SSS Class Awakening: I Can Forge My Beast Soul Avatars
Chapter 5: Breakthrough

Chapter 5: Breakthrough

For the past thirty minutes, about ten students had climbed the stage and awoken to nothing — no class, no aspect, no talent.

At this point, everyone was tensed up at the sight of it all. Even Emma, who had been so positive about everything, was starting to change her mind, negativity crawling its way into her thoughts.

"Maybe no one might awaken to any class, after all..." she murmured under her breath within Atlas’s hearing.

Meanwhile, Atlas wasn’t surprised at all. At the very least, he had expected this kind of thing. Even he had said it countless times that it was just a waste of time, but no one listened to what he had to say, so he had let them do what they wanted.

’Only if everything had gone exactly like it did the last time, then we’d be preparing to travel to the mainland instead of wasting our time here,’ he thought, staring at the stage with a bored expression.

It was now the fifteenth kid, and still no one had awakened to anything, not even a low-level class or something close.

"King Elvermore, please come up to the stage," the woman in corporate attire announced the next name on the list, her expression indifferent with a hint of boredom now.

You could tell she wanted to wrap it all up and send them away as fast as she could; she only saw this as a waste of her time.

King rose from his seat in the lower sections of the hall and walked down the staircase to the stage. On it was the glowing, bright disc that shone different colors, each representing a class or an aspect.

In this world, there were a total of seven classes, ranging from the strongest to the weakest in terms of 1v1 battles.

The first was white, which was for the warrior class; then yellow for the Mage class; purple for the sorcerer class; red for the Assassin class; blue for the Ranger class; brown for the beastmaster class; and green for the healer class.

Each of these classes had a total of six ranks, ranging from Dormant, Awakened, Ascendant, Saint, Legendary, and Mythic.

To be able to get into the academy, an individual was required to have gotten to the Awakened rank, and in lucky cases, they awakened directly to the Awakened rank.

It was the reason why the academy was held in such high regard and birthed so many strong students who represented them worldwide, some of whom became legendary world heroes.

But looking at the state the orphanage was currently in, they might allow a student of the dormant rank to get in just to fulfill their own end of the contract.

Though, Atlas wasn’t sure what the orphanage was offering in return for them to secure a deal of this much value.

King calmed his nerves as he stared at the glowing disc in front of him, his mind a storm of nervous chaos.

"Alright, I believe you’ve been watching your mates and how they did it. Just calm down, and with a clear mind, close your eyes and place your hand on the disc. Any color that glows the brightest will become your class, meaning you have awakened," the lady explained, making sure he got it right.

"Remember, you must have a clear mind. Do not let distracting thoughts confuse you," she warned, shifting back so he could take his stand in front of the disc.

King glanced at the head of the orphanage, who gave him a frantic nod, then at everyone who cheered him on despite the number of failures.

"Okay..." he muttered, breathing in deeply, his chest rising and falling as he exhaled. "I’m ready."

He closed his eyes and stepped forward, then gently placed both his hands on the disc, his body trembling slightly from the nervous pressure of failure. Seconds passed, but his eyes remained closed.

The colors of the disc intertwined, each color mixing into the next as his palms remained stuck to it. A full minute passed, and everyone had concluded it was another failure.

’This is sad...’ Atlas confessed to himself, his expression neutral, showing no emotion though his heart was heavy. He too was nervous about his turn, and with the number of failures, being nervous was inevitable.

Just when the lady in corporate was about to pull him away from the disc, a sudden light blinded everyone seated in the hall. Atlas raised his hands to cover his eyes from the bright white light. ’White light? That means...’

"King Elvermore has awakened to the warrior class!" the lady announced, walking forward to congratulate the boy and checking his current rank portrayed on the disc.

Everyone erupted in cheers. The hall was in a cocoon of noise and clapping of hands, and even Atlas, who had stood up to cheer him, found himself closing his ears.

"I told you, I told you we weren’t so bad!" Emma shook him continuously as she celebrated King’s awakening.

"His aspect is swordsman and his current rank is dormant, but this shows great promise!" the corporate lady concluded, shaking his hands with a smile.

"Please step to this side, and please fill out your name and credentials on this form." She pulled a form from the head of the orphanage and handed it to him.

The tension in the hall finally settled. The remaining children were no longer so scared to step up anymore, as King had now proven that even mere orphans could manage an awakening, even if it was of a dormant rank.

’Guess I know why his name is King now...’ Atlas smirked, staring at him.

Without wasting much time, they decided to carry on with the ceremony so they could wrap it up quickly.

After all, they had now gained a student; whether anyone else showed signs of awakening or not didn’t bother the lady now.

"Next is Emma. Please step up to the stage," she announced.

Immediately, Emma stiffened where she sat. Even though she had been energetic while celebrating King’s win, she lost all form of confidence once her name was called.

"Come on, go. Go show them more than one orphanage kid can get into the academy!" Atlas motivated her, helping her to her feet and pushing her toward the stage.

She glanced back as she walked forward, her gaze lingering on him for a few seconds. He gave her the universal thumbs up, and she smiled, turned her head forward, and walked up to the stage.

Immediately she got to the stage, the lady guided her on what to do as she did with King, and then left it all to her.

Emma placed her hand on the disc, and unlike King, who took a while before his manifested, the disc immediately shone a bright yellow color which left everyone in shock. Even Atlas stared in awe.

’Take a look at that, she’s a genius already,’ he thought as a drop of sweat cascaded down his temples.

"Emma has awakened to the Mage class!" the lady said in short words, shocked at how fast and bright it happened. She walked over to the disc to check the aspect and was left stunned. "Emma is of the awakened rank, and her aspect is Elementalist!"

’Awakened rank?!!!’ Atlas stared, his eyes widening and his pupils dilating from the mere shock.

Murmurs immediately erupted from the hall, and everyone stood up and began clapping louder than they did for King, making loud noises.

"Emma! Emma! Emma! Emma!" They chanted aloud.

The lady walked up to Emma and congratulated her, grabbing a form from the head of the orphanage, who also congratulated her and gave her a hug, before handing it to her. "Here, fill it out and hold it for now."

She turned to the hall and calmed them down before she announced the next person on the list.

"The next person on this list is Atlas. Please step forward, we don’t have much time left," she announced, staring at the congregation of children and four adults.

Atlas’s heart immediately sank to his chest as his name was mentioned. He had totally forgotten that it would take his turn to inevitably ascend the stage.

"Please hurry up the stage, we don’t have all day," she repeated, everyone waiting for the so-called Atlas to finally ascend the stage.

Clearing his throat and easing the tension from his shoulders, he rose from his seat and descended the stairs slowly, everyone glaring at him as he did.

The gazes he met were all indifferent; he couldn’t tell if they were mocking him or just staring casually at him.

’I’m gonna embarrass myself.’ He swallowed hard.

He got down and ascended the stage, standing directly in front of the brightly glowing disc. Close up, it shone brighter than it did from the place where he sat.

"I believe you know what to do. Place your hand on the disc with a clear mind and look for the brightest color within you, then hold onto the thought of it strongly until it manifests. That colour will represent your class. If there is no color, then..." she didn’t finish her words.

Staring at the disc, Atlas couldn’t help but remember the countless failures — from his past future self and from the children in the orphanage. Was he going to repeat the same sequence, or will he awaken to a class?

He hastily placed his hand on the disc, and immediately his conscience got pulled into a dark void, a resounding automatic voice spilling into his ears in that split second.

[Welcome Atlas to the Soul Beast Forge Space]