By the time Candidate 88 had finished awakening, neither the recruiters nor the onlookers had seen anything truly extraordinary.
That changed when Candidate 89, a young woman, took the stage and placed her palm on the crystal emitting mysterious energy.
A few seconds passed, then something different, which hadn't occurred until now, happened.
A faint white light enveloped her, and the temperature around her dropped sharply.
The pavilion, along with the area around it, was quickly swallowed by a cold, swirling mist, within which the faint silhouettes of frozen mountains took form.
"Candidate 89, Profession: Winter Caller," Rovan declared loudly, his voice tinged with surprise.
Not just him, every single person in the arena was stunned, both by the phenomenon and by the profession this young woman had awakened.
"Damn, that's not only a high-grade profession but a hybrid class profession. There are only a handful of people who've awakened this one... It's a very powerful profession," Ethan clicked his tongue in wonder.
Winter Caller was a high-grade hybrid class profession, with every skill being both powerful and highly practical.
Hybrid-Class professions are those that draw skills from multiple class types and can be categorized under two different classes.
Winter Caller, for example, wielded both Magic-Class and Controller-Class skills. Its main specialties were wide-area attacks (AoE) and powerful Ice-elemental abilities.
Any guild or university would spend a fortune to recruit someone with such a profession.
Ethan had refined knowledge about professions, at least most of them.
After all, new types of professions and skills were discovered every day, so it was impossible to know them all.
Most of what he knew came from spending hours in the library every week for the past few years; the rest he picked up online or from streamers.
Candidate 89, the young woman, smiled proudly, ignoring the attention she drew, and stepped into the dungeon to test her new skills and level up.
As if her awakening phenomenon had set off a chain reaction, another phenomenon soon manifested.
This time, the pavilions transformed into a battlefield, an aura of flames and battle intent filling the air.
"Candidate 127, Profession: Battle Mage," Rovan declared.
Another high-grade hybrid profession.
Battle Mage was a purely offensive profession possessing both Combat-Class and Magic-Class skills.
A while later, yet another phenomenon appeared.
It resembled the Battle Mage's awakening, but this one manifested through hundreds of double-edged strikes sweeping across the battlefield, radiating sword energy.
"Candidate 289, Profession: Blade Master," Rovan announced.
"Blade Master... That's a pure Combat-Class, high-grade profession," Ethan said enviously.
Ethan was a lover of Combat class professions, and witnessing someone awaken one of the most powerful initial Combat professions stirred a pang of jealousy.
It was common knowledge that it was nearly impossible for two people to awaken the same profession in a single awakening ceremony.
In other words, if by some divine chance Ethan had been destined to awaken the Blade Master profession, that chance had now vanished.
Still, it wasn't the end of the world; there were hundreds of Combat-class professions out there, or who knows, he might even awaken a brand-new Combat-class profession.
After some time, another phenomenon appeared.
This time, the candidate's surroundings were filled with the silhouettes of various monsters, each one gazing at her before vanishing.
"Candidate 469, Profession: Beast Summoner," Rovan announced.
"Beast Summoner, huh?" Ethan looked at the woman who had awakened the profession with a curious gaze.
Summoners are chiefly considered part of the Controller-class professions.
Summoner professions are unique within this class because, although they are not considered hybrid-class professions, some of them possess skills that overlap with other classes.
However, not all professions are the same.
For example, if two people awaken the Blade Master profession, it doesn't mean they will possess the same set of skills or effects, as these vary from person to person.
The same applies to summoners.
Some summoners use their summons for direct combat, while others rely on the skills their summons possess to defeat opponents.
There are also summoners who borrow their summons' abilities to buff themselves or debuff their enemies.
There aren't many summoner-type professions.
The most well-known ones are Beast Summoner, Dragon Summoner, Holy Summoner, and Spirit Summoner, at least those were the ones Ethan was familiar with.
Summoner professions are among the most versatile in existence.
They aren't highly regarded, but they aren't looked down upon either.
A couple more hours went by, and soon it was finally Ethan's turn to awaken his profession.
A few more high-grade professions had appeared; there was even a new profession that had never been seen before.
Regardless, everyone awakened useful professions, even those who awakened Support Class ones.
It gave Ethan hope that even if he didn't awaken a powerful Combat-Class profession, he would at least awaken something useful.
His turn came last among the candidates.
Ethan walked toward the pavilion, passing by the eight recruiters from the eight universities, all of whom looked at him with strange gazes he couldn't understand, gazes that made him feel uneasy.
He stepped up to the pavilion and stood in front of the Awakening Stone.
"You are Ethan Ashenfall, right?" Rovan asked with a Knowing smile
"Yes."
"Place your hand on the crystal and don't resist."
Ethan nodded and placed his palm on the Stone, letting the strange energy flow from the awakening Stone into him peacefully.
He closed his eyes, feeling the powerful sensation of awakening sweep across his body and soul.
His consciousness blurred, as though he were being plunged into a dream from which he could not wake.
His eyes flickered open. Darkness swallowed everything.
A sticky, foul liquid clung to him, pulling at his legs, rising to his knees.
Its smell was impossible, neither the decay of death nor the warmth of life, but a nauseating fusion of both.
He looked around.
The ocean of this substance stretched endlessly, yet his chest did not tighten, and his stomach did not turn.
He could feel it.
He was not alone.
The darkness stretched endlessly, swallowing the horizon, while a sickly green sky hung overhead, void of any light.
It was alive.
The shadows pulsed and throbbed, crawling with countless unseen presences, watching, waiting.
From the depths, a pair of colossal eyes snapped open.
Then another pair, and another, until countless eyes pierced the gloom, filling every corner of his vision.
Shapes moved in the darkness, silhouetted against the ghastly green sky, a writhing swarm of beings, countless as crows.
Whispers clawed at his mind, thousands of voices tangled together, speaking in languages he could not hope to understand.
He felt neither danger nor horror.
Outside, the entire arena was enveloped in a mysterious energy, tinting the air with a green aura.
Hundreds of phantoms manifested, kneeling around the pavilion as if paying their respects to their king.
The onlookers stared in shock and confusion.
"This phenomenon… It's unlike anything I've ever seen," Vikor muttered, his pupils reflecting the young man he had watched grow from infancy.
"No wonder the master is so protective of him," he sighed softly.
The phenomenon lasted several seconds, far longer than any other awakening, before it finally began to retract, the eerie energy flowing back into Ethan's body.
He slowly opened his eyes, the awakening process complete.
A series of system prompts in a red screen appeared in his field of vision.
[You called to the forgotten souls, and their whispering chorus answered.]
[The dead shall heed your call, and the silence of souls shall answer your command.]
[The fallen shall rise once again.]
[You have awakened the Unique Profession: Necromancer.]
[You have acquired the Active Skill: Summon Undead Knight.]
[You have acquired the Passive Skill: Death Link.]
[You have acquired the Passive Skill: Undead Graveyard.]
[You have awakened the Trait: One Ascends.]