I made a little change in the matter of rankings. Brown is added to the mix before 'Red,' making it the new C rank that the MC will be getting.
~~
Chapter 32
After dinner I completely filled the first mana orb with a whopping 100,000 points of mana so even if I were to ever run out of mana, I would have backup. I wouldn't be able to fill my mana from it, but I would at least be able to use it to cast the spells in my arsenal.
Of course, the requirement was that those spells had to be system-related spells or skills. I could cast spells otherwise as well, but not from the mana orbs. That was the requirement for them to keep things contained.
Anyway, I went to asleep and woke up on the next day at dawn. As much as I wanted to go out and exercise, I came down only to see Rayla and the whole family up and ready to go. And no, they were not going on a hunt.
"Are you excited for today, Jack?" Julian asked me as I entered the kitchen to get behind Rayla who was cooking something.
"Yes," I replied. I definitely was. I would be granted a permit to hunt soon so I was indeed excited. Excited to get this useless charade over with.
I raised Rayla's skirt to uncover her milky white no panty ass and raised my hand to give her a strong but slight mana slap.
"Ah~"
"Hng~"
She didn't come this time because the mana stimulation was too little but she still moaned in satisfaction as she replied, "Good morning to you too, sweetie."
That was right. This was our morning routine now. I decided to begin my mornings with at least one slap. The EXP gain was just an excuse; the real reward was hearing those soft but melodious moans while witnessing the rippling of her giant milky ass.
I left her ass exposed to the air and went to the living room. It was a pity no one else wore skirts in the house so playing with Sandra or Martha's bare ass wasn't possible at the moment.
"Be careful today, Jack." Sandra said before she added, "Just because you have naturally awakened doesn't mean you're special. You could still attain a lower rank if your mana is disturbed."
She wasn't demotivating me but telling me to be careful. I nodded and replied, "Don't worry. I'm well rested."
The only shame would be that I wouldn't be able to use today's 'State of completion' because I would be staying out of the house today.
Everyone nodded and soon Rayla joined us. We all left while it was still dark and made our way to the town hall. We had to go through the merchant and noble district of the city for that but they weren't too big.
There were only about twenty houses in the merchant district and about four houses and some buildings in the noble district. After all, it was a small city with the lord of it being only at a knight rank so the only houses in the noble's district mainly consisted of a training hall and buildings in case a noble was to visit the town.
There were a few wealthy people's houses as well who were too wealthy, even more than the lord, so they were granted the right to stay in the noble's district but there were only three or four.
We finally arrived outside a section that was at least twenty times of that our house. It was just an open ground where tents were perched.
"There are mana orbs inside those tents. They will test your affinity." Sandra explained and I nodded. Since it was still very early, many hadn't arrived yet but there was still a crowd of about twenty kids my age outside the wooden fence around the tents.
"We'll head to the audience stands while you go over there and join them. There is still half an hour left before they hand out badges." Sandra once again took the liberty to explain. I nodded and was about to leave when everyone, even Lucas, although grumpily, began to wish me luck.
Martha was the only one who hugged me while I was the one who initiated the hug with Rayla, bringing my hand around her back and fondling her ass outside of her skirt.
After I had had my fill of good luck from the soft ass, I turned and left to join the kids my age who saw me and welcomed me.
"Hey, Jack. Long time no see." A boy said.
"Hey." I greeted back naturally, "I've just been a little busy with something."
"Well, don't forget your friends. We are always better than going to the forest, you know." A girl close to me replied.
"Haha." The others began to chuckle at her remarks. They were all good kids and none of them treated me rudely. I soon got to know all of them, as naturally as I could. I initiated conversation that involved them all do they all addressed each other, revealing their names to me.
Time soon passed in chatter and the crowd of kids between fifteen and eighteen began to fill up the grounds. I got to know from them that only sixteen-year-olds could enter the ceremony but if you managed to awaken before that, like Martha, you would be allowed to join the ceremony or even if you failed the ceremony two times, if you were to awaken naturally some time after that, you would be allowed to join the ceremony hence the eighteen-year-olds.
The crowd was of about seventy kids. We were given numbers at random and I got the number thirteen, my favorite number.
We formed a line according to our numbers and the first kid was called in. He first went to the first tent where they would check if he was already awakened or not. Sometimes one could naturally awaken but not know they were.
Then, the kid was sent to the tent next to it. I guessed he wasn't a natural so he went to awaken in the second tent. While he went to that tent, number two was called.
Number two entered the tent but didn't come out or go to the tent next to it while number three was called. Aside from number two, everyone else went to the tent next to the first tent.
Finally, my turn came and I entered the tent to find a man behind a desk on which was a ball. There were two exist inside the tent, one on the left that led to the tent next to it and one on other side of the entrance that probably led to the next stage.
"Place your hand on the orb, Jack. We haven't got all day." The man said when he saw me just observing my surroundings. I nodded and placed my hand on the orb.
[The orb of awakening wishes to access your mana]
[Would you like to allow it?]
[Yes\No]
'Yes.'
There was no need to deny it.
As soon as I said yes, the mana in the orb began to swirl inside of it to which the man nodded and said, "Take that path."
I nodded and entered the path that was deeper into the compound, not the tent next to it.
As I came out from the other side, there was another tent that was bigger than both combined and was connected to both of them. I entered that tent to find a line of orbs on one side while a path behind them led somewhere else.
"Come on, Jack." A man behind one of the orbs said, "Before it gets crowded in here."
I nodded and approached him. He asked me to place my hand on the mana orb.
I did as asked and another set of notifications showed up in front of me.
[Orb of affinity would like to access your mana]
[Would you like to allow?]
[Yes\No]
'Is manual override possible?' I asked the system. Yes, I could converse with the system but only in situations like these. I couldn't ask it questions related to anything else unless a scenario didn't allow it.
[Manual override is possible]
[Would you like to take control?]
[Yes\No]
'Yes.'
[Affirmative]
[Orb of affinity has been temporarily linked to the system]
[There are seven ranks found]
[F]
[E]
[D]
[C]
[B]
[A]
[S]
[Extensions to S rank not possible due to the orb's level]
[What rank would you like to select?]
'C' I replied and the mana in the orb began to swirl and change color until it settled on the color brown.
"Oh?" The man behind the desk was surprised at the rank I received and said, "Wow, Jack. It's a pity but if you train a little bit more, you might be able to go to the capital."
I nodded with a simple smile but didn't say anything. The man then pointed me to the path behind him and said, "Go on. See if you have an element affinity as well."
I nodded and left to continue this tedious procedure. I swear, after this, I will smash Rayla or Sandra to the brink of unconsciousness when I get home the next day.