David Lingard: Author

Chapter 3 – The Awakening

Added 2024-02-14 17:03:01 +0000 UTC

Titus scanned the room for somewhere appropriate to sit. He had no idea why people were sitting where they were, but if they were separated through rank, superiority, or age, he didn't want to sit in the wrong place and make a fool of himself. After all, he didn't want to be told off on his very first day.

The only thing Titus could see that separated the individuals in the great hall - because they were all wearing different types of clothing and didn't seem to fit into any kind of strict groups otherwise - was the fact that they had coloured bands on their bodies. Some were armlets, some were bracelets, some scarves, and one or two even had the coloured band around their heads as headbands. As far as Titus could see, there were white, brown, black, blue, and purple bands.

Titus didn't have to make a decision.

"Ah, our newest Contestant," a woman said as she approached him. She had long black hair and a long dark robe. She smiled as she spoke and it put Titus at ease. She was middle-aged but something about her seemed somehow calming, like her very presence just seemed to put him at ease.

"Right," she announced loudly before Titus could reply. "Titus, grab whatever food you can carry and follow along with the rest of them. You are Contestants, and we have a lot of work to do. Just be thankful that everyone else arrived last night, so we haven't had a chance to carry out any lessons in your absence, and therefore you haven't missed much, other than a little food. So be sure to collect as much food as you can carry because by the looks of you, you're going to need it."

Titus didn't want to disobey the woman, but he also didn't want to be rude and just scoop up armfuls of food from the nearest table and walk away. So he did something in between, picking up a few pieces of fruit and a few pastries and balancing them on one arm.

"What did I say, Titus? You're going to need more than that," the woman said upon seeing what Titus had chosen for himself. So Titus picked up some cold cuts of meat and a few more pastries for good luck. It was more food than he had ever seen in one place at one time, save for the handfuls of bread they would help bake in his father's bakery day by day. Not that they could afford to eat much of their own produce, of course. They hadn't been poor, but they certainly lived to their means.

Nine other people of a similar age to Titus followed the woman from the hall and back out into the labyrinth of hallways. Titus noted that they all wore white armbands, and he assumed that this denoted the new Contestants. He didn't have one himself though, and hoped it didn't make him stand out too much.

Eventually, they were led to a small room with ten chairs and a few tables facing another table that very clearly belonged to the woman.

Titus and the rest of the group all sat, and the woman stood at the front of the room.

"I'm glad you all managed to make it here safely," the woman said. "My name is Miss Kane, and it is my job to prepare you for what you are about to experience. Now you are all here from different backgrounds, but as of this moment, or more accurately, the moment you adorned the white bands, you are all equals, no matter your background or your standing. From this room, you will continue along the hallway where my colleague, Mr Avery, will meet you. Tell me, do any of you know what you're here to do?"

A boy replied without raising his hand. "We're here to train to become Contestants, so you can teach us how to fight and then we can become Hunters eventually."

"That is a good answer though not entirely true. Though there is some truth to your answer," Miss Kane replied. "Do I look like someone who will teach you how to fight?" The question was clearly rhetorical, and no one answered. "My job is to prepare you, not to train you directly. And Contestants may take umbrage with some of what you have just said because many prefer to think that they are training themselves within the arena, and not that they need their hands held."

"But you do train us?" the same boy asked. "Right?"

"We do have trainers here who are specialised in certain areas that are useful to you as Contestants, but let me explain what a Contestant is before we continue any further. A Contestant is someone who is practising to be a Hunter, nothing more and nothing less. Now, have any of you ever felt as though you were destined to do something, or were particularly skilled at a task? Or perhaps maybe you thought you were terrible at a task?"

Titus thought about how bad he had been at baking, no matter how hard he tried, and no matter how many recipe books he had read. It was just something that seemed to naturally disagree with him.

"I can assume from your stunned silence that I am right on the money," Miss Kane said. "Now, there is a reason why some people feel like they are very good at certain things, and by all accounts, they are. But bear this in mind when you head out of this room and off to see Mr Avery, because Mr Avery has a certain skill. It is a very unique skill, and one that will open your eyes to the universe around you. Boys and girls, welcome to the arena. This place is going to teach you things you probably never thought possible, and it will also open your eyes to the extremities of the human condition."

Miss Kane held her arms wide open and smiled, and the entire Class realised that she had abruptly finished her speech, and was allowing them to exit to go to see Mr Avery as she'd already mentioned. Many of the Contestants shared confused and worried-looking glances that asked the question: 'What the hell was going on, and what the hell was Miss Kane talking about.'

Titus looked around at the other Contestants with a very confused look on his face. What Miss Kane had said hadn't been clear at all and in fact it had raised more questions than it had answered. He wanted to ask her ehat she meant, and if being bad at baking was a particularly good or bad thing, but he didn't have the chance.

A few minutes later, Titus and eight other Contestants stood in line in a torchlit hallway while they waited for Mr Avery to finish whatever it was he was doing with the first Contestant in the small room that they were waiting to enter, one by one. Titus had seen inside the room when the first boy had gone in, but as far as he could see there had been nothing inside other than a chair, a desk, and a very, very old-looking man, who was presumably Mr Avery. The boy who had gone into the room spent about ten minutes inside, then emerged and stumbled away down the hallway without saying a word to anyone. The look on his face was something that Titus didn't take easily though, as the boy seemed both confused and scared when he saw the rest of the new Contestants standing there and waiting their turn.

Titus stood next in line to enter the room, but his legs simply didn't want to allow him to move. His heart raced in his chest, and his palms were sweating more than was comfortable. Whatever just happened to that other boy didn't seem like it had been pleasant. And Titus wondered if there was anything he could do to get out of it.

"Next," the old man's croaky voice echoed out of the room, and before Titus knew what was happening, his legs were moving, taking him into the small room like they could do nothing other than obey the old man's order.

"Sit," the old man said as soon as the door closed behind Titus, and he dutifully obliged.

"Anything you have to say?" the man asked.

Titus wondered what there could possibly be to say to the man, but he came up with nothing, so he shook his head.

"Cat got your tongue?" Mr Avery asked. "Speak, boy."

Titus opened his mouth and said the only words he could think of at that very moment.

"What are you going to do to me?"

"Well, that is a very big question. A very big question indeed," Mr Avery said. "It is difficult to describe, really, but I have a very important task in this place. A skill in fact. Unique, as far as I understand it. You see boy, I have the ability to awaken the unawakened, to open the eyes and soul of individuals to the presence of The God of Balance."

"The God of Balance?" Titus asked.

"Yes," Mr Avery said. "You do know what The God of Balance is, don't you?"

Titus nodded. He had been taught that the God of Balance was the deity that everyone in the City worshipped. But on the outskirts and in his father's bakery, there hadn't been much time for praying to the unknown.

And then he remembered the last order from Mr Avery had been to speak, so he voiced his thoughts.

"It is not a secret, but it is not widely spoken of, so it is not a surprise you are unaware that this place is so closely attuned with the divine," Mr Avery said. "To be a Contestant or to become a Hunter, an individual must be awakened to the presence of The God of Balance, and The God of Balance must open his eyes to the individual."

Titus had no idea what that sentence meant, and his silence betrayed that fact.

"What I am saying," Mr Avery said, "is that this must happen for you to become a Contestant."

"Right," Titus said. "So, what does that actually mean? Why would I want to be awakened? Is there anything in it for me? Does it hurt? Or do I just need to pray or something?"

"It does not hurt," Mr Avery said, but it is better experienced than explained. So if I have your permission, I would like to begin." Then he added as almost an afterthought: "And we do not pray here, and the God of Balance does not ask you to either."

Titus shrugged. He knew that he didn't really have a choice in the matter anyway, so what would be the good in responding?

"Alright," Mr Avery said. "This will only take a minute."

The man closed his eyes and put his hands on either side of Titus's head. They were clammy, and Titus didn't particularly enjoy the sensation, but after a pause, he realised they had started to become warm, very warm, and then hot. But Mr Avery had been truthful when he said that this wasn't going to be painful. It was uncomfortable and different, but it wasn't painful.

Titus closed his eyes. It was more involuntary than a thought about action, though he didn't fight against it.

And then in the darkness, he saw a light.

Focusing on that light, Titus watched as it started to come closer and closer until he realised what it was. He was looking directly at it. And then it came into sharp focus. It was lines of text. Thankfully, no end of reading books as he'd had nothing else to do in his youth had given Titus the ability to read very well. But he wondered if all of the Contestants would experience this very thing. Would it have made a difference if they couldn't read?

Titus: Level 1

Exp: 0/100

Class: None/Human

Profession: Arena Contestant - White

Primary stats

Health: 50

Mana: 10

Stamina: 10

Secondary stats

Constitution: 1

Wisdom: 1

Agility: 1