The giant orb let out its yellow light that covered the whole arena. From within, five roots emerged. The audience gasped once they saw five roots.
An amethyst fissure!
How rare was this? Throughout the world, only a select few would be born with such aptitude.
From a hundred thousand people, half of them would be mortals. Ten thousand would have silver fissures, two thousand would have gold fissures, five hundred would have diamond fissures, and only one would awaken an amethyst fissure.
Essentially, it was one in a hundred thousand. Only with such a fissure could one rise to the top of magical society.
"What?" The youth who awakened his fissure couldn't believe his eyes, so he rubbed them. He thought his eyes were deceiving him, but after rubbing them, the result still stood out: "Five roots… five roots… five…" The youth couldn't believe it. In his wildest dreams, he did not expect to have such an awakening. In fact, he had fully expected to be a mortal or to have a low-rank fissure.
After thinking for some time, excitement grew in his eyes: "Doesn't this mean my future is bright? Mother…" He couldn't help but think of his mom.
"Mother, this is our fortune. I swear I'll find a way to heal you!" Vitus' mind was racing. He, somebody from humble origins, often had to do farm work to help himself get money. His dad had died long ago, with his only family remaining as his mother. But recently, she fell ill. Now, Vitus had to shoulder all the responsibility himself.
He wanted to cry tears of joy, but he held back. He had suffered too much, only managing to gain fractions of mana stones after weeks of work, when one needed a large sum to hire a doctor.
"It is frustrating! Too frustrating!" Vitus gritted his teeth.
The youth let go of the orb and stopped pouring his mana into it.
Master Kondle snapped out of his trance. Even for an expert like him, it was out of his expectations to see a legendary amethyst fissure. Throughout his life, he had only seen it once.
"Ahh, Vitus Tampa, amethyst fissure," Master Kondle couldn't hold back the excitement and shock in his voice. It reverberated throughout the arena.
The spectators that sat to watch the youths take part in the ceremony started to applaud once the announcement came. They all roared with excitement, shouting his name. In just one day, Vitus had become famous. In the following days, his results in the ceremony would spread.
"I can't believe it! Somebody actually awakened an amethyst fissure?" Olsen couldn't help but squint at Vitus. His gaze contained jealousy. His results didn't result in such a reaction from the crowd. From being one of the main characters of the ceremony, he now felt like a side character.
The youth's expression was that of shock. Even the proud Gent couldn't help but feel dejected. He couldn't help but think back on the words he said, "blessed?" He couldn't help but sigh. If he was truly blessed, he wouldn't have just a diamond fissure.
Jinto, not believing his eyes, said, "Melissa, Paul, am I in a dream?"
With her index finger and thumb, Melissa pinched Jinto's forearm: "No, this isn't a dream… Now pinch me; this might be a dream," Melissa muttered.
Paul, sensing the opportunity, pinched her arm.
"Now, you two, the results are here. This is indeed that legendary fissure! This Vitus guy, he's truly lucky!"
Jinto's gaze contained jealousy. Experiencing the sourness of life left him in a crude mood. To think an amethyst fissure would truly emerge. Although Jinto wished for one, it was truly just baseless hope—empty hope that he held no familiarity with. In truth, his greatest hope was to awaken a diamond fissure.
...
"It seems this year's ceremony truly had some good seeds, indeed!" Nero let out his laughter. By the results of Vitus, he was in a great mood.
"Congratulations, Patriarch."
"Congratulations, Patriarch."
The elders' voices resounded.
Cielo and Rosen's minds felt some bitterness. But the other elders were extremely satisfied with the results. The clan lacked an amethyst aptitude. If groomed well, Vitus would be the main pillar of the clan. Prosperity was assured! With Vitus' appearance, the two elders would not be able to ascend to power, something the rest of the elders were keen on seeing.
"This lad, Vitus, you guys know what this means." Nero looked deeply at the elders present before continuing: "From now on, he will be under my protection. If you are opposed to this decision, speak now." The elders present wouldn't dare retort back to the Patriarch. They clearly knew that this was a special circumstance, after all.
After the death of the young leader, the clan lacked a junior to fulfill the patriarch position. Without one, the clan was surely to decline, turning to the weakest among the clans situated in the Great Verdant Plains. The Lampclaw clan was already overbearing as is, the Celestine clan kept an ambiguous attitude, whilst the Xi clan's foundation was deep. Lagging behind would only mean the extinction of the Spring name.
Typically, youths would be recruited to families after graduation. Only when they were full-fledged magicians would they be roped into the structure of the clan.
"It seems my worries were for naught. The heavens truly are mysterious. We won't commit the same mistake as last time. This seed must fully germinate into a tree that can support the whole of the clan," Nero commanded.
"Those bastards from the Lampclaw clan! Hmph! Someday they will pay twofold for what they did," Rosen brought up past grievances.
At once, the elders' expressions slightly tensed. The young leader's death remained ambiguous, but from the investigation of the Spring Clan, it all pointed to one culprit: the Lampclaw clan!
"They're too overbearing, daring to extort our clan too?" Cielo spoke up. Back in the day during a beast tide, two elders fell into a critical state. The Lampclaw clan took them in and demanded five thousand mana stones in compensation. This was truly a blow of humiliation they suffered.
Nero's face blackened a little. In a cold tone, he spoke: "Our clan will never forget nor forgive! But first, we must accumulate strength. The clan's decline has been evident in these past centuries. Only with sufficient force would there be a chance to retaliate. We will remember the humiliation in our hearts; only when it's the right time will we strike."
...
"Since the death of the young leader, this lad was the only one to awaken an amethyst fissure. In my past life, he was fully supported to become the young leader. He came from a humble household, his benevolence was widely known in the clan, to the point I, a simple servant, heard such rumors."
"He was truly the clan patriarch's only hope for an adequate leader. If such a person didn't rise, those clan elders' descendants with diamond fissures would've gotten the resources instead, forcefully breaking through the 4th-circle. I'm sure those regular elders are pleased to not see a faction gain any more power than it already has.
"An amethyst fissure—only one blessed by the heavens would unlock one. Even I awakened a mediocre fissure. It took too long to raise the aptitude of it and break free from the limitations." Sarina's red eyes deeply analyzed the situation whilst reminiscing about her past life.
Sarina squinted her eyes. "To awaken my fissure in the clan would be extremely hard. The clan guards Heaven's Spring, only letting elders and those with special circumstances in. Furthermore, I am a servant without bloodline ties to the clan. Before this clan faces its destruction, I must reach the 3rd-circle."
...
The youths could not speak. Seeing the grandiose amethyst fissure, they could only look in admiration at the one who possessed it.
All eyes locked onto Vitus. He felt weird being in the spotlight for the first time. He was used to being a nuisance to others. But now his presence had switched in just an instant.
Feeling the prestige, Vitus bowed. "I hope we can all be friends from now on!"
The gazes of the young clansmen eased a little, seeing that this genius was more appealing to look at.
"I hope in the future Brother Vitus has a harem!"
"Brother Vitus truly is magnanimous!"
"I wish for this brother to have a long-lasting life."
The youths exclaimed their good wishes.
Master Hector looked at the scene with a smile on his face, thinking that this genius wasn't too bad to look at either. He knew that, even if it wasn't on purpose, Vitus had lowered himself to a status similar to the youths present, making the bitterness and jealousy in their hearts calm down greatly. By also putting forth an amicable attitude instead of arrogance, he made the youths think good thoughts about him.
Vitus sat back down with a complex expression on his face. "This is still too weird! I, Vitus, have an amethyst fissure?" He simply couldn't believe it, but the evidence presented itself.
Vitus took deep breaths to calm himself down. Too many thoughts collided in his mind. His head was starting to hurt from the sheer number of them.
Three more names were called to awaken their fissures, and with that, all the youths had gone through the ceremony.
The ceremony had concluded.
The patriarch gave a resounding speech concluding the event. The young clansmen bowed as they exclaimed their thanks to the patriarch while the audience applauded.
...
Sarina's room.
She inspected herself in the tiny handheld mirror. Her deep crimson eyes were one of the things people would notice first about her. She had pale skin, plump lips, and a birthmark situated at the top of her upper lip. Her hair, styled with curtain bangs, flowed down onto her chest.
In terms of looks, she was good-looking. It also helped that she had a birthmark. The people believed that a birthmark on the face emphasized beauty and good luck.
Sarina was currently sixteen years old.
She searched her closet, where four outfits revealed themselves. It was two maid attires, a casual simple dress, and a sleeping garment.
"If I remember correctly, my savings should be here." Sarina searched for about four minutes before finding a pouch hidden amongst a crevice in the closet.
She took up the candle and pouch with both hands, respectively, going to a small desk that sat next to a window.
It was currently the evening. After the ceremony ended, she accompanied the Fang family. She finished her duties and was currently off her shift for the day.
All maids lived in the Fang house on the first floor. The rooms were quite small but not too small—better than what mortals could afford. The matron's room was the biggest, being twice the size of the room that Sarina was currently in.
She opened the pouch and let out all of its contents. Many pieces of rock spilled onto the desk. The sound of rocks hitting wood resounded throughout the room.
She counted them.
In total, there were sixteen pieces of stone. The rule was that generally, mortals would gain mana stones in fractions. The fraction was limited to eight pieces, so the minimum threshold of what a mortal could gain was one-eighth of a mana stone.
In total, Sarina had two complete mana stones. In order to awaken her fissure, she would need at least four of them.
Her mortal status limited her a lot. She was seen as useless and unworthy by the clan members, only being a servant.
She was not allowed to awaken a fissure. If she were found out, she would be executed.
Clans kept a clear divide in the hierarchy between them and their mortals. The clans guarded and protected them whilst the mortals provided minimal work such as farming or building. They would not like to see a magician arise among the mortals.
Mortals were seen as cattle, and they knew their status. Any possible rebellion would be halted immediately.
Sarina had to awaken her fissure secretly. But first, she would need to gather sufficient funds.
She wasn't too worried about the connection to Heaven's Spring. Unorthodox methods to awaken a fissure existed, although rare and risky. Sarina had no other choice.
She reorganized every detail she remembered from her time in the clan. Her mind was sharpened through many life experiences and methods. Although it was impossible to remember everything that happened in her past life, she remembered crucial details.
But at the rate she gained fractions of mana stones, it would take months before she reached four completed mana stones.
She thought of extortion or blackmail but quickly dismissed those thoughts. She had no grounds to blackmail or extort. For now, she was a mortal without sufficient backing. Everything would crumble.
If a Spring clansman were to falsely accuse her of a crime, the clan would not bother to investigate and would rapidly punish her. So she chose the most stable method.
In order to break through to the 3rd-circle, she needed to awaken her fissure quickly.
She had already formulated a plan in mind.