The day arrived when they would be granted a gift. The day he has been waiting for since he first thought about the existence of powers beyond human comprehension.
He got up with vigour, got ready and left the house within 20 minutes. He got to school early at 8 am, where he found Dean and Marta next to him with nearly as much enthusiasm about this as him.
Dean had his blonde sun-bleached hair as usual, with blue eyes and his catchable smile. He wore his black shorts and dark blue T-shirt. His athletic figure could be noticed through the shirt from his weapons training his parents enrolled for him since he was a child.
Marta was wearing a green dress that matched her long green hair. She had bright hazel eyes and a very warm smile.
"Hey, Miles," she said.
Miles walked over and chatted with his friends for the next half an hour while waiting for the exciting time. Everyone had their nervous excited face plastered on as they waited for the teachers.
He continued chatting as a large muscular woman with long tangled hair walked past their group.
A big elbow was sent straight into Miles's side, causing him to fall to the floor.
"Morning pipsqueak" Elizabeth taunted "Ready to get a shit gift? You will probably get a rejection."
Elizabeth laughed hysterically as she made her way to some other cruel girls as they continued to laugh and make jokes at him and his friends.
"What a loser"
"There is no way he will get any good gift"
"How can those two even be his friends? He probably pays them"
The followers, as the three referred to them, continued to mock them, following in Elizabeth's footsteps.
"Don't listen to those idiots, today is finally the day we have been waiting for. We can get our gifts and no longer listen to her."
As she finished, a teacher walked in and gathered up the students, reminding them again of today's procedures.
Mr. Lang finished explaining, and excited murmurs were heard as they left to go to the ritual hall.
Other students were already arriving as the massive hall came into view. It was long, with intricate stone architecture depicting a variety of animals and beasts. The hall reached a height of 15 meters, with stone pillars built into the walls.
They entered the massive building, which was already filled with many students. Finding a seat in alphabetical order, Miles found himself between a young-looking man named Anthony, and a girl named Rebecca.
Soon, the host started reciting everything that was to happen one final time to limit mistakes as much as possible.
"…and remember to move to the training facility before you try your gift."
And with that, the ceremony had begun.
Watching the first person walk up the stage, you could hear a pin drop. It was so quiet as everyone stared intently as to what would happen.
He placed his hand upon the ball, and after 11 seconds, a bright blue light shone from the ball. A big smile appeared on his face as he entered the training area and searched for a suitable weapon.
After looking through some barrels of weapons he found a long sword with a rough leather handle.
Nervously, he made his way to the clearing for testing and getting in a lower stance with both arms on the blade.
He stared distantly as he focused as much as possible and after 20 seconds when no one thought he would do anything, a big arc of a sword swing was made.
It was a beautiful sight, especially for those who have never seen any gift in their life. The trail of mana was the only thing that could be seen for those who were yet to receive their gifts.
Although this was a low-level skill it was still quite handy, and it was quite evident that there was a definite increase in normal physical attributes. The student still up on stage had a much sturdier-looking frame however, it seemed it added more strength and only a little bit of muscle definition.
This allowed the gifted to have athletic builds, while also maximising strength, speed, and other physical attributes.
This left the student smiling as he found his way to his seat to the right of the platform.
More people come up getting various skills and occasionally some with rejections. It was a mixed bag with emotions as some snobby kids were complaining when they were given a less desirable gift when they wanted.
"No, this is not what my parents wanted. Let me do it again!"
The ball continued to shine as the students went up; however, what they didn't inform us about was that the ball shone different colours. For a rejection, the ball shone red, for basic skills the ball shone blue. As the gifts got progressively stronger and more powerful the ball became more purple.
This gave a silent indication of what you have and how strong you would be even if you wanted to keep it to yourself.
As the students kept on going a familiar name sounded out.
"Marta Jones" the host announced.
A feeling of excitement welled up as one of my best friends walked up on stage. She was a little shaky but nothing out of the ordinary. Sitting behind her during a test is like watching jelly on a plate.
She stammered up the stairs and quickly glanced miles' way before putting her hands on the ball.
After 14 seconds the ball shone a colour in the middle of blue and purple that could only be described as a light indigo colour.
A small smirk appeared on my face as I saw the colour.
She moved into the training area and stood there nervously while she had her concentration face plastered on.
After 20 seconds, her head turned into that of a wolf with what looked like a smile. She was inexperienced and it only lasted for about 10 seconds before she returned back to her normal self a bit exhausted.
She continued to smile as she once again glanced towards the crowd and who Miles could assume was Dean.
Shock and excitement lit up my face.
'That is amazing I hope I get something as good as that'
Soon after Marta, Dean was called up, walking much more steadily compared to wobbles before. He also threw a glance my way before he laid his hands on the sphere. It waited about 13 seconds and lit up a deep and dark blue, however no purple.
This didn't take away from his excitement as he ran over to the swords.
Scanning he was looking for a very specific sword.
After looking through the barrels of weapons he reached down and grabbed a sword with a long, curved blade.
"Ahhhhh, a katana" Dean whispered to himself.
He picked one up and swung the blade more elegantly and powerfully than Miles had ever seen.
He got the weapon gift with the sword he had been training for since he was just a kid.
Due to his parents being more well off, they had given him private tutoring lessons in the way of the sword.
Unlike Elizabeth, he didn't get lessons every day but was more spread out, but that didn't take away from the skill he possessed.
'I wonder if your previous experience in life alters which gift you are given?'
If either of the people sitting next to Miles looked at his face right now, they would see a huge grin that would look like the face of a maniac if they did not know him.
After knowing what his friends received, he was as happy as could be. He was in his little own perfect world until he heard her name.