'Well, well, if it isn't the abomination himself!'
'I can't believe a boy is actually going to be amongst us. It's a travesty!'
'He looks different from what I imagined...'
'The people were right. He does have the face of an angel. But I know he's anything but. He's actually a demon, sent to ruin the order of things, sent to curse the Divinity!'
Aeric kept his head high, his eyes scanning the hall. 'Let them whisper in their concealed thoughts. Soon, they'll be under me, one way or another.'
At the center of the hall, on the elevated podium, stood the Divine Speaker, a tall, cloaked man with a serene expression. Beside him was the Divine Crystal. It was like Aeric had expected, a glowing sphere resting on a pedestal. This was the crystal that held the power to reveal a Player's Affinity and their Class.
Aeric eyed it carefully as he walked towards the chair that Lysandra pointed to him for him to occupy. It was the middle chair amongst three placed in the front center of the crowd, two Daughters were sat on either side.
As he took his seat, he tried to ignore the stares and murmurs, acting nonchalant and indifferent. When he glanced shortly to his left, he saw that the girl had long, elf-like ears and pristine brown skin.
From this, Aeric knew that she was from the Elysium Plains. Her complexion was very smooth, her hair was pink and her scarlett eyes locked onto his with a warmth that surprised him.
Surprisingly—at least to Aeric—she smiled at him, and he found himself returning the gesture involuntarily. 'Interesting,' he thought, 'are people from the Elysium Plains this friendly?'
He was not used to such warmth from any of the Daughters, especially in a room full of rivals.
This prompted him to look to his right, maybe he would receive the same smile as well. But to his right sat a shy, blonde girl with glasses. She adjusted them nervously as he sat beside her, then fumbled with the hem of her gown.
She was fumbling with the gown because they seemed to fight with her massively oversized breasts. Dawn Region, Aeric surmised with a nod of his head. It wasn't just the pale gold and silver patterns on her attire, or her blonde hair and vibrant skin, but Aeric had heard tales about Mother Aurora's magnificent heavy-duty boobs and it seemed the lucky girl had inherited them.
She had a fragile, bookish air about her, like someone who spent more time in libraries than on battlefields. 'A nerd,' Aeric smirked inwardly, suppressing a chuckle at how stiff she was. 'Well, this should be fun.'
Before he could get comfortable, the Divine Speaker's majestic voice echoed throughout the hall.
The elf-eared girl to his left shot up from her seat, full of energy and confidence. Aeric watched her closely, noting the spring in her step and the sparkle in her eyes as she approached the crystal. 'She's certainly excited. Wonder if that matches her abilities.'
"Hands on the Crystal, Daughter Linnette."
Linnette placed her palms on the ball, and it flared to life once again, this time glowing a deep, verdant green.
The green glowed for a while, it increased a little bit, getting fairly brighter, but that was it.
"I, the Divine Speaker if the Royal Institution declare that Daughter Linnette of Elysium possesses an Affinity for Divinity, 58%," the Speaker declared, lifting his hand and performing the same magic as he had done for Meira, although his tone was less enthusiastic than with Meira.
Linnette's energy didn't falter, though. She beamed proudly as the Speaker continued. "Her Class is declared as Druid, giving her dominion over nature and the power to commune with the earth."
Aeric leaned back, crossing his arms as he watched her practically skip back to her seat. 'A Druid with only 58% affinity?' he thought, the slightest hint of derision entering his mind. 'She'll be useful, but not much of a threat. Maybe more of a support role. Not worth Claiming... yet. So I guess...' he turned to Meira and smiled, 'you're the winner, Meira.
You get to take my seed.'
"And now..." the Speaker's voice cut through the murmurs that had started up again. "Son Aeric of Starlight."
The moment the Speaker said his name, the hall fell silent. Aeric snapped his head to the center, returning to the present where he could feel every eye in the room turn toward him.
He stood slowly, adjusting his jacket and suppressing the flicker of nerves. Then, step... step... after step.
His footsteps echoed in the silence, and he could feel the tension mounting. This was his moment. The Declaration of Divinity. He decided not to use the [Insight] Skill to listen to anyone's thoughts at that moment, because it could make him even more nervous than he already was. What if the God Tyrant Class was revealed? What if [Claim] gets exposed?
The crystal loomed before him now, its surface shimmering with latent power. The Divine Speaker stepped out of the way. "As your sisters did, Son. Hands on the Crystal."
Aeric reached out, hesitating for a moment as his fingers hovered over the sphere. 'It's all part of the game,' he reminded himself. 'The system knows what it's doing. Play it smart. Play it cool.'
His palms touched the glass sphere.