The hour passed quicker than it should've, or at least, that's how it felt to the candidates.
Moulzst of them had already separated into smaller groups, finding even the least bit oof comfort before this nightmare began.
Kael looked around with tired eyes, noticing a couple of standouts among the candidates.
One of them was a girl with platinum blonde hair. Unlike the rest of the candidates, she seemed eerily calm despite the situation they were currently in.
Her posture made it clear that she had some form of training, something ordinary kids from the slums had no access to, so Kael concluded that she might be from one of the Noble families.
Just like Kael, she avoided the crowd, preferring to stand alone and close her eyes, either in meditation or sleep. But whatever it was, she was far from off guard.
The next standout was one with a presence that was hard to miss. Standing at six feet tall, was a boy with blonde hair and blue eyes.
He seemed like the perfect example of a Knight in shining armor, except he was without the armor.
One look and anyone would know that he's a Scion, one of the elite born to one of the high Houses.
And judging by his hair and eye colors, Kael concluded that he belonged to the Lioren House, a family which was known for producing genius awakeners, second only to the those dubbed The Imperial Lineage.
But that didn't matter to Kael right now, as he continued scanning through the crowd of candidates, to keep himself from falling asleep.
The third stand out was the skinny kid with brown hair—the one who'd asked the question earlier. Unlike the first two, he sat cross-legged nervously picking at a thread on his sleeve. His head stayed low, as he tried his hardest to hold in his fear, a job he was spectacularly bad at.
A few candidates glanced his way with a mix of pity and annoyance, but he didn't seem to notice as he was busy convincing himself that he wasn't going to die.
Kael's eyes rested on him for a while, but with a brain full of sleep deprivation, he couldn't form any judging thoughts and just calmly turned to the next person.
Unknown to him, while he observed those 'standouts', they were also observing back. Their eyes rested on Kael for a second, only for them to dismiss him as anyone important.
Why would anyone pay attention to someone who looked like he'd topple over in a strong breeze?
Out of all the candidates, he was the most pitiful looking but the lack of fear in his eyes drew the attention of a certain someone among the candidates.... Well, multiple.
Their thoughts were simple—there was no way a nobody could face the Abyss without even a hint of fear. But perhaps they would've thought differently, had they know that he wasn't fearless, he was just too sleep deprived to care.
A few minutes passed before the officer from earlier reappeared, his face unreadable beneath the shadow of his cap.
He stood beside a large terminal-like device at the base of the platform. With a flick of his wrist, the screen lit up and a list of names began scrolling across it.
"Candidates will enter in the order of groups listed" he announced. "Once the Abyss opens for you, step forward. If you hesitate, you'll be removed. If you run, you'll be executed."
No one doubted he meant it.
As soon as his words rested, a low hum vibrated through the ground, pulling the attention of the candidates.
Kael's gaze lifted along with everyone else's as the atmosphere shifted. The space above the Rift let out waves of heat—like heat rising from asphalt—before suddenly tearing open with a silent snap.
The Abyss had finally opened.
It looked the same as before, like fractured glass suspended in space, but now it faintly glowed.
The tension suddenly shot up, as they beheld the scene before them.
The group formations suddenly began to shift, their cohesion dissolving under the weight of reality. The comfort they'd found in numbers was suddenly meaningless now that the door to death had been cracked open.
The officer glanced at the terminal and called out, "Group One, approach the Rift."
The group contained ten candidates, the group contained the girl with silver blonde hair who walked forward without any fear or whatsoever and the nervous who hesitated at the first call.
The officer's gaze flicked toward him and his frown was visible "you have ten seconds."
The boy stood up too fast and nearly tripped. He stumbled after the others with short, jittery steps, visibly trembling.
"Walk in," the officer ordered, his tone commanding.
The nervous boy froze again at the edge of the platform, eyes wide as they locked onto the Abyss. From this close, it was even worse.
The platinum-haired girl passed him without pause, her expression blank and unreadable as she stepped through the rift and vanished.
The rift rippled as if it was the disturbed surface of a calm lake. Ripples traveled through the surface before it calmed again.
The nervous kid hesitated but the look on the officer's face forced him to swallow his fear and walk inside the Rift.
Kael watched as the rift rippled with each group that entered.
Unknowingly, he was getting strangely transfixed on the rippling. So much so that he even ignored the whispers that had risen.
It felt like something from within was calling him.
"Group Ten," the officer's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He raised his head towards the terminal, spotting his name among the list.
Walking forward, Kael found himself faced with the Abyss. The feeling of being called grew stronger and he finally heard the whispers.
That's it Kael, walk in
Come, mother awaits
Strangely, the whispers were not as loud as before so they were bearable.
Taking a deep breath he stepped forward, ready to see what the Abyss planned for him.
Unknown to him or anyone else, as soon as he stepped into the Abyss, the rift shuddered, the rippled gained an almost invisible purple tint.