Awakened Legend

Destiny can be cruel.

Nothing can change that fact.

For this world, a small planet no better than a speck of dust in the cosmos, it was given a harsh lesson in this over two centuries ago. Having been invaded by a ravenous group of interdimensional lifeforms, humanity had quickly come to near extinction.

Millions of people killed every single day, and helpless cries of all humankind. It was honestly beyond a miracle that humanity clung to its last string of hope, which had come in the form of abnormal yet unbelievably powerful transformations.

No one knows how or perhaps who granted humanity this blessing, but it mattered not as it was the weapon they needed to survive. Simply put, this blessing allowed humans who awakened to their powers to undergo a unique transformation based on a 'Class' they're given.

Within these transformations laid great power, a power strong enough that it allowed humanity to push back against the never-ending tide of invaders. Although it took quite a number of years, control on the planet returned to humanity.

Knowing that the invasion of monsters wasn't simply going to stop, humanity underwent a rapid state of progression both technologically and personally. Many humans developed their supernatural powers, becoming the pillars of humanity's survival.

In this present age, humans who have the potential to awaken their inner powers are simply referred to as 'Awakened', a very simple but fitting term. All individuals who reach the age of fifteen undergo a test to see just what destiny has in store for them, and to see whether or not they have the capability to become humanity's next pillars of strength.

Some are fortunate, and others not so much.

In truth, it really depends on one's perspective. Some are happy to either awaken to very simple and common Classes, or not awaken at all. After all, its in human nature to want to avoid danger. A good Class typically means devoting yourself to engaging in conflict with horrifying creatures, not everyone wishes for such a life.

The majority though... do indeed wish for a more thrilling life.

At the present time, inside of what looked to be a highly advanced circular stadium of sorts was a rather large group of individuals, all of whom seemed to be standing in organised lines and looking up at the elevated podium area where a large floating blue crystal was present.

There were also a number of other individuals who were standing tall on the podium where said crystal was, though unlike the people below who all were teenagers, the people up top were all adults older than probably forty.

Despite the countless number of seats around the stadium, not a single one looked to be occupied.

"Colt, I'm getting nervous..."

The slightly stuttering voice of a young male within the group of teenagers below whispered to the individual beside him, and the person who was the receiver of said voice, merely rose one of his eyebrows slightly as he glanced at his friend.

"Aren't you always nervous, Nathan?"

"W-Well, yeah... but, this is whole other definition of nervous!"

"Just take a deep breath, it'll all be over soon."

"You make it sound as if we're being executed..."

The person who spoke first was a young man with somewhat pale skin and a relatively slim physique, having smooth light blonde hair and a pair of ocean blue eyes. His clothing was simple, a pair of dark-blue jeans, black shoes, and a black jacket over a blue t-shirt.

As for the more relaxed and composed individual, he had a fair complexion and a lean physique with an obvious athletic structure to it. With somewhat spiky dark-brown hair that was swept to the right, and a pair of relatively sharp deep-purple eyes.

In regard to his attire, he too wore a simply form of dress like his friend. He had on a white t-shirt along with a pair of sleek long black pants, finishing off with a simple pair of black and white running shoes. If you looked closer though, he seemed to be wearing a black wristband on his left wrist.

[Beginning Awakening Process]

[...]

[Awakening Failed]

The sound of the robotic voice of the hovering crystal sounded throughout the entire stadium as its original blue colour switched immediately to that of a vibrant red, casting a veil of red light over the entire stadium as those words echoed.

In response to this, the young teenager who had walked up to the podium to undergo his awakening stared up in utter disbelief as a wave of shame washed over his now shaking form. It was safe to say that the person wasn't exactly... happy.

"N-No, this can't be...!" The male shook his head in disbelief as his complexion seemed to pale. "I'm from the famous Gilland family, how can I possibly not awaken!? There must have been some kind of malfunction with the Awakening Crystal!"

"Leave the stage now, young man."

"I do not accept this!"

"Leave... now!" One of the adults up on the podium immediately raised his voice in response to the teenager's words. Immediately feeling a massive wave of oppression, the teenager could only fall to the ground shaking. "If you have complaints, you can address them directly to the association. Do not hinder this sacred ceremony!"

"Y-Yes, sir..."

The Awakening Ceremony, the event in which all of those who reach the age of fifteen participate in privately to see whether or not they can awaken, and what they awaken into. Due to how important finding new Awakened are, this ceremony is considered incredibly sacred.

With shame clearly on his face, he walked off of the podium with uneasy steps as people either sent him looks of pity, contempt, or were silently laughing at him. Colt wasn't surprised by this though, the guy who had just taken the test was known for being rather arrogant.

Always claiming that he'd be the one to stand above all other Awakened, yet here he was, destined to never awaken to his powers...

"Next person... Nathan Oliver!"

"Oh, crap. It's me!"

"Just calm down."

"Y-Yeah, I know!"

With a big gulp, Nathan left his standing position next to Colt as he nervously walked up to the podium where all the testers and observers were all now looking at him. With these many gazes, Nathan felt incredibly nervous... even more so than before.

"Begin your test."

"R-Right"!

Without delaying, Nathan took a deep breath before walking up to the panel that was placed in front of where the large crystal was hovering. It was a simple white panel projecting what looked to be a holographic hand scanner panel.

Placing his hand onto the panel, it instantly lit up as the crystal was currently a light-grey colour and was constantly flashing a faint white light. This current state of the Awakening Crystal meant that it was now calculating the tester.

[Beginning Awakening Process]

[...]

[Awakening Complete]

'Y-Yes! I successfully awakened!' Nathan cheered to himself, though he didn't let himself relax just yet. Although the awakening was complete, whether or not he'd be of much worth was determined by the next step. 'Come on... please, anything above C-Class!'

Different classes were categorised into letters, which people have determined were evaluated based on a Class's overall potential. E-Rank was basically useless, D-Rank were common jobs you'd find by looking for work like a normal person, and anything above was usually on the more supernatural and/or advanced side.

[Determining Class]

[...]

[CLASS: Ascendant Swordsman (S)]

After hearing the announcement by the crystal, everything seemed to go into silence before the entire stadium seemed to erupt into countless shouts. Seeing the result, all of the adults up top seemed very pleased based on their expressions.

Of course, the happiest was without a doubt Nathan.

"Alright, let's go!" Nathan clenched both of his fists as his body was bent over, to which it then immediately sprung back up tall as one arm was raised into the sky. 'I told you I could do it, Colt! This is totally awesome!'

Speaking of Colt, Nathan looked to the crowd before waving his hand excitedly towards the person in question. Seeing this, Colt could only smile helplessly as he gave a small wave back. Seeing the response, Nathan grinned before giving a thumbs up.

Before he could say anything else though, a flash of bright light seemed to engulf his entire figure as this flash of light erupted into a pillar of light that shot towards the sky. No one was surprised though, this was the scene of someone undergoing their first transformation.

Once a person awakens, they will automatically activate their transformation which comes in the form of a large pillar of light. This was where the term in this world 'From the pillars of light, hope flickers in endless darkness' came from.

As the light slowly but surely faded away, everyone was able to see the new changes that Nathan underwent. No longer wearing his casual clothing, Nathan had his eyes closed as he was now standing tall with his hands tightly clenched on either side of his waist.

He was now wearing a suit of armour, which consisted of white pieces of armour that were lined in clear gold. With rounded gold pauldrons and gold accented metal boots and gauntlets, people couldn't help but look at him in both envy and amazement.

The suit of armour didn't appear to have a helmet though, revealing his usual features, with the exception now being that his eyes were glowing white and number of strands in his hair were also now glowing in neon white as his hair seemed to hover in a non-existent wind.

Finally, in his right hand was a white gold sword with a cross guard designed to look like feathers. In his left hand, however, was a large shield that had a similar design idea as the sword, with a mainly white body, golden edges, and a feather-like gold design on the face of the shield.

A large smile forming on his face, Nathan glanced down at his body with amazement in his eyes.

"This power... it's unbelievable." Nathan muttered as he couldn't help but marvel at his own appearance. He wasn't a narcissistic individual, but his current state really couldn't help but admire his own appearance. "Right, the panel..."

Swiping his hand, a familiar holographic panel seemed to flash in front of him.

.

[Status]

➣ Name: Nathan Oliver

➣ Level: 1

➣ Class: Ascendant Swordsman (S)

➣ Class Ascension: ☆☆☆☆☆

➣ Skills: [Radiant Blade] [Light Barrier]

➣ Health: 100%

➣ Mana: 50/50

➣ Strength: 100 (Base: 20)

➣ Agility: 100 (Base: 20)

➣ Vitality: 100 (Base: 20)

.

To explain a few things about the status panel.

Class Ascension, it was basically the stage of evolution your transformation is. The reason for the armour's relatively simple design was simply because it was still in its base state, it had yet to go through a form of... metamorphosis per say. By awakening, one's power increases and their transformations goes through changes, and you'd typically end up learning a new skill or two.

Speaking of skills, upon awakening, most individuals will only ever be given one skill to start off with, very rarely does anyone get two or even three. Only those who have awakened into great Classes have ever been recorded getting two or more skills, and no doubt Nathan's S-Class Ascendant Swordsman had a hand in him getting two skills.

Although his stats didn't look all that incredible, it was best to know that the peak of normal humans was 10. The higher your stats are the more the difference between a single point, meaning that stats were not linear with overall power, having double the stats does not mean being twice as powerful, its much more than that.

In regards to Nathan's current stats, it was a fixed thing for newly awakened. No matter the Class, everyone who awakens and starts at level one has twenty in all stats. As the person continues to level up, the true difference thanks to the rank of a Class begins to show.

Obviously, since Nathan was current transformed, his stats were a good deal above the twenty mark. Based on the numbers shown, and by world-wide statistics, the overall amplification after transformation is five times.

"I even got two skills! Fifty mana points, not bad at all!" Nathan nodded in complete satisfaction as he read over the status panel. "If I'm not mistaken, fifty mana should be quite the decent amount, especially for a newly awakened."

This was indeed true, the average starting mana points was usually 20-30. This was also another part where the rank of the person's Class shined as the higher the rank, the more the chance of having more mana points at the beginning and future.

"Congratulations, Mr Oliver!" One of the examiner walked over with a very satisfied look on their face. "Not only have you awoken an S-Rank Class, it is even one that we know nothing about! We will be expecting great things from you!"

"Right!"

Under countless envious gazes, Nathan walked back over to where he was originally sitting, still transformed and everything. Despite all of the looks he was getting, Nathan ignored the jealous gazes and sat down next to Colt.

"Dude, look at me!" Nathan immediately grinned as he grabbed Colt's shoulder and pointed at himself with his other hand. "I can't believe I awakened an S-Rank Class, this is totally a dream come true! To think I was only looking for above a C-Rank."

"Okay, okay. Congrats." Colt sighed as he responded. "You awakened, don't accidentally crush my shoulder with your new strength."

"Don't worry, I'm very careful!"

"I have doubts..."

"Next applicant... Colt Azrael!"

"Dude, you're up!" Nathan was the first to react as he patted Colt multiple times on the shoulder, with each pat smacking Colt further and further off his seat. Looking up at Nathan, Colt had multiple black lines on his face. "Ah, sorry... Anyway, you can do it! You'll get an S-Rank like me too!"

"If you say so, see you in a bit."

With a small chuckle, Colt got up from his seat before calmly making his way towards the podium. Although he looked very calm on the outside, he was honestly quite nervous on the inside. Everyone his age have been preparing themselves to face the ceremony, but even so, nervousness was without a doubt.

"Whenever you are ready, Mr Azrael."

"Understood."

Narrowing his eyes, Colt extended his hand and placed it onto the panel. Like for everyone else, the crystal remained a light grey colour as it began calculating. It only stayed this way for a few seconds though as something very... unexpected happened.

The crystal suddenly flashed into an immediate black colour, with white lightning now flashing and sparking across the air around it. This sudden change caused everyone to go into a confused panic, even the examiners were uncertain of what was happening.

"M-Mr Azrael, are you okay?!"

"Y-Yeah..."

Colt replied in a soft but audible tone. He too was confused, he had no idea if this was bad or good. Just looking at the appearance of the Awakening Crystal, it didn't exactly look too friendly. Though, he was hoping that, that wasn't the case.

"Mr Azrael, this is getting dangerous! Please remove your hand from the panel!"

Colt was about to do exactly what he was told to do, but a suddenly eruption of light around his body immediately interrupted him. Unlike normal, this pillar of light was black, so it was questionable of whether or not it could even be called that.

As the pillar completely engulfed him, only Colt's loud sudden scream from within this pillar echoed through the stadium. This continued on for many long seconds as everyone could only watch in anticipated fear, a few already ready to run should need be.

However, the familiar voice belonging to the Awakening Crystal suddenly sounded amidst the sparks of white lightning around the black pillar of light.

[Determining Class]

[...]

[CLASS: Grim Reaper (SSS)]