"You, become my chair."
Karl spoke coldly, pressing Taner's head with his foot.
His words were heard loud and clear as the whole ground had gone silent the moment Karl had started beating Taner.
Taner's expressions were a sight to see.
The relief he felt as the beating stopped disappeared as he understood the meaning of Karl's words.
But before he could react or say anything, Karl planted a hard kick on Taner's stomach.
Taner felt his breathing stop because of the pain.
As soon as he removed his hand from his face to cover his stomach, he felt another kick, this time on his face.
Karl after saying what he wanted continued kicking Taner but this time not only in the face.
Taner was once again started getting kicked, anytime he moved his hand to cover a new spot, he will be kicked where his hand was, impacting him both physically and mentally.
As he felt pain all over his body, he understood his powerlessness.
It did not take long before he agreed to Karl.
"I-I will!" Taner cried out.
Karl leg finally touched the ground after giving Taner the biggest beating of his life.
"On your fours. If you move even a bit, I will keep beating you everyday from today onwards." Karl threatened as he finally deactivated the ether body.
Taner flinched at Karl's words but did what he was told, tears flowing out of his eyes.
***
"Everything done?" Kevin asked a man.
"Yes sir, all the children who will take part in the ceremony have came." The man replied with a slight bow.
The next second Kevin's figure disappeared from in front of the man and reappeared on the elevated platform in the ceremonial ground.
As soon as everyone saw Kevin appear on the stage, they stood up and bowed 90 degrees.
All other than two people.
Taner was still on his fours, his face which red from embarrassment and anger was now becoming pale from fear for the patriarch seeing him in such an unsightly way but his body still ached due to the beating, making him too scared to do anything.
Unlike Taner who could not move, Karl stood seated as he gave Kevin a mocking smile.
Kevin's eyes twitched as he saw Karl, but did not pay any attention to him being familiar with his antics.
"Sit back everyone." Kevin spoke as he signaled Harry who quickly ran up to him.
Harry explained all the events that transpired to Kevin.
Kevin just nodded as Harry finished his explanation and started to explain the process to the children.
'Wait so we have to simply get inside that machine and everything will become known? Another difference, fuck. The novel had said about different tests and such.'
But that was not all Karl found out as his face turned ugly after a few minutes.
'How could I not notice such a plot hole!
Of course people can not form a mana ring or an aura core in the ceremony! It would take time for them to first to learn to sense ether and form mana and aura!
The novel being wrong was bad but worse is me not noticing such things!'
Karl inhaled deeply. trying to calm himself down.
"You will now come on the stage when Harry calls your name." Kevin instructed as he stepped back and sat on a chair.
Harry stepped forwards at Kevin's words and called the first person.
"Karl Hearth!"
Karl stood up and started walking towards Harry, his mind nervous and anxious not because of the attention he was getting but because his potential will be decided here.
'Fucking shit! If I don't have potential then all my plans will go to shit. Fuck plans, I will become a failure even if I work my hardest!
I will become strong with my ether body but having mana and aura is VERY important.
Whatever, lets quickly done with this.'
Karl climbed on the platform and stood in front of a huge machine which looked like a high tech capsule.
After Harry clicked some buttons on the capsule, its lid opened and inside was space where Karl was supposed to lie down.
The lid of the machine closed as Karl lied down comfortably.
All Karl could see for the next few minutes was darkness.
'When I had just reincarnated, I had been so scared of darkness. Big bro Ralph thought it was because I was scared of ghosts and always tried to scare me.' Karl smiled recalling the fun memories, as he closed his eyes, waiting for the time to pass.
He could feel his skin tingling and his head aching albeit very slightly but he could not see anything so he ignored it.
After 10 minutes passed, the lid opened again and Karl exited the capsule.
The first thing Karl saw was Harry's shocked expression.
'Is it that good or that bad?' Karl thought anxiously.
"Karl follow me." Kevin who was now standing beside Harry motioned to the back of the platform.
'FUCK! Is it so bad that he wants me to prepare mentally!?'
Karl's heart started beating very fast as he stood up and followed Kevin to the back of the platform.
"Raun Hearth!" Harry shouted, continuing the ceremony.
"Is it bad?" Karl asked Kevin in a worried voice.
Kevin's eyes widened as he saw Karl's nervous expression for the first time.
"Don't worry. It is good. It is just... too good to be true." Kevin said softly as he patted Karl on the head.
"How good is it?" Karl asked, sighing in relief as he backed a bit to dodge the pat.
Kevin's lips twitched at Karl's actions but he continued.
"You have very high potential. I will help you form the aura core after the ceremony so come to the training grounds." Kevin said as he looked at Harry calming down Raun's nerves.
"And what about a mana ring?" Karl asked.
"Mana ring? Are you trying to become a mage?" Kevin asked, confused.
"No. I am going to become an... arhat." Karl said, his tone determined.
Kevin stared at Karl for a few minutes, a huge frown covering his face.
"Who told you about becoming an arhat?" Kevin asked in an annoyed tone, breaking the silence.
"What does it matter?" Karl retorted.
"Do you know the risks of becoming an arhat?" Kevin asked back.
"I know but I want to become one." Karl said as he turned and walked back to his chair.
As Karl was called to the stage, Taner had stood and ran to the farthest seat in the front row.
'Why is he coming here!!' Taner dreaded as he saw Karl passing by his initial spot and walking towards himself.
And as Taner was dreading, Karl came and stood up next to him with a cold look.
Taner quickly looked at Kevin and Harry, hoping for help but none of them were looking towards him.
"You want me to do this with you everyday?" Karl asked coldly as he saw Taner looking around.
Hearing Karl's words, Taner's eyes became watery as he stood up and got on his fours, once again.
But just as Karl was about to sit on him, Harry called his name which made his face brighten as he jumped up and ran towards the capsule.
Karl glared coldly at Taner's running figure but just walked back to the area he was previously sitting at as he waved his hand to Raun who just got his test done.
"How was it?" Karl asked curiously as Raun sat beside him.
"Father said it was good." Raun spoke shyly as he scratched the back of his head.
***
The ceremony continued till evening.
The time everyone stayed inside the machine was two or three minutes max only, Karl being the only exception as his potential was rechecked many times to ensure no error.
Every child's parent also followed the kid to the stage but there were a few exceptions like Taner.
'Is his father not here or not coming because of what I did?' Karl thought as he looked back at Taner who was now sitting on the other corner of the last row, barely visible to Karl.
"From tomorrow onwards, every child that got tested will be allowed to go to the Children's Hall. This marks the end of the ceremony." Kevin said as he disappeared from the spot.
As soon as everyone saw Kevin disappear they all stood up as the kids also stood up and went to their parents.
Something no one other than Raun noticed was the disappearance of a certain boy along with Kevin.