Chương 39: Awakening Ceremony

We waited outside the Walker Tower for Toby, who was bringing his car. The guys from the Phoenix Guild sat in a black SUV and drove away. I noticed the alleged gold ranker staring at Cerise, though he did not approach. A black van with tinted windows stopped in front of us. Thinking it was a taxi I looked away, hinting that we weren't looking for one, but Cerise slid the van's door open. I looked at her in confusion. She looked back at me.

"This is our ride," she said.

"Really?" I practically sighed. The van was spacious, with one row of cushioned seats on each side. From the rearview mirror I saw the driver. It was a man with brown hair wearing a blue shirt with a flowery pattern and shorts. Was he coming from a beach?

"Yo Cerise," he said, "Howdy?"

"Good, Toby." Cerise answered. Toby stepped on the accelerator and the van moved forward.

"And you must be Clark. I am Toby, pleasure meeting ya."

"It's nice to know you too." I answered. Buildings passed across the tinted glass. No one spoke until we stopped at a traffic signal. Toby drummed on the steering wheel. The sound echoed through the van.

"So what's this about Tina?" He asked.

"This guy here," Cerise started to explain.

"Gave her a tip, that the life's last hope rift has been closed. She practically ran there. She messaged me while going, and I guess she messaged you too."

"Yeah she did."

"She went there, and her phone is off now. We haven't heard from her since then." The signal turned green and the van resumed moving.

"Is the rift actually closed?"

"Yes, Clark did it himself." I noticed Toby's eyes studying me from the rearview mirror instead of the road in front.

"Yes it was me, and I am sorry about Tina." I said, trying to calm any anger he might be feeling on me for shoving her friend—maybe something more—into danger.

"Don't worry about her. None of those bitches can harm her. And if she got captured, it's only because she wanted them to capture her… So what's the plan?" Toby asked.

"While I believe that Tina can get out of here whenever she wants, we have to get her out of there."

"You want to close rifts?" Toby's statement had mock ness mixed in it. He was not believing us.

"You don't believe me," Cerise scoffed.

"I mean if closing rifts was really possible why aren't any of the guilds actually doing it?"

"You very well know why they aren't." Cerise growled.

"It's their gold mine. If they close them how are they supposed to make more money?"

"Just check it yourself," I interrupted.

"We will have to go to Life's Last Hope to get clues on Tina anyway. Check yourself then. Whether I am lying or not."

"I will only believe you after I see it for myself." Toby said and the van stopped.

"We will do that but first help me out with this." We got out of the van. It was parked at the side of a road behind a school bus. Adjacent to the road was a plot. It had a big white tent which covered it whole. The entrance had big iron gates. Soldiers standing guard. We were at another rift.

"What do we need our help with?" I asked,"Awakening Ceremony," Toby answered.

"Tina and I were to oversee it but now that she is missing, you guys have to help me."

"I have never overseen one."

"It's nothing," Cerise said.

"We just have to stand, Toby will handle the rest." We walked towards the entrance. I showed my walker ID, which had already been updated to Silver Rank. The association worked fast. We entered and saw around two dozen teenagers standing with a couple of adults and soldiers. Toby walked to a serious-looking man with spectacles.

"Marcus?" Toby asked.

"Yes and you must be Toby." Marcus extended his hand. Toby gripped it.

"Yeah, I will overseeing today's ceremony. Tina couldn't make it so I brought two silver-rankers with me as compensation." Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

"Even one of you is more than enough, not like the kids can be harmed here anyway." I noticed that the security here were several times less than what was in other rifts. There was no heavy artillery or dozens of soldiers.

"Is this all the kids?" Toby inquired.

"Yeah thirty kids from our school who recently turned fifteen and passed the written exam." The teens were looking at the soldiers and us—the walkers—with awe. The same thing I did when I was there age.

"Okay kids, look here," Marcus spoke "This person here" he pointed towards Toby with his hand "is Walker Toby, he is a silver ranker and has volunteered to oversee your awakening ceremony."

"What's up kids? How many of you is excited for finally getting access to the Akashic system?"

"Me,""Me,""Me," Several kids bolted up in unison.

"If you are a silver ranker can you show us a skill?" The words caught everybody's attention between. The 'me' chants stopped, and a new chant started.

"Show us,""Show us,""Please," Toby scratched the back of his head. He looked at Marcus for help, but even he was excited to see a skill in action. He looked at the soldiers, they faced away. At last, he looked at us for help.

"Just show them, what's the problem." Cerise stated.

"You know, my skill isn't flashy at all. The kids won't like it. I don't want to ruin their expectations. Help me out here."

"Ah, my skills are even more subtle than yours." Cerise muttered, then spoke loudly.

"Clark. You shall have the honor."

"Huh, me why?"

"Use that shadow teleport or whatever that skill of yours is, the kids will like it."

"Yeah, but—" She simply pointed towards the kids. They were looking at me with those pleading baby eyes.

"Show us please," Ah, fuck, how can someone ignore that. I channeled my magika and focused on Shadowstride. My shadow came to life, a thin layer of it covered me. I became aware of all the shadows in the vicinity. Choosing the shadow of the kid at the end of the group, I fell into my own shadow disappearing from everyone's sight.

"Where did he go?"

"He fell into the ground."

"His shadow ate him." I emerged behind the kids. A bunch of them had ran towards Cerise's side, where I was standing and were looking at the ground. I tapped the kid standing in front of me at the shoulder. He turned around, saw me and jumped with a loud gasp. That got everyone's attention back at me.

"So cool,""Once again""Again, again" So, I did it once more.

"Again,""Again," Kids could be so demanding at times. Thankfully, Marcus saved me not that his curiosity was fullfiled.

"Alright kids, that is enough. Don't bother Mr…"

"Clark," I introduced myself.

"Mr. Clark anymore, and thank him for demonstrating us his skill." A chorus of thank you came my way, then Toby snatched their attention back. There was a small quiz on rift etiquette and that they should never give away any of their essential skills like breathing, seeing, walking. And if anyone was bullying them into it, they should report it. Even a minor will be tossed into jail for a decade for it. None of the kids shook at that. Great, there were no bullies in that their group.

Half an hour later we were in front of the rift. Garden Of Flower Flowers, one of the most beautiful things in the nature. They come in different sizes, colors, and scents. So many that they if someone were to make a garden of all the flowers, it will stretch till the horizon. This garden is one of the many in existence. Recorded in the Akashic system in the year 88945.

"Any story on this one?" Cerise asked.

"Pretty sure he didn't write one on this." Toby was at the other side of rift. The kids were entered one after another, some hesitated to step into the unknown, but their friends just pushed them inside. Cerise and I entered after every kid had gone in. The white light washed away and a myriad of beautiful colors and scents assaulted my eyes and nose. There were flowers and flowers as far as the eyes could see. The sky was a clear blue, sun shining bright. If there was a heaven, this is what it would look like.

"Well, this rift doesn't really have anything except flowers. No NPC to interact with, therefore nothing to trigger a quest." Cerise said, more to herself then me.

"Is that your theory?"

"Yeah,""Is everyone in?" Toby asked, Cerise nodded to answer.

"Did everyone get the message from the system saying 'You have been registered in the Akashic system. Go forth and Live the Rifts'" He got several yes'es and nods as confirmation.

"Good, then time to see your skillcards. You will only have copper one's right now. You can either buy higher ranked ones for the Walker Tower or become a riftwalker to find one for yourself. Getting back on track, to see your cards focus on yourself, or inside yourself. You should be able to feel it, for your first try focus on one specific skill like walking. Keep repeating the word in your mind you will get it… eventually" Five minutes later none of the kids were able to summon their cards.

Some of them looked at Toby in doubt.

"Believe me, there is no way for me to explain it to you. It is a feeling that you won't know until you have felt it. It took me fifteen minutes to do my first summon, that is the average time." Right at that moment, the boy in front of me summoned one of his card. He held it in his hand without saying a word. It was an overwhelming feeling, to see what you know as a piece of text and the fear that comes with it. I waved my hand at Toby to catch his hand, when he looked at me, I pointed at the kid.

Toby asked for the boys name from Marcus.

"Sam," getting his named called made the boy wake up from his reverie. Several of the surrounding kids looked at him to find why he was suddenly called. They gasped when they saw the card in his hand.

"Sam, you summoned your card." a boy beside him shouted.

"That's so awesome""how did you do it?"

"Sam come to the front." Toby called him, a path to the front opened up in an instant. Sam moved forward with hesitant steps, while his friends cheered him on.

"So, tell us Sam. How did you summon your card?"

"I just looked inside me, and it came out." He said, self-doubt mixed in his words.

"That won't do," a boy at the front said.

"Tell us exactly how you did it, so we can copy."

"Yeah,""Yes""I can't explain, as Mr. Toby said. It's just a feeling which I can't put into words. You will have to figure it out on your own."

"See," Toby spoke staring at the kid who was doubting his wisdom earlier.

"Now get back to it." It was half an hour until all the kids were able to summon at least one card. Then another half an hour to settle the kids down and get out of the rift. It was dusk by the time we were back in the van.

"So, is it time for the real work now?" Toby said.

"Yeah, let's go to our base first." Cerise answered.