As I stepped through the portal, a wave of sensation swept over my whole mind and body.
This feeling was strange. It was something I had never experienced.
Every cell, tissue, and organ in my body felt as though they were being ripped apart fragment by fragment.
I found myself unable to yell or argue. At that instant, all I could manage was to endure the sensation and pray to whichever god I believed in to save me.
Just as I thought I had hit my breaking point and was on the verge of losing control, the overwhelming sensation suddenly stopped.
I fell to the ground, staggered a few steps, and finally dropped down onto my knees. I began trembling.
I experienced dizziness as if I had been running in a circle for hours. I closed my eyes, wishing everything would just stop… even for a second.
Gradually, the shaking began to fade, bit by bit.
As I attempted to stand up, I sensed something soft beneath my palms. I opened my eyes and I was wowed!
I was no longer standing on the cemented training field. Instead, I stood surrounded by blades of silver grass that swayed gently even though there was no wind.
I looked up at the sky, completely dumbfounded.
The sky displayed an artwork mixing tones of purple and violet, with green and golden clouds arranged in a chaotic pattern.
The sky held a pair of suns — a bright one and a smaller red sun, casting an eerie twilight glow over the landscape.
Far away, the mountains rose above the clouds as their peaks touched the sky.
The air carried a mixture of wet soil and the scent of flowers that only opened at night. This strange place displayed magnificence and deep danger at the same time.
My team appeared from the portal close to me, trying to steady themselves after coming out of it.
Ragnar hit the ground hard and then got back up with a sharp grimace from the pain of the blow.
Sophie did a clumsy but effective roll, coming up in a crouch with her eyes already looking around.
Bran simply fell flat on his face, looking utterly bewildered.
"Well," Ragnar muttered, wiping a trickle of blood from his nostril. "That was rough. My entire body hurts terribly."
Before anyone could respond, a gentle chorus of soft chimes filled the air.
Encircling us were the Databands shining brilliantly on our arms, their screens radiating vividly.
The two thousand people spread throughout the field experienced a rush of excitement.
A woman close by yelled with a mixture of terror and thrill as she exclaimed, "It's happening!"
She held up her hand to reveal her F-Grade 'Glow Stick' that emitted a feeble light.
Her face fell. "Oh. Well that's… sort of useful I guess, for reading."
The alerts arrived as a stream of features.
"D-Grade, 'Iron Grip'!"
"C-Grade, 'Enhanced Hearing'!"
"F-Grade, 'Water Condensation'!"
"I'm capable of boiling a cup of water every hour! We've been saved!" a man commented with irony as he looked at his hand with disgust.
The mood shifted dramatically. Aspirants possessing D and C-Grade skills celebrated since their scores met the academy's standards.
Those who awakened E and F-Grades experienced despair as their dreams of becoming powerful warriors were dashed—even before the whole test began.
"What did y'all receive?" Bran inquired, his voice tinged with anxiety as he observed his Databand screen. "I got a C-Grade… 'Minor Fortification'. This technique allows me to use raw life energy to form a shield around myself for a brief period before it fades away. It's not much but it's something."
Ragnar let out a hearty laugh, slapping his chest with a sound similar to raw meat hitting a surface.
"C-Grade! 'Stoneskin'! My flesh can harden like stone for minutes! Take that, you ugly monsters!" He smiled broadly, his expression a clear blend of relief and happiness.
Sophie's expression was harder to read.
"B-Grade," she whispered softly, but it was loud enough to draw the notice of onlookers. "Tactical Insight."
"Currently I can detect weaknesses in enemies or defenses. Not in complex situations at least, for now."
Her announcement as a B-Grade talent immediately captured everyone's attention.
Several aspirants looked at Sophie with a blend of jealousy and strategic thought.
A B-Grade indicated that a person possessed ability. The distinction highlighted the space between luring monsters and transforming into a threat.
As the noise of the gathering grew louder, I felt my Awakening.
It was neither the shock nor the burst of power that others mentioned.
A gradual powerful feeling stirred up inside of me, like some ancient beast waking up deep within my soul.
It was a silent strength that seemed less like a recently gained ability and more like a fundamental aspect of myself I had never realized before.
A profound vibration echoed, not through my ears but within my very bones.
A warmth spread from my core, a feeling of connection to the life, death, and energy of this strange new world.
Filled with both anxiety and eagerness, I finally took a look at the Databand on my arm.
The holographic text shone brighter than anything else around me, giving off a soft golden light.
[Talent Awakening Successful]
[Name: Daniel Rivers]
[Talent: Soul Assimilation]
[Grade: SSS]
[Description: The user possesses the power to absorb the souls of enemies. Absorbed souls can be assimilated to permanently enhance the user's core attributes or employed to analyze and replicate the enemy's intrinsic skills. Souls can be stored, merged or modified to generate abilities. The potential for growth is infinite.]
SSS-Grade.
The three letters appeared to burn into my sight. I gazed, my brain declining to comprehend the information. SSS.
The instructors in the academy had mentioned S-Grades in respectful whispers, as mythical feats, the power wielded by monsters and gods.
SSS was regarded as a realm of power believed to exist only in theory or myth.
A chilly realization swept through me, replacing the initial shock with dread.
Instructor Baldwin's statement echoed in my mind, vivid and piercing. *Power is not just given, it is taken.*
I looked around at the other aspirants. I saw the greed in the eyes of a man who got a C-Grade and observed a crowd forming near Sophie and her B-Grade, their expressions a mix of admiration and faintly hidden longing.
Unveiling an SSS-Grade talent at this point wouldn't turn me into a hero. It would turn me into a target. A massive, unavoidable target.
The academy would not even see me as a weapon, instead, they would think of me as a specimen to be examined and analyzed.
The other aspirants, fueled by the survival-or-perish mindset instilled in them, would view me as a jackpot chance. *Take his life. Maybe, just maybe his power could be seized.*
My heart started beating fast within my chest. My only objective, which is to reunite my family, relied on me staying alive.
My progress depended on becoming more powerful rather than becoming the center of a greedy, desperate free-for-all.
"Daniel? Are you alright, man? You look like you've seen a ghost," Ragnar said, his baritone voice cutting sharply through my thoughts. "Don't tell me that you got an F-Grade. It's alright, you might as well be our team's mascot."
Acting purely on instinct, my hand quickly moved to cover the Databand, hiding its golden glow.
"No it's… it's fine," I stammered, trying to maintain a stable voice. I needed to hide it from them. At least, for now.
I quickly focused my attention on the Databand, willing it to hide the grade, to change the display.
I had no idea if it was even possible, but Soul Assimilation wasn't a normal talent. It was ancient, older than the System itself, and, in its own way, aware.
Part of its nature was to absorb, modify, and transform the essence of entities, including the System's projection.
As if responding to my unspoken command, the profound ancient force inside me awakened.
A surge of black-and-gold brilliance surged within my soul and the shining golden symbols on the screen trembled… before dissolving into the blue of a lower-grade talent.
The change felt almost instinctive, as if the talent read my mind and had decided for me that revealing its true rank now would be suicide.
I inhaled deeply and lifted my hand.
[Name: Daniel Rivers]
[Talent: Attribute Enhancement]
[Grade: D]
[Description: Allows the user to briefly boost a single physical attribute by a minor amount.]
It was a pathetic, common, and utterly forgettable talent. It was perfect!
"Attribute Enhancement. Just a D-Grade," I commented, showing them the falsified screen. My voice held a note of disappointment.
Ragnar gave me a shoulder tap, a little too hard. "Hey, a D is a pass! Means you're not getting kicked out. Besides, every little bit helps. We've got your back."
Sophie gave me a sympathetic look. "Don't worry, Daniel. A talent is just a tool. The major thing is how you use it."
I smiled at her, trying to look calm, even though everything within me was a mess.
I stood out in a way that felt rare and exceptional. A hidden figure among them. I possessed the power that could make me shake even the foundations of the world. The power that could either raise me to divinity or lead me to my early grave.
Meanwhile, the hunt for my family was still my major goal, but now, a new hunt had begun. The hunt for the truth behind the terrifying power that I now possessed.