"Starting with the first family alphabetically, I will call out the names of their awakened kids, as well as their abilities." He flipped open the document sitting on the podium.
'Our family name is Bellingham, so we should be among the first families.' Cheryl's nervousness spiked at the thought.
"Arranca Chancellor, awakened with an A tier mind manipulation ability." He announced, earning the crowd an applause.
'Wow, that's a really dangerous one.' He thought, glancing at the Arranca family jubilating on their seats.
"The next is Alonso Frontière, with a B tier permeability." He continued, flipping the document to the next page.
'Permeability? Sounds both good and bad at the same time, depending on the opponent he's facing, but overall, he's in the good spot.'
"Next, we move onto the Bellingham family." The announcer pronounced with elegance.
Cheryl's body shook for a second out of fright from hearing his families name being pronounced.
"Alec and Aria Bellingham both awakened B tier abilities." He said, staring closer to the document.
Then he pulled out his glasses and stared closer at the paper in front of him.
"No no, my mistake. Alec Bellingham awakened a new ranking B tier ability, recently discovered and named Accelstep." He corrected, bringing the document closer to his face.
'He awakened a new ability? Wow.' Cheryl stared astonished at Alec, who knew little about what they were saying about him.
"And Aria Bellingham awakened the Somníferos, which includes dream manipulation and mental control," he explained, fixing his glasses properly before he moved onto the next name on the list.
Cheryl's heart started beating fast, faster than he had ever heard it beat before. It felt like it would phase right through him, any second from that point.
"Cheryl Bellingham awakened two E tier abilities, Psychometry and Archivist." He announced, raising his head to take a look at Cheryl.
Cheryl's heart sunk at that moment. He pulled his head low to avoid all onlookers, including his father, who stared violently at him.
"Come on, we're leaving." his dad commanded, standing upright and dusting his vest before turning to leave.
But he was stopped by the warden, handing him an enveloped document.
"It's required to take this with you sir, it contains information about the abilities and the academy forms and guidelines." He explained.
Arcturus stared at him and documented before grabbing it with a grunt and storming off.
Cheryl followed behind with his head bent low, everyone watching them leave with murmurs left behind.
'How is this possible? I didn't even get a D tier ability.' tears strolled down his cheeks.
He kept his head faced to the ground to avoid eye contact with everyone as he exited the appraisal house.
His heart felt like it was removed from his body because it felt hollow and empty. At this point, he wanted to find a roof to jump off from because he felt like his life had ended.
'What else I'm I living for?!' More tears strolled down his face, his vision blurry from the continuous stream of water leaving his eyes.
'Even my juniors both got top tier abilities, and here I am, with an E tier ability that can't even do anything. The worst case is that no one knows anything about my ability. It's so uncommon and weak that little to no one knows about it'
They stepped out of the appraisal house through the doors to the awaiting carriage with their rider waiting for them.
"Let's go," Arcturus ordered the rider.
Cheryl ran ahead and hoped into the carriage before they started moving because, for sure, his father won't even bother leaving him behind at this point.
His heart kept pounding even while he sat quietly inside the carriage. The silence that crept between them stood out more than the noise the horses made.
'I doubt anyone at home will respect me after this, worst, most of those kids will probably be in my grade when I begin the academy. that's if dad even allows me to go.' He contemplated inside his head, raising his eyes briefly to look at his dad's cold gaze.
His dad stared out the carriage through the medium-sized openings, not sparing him a single glance since they left the appraisal house.
From his gaze, you could already notice uncontrolled anger was brewing inside of him, but for some reason, he kept it to himself.
His fists laid folded beneath his chin, with his eyes squinted slightly.
'Mom is going to kill me once I get home. This is worse than anything I've faced in my life' he cried, his tears still streaming down his face.
One of the twins finally noticed his tears and tapped their dad on the lap continuously.
"Dad, why is elder brother Cheryl crying?" Alec asked, pointing at Cheryl.
His father didn't even bother glancing at Cheryl. He turned his back outside and answered softly.
"It's because he disgraced the family name with his existence." He simply answered with no emotion in his voice.
'Right' Cheryl answered within him, glancing out the small opening from his end of the carriage.
The carriage was designed with two well designed soft chairs facing opposite each other with a wooden table glued to the middle with special additions for cups and wines.
While Cheryl sat alone on one end, the rest of the family sat on the other end of the carriage.
'I will never ever put my faith in fate ever again. Fate is so cruel, even when it isn't my fault for my late awakening.' He folded his fists on his lap, still staring out to the grasslands on the far end.
The next phase of Cheryl's day was the humiliation at home by all his family members. Finally, finding a reason to treat him worse than a slave in his own family house.
"Well, this is the end of the road for me." He murmured to himself, his tears slowly drying on his face from the wind blowing from outside.