it's not as important as my family.
"Sixth brother, it seems your wife unfortunately gave birth to a mortal. I always knew that there was something wrong with his white hair." Raphael's brother didn't miss the opportunity to tease.
The king frowned once more before sending a transmission to the elder in charge of the awakening.
…
Receiving the information, the elder said to Kranos, waking him from his shock, "Place your hand on the marble again."
Kranos took a moment to react because, different from the reason why the other elders, princes, and the king were shocked, the reason such an expression appeared on his face was because a line of words appeared in front of him.
[The time system is loading…
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[Name - Kranos.]
[Cultivation aptitude—ETERNAL-grade.]
[Elemental affinity—TIME.]