Idle Mage: Humanity's Strongest Backer-Chapter 5: Awaken!

Ashton went towards the mean-looking man that Apple told him about.

As he drew closer, the man noticed him and huffed, he then pointed behind him and said: "Stand there."

Ash nodded and joined the rest of the orphans in the elevator. The elevator they're are was a circular one, it's big too. It can probably carry at least twenty people in one go.

He didn't see any weight or number limit though so he could only guess.

When there's about 15 of them in the elevator, the mean-looking man pressed some buttons and away they go. The ascend was gentle and they can see the outside at the back so it was quite an experience especially for the orphans.

The ride didn't last though, they've reached the 2nd floor quickly and there they were greeted by a group of men holding tablets. They wore formal suits which made them look slightly intimidating.

"Step out of the elevator, kids. Come here." One of them said. The kids followed their orders.

"Alright. When I call your name, step forward and go to where I point you okay?" The man stated. "We'll start right away. Marcus Collins?"

A kid stepped out, the man then pointed at the man standing behind him, the one that is at the very left. The kid walked up to the man and then another name was called.

The man in charge kept calling out names until Ashton was called, he was pointed to the man at the very right along with other kids. The orphans were separated but none of them seemed to mind.

"Okay, now that's over. Kids, you follow the men I pointed to you okay? Listen to their orders and behave." The kids nodded and the man nodded at his colleagues. He then said: "Move out."

"Alright, you five. Follow me. Don't touch anything and don't go astray, I won't be held responsible if you break something here."

The man in charge of Ashton's group sounded kind and gentle. He smiled at them before walking towards somewhere. Of course, the kids followed him behind.

They walked until they arrived at a room. The man stopped before they entered and faced the kids, saying:

"This is the room where the awakening process will happen. Only one person can enter at a time. There are other people inside that will guide you to the process, just follow their orders and your potential should be awakened properly. Do all of you understand?"

The kids nodded, the man then said: "Alright, let start with you. Come on, don't be scared. It won't hurt."

Just like that, the first one to awaken among their group was chosen. The others sat down and waited for their turn.

While others were feeling nervous, Ashton on the other had felt excited.

He's about to awaken. Not too long from now, he'll discover whether he's fit to be a knight or a mage. Truthfully, either one is fine with him. He just really want to know more about this world and experience what it's like to live with powers.

More importantly, his system should come online after this. This is what excites him the most. He really wanted to figure out what this system of his could do.

He could remember it briefly introducing itself. It called itself the: 'Idle System'.

That didn't really give him much but it did give him clues. He just really have to wait and see it for himself.

In his daze, he didn't notice that it was already his turn. The call of the man startled him a bit. He also didn't notice that the other kids didn't go out of the room as well.

When Ashton entered the room, he was greeted with a sight of three people wearing lab coats looking at him. On the side, there are another bunch of men in suits standing in stoically.

He inspected the room he was in. The very obvious one is the large platform in the middle of the room. There's a lot of devices connected to it through wires which displayed graphs and words.

Ashton also noticed that he couldn't see any of the other kids in here.

"Good morning...Ashton, is it?" He nodded and bowed at them. "Hi there, Ashton. My name is Shay, call me Dr. Shay. Next to me is Dr. Stevens and Dr. Myers. We will help you with your awakening."

Dr. Shay is an old man who looked kind, he wore glassed and his back was slightly bent. Dr. Stevens is a fine lady who wore tight fitting red shirt underneath her lab coat and finally, Dr. Myers looked like a kind uncle next door.

"Come! Step up in this platform, let's awaken you as soon as possible." Dr shay urged.

Ashton had no complaints with that so he did what he was told. Upon stepping on the platform, it made a loud and pitchy sound which startled him for a bit.

He then felt a movement behind him so he turned around. Ashton saw the middle part of the platform opening up. From there, a stand with a mounted crystal ball rose up and reached right about his chest in height.

"That right there, is a crystal ball which will determine if you're a Knight or a Mage." Dr. Shay said to him. "All you need to do, is to touch it."

"If your whole body lights-up, that means your Spiritual Root is your body. You have a Physique fit to be a Knight."

"If it is the crystal ball that lights up instead, that means you have a Mageroot, a sign that you're suited to be a Mage."

"Either way, the crystal ball will also help us determine the grade of either your Physique or Mageroot. Do you understand all of that?" Dr. Shay asked to which Ashton nodded.

"Very good. Touch the ball whenever you're ready."

Ashton too a deep breath and lifted his hand. Now he's feeling nervous but he's already here so it's too late for that. Once he touched the ball, a reaction occurred.

The ball lit up with a bright blue shade. Ashton looked in awe. He also noticed that there seems to be something forming in the middle of the crystal ball but he couldn't guess what it was. It's just a bunch of colors that he sees.

"Congratulations Ashton, you are suitable for the path of a Magic. You can remove your hand on the crystal ball now."

He did that and saw that the crystal ball started going down again. He stepped back a bit in order to not get in its way.

Ashton looked up and saw that Dr. Shay was writing something down on his clipboard. He wanted to ask something but he was interrupted by Dr. Myers.

"Alright, Ashton. Next, we will awaken your Magical Artifact." Dr. Myers looked at him gently. "A Magical Artifact is something all Mages have. It's the crystallization of your soul and will prove to be very useful in your future, should you decided to pursue the path of a Professional Mage."

Dr. Myers waved his hand and all of a sudden, the platform opened up again. This time, no crystal ball showed up. It was a chalice placed on top of the pedestal this time around.

Ashton looked at it and saw that the chalice contained some sort of a sparkling water. The weird thing is that, it smells minerally.

"That artifact right there, is a Soul Awakening Chalice. It produces dew that can awaken your soul and your Magical Artifact. A fair warning though, it doesn't taste good but it's good for you so I advise you drink it all."

"If you're ready, you can start drinking it." Myers told him.

Ashton nodded and looked at the chalice first. After a couple of seconds, he raised it and drank all the water it has. He tasted the water and boy, Dr. Myers wasn't kidding, it does taste bad.

But since he was advised to drink it all. He did it. Once he was done, he returned the chalice back to the pedestal and looked at the doctors. He was about to say that he doesn't feel anything different but that's when he suddenly felt cold.

All hairs on his arms and legs stood up from fright. He looked on horror as he began releasing fumes of black smoke.

"Not good! Isolate it, now!" Dr. Myers roared and Dr. Stevens immediately pressed a button which raised a barrier surrounding the entire platform.

Meanwhile, Ashton was still horrified. He was releasing fumes of black smoke all over his body, he's even releasing it through his orifices which made him feel absolutely disgusted.

This kept happening for five minutes until it stopped. The black fog then suddenly swirled and funneled in front of Ashton. The commotion was a bit strong and caused Ashton to retreat and shield his face.

When he noticed that the commotion has died down, he opened his eyes and saw something floating in front of him.

It was a thick black book bound with chains and a weird looking lock. It is surrounded with a murky black aura as it floated in front of him.

Ashton then heard a hushed gasp of Dr. Shay.

"A Cursed Artifact."