Chapter 3: Awakening Ceremony
What woke Tony up the following morning was the same ticking sound of the electric clock hung on the wall.
"I guess the wall clock is important after all," he muttered, scratching the back of his head as he rose from the bed.
For some reason though, he couldn’t help but ponder how the previous Tony was able to afford an electric wall clock. If anything, someone who lived his kind of life as an orphan would find it difficult to afford such things.
But why should he care? It’s even better that the room feels comfortable to live in, at the least.
After he stood from the bed, he walked around until he arrived at the drawer on the top side of the bed and picked up the lowly smartphone he inherited from this body.
The lights of the phone shone on his face as he took in the notification staring back at him, with his mouth slightly wide open.
"20 missed calls? Who the hell could it be?"
For a moment, Tony thought, ’Loan sharks?’
It was only natural for someone who lived the kind of life as the previous Tony to try to borrow money from loan sharks to solve certain problems in their life. Even if it weren’t a reality he had witnessed, it was something he’d read plenty of times through manhwas and novels in his mundane world.
He was a fanatic of those kinds of fictions; they didn’t make him ever dream of transmigrating into a similar setting. If anything, it was those fanatics that led him to start developing Dimetravl. But now that he is here...
"Well—"
Not letting his curiosity get the better of him, he immediately unlocked the phone and tapped on the missed notifications.
His eyes widened when he saw who it was; he had missed the call twenty times. He didn’t know if he should be amazed by the name he was seeing... or disappointed.
’My heartthrob,’ he mused.
"Continue throbbing; very soon it would turn to a crash."
He made to set down the phone, but a message dropped at that instant.
Tony tapped on it.
[myheartthrob]: "Where are you, my love? I tried calling, but you didn’t pick up my call. The ceremony will begin in the next 30 minutes, and I was able to secure a sitting position for you. The awakening square is already at its brim."
’Even after 20 missed calls she still cared to send a text,’ he wondered.
Tony read the message one more time and snickered.
’Why am I even snickering? It’s not like I’m jealous.’
Honestly, he couldn’t fathom the reason for such an attitude from him. Was it because he didn’t expect that the previous Tony’s girlfriend would really care?
From the memories he gained from this body, he understood that Sandra Mett had been a loyal girlfriend to Tony. How they met and how their relationship started were not yet clear to him as he was yet to recover all the memories of this poor orphan.
But then, if he really had a caring girlfriend who didn’t let it matter whether he awakened or not, why would he commit suicide and leave her behind?
Tony shook his head. "This is one thing I can never understand about love."
Dropping the phone back in the drawer, he took off his pajamas and stepped into the bathroom to take a refreshing shower and get prepared for the day.
***
Guided by his inherited memories, Tony was able to easily locate the awakening arena.
It was bustling, just like Sandra reported.
As soon as he set his feet inside the arena, a resonating voice sounded across the whole arena through a speaker system.
"Testing the microphone. One... two."
Tony smiled, knowing this was a normal thing even in his world where he came from whenever there was going to be an event or ceremony.
’Just in time,’ he mused.
However, before he thought of searching for a place to settle down, or better still, locating where Sandra was already sitting with his secured position, he took in the appearance of the arena.
It was massively spacious.
The arena was constructed circularly, almost like a wrestling stadium, having its spectators sit around on the plastic chairs fastened to the metallic wheels. In the center was a raised platform, with a pulpit in its middle... or something that looked like it.
From his inherited memories, he could tell that that pulpit was what was fostering the main awakening process of every prospective player. It probably should have an inner layer.
Raising his eyes to not leave out any details, Tony saw the projector screens hung around strategic pillars of the arena.
’Oh, damn.’
He understood the implication of those screens: "Everyone is watching!"
Just then, he saw a broad-shouldered man from the screen walking towards the awakening stage on an elongated platform that stretched from backstage.
And at the same time, a soft, warm hand immediately grabbed his own.
Tony set his eyes on the slender figure holding his left hand.
Her hair was dark purple, highlighting her fair complexion and light-brown eyes. The purple gown she wore was well-fitting to her nicely side-curved shape. In fact, looking at her in person now, Tony became even more confused and jealous at the same time.
While Tony was busy scanning his inherited girlfriend, she was agitated.
"Why are you acting strange today? You missed my calls, and you didn’t care to call me when you arrived. Are you nervous that what happened twice will happen again? I’ve always told you that I’m..."
"You’re beautiful," Tony found himself complimenting Sandra before he could control himself.
’What am I doing?’ he mused.
The latter blushed, her chin flushing red.
"Come on, that’s the moderator coming to the stage," Sandra said after blushing, and with Tony’s hand in hers, she dragged him until they began to run through spaces between other spectators and prospective awakeners alike.
While they sprinted to the position Sandra secured, Tony was dazed in thoughts.
’What was that just now? Why did I compliment her out of the blue? Uhm... maybe I was just being honest. She’s truly beautiful.’
It didn’t take time before they reached the position where Sandra had secured seats for them. It was, in fact, a perfect middle position, where seeing everything that happened today was going to be eventful.
Hopefully, for everyone gathered there.
"Mhmm," the moderator cleared his throat into the microphone.
’Barbaric.’
"I don’t think I have to explain the reason we are all in this awakening arena today... and why it is essential that this should be done once every year," the moderator began, his deep voice echoing across the arena. "You all, as long as you have reached sixteen years of age, already understand the formalities of this Tower world and the possible implications if we are not well guided and following instructions."
"So, without wasting our limited time, we are going to begin the awakening ceremony. If you hear your name, kindly step out of the crowd and step into the spotlight of this awakening stage. Once you’re here, collect a scratch of awakening powder and sprinkle it into the "Pulpit of Grace" and pray for your luck."
’Pulpit of Grace, huh?’
Beside the pulpit was a long stool, and on top of it was a small bowl containing grey powder. While the moderator, on the other hand, was holding a form containing the list of names in his left hand.
In front of him was a microphone affixed into its stand.
"Aaron Theodore!"
A few seconds after the name was called, the moving pole carrying the projectors soon focused his view on the screen for everybody to see clearly.
The owner of the name was a green-haired boy, who walked confidently to the stage as if he were already certain what the outcome of his awakening would be.
As soon as he arrived at the stage, he didn’t spare a moment as he collected a scratch of awakening powder as instructed and sprinkled it into the pulpit. Nothing seemed to happen immediately until the stone pulpit suddenly glowed.
’Woah! How can something stone-made glow?’
The pulpit pulsated for not more than two seconds before a bright, enveloping purple glow burst from within it. The moment the burst settled, a brown, haggard paper fell out but was caught midair by Aaron before it could kiss the ground.
Without looking at the brown paper, he handed it over to the moderator.
The moderator waited for heavy tension to fall upon the onlookers who were impatient to know what class the young boy had awakened. Murmurs were almost beginning to erupt from the crowd before the moderator spoke in his deep voice.
"Cursed-speech!"
The starting murmurs swiftly turned into loud cheers as the spectators expressed their happiness for the arrival of another hero of the city.
"Congratulations. With such a class, any of the three guilds would come knocking at your door to join their guild. Except "The Vermillion Guild," of course."
Aaron collected the brown paper and placed it on his chest to burn into his being with a purple flame and later went to stand at the right-hand side of the pulpit.
"Brian!" Another name was called, but the moderator paused, staring intently at the form. "Brian... Melindugus!"
Soon, a brown-haired boy walked up to the stage and performed the same awakening ritual as Aaron.
However, unlike Aaron’s, a red glow burst out from the pulpit of grace, and a brown paper soon fell out of it as the glow diminished.
"Merchant class!"
The crowd’s cheers roared this time too, but no longer as loud as when Aaron had awakened his class.
"Congratulations, buddy. The ’White Tigers Guild’ will surely be the first to knock on your door."
Brian joined Aaron on the right side of the pulpit.
The ceremony continued as names were called, and just like expected, every prospective awakener called to the stage became a "Player." The queue already stretched horizontally, threatening to reach the end of the platform.
Then, another name was called.
"Rain Indigo!" the moderator echoed across the arena. "Such a weird name," he further whispered, but since there was a microphone in front of him, the jeering crowd could hear him even if faintly.
The supposed Rain, a girl who had ash-colored hair and...
Tony looked up at the screen to see her face. It was tender-looking, blending with her miniature body frame that simply told anyone that her height type was rare to believe she had reached sixteen years.
The girl didn’t seem to care about any details as she strode toward the stage confidently.
Soon, she performed the popular ritual as the others, and her moment turned out to last longer.
A golden flame burst out from the pulpit of grace, so bright and largely enveloping that it contested with the artificial lighting of the arena. Before even her class was called, the crowd already began to jeer so loudly that it turned out to be a nuisance for no one but Tony Starke.
The crowd of spectators was still jeering until the flame flickered off and a brown paper fell out of it just like it had done for the others.
The Rain girl caught it midair and handed it over to the moderator, who stared into it, and his eyes widened in amazement.
"What a contrast..." he said, causing the crowd to sigh. "...to your name," he added.
Turning to the curious spectators, he raised the brown papers up and shouted into the mic.
"Rain has awakened a Pyromancer class!"
The jeering from the crowd this time became even louder than when the golden flame had burst out.
"Congratulations, baby girl. The "Monarchs" would probably not allow you to cross that arena door. That’s if the "Vermillion" guild allows it."
Tony saw the crowd’s reaction and wondered. ’What’s so special about that fire class?’
He was still pondering that he didn’t hear when his name was called. Not until Sandra tugged at his cloth.
"Tony Starke!" the moderator called out loud. "Did he register and purposely dodge his last chance at awakening?"
Tony hesitated in his seat, taking in the worn facial expression of the spectators as soon as his name was called.
’So Tony is this popular as a failure?’
"Tony Starke!"
"Coming through!" Sandra shouted, dragging Tony up from his seat.
Before he left, though, she ventured closer and gave him a peck on his cheek.
"Good luck, my love."
