Chapter 1247 Awakening [5]

Arianne considered her choice for a moment, then nodded to herself, decision made.

"Mage, then."

She stepped toward the vortex beneath the mage statue, but Michael's hand caught her shoulder before she got too close.

Arianne glanced back at him.

"You don't need to be too worried about all this," Michael said. "Just try your best. That's all that actually matters here. A good performance shapes your class and whatever extra reward comes with it, but even a mediocre one still gets you a class."

"And you're safe," he added. "Whatever the trial throws at you, it won't actually be able to kill you. So you can go in with a little more confidence than you're probably feeling right now."

Arianne managed a small, nervous smile.

"That obvious?"

"A bit."

She exhaled, some of the tension easing out of her shoulders.

Michael continued, tone softening further. "And if something does go wrong, if you go in and come out with a class you hate, or nothing usable at all, it's not the end of it. If you still want to be an Awakener afterward, I have other ways to make that happen. This isn't your only chance."

Arianne opened her mouth in surprise, clearly not having considered that possibility.

"…Okay." The nervousness in her expression settled into something steadier. "Okay. Good to know."

She turned back toward the swirling blue vortex, squared her shoulders, and took a slow breath.

"Wish me luck."

"You don't need it," Michael said. "But good luck anyway."

Arianne smiled at him, then stepped forward into the portal.

The vortex swallowed her whole without a sound, and a heartbeat later, she was gone.

* * *

Arianne found herself standing in an endless white space.

There was no ground beneath her feet that she could see, no walls, no ceiling, just an all-consuming white that stretched in every direction, swallowing any sense of scale or distance.

It was disorienting. Her heart began beating a little faster.

Arianne took a slow breath, forcing her shoulders to relax.

lMichael said it's safe. It's fine. Whatever this is, it's fine.

She held onto that thought and let it settle, the initial nervousness gradually smoothing out into focus.

Just as she began studying the nothingness around her, searching for any detail at all to anchor herself to, a panel materialized in front of her.

[Awakening Trial Participant Discovered]

[Please state your desired Class direction.]

She wasn't unfamiliar with panels, but this was the first time one had interacted with her instead of her interacting with it.

Arianne hesitated only a moment before answering aloud.

"Beast Taming."

[Choice Considered.]

The panel shifted, and a new one unfolded beneath it.

[Please select your Trial Difficulty.]

[Normal] | [Hard] | [Extreme] | [Hell]

Beneath the four options, additional text scrolled into view, explaining what each level meant for her outcome.

[Normal]: Guarantees successful class awakening upon completion. No additional rewards beyond the base class.

[Hard]: Increased trial difficulty. Small chance of bonus Trait upon exceptional performance.

[Extreme]: Further increased difficulty. Strong chance of bonus Trait. Possibility of other rewards and advanced class variant based on performance.

[Hell]: Maximum difficulty. Possibility of advanced Class increases significantly. Participants who perform sufficiently well may be granted a choice in their final Class rather than having one assigned. Protection towards death removed.

[Trial Performance Rating]

[Average] | [Excellent] | [Exceptional] | [Perfect]

[Note: Trial Performance Rating affects the quality of your reward.]

Arianne read through it twice, her eyes lingering longest on the final line as her breath caught in shock.

Just as she was wondering what to choose, another panel appeared in front of her.

[Please make your selection.]

Arianne stared at the four difficulty options, running through them methodically.

Normal guaranteed her a class with no failure possible. If one had no ambition and just wanted a class to become an Awakener, this was the easiest method available to them.

Hard, on the other hand, offered a real shot at something called a Trait without much added danger. Safety still seemed to be guaranteed, but the class wasn't a given.

Extreme pushed further still, but still within safety's reach: a strong chance at something extra, maybe even an advanced variant of her choice, all at the cost of a much higher chance of failing.

Hell, on the other hand, removed the safety net entirely. On paper, it seemed like an unnecessary risk.

There was no logical reason to choose it. If something went wrong in there, actual death was on the table. Yet Arianne's eyes kept drifting back to it anyway.

Michael.

Every time she thought of him she understood the size of the gap between them.

She wasn't joking when she'd told him she knew she'd probably never catch up to him. She'd meant it, mostly.

Inside, though, some small, stubborn part of her had never quite let go of the idea that maybe, someday, if she pushed hard enough at the right moments, the distance between them might actually close. Even if only a little.

Choosing Hell wouldn't close that gap today, and her life would even be at risk. She knew that too. But it was the only option in front of her that seemed to challenge whether she truly had the ambition to match Michael.

Arianne's palms were sweating.

[Protection towards death removed.]

The words sat there, unmoving. Two minutes passed in silence while she wavered, caught directly between wanting to prove something to herself and the fear of regretting it later if she didn't brave through this.

Amidst her internal struggle, a small timer flickered into existence at the corner of her vision.

[00:30]

[If no selection is made, a difficulty will be randomly assigned.]

Arianne's breath caught.

The timer kept counting down, unbothered by her indecision.

[00:25]

[00:20]

Arianne's eyes darted between Hell and Extreme, then back again, her heart hammering loud enough she was almost certain it echoed through the empty white space around her.

[00:15]

Just choose. Just pick one.

*