The air in the temple's antechamber was thick with the pungent smell of sweat, anxiety, and ambition. The formal ascension was over since Ethan only had two people standing behind him in the queue.
The temple was filled with tension as the various Temple representatives had begun to filter into the temple from a room down the hall.
Watching the candidates all filled with tension, Ethan recognized that look on the representatives' faces as he'd faced that look several times from his boss back on earth.
The representatives from the various temples have been assessing every kid in the hall, and now they've come to make their picks according to the contract signed collectively by all the temples in the northern continent.
Ethan kept to the periphery, his mind a whirlwind. The memory of what just happened to him in the array was at the back of his mind, but he decided to hold off the curiosity he kept feeling the changes from being ascended..
"So this is what it feels like to be an Initiate. I'm not sure I feel any stronger, though. Maybe that's not how it works."
The thick atmosphere that felt like resistance when he first woke up in the alley was now clear and familiar to him, he felt the thin resistance that prevented him from sensing them were gone....
"This world is filled with energies of all kinds.... this is pretty interesting," he said as he kept waving his hands around.
He was so engrossed in his own thoughts that he didn't notice an approaching nuisance.
"Well, if it isn't Alerion the orphan." The voice was a familiar, grating sneer that triggered a visceral, flinch-like response in his new body's muscle memory.
Ethan turned slowly while thinking, "Who's this fool now?"
There stood a young kid with a thatch of red hair and a face that screamed entitlement, looking at Ethan like a cornered prey.
From how confident he looked, Ethan was sure he had done this a couple of times to the original Ethan.
Like confirming his thought, he winced as a memory flashed through his mind: Darrel, the son of a prosperous merchant family, made the original Ethan's life a living hell in social events among nobles.
"I heard you're Mr. Sparkly," Darrel mocked.
Ethan did not really understand his words, but was knowledgeable enough to know that he was being mocked.
Ethan said nothing; he met Darrel's gaze with his own eyes flat and bored. He was assessing Darrel.
Darrel continues his words after taking the initial flinch for fear and thinking Ethan was just trying to look tough.
"I can't possibly let myself look weak in front of these temple representatives. I'll let them see the glory that belongs to affinity blessed by the goddess of light and fire," Darrell thought.
Keeping a brave face, Darrel kept going...
"An illusionist... Tsk, it's understandable though," he said with a genuinely sad look on his face for Ethan as he said those words.
"I, on the other hand, have been blessed by the God of flames, the supreme God," Darrel said, smiling a little, unnerved by the bored expression on Ethan's face.
Leaning closer into Ethan's face, he continued, "The Phoenix clan temple representative has already looked my way."
Ethan finally spoke, but they weren't the groveling words Darrel expected.
"Don't let me make you a sample," Ethan spoke that one line and turned to walk away deliberately.
This dismissal was the worst possible action Ethan could take towards a kid with too much pride and a lot of energy to spare.
"Hey, I'm talking to you, you bastard!!"
Darrel snapped as he lunged at Ethan, who had his back towards him with a balled-up fist ready to send a punch into Ethan's back.
Ethan's body was weak, but this wasn't the kid he used to be. With 30 years of experience and advanced combat training, he had honed his skills, and he never had a soft spot for bullies.
He didn't try to block the punch; instead, he side-stepped just a little to the left while gently tripping Darrel with his foot in his path.
Using Darrel's disrupted momentum against him, he pivoted on his heel, requiring minimal strength, he sent a simple punch that didn't look like it had any effort behind it towards Darrel's throat.
Because the punch was barely any effort, Darrel still fell face forward toward the gray-stoned ground with a thud and a slight roll as he clutched his throat, wheezing slowly from the sharp pain he was feeling.
"What the hell? Who does the low-life bastard think he is?" Darrel thought to himself as he stood up quickly, trying to regain what dignity he felt he had just lost.
Humiliation burned through Darrel, but Ethan's expression didn't change as Darrel charged; Ethan didn't retreat, instead stepping inside the arc of the wide punch Darrel threw.
His left hand slapped away Darrel's punching arm while his right foot hooked behind the bully's ankle, and with a sharp tug and a push to the chest, Darrel's legs were swept out from under him.
CRACK!!
Darrel hit the stone floor hard, the air whooshing out of his lungs in a pained gasp. He lay there stunned, forgetting to stand up for a moment.
Ethan didn't wait for a response as he walked away from the stunned Darrel lying on the ground.
His heart was thumping. His legs felt like he had just strained every single muscle he had, using a simple set of moves.
He was so focused on the feedback of his own physical limitations that he completely missed the Moraves family representative in impeccably tailored, practical gray robes.
He had sharp, intelligent features and fingers stained with what looked like black ink at every fingertip, like he dipped them in ink.
Through the entire exchange, while others were focused on affinity or not paying attention entirely, he saw something else entirely. He saw amazing timing, coordination, and battle sense.
There was no aura of power around the white-haired boy, but the way he moved spoke of a different kind of potential that he'd only seen in some individuals. A glint of interest sparked in his eyes as he was willing to make a bet on this kid that he possessed some sort of elemental or battle body.
Of course, there was no way to prove it, but he'd rather make sure the Moraves family had him in their ranks, even if they didn't particularly focus on the illusion element within the Moraves family.