"Good luck, Sweetheart. I have full confidence you'll awaken a soul book, my son."
Egon's mother, Luminaire, prayed from behind him, though the concern in her eyes was obvious.
Egon smiled back and left toward the awakening pool without another word. No words were necessary. His demeanor was like a veteran scholar going for a battle for the first time.
Luminaire then glared at Edmund. "Edmund! Are you not going to say anything at all?"
Edmund sighed helplessly. "What should I say, Lumina? We both know the result already, so why should I lie to myself and my son."
His gaze reflected a great sorrow he was hiding all these years.
"Exactly 25 years ago, right here in this same place, I also tried to defy my fate. Like Egon, I also didn't care about the world's opinion. But when the result came, the cruel reality of this world settled in. I was branded as a Non-Sorcerer for my whole life. I had the will to fight, but The gods didn't give me the power.
For people like us, just living in this world feels like a curse... We're worse than slaves. And that's why I taught my son to be a warrior from a young age. So that he won't need to grovel under the Sorcerers' feet. But it seems my son is envisioning the same hopeless dream as I did."
Luminaire, already aware of his past struggles, gently comforted him by holding his hand with love.
"I understand you, Edmund. I do."
Meanwhile, Egon noticed this scene.
"They think a lack of mana affinity would stop the Creator of this world? Ridiculous!"
With that confident smirk on his face, he finally submerged himself into the water.
Olivia and a few others watched his confident smirk in the last moment. It wasn't the smile of a naive, hopeless boy. It was the smile of a being who had seen through everything.
Plop!
As soon as Egon became submerged, he lost consciousness.
At this state, aspirants started to show signs of awakening, like a glow of mana or other elemental affinities.
But he didn't show any signs at all. Not even a ripple on the water. Everything was calm, just as it should be for a commoner like him.
Olivia's mind eased. "And here I thought he was special. I was worried for nothing. There's no way a commoner would awaken a Grimoire. Surpassing me is out of the question. I am the best freshman of this year from Delios Town."
Seconds turned to minutes, but still there were no response. People were getting irritated at this point.
Why should they let a commoner boy waste their precious time?
Just as everyone were getting restless, thinking there's no hope for the commoner boy, something astonishing happened next.
Buzz!
The awakening pool suddenly imploded with a blood red fog.
Olivia's smug relief was shattered.
"There's no way!"
Olivia and others' breaths hitched. Were they really about to witness something impossible?
Ten Minutes Ago:
A broken celestial realm, chained by white dwarfs, served as the grotesque backdrop.
Countless human souls moved in an orderly line toward a massive Divine Throne. One, two, three, ten, one hundred, one thousand, ten thousand... even millions would be an underestimation.
These millions of souls' hands were shackled by iron bands, their faces devoid of life, their eyes hollow, as if they had lost their will.
But among them, unknown to others, one soul was aware. That soul was Egon.
Unlike the rest, he hadn't lost his will. He could observe everything in this broken world with full clarity. It was exactly for this moment that Egon had sought the Elixir of Souls for years. The Elixir had given him the freedom to act in this cage where a person's fate was decided by a few beings' whims and wishes.
Egon secretly observed everything with pinpoint detail.
The souls walked in a mechanical tone, just like an endless assembly line, waiting to receive their Grimoires from the mystical Library just beside the throne.
Several Angelic figures in golden armor, carrying golden swords and spears, stood in absolute discipline. The sharpness in their eyes was palpable in the air. A single command from the being on the divine throne would allow them to cut down any disturbance to the procedure.
As the author of the novel, Egon was already aware of this setting.
The colossal being shrouded by white radiance was actually a rebel of the Celestial Order who had stolen the Library of Eternity, which should have functioned without anyone's interference, as it could even decide the fates of the Gods themselves.
But this rebellious Celestial somehow broke the order.
By stealing the library, he seized control of the whole Awakening sequence for all humans.
By giving away fake copies of Soul Books, he stole aspirants' most important soul power to increase his own, all in his desire to evolve into a true God.
He was the reason humanity were getting weaker Sorcerers compared to their ancestors.
In the novel, he is one of the major villains.
He was sole reason for the downfall of the whole Human Species in the long run.
His name is: Zadkiel Heavenborn.
"Lord, we have another Outlaw among the new candidates. What should we do with it?"
"What do you mean, what should we do? Are you all doing your work for the first time?" Zadkiel rumbled in his ancient tongue.
Egon unsurprisingly understood each word. All because of his unique ability to speak and understand all language.
"Devour all their soul power, life force, their karma, everything. I don't wish to see anyone from that devil's bloodline rise to the top and challenge my authority. Cripple them from the roots."
His voice echoed through every follower present, cold and absolute.
Despite the clear order, his followers' faces showed only hesitation.
"But, my lord... we don't know how; but this human girl comes from that place," one of them said in a very fearful tone.
Bang!
Zadkiel slammed his hands down on the throne, looking greatly irritated.
"Speak clearly, you fools!"
The angels shivered in fear. One of them finally blurted out:
"She is from Earth, My lord. The same world you were using as a cage for these black-haired devils."
After hearing that, Zadkiel's annoyance transformed into confusion.
But Egon, who heard everything clearly, felt as if struck by lightning.
"Earth? Cage?"
Greatly surprised, he finally turned his attention to the figure of their conversation. A human girl stood before the divine throne.
As soon as he saw that girl's ethereal face, he froze like a statue.
"Nina?"
After seeing her, he started questioning his very existence at that moment.