I reached home and knocked on the door. A few seconds later, Mom opened the door and as soon as she saw me, she started crying and hugged me. A few seconds later, Dad and Amy came out too and were happy to see me all fine.

“Where have you been Arthur? You said you were going to help Sylvia and will be back before lunch, but you never came back. We were so worried about you. If not for my ability, I would have assumed you…..” Mom said in a quivery voice but I interrupted her “Hey, calm down Mom. I am fine. It’s just that, I Awakened when I was in the forest nearby and that took some time. I am sorry for worrying you all”. Mom’s ability was [A Loving Heart], a tier-2 ability which tells you whether your loved ones are in danger. It’s a non-combat ability and doesn’t have much uses for a cultivator but for someone like mom who treasures her family, it was the perfect ability. Dad’s ability was [Minor Calm Mind], a tier-1 ability which helped him keeping his mind calm in most of the situations but since it was a tier-1 ability, it was not much powerful and there were various instances where Dad lost his cool.

After hearing everything is fine, Mom calmed down a bit. “Son, you have Awakened? How is your body? Still feeling pain?” Dad asked. I shook my head “No Dad, the pain is gone. You don’t have to worry.” He nodded and we all went in. “Big Brother, are you hurt?” Amy asked hugging my leg with a worried tone. Aww, she is so cute.

“No my cute little Amy, I am not hurt. Your big brother is very strong you know” I say patting her head. She giggles and nods “Yes, big brother is the best”.

“So, what kind of ability did you awaken son?” Dad asked with an apprehensive tone. With a serious face, I eye Amy and say “Perhaps we should discuss that later. Right now, I am starving”. Getting the message that it’s not safe to discuss in front of Amy, he nods and Mom went to kitchen to cook something up. Amy is a kid and kids don’t have control over their mouth. It’ll be safer for her to not know anything. Later that night, when Amy fell asleep, we three gathered in the main hall.

“So, Arthur, what is it that you couldn’t speak in front of Amy?” Mom asks.

“Don’t worry son, even of your ability is not powerful, it’s fine. You can still enjoy a happy and peaceful life here. We are here to support you” Dad says with a smile.

I feel a warm feeling in my chest and I thank god, if he exists, for giving me such a wonderful family.

“Dad, Mom, the reason I didn’t want Amy to listen is because of her own safety. The truth is, the ability I have awakened is of tier-8. If by any chance somebody else becomes aware of this, our family will be in grave danger” I say. I could see disbelief in my parent’s faces and Dad almost fell down from his chair. After a few minutes of digesting this information, Dad started laughing out loud and Mom had covered her mouth with tears in her eyes.

“Hahaha….my son is a genius among geniuses. I have known all along that you had something in you my son, something greater than the rest, but this was beyond my imagination. Good, good, my son will one day become one those legendary masters of this world….haha…”

I guess Dad was in a very good mood. Well that’s to be expected since it basically means they won’t have to worry about Amy’s education and they can live the rest of their lives in peace knowing I was capable enough to take care of myself. Mom said nothing and hugged me tightly. She didn’t need to, I could feel her happiness from her hug and that’s all I cared about. We discussed a bit more about my Awakening process and my parents didn’t force me to talk about my ability.

“So, what are your plans now son?” Dad asked.

“Well, ofcourse my next plan is to go to the Entrance Test in the Royal Capital and get recruited into one of the five renowned Academies. I forgot to tell you, but Sylvia has awakened a tier-8 ability too, and we’ll be going to the royal capital in 2 months.”

“What? She awakened a tier-8 ability? Do you know how rare is it for two tier-8 ability users to originate from the same city, let alone the same empire? I have never heard of such a case happening ever in the past.”

“Hmm…Yeah. By the way, I’ll be registering for the Adventure’s Guild tomorrow with Sylvia. Now that we have some combat power, we could fight some lower tier-1 monsters and earn some money. And don’t worry, Sylvia has a healing type ability, so our injuries can be healed very easily.”

My parents were worried at first but after hearing about Sylvia’s ability, they relaxed a bit. “Still, be careful son. These monsters are not easy to deal with and you don’t have much combat experience.” Dad said and I nodded. We went back to our rooms and I laid on my bed thinking about my future.

My ability was very powerful and the only drawback it had was the range required for its activation. This means I could have an unlimited number of abilities and just thinking about that made me grin. The reason why abilities were given so much importance was because abilities do not consume the energy of the user unlike martial techniques. They can be used indefinitely as long as they don’t put a strain in the user’s body. Imagine someone having a combat-based ability fighting a non-combat ability user and both of them have the same cultivation level. In this case, the former will have a very big advantage and can easily defeat his opponent.

My ability doesn’t restrict me to absorb abilities from only humans and I could try that with other life-forms too but I’ll have to acquire [Appraisal] before I can test my abilities on monsters since certain abilities can affect the physical appearance of the body and I don’t want to look like a monster for sure. But the problem is, [Appraisal] is a pretty rare tier-5 or above ability and I can only hope to find one when I visit the Royal Capital. It lets the user view the abilities of his opponents and the details depends upon the tier of the ability. I had heard about an elder of an Academy having an upgraded version of [Appraisal] which shows the entirety of the opponent’s abilities and what they do. But there is one big disadvantage of [Appraisal] and that is you can’t view your opponent’s abilities in case their tier is higher than the tier of your strongest ability. For example, suppose the tier of your strongest ability, assuming you have more than one, is tier-5 and your opponent’s ability is tier-6. Then, you won’t be able to appraise your opponent’s abilities. But I won’t have such problems since my strongest ability even exceeds tier-10.

I really wanted to start my cultivation now that I have awakened, but sadly in order to cultivate, you need a cultivation technique and the good ones are only available in academies. Normally if someone has a chance to pass the Entrance Test, they avoid starting cultivation since those Academies have far better cultivation techniques than the ones available in the market and once you start cultivating in a mediocre technique, if you decide to change it in future, you’ll have to abandon your cultivation base and start from the scratch again. This is where those ancient clans and families have advantage since they already have the best techniques and resources and thus their children start cultivating as soon as they awaken. This is also the reason as why the top scorers of the Entrance Test are always from ancient clans or families.

Cultivation is divided into 9 stages with each stage further divided into lower, middle, top and peak. Those 9 stages are – Body Enhancement Stage, Foundation Stage, Core Formation Stage, Nascent Soul Stage, Soul Formation Stage, Dao Establishment Stage, Dao Lord Stage and Dao King Stage. It is said that there are some higher stages too but I have no idea about them. Thinking about my future cultivation, I fell asleep.

The next day, I left my home in the morning towards the forest outside the city to meet Sylvia. I exit the city gates and I can see her waiting for me a short distance away.

“Hey” I say and kiss her. She blushes and greets me back. We hold hands and walk towards the spot where we awakened yesterday. While walking, I decide to use [Ability Devour] on Sylvia without taking away her ability.

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[Holy Scion of Light] acquired

I received a message in my head saying it was successful. Then I think about this new ability I acquired.

[Holy Scion of Light (Tier-8)] – You have been blessed by the Holy Light and you wield its powers in your hands.

Powers Unlocked:

[Holy Heal] - Heals any negative effect like injury, poison, fatigue, etc.

[Holy Spear (5)] – Conjure a spear of Holy light. 

HOLY SHIT!! I had greatly underestimated Sylvia’s ability. This ability will provide the user with more abilities as the user grows and I have heard that these types of abilities are categorised among the best abilities a person can get above tier-7. [Holy Heal] is a great ability for healing and [Holy Spear] looks powerful too. I guess for now only 5 spears can be summoned at a time going by the (5) written on it. Well atleast Sylvia will be able to protect herself from danger.

We reach our spot and sit down beneath a tree, hugging each other.

“Hey Sylvia, I think we should go register in the Adventure’s Guild and try taking some mission to fight lower tier-1 monsters. Our journey to the Royal Capital may consist of some dangers and we need to have some combat experience. I have some basic combat training so I can fight with the monster and you can support me with your healing and spells. I think we have a high chance of success. What do you think?”

“Hmm….you are right. Let’s do that.”

We sit there and chat for some time about our future and then head towards the Adventurer’s Guild. It is located at the centre of Upper District and it is our first time visiting there. Xaviers City is shaped in the shape of a circle and the Upper and Lower Districts are separated by an inner wall. We passed through the Upper District gates and moved towards the centre. Soon, we locate a huge building with a symbol of sword and shield on it. It was a dome shaped building and was giving out a heroic aura.

This must be the Adventurer’s Guild, going by that symbol. We entered the building and I was impressed with the rich decorations inside the building. There was a reception area with 5 counters and every counter had a long line of people waiting. All the people here were dressed in leather armours and were carrying some weapons. I even spotted a few elfs and beastmen among the adventurers. We joined the cue for the 2nd counter which looked the shortest and waited patiently. An hour later, our turn finally came and a beautiful young woman greeted us with a smile. “Welcome. How may I help you?”

“We are here to register as Adventurers.” I replied. She nodded and gave us two sheets of paper asking us to fill it up and we did. We left the ability section empty since anonymity was allowed here. We were then given two blue cards with our basic information and rank on it. The ranking system here goes from F- SSS and our adventurer rank does not depend on our cultivation level, rather it depends upon how many missions we complete and their difficulty. The difficulty of mission are also divided from F-SSS and F-rank adventurer can take any mission ranging from F to A. The S class missions and above can only be taken by S class or above ranked adventurers.

Normally, all the F-rank adventurers are non-cultivators with combat oriented abilities or cultivators with Body Enhancement Stages. We thank the receptionist and make our way outside. Mid-way, a tall bulky guy walks in front of us with a mocking grin and the moment his eyes land on Sylvia, they become full of lust and greed.

“Hey, hey, what are you newbies doing here? Do you think being an adventurer is a child’s play or something? As your senior, I think I’ll have to teach you the reality of life. But I can spare you and maybe give you some pointers if this lady here decided to spend some quality time with me, what do you say?” He says with a face full of disdain directed towards me.

How dare this guy eye my Sylvia? He is courting death. I looked around and realized that nobody is paying attention like it’s a normal thing for this to happen. Fine asshole, it’s your fault you messed with me. From his aura, I can see is in Middle Body Enhancement Stage and without using [Holy Spear], I think it will be a bit difficult to defeat him. But I can weaken him by taking away his ability. I used [Ability Devour] on him and took away his ability.

[Brute] acquired

[Brute (Tier-4)] – Triples the base strength of the user.

Hmm……not a bad ability I guess. This means I have weakened him to 1/3rd of his strength and I am 3 times stronger. Maybe I have a chance now.

“No thanks” I say and try walking around the guy with Sylvia.

“Hehe…where do you think you are going little boy?” he says and stretches his hands towards Sylvia. Ohh….he has done it now. I pull Sylvia away and muster up all my strength to punch that guy in the face. Due to the suddenness of my actions, he is caught offguard and receives the full brunt of my punch squarely on his face. I hear a loud *crack* and his body flies and crashes to the nearby table. Wow, I think I broke his nose. A few people look in our direction but most just ignore the ruckus. I shake my hand and feel a bit pain in my hands but otherwise I am fine. Hmm….this [Brute] ability will be useful to me at this stage I guess.

“Are you alright?” Sylvia asks worriedly, pulling my sleeve. I nod and we walked out of the guild.

“Hey, would you like to come to my house? My parents were asking a lot about you.” I ask Sylvia. She blushes and after some thinking nods her head. We head towards my home and reach there in 30 minutes. I knock on the door and after a few second Mom opens it. She is surprised to find Sylvia with me but then she notices us holding hands, which we completely forgot about, gives me a mischievous smile.

“My, my, Arthur you didn’t tell me that I should be expecting a daughter-in-law so soon?” she says. Sylvia’s face turns beet red and she looks down while I just scratch my nose awkwardly. There was no point hiding it from Mom now that the cat is out of the bag so I didn’t deny it.

“*cough* Mom, this is Sylvia Roseheart. Sylvia, this is my Mom.” I say and try to change the awkward atmosphere.

“Hello Auntie” Sylvia says meekly.

“Hahaha, I have heard a lot about you Sylvia. Come in, I was just done with cooking lunch. Let’s eat together.” Mom says and we walk in. Amy comes running upto me and noticing Sylvia, points to her and asks “Who is she big brother?”

“She is Sylvia, your new big sister” I say happily. She stares at Sylvia with stars in her eyes “Wow big sister, you are so pretty”. Sylvia laughs at her remark and pats her head saying “Thank you Amy. I think you are very pretty too.” Amy giggles and both of them become friends quite quickly. We then have lunch with Mom and Sylvia talking non-stop about everything and anything, most of which revolved around my childhood antics. Maybe I shouldn’t have brought Sylvia here afterall. We finish our lunch and Mom says “Arthur, go and drop Sylvia off in her home. Her parents must be quite worried. Thank you Sylvia for coming here today, we enjoyed a lot in your company.”

“No Aunty…it was my pleasure to come here. Thank you for taking such good care of me” Sylvia replies hastily.

“Nonsense, we are family now, so call me Mom ohk?” Mom says with fake anger on her face. Sylvia blushes and looks in my direction. I just shrug my shoulder and look away like it has nothing to do with me.

“Mom…” Sylvia finally gives in and says in weak voice. Mom nods happily and we bid our farewell.

As soon we came outside, Sylvia pinched me hard and glared at me. “What?” I ask. “You know what. Hmph…I am not talking to you” she says and stops holding my hand. Then for the rest of the way, I do nothing but coax her with apologies and some sneak kisses and finally she gives in just before we reach her house. I bade her farewell and walk back towards my house. Mid-way, I notice that the there were a lot of people moving towards the Upper District suddenly, so I pulled someone aside and asked “Excuse me brother, but an you tell me why so many people are moving to the Upper District so suddenly? There was nothing special happening there this morning.”

“Ohh….you don’t know brother? City Lord’s daughter has just returned yesterday from the Royal Academy and awakened to a tier-6 ability this morning. In order to celebrate this event, City Lord has organised a Tournament where anyone below the Foundation stage can participate and it is rumoured that whoever wins the Tournament will be awarded with five Bone Cleansing pills. The registration has already begun and the preliminary round will start tomorrow.” He replied and walked away.

A Tournament? Bone Cleansing pill? Pills are divided into 12 tiers and a bone cleansing pill is a tier-1 pill. It is a very popular pill as it cleanses the bone and if someone takes it before Body Enhancement Stage, then they will advance fairly quick once they start cultivating. Even for a Body Enhancement Stage cultivator, it helps them breakthrough minor bottlenecks and is strongly coveted. Hmm….If I can get my hands on those pills, it’ll be a huge boost to me and Sylvia. Alright, let’s participate in this tournament. I am fairly confident that I can defeat a Middle-Body Enhancement Stage practitioner with ease thanks to [Brute] and hold my fort against a Top-Body Enhancement one. Maybe if I am lucky, I’ll be able to acquire some nice abilities as well.

I joined others and moved towards the Upper District. The registrations were taking place in front of the Martial Arena, where I suppose the Tournament will take place. Martial Arena is a large colosseum like structure with huge open ground at the centre. There are 4 small stages shaped like a square, with a stage in each corner & a huge stage at the centre of the square. There were a lot of people turning up for registration and after standing in line for 3 hours, I registered successful and got a number – 999. Heh…..what a number. I did not tally there any longer and went straight back home.