Chapter 2: Talent Mutation

Upon entering, Ain noticed that the interior of the dome was dimly lit. Several thousand students were already seated in the vast open space.

Ain occupied one of the empty seats and waited.

Unlike the clamoring outside, an intense silence pervaded the interior. The students would occasionally glance at a high platform where a person surrounded by some officials stood, talking quietly amongst themselves.

"President, the escort squad has arrived. They have stipulated three hours for the ceremony."

On the platform, an official hurriedly reported to the president of Duskfield City's Spirit Tamer Association, Adam Green.

"That's enough time; I'll go greet them and bring the awakening crystal here. We'll begin the ceremony at eight as planned," President Green replied and turned to leave. A few officials followed behind.

Ain was seated at a distance, so he couldn't see the figures clearly. But the shiny bald head made it apparent to whom that figure belonged.

‘President Green from the Spirit Tamer Association. He is one of the strongest spirit tamers in the city.’

This was a familiar face to every citizen of Duskfield City. His feats of battling powerful spirit beasts outside the city were widely spread.

Time passed, and President Green returned to the hall once again. But this time, he was followed by a combat squad in formation. They wore the Spirit Tamer Association's combat uniform, but it also differed from the uniform worn by the sentries outside.

The squad escorted a black box covered in runes and inscriptions to the high platform. The students sat up with rapt attention, knowing that the awakening ceremony was about to begin.

After placing the box down, the squad prompted the officials to leave before securing the perimeter of the platform. Only President Green remained, still standing beside the box. He seemed to be the final line of defense for the awakening crystal. After glancing at his wrist, he looked up and projected his voice.

"Students! I'll keep this brief. Under the radiance of the awakening crystal, you will all comprehend the Awakening Scripture. You'll have to follow the scripture's guidance to awaken your innate talents and embark on the path of a spirit tamer. You only have three hours. Begin!"

As soon as he finished, the black box mysteriously disappeared. A blue crystal, the size of a torso, appeared in its place instead. The crystal was asymmetrical, more akin to a shard than a complete crystal. A vague golden flow could be seen in its seemingly infinite depths.

There was a soft golden glow surrounding the blue crystal, illuminating the originally dim hall. There were no intense rays of light emitted, but it still somehow brightened the entire hall.

As they were bathed in this glow, the students closed their eyes, trying to perceive the Awakening Scripture.

Ain followed suit and closed his eyes, trying to sense every minute change. The glow from the awakening crystal contained mystical powers. He could feel knowledge being instilled directly into his mind.

Ain immediately realized that this was the Awakening Scripture he had heard so much about. He subconsciously emulated its contents and entered a natural meditative state, completely unaware of his surroundings.

Time slowly trickled away. After an hour had passed, glimmering lights surrounded many students. This was the sign of a successful awakening.

With every passing moment, more students successfully awakened their innate talents.

Ain was also surrounded by lights as he slowly regained his consciousness, leaving the meditative state.

He immediately sensed the changes. He could vaguely feel something flowing inside his body, akin to a cool breeze during summer.

‘This is spirit energy,’ Ain immediately understood.

With the awakened innate talent, he could now perceive and control spirit energy.

Before he could continue exploring this new sensation, knowledge abruptly appeared in his mind again. It was ethereal, without any words or sounds, as if its true meaning had been directly ingrained in his mind. Ain subconsciously deciphered it and finally became aware of his innate talent.

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‘My innate talent is Deep Insight’ Ain realized and breathed a sigh of relief. He had seen this talent listed as a B-rank talent in the Myriad Talents Codex.

The Myriad Talents Codex was the most comprehensive compilation of innate talents from all over the world. Although it only listed the names and a brief description, they would be ranked according to their abilities.

From the knowledge Ain received about his innate talent, Deep Insight allowed a spirit tamer to gain an intuitive understanding of the world. It would passively improve memory, comprehension, and intelligence.

If used actively, it could allow its user to skip conscious thoughts, forming subconscious connections to gain knowledge. It would seem as if the knowledge appeared out of nowhere.

However, the above-mentioned abilities were not enough for its relatively high rank.

Deep Insight could assist in comprehending spells and meditation techniques, directly resulting in increased training efficiency.

Knowing all this, Ain was happy with this result. More than anything, awakening any innate talent was enough for one to become a spirit tamer.

Humans were unable to perceive or control spirit energy at birth. Only after successfully awakening their innate talent would they gain this ability.

Even if one awakened the lowest E-rank innate talent, they could still rise above the rest.

Innate talents were only that, a talent, or an ability. Their greatest significance was to allow humans to wield spirit energy.

It did not determine anyone's limits as a spirit tamer. That would solely depend on the foundation, comprehension, and opportunities of the spirit tamer themselves.

However, innate talents could still provide an edge over others if used well.

Thinking up to this point, Ain started to consider the future.

The next step would be to attend a spirit academy where he would learn a meditation technique to condense his spirit core and become a Rank-0 Spirit Tamer.

Ain was happy inside as he glanced at the surroundings.

Numerous students had awakened, as their bodies were glowing. But this was still a minority. Most students had yet to awaken.

It was a fact that as time went on, fewer students would awaken. Most of these students could only curse their luck.

Ain glanced at the high platform. Similar to before, President Green was still the only one on the platform. He stood still like a mountain, occasionally casting his gaze around the hall. The escort squad's vigilance had not diminished either.

Ain was eager to test out his talent, but he was well aware that this was not an appropriate place to do so.

Retracting his gaze, Ain closed his eyes and started to meditate to pass the time.

Meditation and martial arts were basic skills most students would learn in preparation for their future.

As his consciousness slowly sank again, the passage of time continued.

Suddenly, Ain felt a throbbing in his chest. His already sinking consciousness grew even blurrier as scenes of his forgotten past flashed before him.

...

A bright red light lit up the night sky in the distance. The light was visible from the small town.

A little boy with black hair and black eyes stared at the red light.

Amidst his daze, the entire world suddenly turned white, followed by a deafening explosion. A powerful shockwave crashed into the town, turning it into crumbling ruins.

The shockwave swept past, but the boy was still standing. A faint yellow membrane surrounded the boy, with visible cracks on it. A hole, the size of an adult’s fist, was visible on the yellow membrane.

The boy's chest throbbed intensely.

He slowly looked down, only to see a bloody hole in his chest.

He shifted his gaze to the surrounding ruins, and the adrenaline finally kicked in.

He turned his back to the clouds of earth and fire as he tried to run.

But before he could take another step, he lost all strength in his limbs and fell.

Lying down in a pool of blood, his vision slowly faded as his last thoughts flashed in his mind.

'Mom… Dad… where are you?'

...

The throbbing slowly diminished as Ain's consciousness returned and the blurriness faded.

No changes could be seen from the outside. Ain was just meditating like before.

But there was turmoil inside Ain's mind. He was bewildered by the sudden occurrence.

Ain forcibly calmed himself down. He couldn't decide what he should focus on first.

After this incident, formless knowledge was instilled in his mind once again. But this time, the message was different.

‘Wisdom Root? My innate talent changed?’

Ain kept his eyes closed, afraid that he would give something away if he were to open them. He tried to sense it again, but the message remained the same. His innate talent was no longer Deep Insight but Wisdom Root.

Numerous thoughts flooded Ain's mind as he contemplated his innate talent. But before delving further into it, Ain decided to address another issue.

The issue was the partial return of his memories.

According to what Ain had been told, he was orphaned due to the Bloodpoint Incident, where a mine suddenly exploded in the middle of the night. The nearby mining town was laid to waste with few survivors. Ain was among those lucky survivors.

Due to the traumatic experience, he had lost his memories.

In the orphanage, Ain's parents' deaths were attributed to this explosion. He was told that it was all the workings of fate.

However, now it seemed there was more to it. Like a beehive that had been poked, numerous questions began emerging in Ain’s mind.

Why was he awake in the middle of the night, standing outside?

What was the source of the red light and the explosion? Was it truly an exploding mine?

Why was he covered by a yellow membrane during the explosion?

Why was there a bloody hole in his chest? How was he still alive?

The throbbing in his chest as his innate talent mutated was identical to the one in the past. Was the bloody hole related to the mutation in his innate talent?

Moreover, where were his parents at that time?

Numerous questions danced in his mind, threatening to spill out into the surroundings. But before he became lost in his thoughts, Ain brought himself back and took a deep breath.

He realized that there was no point in dwelling on all this now. He didn't even have the power to leave the city, let alone investigate the incident. He would need to become stronger to do so, and that opportunity was already within his grasp.

The past was long gone. He could contemplate it as much as he wished in the future.