Moving his attention to the one titled 'innate awakened knowledge', he found some information about the term used by the doppelganger from before.
'Awakened' are people blessed by the heavens of this world, as Alaric currently is. They are carefully selected by the heavenly dao.
The heavenly dao, being the creator and administrator of this world, bestows blessings upon 12 individuals in times of trouble.
This 'trouble' is usually a universe-wide calamity that would lead to the destruction of their world and other planes that are connected to it.
Twelve candidates are selected and given the fate of combating this calamity with the best of their abilities.
This blessing does not increase an individual's strength or give them special abilities. Instead, they increase the base trait of said individuals.
For example, if the blessing were bestowed upon a person whose bloodline has a trait of 'flame control', this trait of theirs would gain a massive boost as their affinity for flames would rise astronomically.
If such a blessing is bestowed upon an Elf who has several traits that Elves usually possess, the blessing will pick a trait to enhance significantly.
Individuals who have an excellent affinity for other professions, such as alchemy, potion making, forging, or rune making, find that their affinity for those fields increases greatly after gaining a blessing.
Such people are called heaven chosens or blessed.
People who hold such blessings are often treated with respect, but that is not always the case.
They sometimes find themselves in perilous situations, and some are even hunted if they don't have the necessary backing of an organization or sect.
'Why would people hunt down individuals meant to help them?'
The answer quickly came. Blessings could be stolen from the selected individuals. As long as they are killed in the right conditions, an individual can take away the blessing of a heaven chosen.
Such individuals are usually considered vile and untrustworthy; they are labelled as evil in society because they do it for greed.
Who wouldn't want their potential and talent to increase by a large margin, even if it meant killing someone handpicked by the heavens themselves?
These individuals, who are often proud of what they have done, tagged themselves usurpers, but society chooses to call them heretics.
They always carry a baleful kind of aura after successfully usurping a blessing; it is like a certain taint in their existence that cannot be washed away. So they are easily identified by the masses.
Usually, the blessed are considered the epitome of good; they are respected and looked upon as the twelve saints of the era. But this time, things are different.
In this era, there had been 13 awakenings instead of 12, and each of them awakened with a flaw, the cause of which was unknown. Some have flaws in their personalities that make others wary of them.
Some organizations even thought of them as the problem instead of the solution to their current troubles.
In addition to now being wary of the current calamity, they have to be cautious of the blessed with peculiar personalities.
Alaric couldn't help but smile wryly at this current change. He knew he was in trouble. In this era, the changes have occurred with a 13th awakening. He could be considered an anomaly.
At the moment of his awakening, he would already be considered a flaw in the system and presumed to be a threat and the cause of the current state of the 12 before him.
He would be a target for elimination should he be found out by people who would seek to 'correct the system'.
Thankfully, it wasn't easy to identify an awakened, except that they were a heretic; those guys are a walking neon sign. So, Alaric wasn't too worried about being found out easily.
What was concerning was that the moment he was found out, he would be in danger.
Calming down, Alaric took away from 'innate awakened information', and brought his attention to the 'innate technique: will tampering technique'.
The first information he stumbled across was an introduction to innate techniques.
They were special methods a practitioner uses to grow stronger, given by the heavenly dao to a minority of people.
There are normal techniques used by practitioners to grow stronger, but they are not suited for everyone. These techniques have grades depending on the complexity or potential of the technique.
An innate technique that is manifested the moment a blessed one awakens, or in some rare cases, from birth, is perfectly suited for them.
It could be considered the epitome of techniques as they do not have grades. They are only as powerful as their wielders.
Innate techniques, like normal techniques, are divided into 'innate cultivation techniques', 'innate spiritual techniques', 'innate essence/body techniques ', and 'innate martial techniques'.
Cultivation techniques are methods used by energy practitioners after the foundation stage to gather the energy of heaven and earth to grow stronger.
They concentrate this energy, known as origin energy, in a location known as the 'core,' situated at the navel area of the stomach.
This energy is then used to temper every aspect of their being, body, and mind.
Spiritual techniques are different from cultivation techniques. They are techniques that form the core in the mind of the user, absorbing and converting origin energy into origin psionic energy.
This energy is then used to elevate the state of the practitioner's mind and body.
Body cultivation techniques are used to elevate the body of a practitioner. Their core is created in the heart of the user, gathering the essence origin energy to break the limits of the body.
These are the different paths of a practitioner, and it is considered impossible to walk all three at the same time.
Walking two is also not possible as the cores would conflict with each other, and ultimately destroy each other, killing the practitioner in the process.
Martial techniques are battle or combat arts used by practitioners. They are usually divided into grades depending on several factors.
The innate technique that the heavens bestowed upon Alaric was different from the normal categories.
It was a 'will technique'. A technique that tempers the will was unheard of.
In his previous life, Alaric would think willpower was just the ability to exert self-control or just drive and determination, but that is not all in this realm.
Willpower is a very crucial aspect of a practitioner; without will, a practitioner cannot progress smoothly. Some practitioners couldn't progress because they lacked a certain level of willpower.
The most desired aspect about this method is that he cultivates his mental strength and doesn't need to create a core. This means he can still decide to follow any of the existing paths without hindrance.