Chapter 2 : What am I looking at?

"Let the Awakening Ceremony Begin!" 

My eyes fixed themselves on the Principal after his declaration, the nerves festering and tightening. As happy as I am with having the opportunity to adventure in such a place, the first step is the most important. All Talents may have a purpose but not all talents were created equal. A rating existed to cement that fact

From SSS Rank talents to F- Rank talents the usability and utility of them varied greatly. Of course the actual talent levels acted more or less like a bell curve with talents F through S being on the extreme ends of the graph and Talents beyond those falling outside the easily probable calculations. For example, only 15 registered people held SSS Talents Within the Federation of Humanity and only one of those was public knowledge. Nirvana, the ability to die and come back stronger than before alongside other aspects that were not mentioned.

Truly not all Talents are created equal. 

"Layla Bright please step forward. As the Valedictorian of your year you may Awaken first" The principal booms allowing the graceful and narcissistic Layla to pace forwards to the altar surrounded by runes and arrays. She glanced over to the line in a haughty way that made me more than a little angry. Once more Make believe Sophie one upped Make believe Layla by looking haughty and arrogant in return. 

She placed her hand on the altar after cutting her finger to drip her blood. The arrays and runes glowing in a vibrant golden hue almost as if a beacon descended from the sky to highlight her. Her hair lifted in defiance to gravity as the light only got brighter manifesting above her in what seemed to be a Halo. 

The light condenses into said halo and phantom wings behind her before flickering out all returning to normal. Well normal outside of the snide grin that seems almost copy pasted on certain members of the audience and a certain ironic angle on an altar. I thought my therapist told me not to place people on alters? Or were those pedestals? The principal rushes forward reading the lines left on the altar before they disappear announcing to people present.

"An S Ranked Talent [Halo] it seems not only are you capable in studies you will also be a capable beastmaster come the future! To commemorate the school will be granting you 100'000 Federation Credits alongside 5 Soul gems to hasten your growth. May your future be bright!" A happy chuckle escapes him whilst muffled groans sound out around me. 

Fantastic! Well The chances of an S ranked Talent appearing in our grade is low but not unrealistically so. Just having it be her is grating. Statistically though a C or D ranked Talent will still allow one to attend major universities so I have good chances to succeed. The first step is the most important!

My focus turns inward, hyping myself as the line slowly gets shorter and shorter. My thinking interrupted as I hear my name shouted louder than others. 

"Sophia Witt! Are you stunned? This is the second and last time I am calling you" 

Hurrying forwards I catch a few others snickering at my inattention. Most certainly the most embarrassing thing that will happen to me today.

Taking deep breaths I look at the arrays engraved around the altar and the runes flashing complicated colors and patterns. Almost losing my gaze in them I rush forwards to take part in the awakening.

Fuck! Pain... I have to make a cut to allow blood to drip on the keystone.... At the very least it's not like I have to cut open my whole hand but pain is pain. Something I will most likely have to get used to if I want to live in a world where Battles can take place anywhere and at any time if you piss someone off the wrong way. Wincing a little I drip the blood on the keystone watching it glow, far dimmer than I had noticed for a few others. My heart stops a moment as the dim glow fades and a heavy tome plops onto my unaware head causing almost as much pain as the cut did. It fades out of existence a moment later. 

"F Ranked Talent [Traveling Tome] Next!" I hear behind me as I stumble away from the altar not looking anywhere other than in front of me. 

As much as I am aware that this was a possibility it is still shocking. There are far too many talents to memorize but there are a few that all people know. Prior to the modern era of beasts in the ancient era such a talent may have been more useful even if just marginally. Paper wasn't as common and the features it provided, the ability to read the status of yourself and contracted beasts was useful. Knowing yourself is the first step to victory after all. It's just... this thing was replaced by a magic tool more than a thousand years ago. Now it can even be as small as a phone and you can download an app that has the same feature.

At the very least it is possible to do so if you can afford a phone in the first place. Well being poor means I couldn't really afford the magic tool no matter how affordable they are to start out with, perhaps it's a blessing? Money must be saved, you have to be frugal since raising beasts is by no means a cheap venture.

Oh? Wait.... I have to buy a beast? Did I forget about the most fundamental part of becoming a beastmaster? University entrance exams are 3 months from now! I don't have time to build a relationship with a wild beast! While stewing in my worries I make my way over to the group of students excitedly talking about their future prospects. Alongside the group surrounding Miss Irony incarnate acting like a group of dogs trying to beg for favor. I see a few college admissions people talking to her also most likely pining much the same way as the others. 

I wrest my attention away and focus on my talent summoning the Tome that so rudely clobbered me on the head not too long ago. Turning to the first page I look and see.... Well? What am I looking at.... 

T̵̬̹̖̑̐͆͗͂̑̊̃͂r̶̼͇̼͙̭̞̩͎̲̄̑̅̓ȁ̸̙̜͎̈́͒̄́͑͋͝v̵̱̯͓̙̦́͌̑͂̈́́͒́̽e̶̘͈̦̹̮̝͉̎̈́̉̓l̶̢̢̛̬͖͙͇͙̬̀̂̒̓̾ ̷̣̇͌́͠T̶̨̞̫̲͈͙̭͈̠̂͊̓͘ò̵̥̙̖̗̗̼̲̃̈́͝m̴̺̱̫͍̱̾͜͜͠e̵̬̭͇͇͛̒̆̓͐̒ 

? What in the? The book grows hot as it blips out of existence once more. Strange. The little yelp does little to help my social anxiety as I seem to have drawn attention from Queen B herself. And by B I mean it the rude way. Good one Sophia. 

She waltzes her way up to me, I do mean waltz she walks really stupidly gracefully I almost think that is an affect of her halo. Smiling condescendingly to myself she laughs a little. 

"Oh? Little mouse, what's wrong? I saw that you got hit by a book earlier, how unfortunate. Not only do you have a less useful talent, you won't be able to afford a pet beast to train for the upcoming exams! How deplorable. How about my kind self gifts you one, I have just the thing in mind! I am going to pick my pet up today from the breeding center. Come along!" 

Sickeningly sweet. She looks nice and benevolent sure but I know for certain nothing is free in this world. Even if she wants to give me a beast it's most certainly one with little to no potential. I don't have anything against low potential beasts but with my level of talent I need something extortionary in order to succeed in the University exam that will take place not too far in the future. Before I have the opportunity to deny help, even if the money I save from it may outweigh the blow to my pride, taking a freebee from Miss Irony will deal. I hear a happy voice from behind. Fuck

"Miss Bright? That's kind of you! I know your family donates a large amount to shelters and the less fortunate but taking care of a classmate in front of you. Truly the kind of student I am happy to have taught. I hope you guys can stay friends in the future, the world is big and humans need to stick together if we want to grow stronger and safer in this dangerous world!" Miss Jacobs lectures. 

I would like to amend an earlier statement. It turns out the most embarrassing thing today to happen to me has just come. My social anxiety comes with a curse! I hate letting down people, especially those with bright innocent kind eyes like Miss Jacobs. 

"Thank you.... I will pay you back in the future" escapes my lips before I have a chance to think twice about it. The little confidence I had left suffering from the tremendous blow faced seeing the elation in Layla's eyes as I can only imagine exists from being able to prove once more she is better than me. 

"The ceremony is about to end. Come with me and I'll take you to fetch it now. The end is just the closing speech and congratulations anyways. After all, being so excellent means I get tired of all the people trying to win my favor."