The Awakened Bridge tested an Awakened Player's Affinity for Divinity/Divinity Sustainability in a unique style. The Bridge was only as strong as the amount of Divinity stored presently and also the amount that could be gained in the future.
If one's Bridge was weak, it meant their Affinity and presence of Divinity wasn't high. Their Bridges would collapse because of this and they would fall into the chasm below, ending the Test.
Of course they wouldn't really fall. They would only reappear right before the Priest.
Aeric stared at the Bridge as his heart pounded hard within his chest. He himself didn't know at all what the goal of this Test was for, but he stepped forward, head held high and ready to do whatever it took the get to the other side.
As his foot touched the Bridge, it didn't waver. He placed another foot, and then another, and the bridge remained steady. No creaks, no cracks.
Step by step, Aeric walked across the ethereal span, his body moving confidently even though his mind was racing.
'So far, so good...' he thought. 'I'm nearing the end now.'
'That is unbelievable...' the Divine Priest thought as he watched him carefully, his eyes narrowing in contemplation. Aeric could tell that he was weighing that gaze, but he kept moving. When he reached the other side, the Bridge still stood strong, unyielding.
"I did it, didn't I?" he turned to the Priest. "I won the test."
"Hmm," the Priest murmured, an acknowledgment that spoke volumes. When the Bridge vanished, Aeric exhaled a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He had passed the first test, but not in the manner that he thought.
Normally, the Bridges were supposed to make a little creak along the line for most Awakened Players. But for Aeric's to make no creak at all, just perfectly letting him cross. How powerful would he have to be to accomplish that?
Curiouser and curiouser.
But there was more to come.
The Divine Priest stepped forward and placed his hand on the ground. With a gesture, a large mirror rose from the floor, its surface rippling like water until it stilled. "Now, the Mirror of Revelation," the Priest intoned.
The Mirror didn't look exceptional at all. It just resembled a conventional mirror, only that it did not have wooden edges.
'I guess that's what's going to... x-ray my body.'
"Face the mirror," the Priest ordered. "Stand in attention."
Aeric obeyed. He turned fully and stood before the mirror, dreading what would come next, but also a bit curious.
The moment his gaze captured his reflection on the mirror, it did not seem like his reflection at all. Perhaps it had shifted, but before his eyes, the image that was there appeared like the a human shaped energy form.
In the mirror, his body was vibrantly glowing. It was a swirling mix of colors, mostly purple, green, blue, and pink. They were dancing beneath his skin, moving like rivers of energy, flowing through his veins.
The Priest's eyes widened and he brought his face closer to the reflection to get a better look. "Well, isn't that interesting."
One of Aeric's brow raised in curiosity. "Interesting? What is interesting?"
The Divine Priest looked at him, almost like he was worried, curious, scared and uncertain at the same time. "Your Divinity... it is overflowing."
Aeric frowned, glancing at his own reflection, his thoughts spiraling.
'Overflowing? What does that mean?'
"Normally, the Divine Body reflects the flow of Divinity, like blood in the veins," the Priest explained, his voice slightly tinged with awe. "It moves in a controlled rhythm, filling the body as needed. But in your case... it seems to be pouring out in excess. It's... unnaturally powerful."
Aeric's heart raced, though outwardly he remained calm. The colors surged in his reflection, and he felt a pang of fear. 'Is he saying that I have an excessive amount of Divinity stored inside of me?'
"You have an excessive amount of Divinity stored inside of you," the Priest declared.
Aeric frowned. 'Yeah. That's exactly what he's saying.'
"This has never happened before in this world. Your pattern, your Divine energy streams, they're pumping the Divinity through your body in an accelerated pace, your whole body is being advanced by the Divine energy."
The Priest traced his hand through his reflection. "Its strengthening your lungs, which will give you stronger breathing, your muscles which will give you strength and resilience, your heart which will give you stamina and defiance, your brain which will make you smarter and quicker to absorb information, and surprisingly even your manhood, which will make you perform better in the act of romance. You have been blessed with the peak body of man."
Aeric wanted to gasp or punch the hair in excitement, but standing naked there, the only thing he truly wanted was to put his clothes back on.
Nevertheless, what a splendid news!
The Priest sighed and went ahead to document his discoveries in a large tome he used as a journal. "Go on now. Put your clothes back on."
With gratitude, Aeric hurriedly wore his clothes while the Priest documented.
"I have reached a conclusion based on the tests," the Priest announced once he was done.
"Okay," Aeric said, buckling his shirt. "What's your verdict?"
"You are Awakened. In fact, you are even more Awakened than everyone else in this Institution."
Aeric nodded. "That's a relief to hear. So can I go now?"
"Which is where the problem lies," the Priest said, seemingly not finished earlier.
Aeric's eyes narrowed with some worry and his heart sunk a bit. "What problem?"
"You have questioned the order of things in this realm more than once. No one has ever been Classless or Skill-less after their Awakening. And no one has ever amassed as much Divinity as you have in your Divine Body. Your Affinity is so high that if it had shone inside that hallway, you would have ended up blinding the entire Daughters and teachers."
Aeric wasn't sure whether he was exaggerating.
"So you have left me no choice but to put you in my list for Suspicious Tampering of the Magical Order!" The Divine Priest declared, causing Aeric to recoil back in fear.
'What?'
"I could put you straight away into the list of certainty, you'd no longer be a suspect but a full culprit who has somehow found a way to tamper with the magical system of our world. A Hacker!"
Dum!
Aeric snapped backwards in fear once again. 'What! He thinks I'm... hacking the game?!!!'
"I will assume for your father and mother's sake that this is only a small misunderstanding and perhaps your Class is taking a bit of a time to allow itself for Declaration. So I'll give you the days of seven for it to reveal itself! Once seven days pass and there is still no Class to be Declared to the world, you'll leave the Suspect list and become a Felon! An enemy of the Divinity!"
Aeric was still shock, his eyes staring at the Priest who stared back with his cold, stern ones. "Am I understood, boy?!"
He nodded his head slowly. "Yes, Divine Priest."
"You have seven days, Aeric of Starlight!" the Priest warned. "Seven days!"
As Aeric returned to the Institution alongside the Speaker and Head Mistress Lysandra, his mind could not stay at a place.
It kept spinning and spinning as he stepped into the corridors, climbed the staircase and approached the lecture room. 'Seven days,' his mind echoed the words of the Divine Priest. 'Just seven days. I have seven days to prove that I am not tampering with the natural order. Seven days for my Class to Declare itself, which it's never going to do.'
Aeric's heart clenched with the gravity of the situation. 'What am I going to do now?'
He wondered what the punishment could be for 'hacking'. The Divine Priest had said he had been added into a list for Suspicious Tampering of the Divine Order. But what would happen to him if he was found guilty?
Would he be banished? Killed? Would his mother have no choice but to give him up? The people of Erothyria revered their Divine Order and gravely punished people who attempted to attain its powers by illegal ways.
Was the Celestial Depravity System an illegal way? It did override the natural order of things and gave him an overhaul of Divinity inside his body, including the God Tyrant Class and the [Claim] Skill.
There was a legit discussion on whether it was illegal or not, and the chances were he was going to lose that battle.
Once again, it was clear. No one had to ever know of his Class and Main Skill. No one ever. He needed it to survive. And for now, he needed to come up with an idea to get out of this mess.
After walking for a short while, Aeric realized that he had entered a room. Looking around, he concluded that this was a lecture room.
It had a blend of scholarly austerity and medieval grandeur. The windows are large stained-glass and rays of multicolored light came through, filling the room in brightness.
There were two massive bookshelves opposite each other, and they had tomes on every subject, from the history of the Divine Orders, to the geography of Erothyria, to complex magical theory.
Above, there was an enchanted chandelier of fine candles floating lazily in the air, though barely needed now as the light from the outside was enough. Seats were arranged, and everywhere seemed to smell of strawberries.
Aeric had been absent-minded that he hadn't noticed when the Divine Speaker had seperated ways with them. Now, he was standing in front of the room with Head Mistress Lysandra.
There were only three of the Daughters present in this class. Looking briefly at them, Aeric was not surprised to see Meira of Dawn and Linnette of Elysium, but he was surprised to see Melina of Moonlight.
It seemed the last daughter of Mother Selene was also around his level, or so it had been before this… situation. They all glanced at him briefly, their expressions ranging from indifferent to amused, with Melina already flashing her irritated, condescending smirk.
The teacher, who introduced herself as Felda, gestured at a free seat and told him to take it. Aeric made his way over to the empty which was right in the center between Linnette and Meira.
Meira of course refused to share eye contact with him, while Linnette gave him a big, friendly smile as he sat down.
Melina, who was directly behind him, scoffed.
Aeric wasn't one to get rattled easily, but after what he had just experienced, his calm exterior was beginning to fray. Settling into the chair, he could feel the tension in his shoulders, his jaw clenched in a desperate attempt to maintain composure.
His mind, however, kept drifting back to the words of the Divine Priest: 'Overflowing with Divinity. Tampering with the system.'
"Regarding the situation with Aeric of Starlight and his inability to produce a Class or a Skill," Head Mistress Lysandra began, "the Divine Priest has confirmed that he does bear the Divinity within him, but he is experiencing a very rare case of Divinity Block. This is not something that happens often, but in the coming week, it should resolve itself, and his Class will be ready for Declaration."
The teacher, Lady Felda asked, "What happens if it doesn't?"
Lysandra's gaze sharpened as she stared deep into Aeric's eyes. "The Priest says it will then be up to him to take extreme measures. I do not know any more beyond that."
Lady Felda nodded.
"This information will be carried on to other Daughters and teachers to make sure there's no confusion, and to avoid rumors from spreading."
Aeric had a look of surprise on his face. Headmistress Lysandra was covering for him! 'Why is she doing that?' he wondered. 'The Priest had also told her about me being a potential 'Hacker' and being added into the list for Suspicious Tampering, but she didn't include any of that? Why?'
"Remember to be respectful in the Institution Grounds," the Headmistress warned. "Words which are abolished are abolished! Any use of them will attract punishment."
After she said that, the air in the room felt like it was being sucked out, leaving a heavy silence in its wake. Aeric stared straight ahead, forcing his breathing to remain steady, though the weight of the situation pressed down on him like an invisible hand squeezing his chest.
Head Mistress Lysandra gave him one last sharp look before carrying her heavyweight ass and tits out of the room with stern steps.
That was when Melina of Moonlight leaned forward, her long silver hair falling over her shoulders like a waterfall of moonlight.
Once she was close enough to Aeric's ear, she whispered something with her voice that was as sharp as it was mocking. "Well, well… looks like you're not Unawakened after all. But you're still a Classless Player, one who doesn't have a role. Who knew that you were a late bloomer, huh? That's if you even bloom at all."
She let out a small, cruel laugh. "It's clear the Divine Order just doesn't want you. Because they can abolish it all they want, but we both know what you are. It starts with an A, and it's not your birth name."
Aeric's hand tightened into a fist beneath the desk.
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