"Welcome, Sage candidates from Earth, to the mystical realm of Vastoria."
The female Sage's melodious voice filled the temple, where the chosen Sage candidates gathered with their personal belongings from Earth.
It hadn't been long since they bid farewell to their friends and families who were present to see them off, so the room temperature wasn't exactly friendly and the presence of the Sage did little to ease the anxiety clutching at their chests and the stiffness in their throats.
Some faces would tell you they had bowled their eyes out a few moments ago—red face, pink ears, and teary eyes. Whilst some others had serious, deadpan expressions like the fate of the world depended on them—of which it did.
Out of thousands of participants for the Sage candidacy, only the hundred present had seen the initiation trials to their end and were chosen.
"I totally understand how you all might feel right this moment. As you may or may not know, I too, was once a Sage candidate. Just like y'all here today." She paused to look into the hopeful eyes of the young candidates.
"I know how it feels leaving your friends and families behind to serve not just your country, but the world. And that feeling right there—the anxiety, the fear… the pain. Remember them all. That should be your drive to train hard, to fight, and to conquer!"
The Sage candidates felt their heart spike up as adrenaline rushed through their veins. Felix was no different, standing amidst his fellow Sage candidates. His fists tightly clenched to his sides.
In fact, he was a lot more moved by the words of the Sage, as this was a lifelong dream of his, coming from a poor background with no tuition fee for college. If the trials had been delayed by even a year, then Felix would've missed the opportunity entirely as he would be turning 19 that year.
As a Sage candidate, he didn't have to worry about mundane things such as bills and tuition fees any longer. In Vastoria, all that didn't matter.
"Today, we owe you all the privilege to receive the blessings of our founders. You'll step forward one after the other at the mention of your name and head into the inner chambers where a Priestess awaits to dip you into Goddess Zemira tear pool. There your Class System shall be activated and a class tailored for the candidate will be given."
The hall broke into a hushed murmur of excitement and anxiety. This was the moment they were most anticipated for.
A servant girl of the temple, who sported faint bluish runic symbols running through her neck down to the visible parts of her body, stepped forward to deliver a list to the Sage with a respectful bow.
"Vastorian?" Felix mused, excitement bubbling in his chest.
"I'll start calling your names now. Listen carefully."
Felix exhaled a shaky breath, wiping his sweaty palms on the cargo pants he'd chosen for the occasion. His neck strained as he took note of the faces and expressions of his fellow candidates at that moment.
"Felix Thomasville!"
The candidates began looking from side to side to see who had been called up. Including Felix.
"… Who's the Felix…?" He mumbled in curiosity, when it clicked with him.
"F—Felix Thomas—is that what she just said?" He asked his neighbors in alarm.
"Felix Thomasville!" The Sage called out again with a hint of irritation in her tone.
"Ahh! H—Here. I'm here—please excuse me," he stuttered with his hands awkwardly raised as he hurriedly shuffled out, nervously making his way through to the front.
"Felix Thomasville?" The Sage inquired as he stood before her.
"Y—yes. I'm sorry," he apologized with a sheepish smile.
Without acknowledging him, she casually directed him to the behemoth doors behind her, open just enough for a person to fit through.
Inside was even more grand than the hall they'd been waiting at. Ancient writing and carvings adorned the walls with an elder tree standing tall at the center of a crystal clear pool that took up most of the room.
A figure cloaked in black garment that covered every inch of their body, with a black veil adorned over their face stood eerily still by the tree patiently waiting for him.
From their figure, Felix could tell it was a woman, as her choice of dress did little to obscure her curvaceous hip—ahem!
Felix quickly shuffled forward, swiftly taking off his shoes at the bank and stepping into the waist-length pool, making his way to the center.
Arriving before the Priestess, she calmly placed her hands on his shoulders and turned him so he was facing the side.
At this point, Felix could clearly hear his erratic heartbeat when he heard the Priestess mutter something, but before he could ask her what she had said, she clasped her palm around his nose, which made his heart skip a beat, and without a word, pushed him into the water.
Felix found himself drowning at a depth in a vast expanse of water. Way bigger than what the pool should contain. And the Priestess was nowhere to be seen.
He felt panic set in as he began flailing his arms and legs to swim his way out of the water, when from his peripheral vision he caught a large mass moving towards him.
On looking in its direction to identify what it was, Felix's eyes widened in shock as he recognized it to be a dragon-sized snake of some kind swimming at an incredible pace towards him. Before he could even think of outswimming it, it was already before him with its jaws wide open, the darkness of the throat looking like an abysmal pit.
"Is this how I die?" being his last train of thought, when a sudden pull broke his body out of the surface of the water, cleavage first.
…
"Have in mind that upon acquisition with your class, minor alterations might be done to your body such as changes in hair or eye colors and the likes of it. Nothing serious—"
The Sage was saying, when a collective sharp gasp broke out from the candidates. And she could even spot someone with their hands on their head and with a slacked jaw. Their eyes all fixed at the door behind her.
She frowned as she turned to see the reason for their reactions, only to see a young woman of ethereal beauty with white hair standing eerily still at the door with a soaked outfit that outlined her moderate but luscious cleavage.
She didn't know why but for some reasons her heart fluctuated. Was it because she was jealous of the girl's bust? Unlike hers which was this close to being a chopping board.
Then it suddenly hit her like a tsunami wave.
Why does she have the same outfit as the boy who had just stepped inside?!