Chapter 3: Wisdom Root

Ain turned his attention back to his mutated talent. He could already envision numerous possibilities just from what he had briefly understood.

His new innate talent, Wisdom Root, was similar to Deep Insight, but its abilities were superior by several magnitudes.

Apart from immense improvements in memory, comprehension, intelligence, and intuition, Wisdom Root also granted him five abilities.

Ain quickly summarized their effects before promptly naming them.

Scan, his first ability, could obtain present parameters of anything with a spirit.

Analysis, his second ability, could perform analysis on command.

Deduction, his third ability, could perform deductions on command.

Premonition, his fourth ability, was a passive ability. It would warn him of impending danger.

Writ, his final ability, was the one with the vaguest description. But it was also the one Ain believed possessed the most potential. Writ could allow Ain to literally ask the Heavens for an answer.

Due to the vague description, Ain could only make estimations for now. He could also feel that there were many, as-yet-unknown, limitations to his abilities. He would need to experiment to gather accurate data.

...

Unknowingly, three hours had passed. President Green checked the time and announced the end of the Spirit Awakening Ceremony.

"Time is up. Congratulations to those who successfully awakened. You are required to report your innate talents on the way out. To those who failed, I can only tell you to accept your fate. As long as you are part of the Dawnstar Federation, you will always have a role to play and contribute to our eternal prosperity."

Similar to his opening speech, President Green's words were concise. Immediately after, he signaled the escort squad with his eyes.

The escort squad stepped up and sealed the awakening crystal. President Green followed as they made their way towards the back entrance.

The dim lights in the large hall suddenly brightened. The students who awakened were excited and held their heads up high as they started making their way towards the exit.

As for the ones who failed, there were varying reactions. Many collapsed on the spot and wailed, while some accepted their fates dejectedly, and few even cursed at the world.

Ain glanced at them as he headed towards the exits. Seeing their miserable appearance and lifeless eyes, he felt uncomfortable. It was not that he was empathetic, but because he suddenly realized something.

Despite the odds, deep down, Ain was confident that he would successfully awaken his innate talent. He was unprepared for failure.

Only after seeing the heartbroken students did Ain think back.

He had dreamt of becoming a spirit tamer since childhood, especially because he was an orphan. Becoming a spirit tamer seemed to be the only way out.

‘Did I believe that I deserved to succeed after my past experiences?’ Ain asked himself.

In this world, tragedies weren’t rare. There were numerous orphans like him, who hoped to succeed one day, and leave behind the darkness to embrace the light. His fate could’ve been like the surrounding students, who seemed to have lost the will to live.

Recognizing his unintentional arrogance, Ain couldn't help but examine his thoughts.

He took a deep breath and decided to correct his thinking. Most people were aware of the consequences, but few understood how to live with them.

Ain realized that he couldn't imagine the outcome if he were to fail today.

After collecting himself, he made his way out.

The association had set up gated checkpoints near the exit.

The exiting students all presented their identification cards before reporting their names and innate talents.

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The gate would flash green, and the inspector recorded some information. Only then were the students authorized to leave.

Ain noted the green flashes, and a guess appeared in his mind.

There were multiple such gated checkpoints, so Ain didn't have to wait for long.

"ID, name, and talent." The inspector's monotonous voice sounded.

Ain scanned his ID card as he said, "Ain Weisman, I awakened Deep Insight."

The checkpoint gate flashed with a green light. The inspector glanced at it before saying, "Next."

Ain glanced at the gate again and made his way out of the building.

As Ain was about to leave the vicinity, a buzzing alarm suddenly sounded behind him.

He turned his head just in time to see a figure fly back into the hall with considerable speed.

One of the checkpoint gates was flashing red as the inspector's angry voice sounded, "How dare you lie about your innate talent!? Arrest him!"

The student who was sent flying coughed out blood and lay on the ground clutching his stomach. He was soon surrounded by a security team and taken away.

Ain quietly watched the entire event unfold. He had just made his guess when it was proven to be true.

That gate could detect lies!

Ain turned around and left with slightly hurried footsteps.

He had thought about whether to report his mutated talent or not. But in the end, he decided against it.

It was best to keep it to himself until he knew the cause of the mutation.

After he moved a sufficient distance away, he slowed down, and his lips curled up slightly.

"I didn't lie. I did awaken Deep Insight."

...

Ain had nothing else to attend to in this region of the city. But he did have another stop elsewhere.

He made his way to the hoverbus station. The wait wasn't long, and Ain boarded a hoverbus traveling in a slightly different direction from his home route.

After successfully awakening, it was mandatory to attend one year in a spirit academy.

With his time at the academy and training, he would not be able to work part-time anymore.

Today was the day he would hand in his resignation.

This was just a formality; he had informed the gym weeks prior of the possibility.

Amidst the changing scenery, Ain reached his destination and made his way towards his workplace.

After passing a few alleyways, a four-story building appeared in his sight. A large sign with the words "Steel Lion Martial Arts Gym" was visible from a distance.

As he approached the building, Ain briefly reminisced.

He started working here as a martial arts instructor about a year ago. With his solid foundation in martial arts, the courtesy of his mentor, he was skilled enough to teach regular people.

Of course, due to his age, he was faced with skepticism at first. Only after proving his skills against another instructor did he gain their appreciation. Still, most of his clients were children who learned martial arts to build a solid foundation early on.

There was a myth among the masses that learning martial arts and meditating could increase the chances of awakening your innate talent. Although it was never proven to be true, most people saw no harm in trying.

Ain entered the building with ease and made his way towards the offices on the fourth floor after scanning his ID.

Looking around, he walked into one of the offices.

"Mr. Victor, I'm here to hand in my resignation."

Upon hearing Ain's voice, Victor, who was responsible for human resources, looked up.

"Sigh, you're really leaving, Ain. That must mean you awakened today, right? Congratulations."

Victor replied with a sigh.

"The boss really appreciates your work. Some clients might even leave if you're not here."

"How can that be? The boss recently became a Rank-2 Spirit Tamer; It would be my honor if he were to even know my name."

Hearing this, Victor smiled widely. "With his recent breakthrough, he plans to open more branches around the city. We might even hire some Rank-1 Spirit Tamers as instructors, and our business model might shift. Are you sure you want to leave?"

Ain pretended to give it some thought before replying with a sigh, "I'll have to focus on my training from now on. I can only let this opportunity pass me by."

"That's a pity."

After some more small talk, Ain bid goodbye to some of his acquaintances and left the gym.

His final payment would be directly deposited into his account.

Ain didn't really feel any pity upon leaving the gym. When he first joined, he had intended to use the gym to sharpen his skills. But that didn't work out in Ain's favor. He even had to hold himself back at times, so as not to make the other instructors look bad.

So Ain left with a light heart.

The gym was closer to his home than the Spirit Tamer Association. Although it was in a slightly different direction, it would only take him thirty minutes to return after the hour it took for him to arrive.

Ain once again made his way towards the hoverbus station, excited to go home. He had not forgotten his innate talent. He was eager to study it.

On his way, Ain's hololink received a notification.

After glancing at it, he knew it was from his mentor. He hurriedly read it.

[Congratulations on your spirit awakening. After you've successfully condensed your first spirit ring, come to the Atlas Base to meet me.]

Ain wasn't surprised that his mentor already knew the results.

He read through the message again, not failing to notice the ghost-themed emoticons. Often times, he felt that it was not his mentor who typed these messages.

Ain quickly replied back.

While he was glancing at his hololink, he still paid attention to his surroundings.

Thus, he immediately noticed when two figures blocked his path in the alley.

"Brat, I heard you finally handed in your resignation. It's about time for payback, isn't it?"

One of the figures stepped forward and sneered at Ain.

Looking up at the man, Ain knew exactly who this was.

"Instructor Jason, what a coincidence to see you here. What do you mean?"

This was the instructor he had defeated to gain the recognition of the gym. And this wasn't the first time he had blocked Ain's path.

The first time, Jason ambushed him alone because he believed that he only lost due to a moment of carelessness. Of course, Ain once again defeated him with relative ease.

The next time, he brought along two helpers from his gang. Ain defeated them all with barely a scratch.

Ever since then, he hadn't faced any more ambushes from Jason.

Now, this was their third encounter outside the gym.