The interior of the building was very spacious, not matching the outside at all, it seemed like the inside was bigger than the outside, and it was decorated with candle holders on the side of the walls. The building inside was shaped like a rectangular cube, with the walls designed with runic inscriptions.
The scene that greeted both Clay and his mother was a joyful one. People were chatting, kids were playing, and teens like Clay standing around the center of the room excitedly waiting for the ceremony to start. One particular boy walked up to Clay and greeted him happily.
"Yo, Clay, didn't think you'd make it." The boy laughed.
"Well I wouldn't really miss the ceremony that could literally change my life, Josh." Responded Clay.
"Good to see you here, I wouldn't be fun not being able to show off my system to you, after I awaken, of course." Josh grinned.
"We'll see about that, you better not run away once you get it." Clay grinned back.
"Alright, alright, stop it, you guys, the ceremony is about to start, go to the center or you might actually miss the ceremony" Mrs. Mapa said.
"Oh, good morning Mrs. Mapa!" Josh cheerfully said, with Mrs. Mapa returning the greeting .
The duo began walking to the center of the room when they heard an announcement coming from the runic inscriptions on the wall.
"Attention, all participants of the ceremony, please come in front, we will begin starting soon."
As they were walking Clay thought to himself 'I really hope I would get a decent rank, otherwise I probably wouldn't be able to face Josh after saying those words' Clay imagined a future where he embarrassed himself after he said those words so confidently.
Then as if on cue the announcement sounded again.
"We shall now officially begin the coming-of-age ceremony."
Everyone cheered as the group of teens gathered around the center and began chatting with each other happily.
"It's about to start, I can't wait to get my system" Random Mob 1 said.
"Im going to be Hokage!" Random Mob 2 said.
"What's a Hokage?" Random Mob 3 asked.
"I don't know, it just felt right to say it" Random Mob 2 responded.
While the teens were busy talking to one another, a person wearing a butler outfit was pushing a cart in front.
On top of the cart, there was a mechanical silver orb with patterns of lines that were pulsing in a light blue hue.
Beside the butler on his respective sides, were 2 people, the one on the left of the butler was an old man holding a wooden staff as tall as himself, donning a long grey beard almost readching the floor.
The old man wore an eye-catching outfit with a huge pointy hat. Meanwhile, on the right side of the butler, stood a woman in her early 20s, holding a checklist with a professional look .
The old man spoke.
"Quiet down everybody, we shall begin now, line up in front of me orderly and we will start awaken your systems, good luck."
People lined up in front of the mage with others pushing one another in hopes of being first. Those people were then repelled to the back of the line by a mysterious force that obviously came from the old man whose hand was outstretched.
"Woah, did you see those people who flew backwards?" Clay nudged Josh in amazement.
"Of course, do you think I'm blind or something?" Josh said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"Then we better line up properly, or else we might get pushed to the back."
They both walked toward the barely-organized line that was forming in front of the powerful old man.
There were about 40 people lining up, with the duo being the 21st and 22nd in the line.
The old man spoke again.
"Alright, I will begin awakening your systems, do not, and I repeat do not fall asleep during the process, it may feel like you can take a nap, but I promise you that you will never be able to wake up again once you fall asleep during the process." The old man gave a stern warning.
With that said the he took the silver orb on the cart and activated it by chanting an ancient spell not understandable to any of those present in the hall.
The orb then floated from his palm almost reaching his head in height.
It began pulsating more frequently and stronger than before the spell was chanted.
The mage called out to the girl in front of him to stand and told her to place her hand on the orb while warning her not to fall asleep again.
Then a bright light enveloped her hand for a moment, prompting her to shut her eyes due to the brightness, she groaned as a warm feeling traversed through her entire body for some time.
'So this is what he meant by not falling asleep, it just feels so comfortable.' the girl thought almost succumbing to the sweet embrace of eternal sleep.
Then the warm feeling subsided, leaving her longing for more.
Then the secretary beside the mage walked towards the girl asking what type and rank had she awakened.
"Um, it says I awakened a C-Class Folding System" The girl replied, nervous.
"Huh, average" The secretary muttered under her breath as she wrote down on her checklist, quickly losing interest in the girl.
The mage then called out to the second person in line who was a boy wearing slightly more luxurious clothing than what Clay wore. The mage told the boy the exact same thing he told the girl, emphasizing the warnings.
A bright light enveloped the boy's hands as he placed his hands on the orb. The warm feeling came and went revealing the deactivated orb. The secretary once again came up to the boy asking him what his system was.
"I got a B Class Magnet System" The boy happily said.
The woman's eyes lit up, asking him for his name and other matters and writing down on her checklist.
Time passed by. before it was finally Clay's turn.
...
..
.
'I hope I get something good' Clay thought as he listened to the old man.
'The last guy got a D Class, surely I would get something better right?' Clay tried reassuring himself.
Clay placed his hand on the silver orb, causing a bright light to envelop his hands and light up the entire hall as many eyes were watching him from the sides. A warm feeling, comparable to that when he was relaxing on his bed, coursed through his veins.
Then a robotic and lifeless voice sounded in his head.
'Is this a joke?' Clay thought as his pupils shrunk, an indicator of shock and disbelief, with his mouth slightly agape and faster breathing, still in denial of the proof that was directly in front of his eyes.
Clay was devastated, he pinched himself in the cheeks to make sure he wasn't dreaming, unfortunately nothing happened, nothing had changed in his vision.
He pinched once more, still the same screen, still that same heart-wrenching letter. F-class.
With the way he was acting other people thought he had awakened something amazing, and with excited steps, the secretary walked to Clay hoping to have found a talent that could be beneficial to their kingdom. Only to be disappointed moments after asking Clay.
"I awakened an F Class Mapping System" Clay said with his head down in a disheartened tone.
The secretary clicked her tongue thinking that she got excited about nothing, she didn't even bother writing anything down. Although an F class was rare it didn't mean it was good, it just shows how hard it is to get something so bad.
Clay didn't know whether to laugh or cry at his luck, his friend Josh went to him and patted his back trying to comfort his friend. At this point, Josh knew that he shouldn't bring up the topic they talked about earlier. They both walked to the line that was formed for people who had awakened their systems.
"It's gonna be okay Clay, you just need to work harder" Josh tried consoling him.
"I know, I just can't believe it" Clay said with a shaky voice.
Clay's eyes were gradually being filled with determination, trying to find hope and fight back against this unfortunate fate that has befallen him. Clay took a slow and steady deep breath as he thought 'Open system'