Guh , haaa
'Never a day's worth of rest without something annoying deciding to tag along, is it?'
I instinctively brought my hands up to rub my face while sighing deeply.
'So what now? I don't understand why I'm seeing these memories.. they make no sense.'
You don't know how irritating it is to have memories that don't even belong to you, suddenly appearing at inconvenient times and always starting and ending in ways that leave you more confused and annoyed than if you just didn't remember anything at all.
Ugh..
Shaking my head, I decided that such thoughts weren't worth my time. Afterall, what use is dwelling on such infuriating inconsistencies like a pass that isn't mine, when I can focus on my relevant problems. Like this..
[Status]
[Debuff - Restricting Vow: Due to the influence of several restrictions placed on you by a powerful entity, a few of your skills and stats will be permanently halved until the restrictions are removed.]
Name: Damian D. Satanel
Age: 16
Sex: Male
Race: Demon
Abilities: Muse Fumeris, Regeneration, Authority, Blood Siphon
Other: The last remaining survivor of the once Great Satanel Household. The sickly youngest son.
As the last to survive, you alone will bear the responsibility and honor of being a Satanel. However, you will also have to bear the burden of the sins and debts that come with your identity.
You will be hunted and possibly killed by enemies of the household.
Strength: 15/70
Agility: 15/70
Charm: 19/70
Intelligence: 20/70
Stamina: 14/70
Magic: 15/70
Luck: 45/70 → 22.5/70
Pts remaining: 0
^Muse Fumeris - Those who trust their eyes more than their senses fall victim to illusion. 3/10 *Debuff applied
^Regeneration - The ability to heal any wounds received. Even the loss of limbs. 1/10 *Debuff applied
^Original Sin: Authority of Greed - As the sole heir of the Satanel Household, you alone hold the highest authority. Those weaker than you will fall into despair in your presence. 1/10
^Blood Siphon: Drains the energy from the target resulting in weaker output. 0/10
More info unavailable..
Items: Crest Of GREED: The Satanel - Anyone bearing the Crest of the Great Sin Household will go through many trials.
Skills:
^High-risk Wager - Currently level 0 otherwise known as grade F. Gives the ability to increase Luck by 5% → 2.5% if the user has odds stacked against them.
The higher the risk, the higher the reward.
Upon completing a bet, the user will level up all stats by 5 → 2.5 if the result is a win, and will experience a 50% → 25% reduction for all stats if the result is a loss.
The results are only temporary.
Skill Mastery: 1/100]
*Debuff applied
^Absolute Execution - Skill allows the user to bring out their maximum potential and decision-making skills in exchange for a price. Has a 3 day cooldown. 0/10
If it wasn't obvious, some of my stats now have a debuff applied. I couldn't help but rub my head in frustration as I decided to just focus my mind on the new additions to my list of skills/abilities.
The most noticeable was the skill called "Blood Siphon".
'Seems like a skill a vampire would have.. Draining energy huh, I wonder what the hidden information is… the skill description seems kinda straight to the point.'
"As for this one…"
My eyes went towards the ability called "Absolute Execution" with an undisguised curiosity.
"What kind of price, I doubt the system would make me pay money to use one of my own skills, right?"
[ Ding! ]
As expected, the system wasted no time in answering my question regarding my skill. I felt slightly relieved at having the system respond for once.
[ The host is correct in assuming that in this case! ]
My gaze sharpened at the system's quick response, having caught onto something suspicious.
"In this case? Are you implying that there will be times where I'll have to pay money to use a skill?"
***
"Internalising and visualising"
The professor spoke two words as he stood on the podium and looked at the students in their seats. His sharp grey eyes scanning over the rows of student faces before continuing.
"Internalising the feeling of mana. It's the first step to awakening the dormant power inside of you."
"There are three ways to awaken, and I'm sure you all must know of the first and most obvious one."
He turned around, back facing the students as he picked up a white piece of chalk and began writing smoothly on the black board.
"The first way to awaken is to have a teacher who's already awakened to guide you. This is usually the method that nobles use for their children, though it's a method available to any and everyone who has the money to afford it."
As he spoke, many of the students sat with bored expressions. They had already known this information since it was common knowledge. So instead of writing down notes like the rest of their peers they simply stared at the broad back of their professor and did their best not to fall asleep. Some students though..
Yawn
A male student with shoulder length curly brown hair and tired looking blue eyes yawned loudly as tears formed near the corners of his eyes.
He had been slouching over his desk in an unsightly manner and looked ready to sleep since the beginning of the lecture.
In response to his loud yawning disrupting the lesson, the professor turned around and immediately met the boy's gaze with a slightly narrowed glare. His intense gaze felt so icy that it felt colder to the students that were even close to the boy yet his tone when he spoke was slow, calculated, and almost unnervingly calm.
"You there, you seem to think that my class is your bedroom, do you intend to fall asleep? What is your name?"
To the professor's words, the boy straightened up slowly and sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke.
"No… it's Dallas… sir."
He wore an expression of someone who got caught sleeping by their boss and felt uncomfortable.
"Then, Dallas, why don't you explain what the two other ways to awaken are. It should be simple since you seem to already be familiar with today's lesson seeing as how bored you are."
Ahem
"Erm… Well.. "
The moment felt disgustingly awkward to Dallas. Over 20 pairs of eyes fell on him from all directions, and to make matters worse, Dallas knew he should have been able to name at least one method as he had been taught this by his elder sister once many years ago. However, in the presence of pressure and reprimand, his mind drew up nothing but blanks.
"Well, are you unable to answer even one method?"
The professor continued to stare at Dallas with a stern but not judgemental gaze. It was as if he had already expected this type of thing to happen and was simply waiting for his naughty student to admit to his fault before continuing on.
With a heavy heart, Dallas could only shake his head and sigh as he apologised in a low voice.
"I'm sorry professor, I have much to learn from you.. If you will be so gracious."
Hearing these words from Dallas, the professor nodded briefly before turning towards the black board and drawing two diagrams.
"As you all know, opening your mana pathways is a crucial key to using any ability that you may have."
He gracefully dragged the chalk against the board smoothly as he spoke, drawing a picture that clearly displayed a representation of the human body and the "circuits" that the mana runs through.
"In order to awaken safely, many prefer to hire a tutor to help guide them. This is often the route taken by nobility because of the fact that finding a good teacher costs quite a bit of money, which commoners and middle class nobility may not be able to afford."
As the professor spoke, no one interrupted. Even when it was obvious that they weren't entirely interested in the lesson as of now.
It was to be expected, everyone already knew about hiring a private tutor to help and guide them until they awakened. It's one of the most popular methods because it's almost completely guaranteed to help the one being tutored to awaken.
It's not often that one hires a tutor and still manages to remain unawakened. It's practically unheard of and thus if someone were to be so unfortunate, they'd likely live a life of ridicule and belittlement.
"The second way is the lesser method of the three. This is because it's highly time consuming, can be extremely dangerous and even if it works, the results are often subpar at best."
The second method to awakening mana is also known by everyone. It's possible to do it through intense training and meditation.
The reason it can be dangerous is because once awakened, if there's no one around who can guide you and help you to control the sudden surge in mana intake, the one awakening can end up being swallowed up by the mana instead.
"Because the results are slow, and the method is often far too dangerous for the fruit it would bear."
"In fact, in the class that currently consists of under 26 students, nearly half of them have undergone mana awakening from a young age due to having tutoring."
"However, there are around 5 students that awakened using the second method. The remaining students have either not awakened at all or awakened using a third method."
As the professor spoke he turned to glance around the room. His gaze sharpened briefly as he noticed a single seat with no student sitting in it, but he sighed lightly before turning back to the board and spoke calmly.
"The third method to awakening is not at all ideal. To awaken through the third method is to awaken after surviving an intense and traumatic experience."
As he spoke he calmly began observing the expressions of each student as if giving them time to process the information, and like he had expected a few students began raising their hands.
"The reason this method is not ideal aside from the obvious; is because simply going through a traumatic or dangerous event and surviving doesn't completely ensure that you will awaken."
"There are many factors that must come into play when awakening. Each individual has a core within their body. However, each core is unique."
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[A/N: Hey, I know you're probably curious about awakening and mana, and to be honest I felt kinda bad about cutting it off here.. but don't be too upset, I'll be coming back to this topic in the future. Thanks for your support and understanding!]