It took me a few moments to think about how to answer. I had far too much on my mind now.
I decided to start from the beginning. How I intended to incarnate in the union. But after seeing the circle on the outskirts, the thought of a higher gift was too much to ignore.
After all, I could die and Incarnate for a second time in the first week, but my gift would never change.
"My gamble paid off. My true gift is the SSS rank Gaia's Academy."
They both seemed to stare at me for a few moments in shock. I wasn't surprised they couldn't believe it. I still found it hard to believe. Even S-rank gifts were the things of legends.
Anything beyond that was unheard of.
Soon my father's face turned steely.
"This not something you should be lying about. What gift you receive is one of the most important things in your life."
With the tense moment, it took a little longer to concentrate enough to summon my tablet.
Holding the metal device, I attempted to hand it over to my father.
He started to look at me like I was crazy.
"What in the world are you doing?"
"I'm trying to show you the item I received with my gift."
Both of my parent's mystified faces made it clear that they couldn't see the tablet.
I still attempted to hand it to my father, but the tablet passed right through his hand.
With that not working, it took me a few seconds to think of something that would be able to prove my gift.
While I had wanted to wait to imbue more powerful students, it seemed I didn't have a choice.
Selecting the Imbue Students button. I chose one of the adepts at random. Compared to Mage Lauren, they were all more or less the same.
I turned to my mother.
"I am going to use my gift to give you the power of a Mana Adept. Are you okay with that?"
She looked more confused than anything else but did give a slight nod. It was clear that she didn't believe me.
Selecting the others button for the first time. I was a little surprised when the tablet seemed to switch to camera mode.
I aimed the tablet at my mother. Who unlike my father had never been able to step on the path to power.
My father had managed to become an Aura Apprentice over the years.
I didn't think he would want to become a mage anytime soon.
When the tablet selected her, she was outlined with a slight golden light. The [Imbue Other] Button then appeared at the bottom of the screen.
Selecting it. My tablet released another burst of light that was channelled towards my mother.
I had asked for a few moments of patience from them, but it was clear that they were beginning to think I was insane.
That all changed with the light.
My mother straightened up in her chair. Her tired and worried eyes immediately brightened. In those few moments, it looked like she had grown younger.
While my father had been focused on me, her changes hadn't gone unnoticed.
My mother's eyes glazed over as she stared at her spirit sheet.
"What did you do to her?"
"I told you, I used my gift to imbue the power of one of my students into her. That was how I gained the power of a Mage."
He still looked like he didn't believe me. But my mother touched his arm before he could react further.
"Come with me into the spirit world for a moment. I have something to show you."
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My father seemed uncertain, but he nodded. Soon both of their eyes closed as their spirits went to a different world.
I didn't know how long it would take for her to show what she could do.
With nothing else to do but wait, I turned to my computer. While I was afraid to look it up. I knew I didn't have a choice.
It took far less time than I would have hoped to find a few posts.
[Powerful Creatures Emerge From The West Ocean.]
[Don't Go To The Outskirts Of The Spirit World]
[Is Gaia increasing the difficulty of the Spirit World?]
There were quite a few different articles that mentioned new creatures emerging from the Spirit Ocean.
It did seem like they were only coming from the West Ocean. There was no mention of them coming from the East Ocean. Both the North and South Tundras also seemed as peaceful as usual.
It was clear that these dread beasts did exist. While I couldn't sure Harold was telling the full truth. The existence of these Dread Beasts gave some credence to his claims.
All of the articles did mention that the creatures hadn't strayed far from the shores yet. But it did look like they were gathering together. Under the command of something.
Of course that news had little effect on most people in the Spirit World. But I grew far more concerned.
I didn't have time to think about it too much, as my parents soon returned from the spirit world.
Before I even had time to think, my mother jumped forward and hugged me.
She was almost in tears as she whispered "Thank you" over and over.
My father seemed a little shocked in the corner. It was clear that he was having difficulty coming to terms with the change. What it would mean, both for me and our family.
It took a few minutes for them to calm down and begin asking more questions.
Most of which I couldn't answer.
I didn't know much about my gift. I did describe to them everything that I did know.
Their E-rank Gifts were far more straightforward compared to mine.
My parents had let my siblings stay over in one of their friend's homes. So we spent most of the evening talking about my gift and how to improve it.
I did offer to imbue my father with a student. But he seemed far more interested in Teacher Harold and being imbued by an Aura student.
By the time my spirit mark recharged, I was far too tired from the events of the day.
After an early night, I woke up once again to darkness.
This time I would have five hours in the Spirit World. I wanted to use them well.
All the timers had reset by this point. Allowing me to draw a new teacher. The grey wheel was uninspiring. But this time around there was a new button beside the wheel.
E for empower.
Selecting it, I was brought to a page with both the Teacher and the Student list.
I could use either teachers or students to empower the recruitment wheel. Since both my teachers were in use. I couldn't choose them.
But I could use a first-year student to give me a chance to recruit an elite teacher. With the three I had, it only increased the chance to fifteen per cent.
I didn't want to take the risk to do that quite yet.
Choosing to keep the fully grey wheel, it was no surprise when I received a common teacher option.
The option flashed slightly before moving to the teacher list.
[Teacher Fintan,
Speciality: Aura (Power),
Teaching Ability: Low]
While it wasn't exactly what I was hoping for, it did allow me to unlock the next academy.
[Aura Academy]
I hoped for another prize of some sort, but it seemed that I wouldn't have such luck.
Moving to the generate students option. I spun the wheel once again. Hoping for either mana or aura.
It seemed I wouldn't have such luck as I received a Healing Inclined class.
[Random Students X 1]
[Mana Inclined Students X 0]
[Aura Inclined Students X 0]
[Healing Inclined Students X 1]
[Crafting Inclined Students X 0]
Of the two, it was a better idea to use the random students.
While unlocking the second academy had removed one of the locks at the bottom of the screen. I didn't want to waste the healing students without the academy in place.
Generating my first random class. I hoped for the best.
With that done. There wasn't much else I could do with my gift but wait. I still had quite a few hours left in the Spirit World.
With Harold not yet making an appearance, I decided to practice some more with my new skill.
The old village square had more than enough space for me to practice all of the spells.
I spent nearly an hour building up an earthen wall around the square.
By the end of the hour, it had become second nature to use the spell.
I then had quite an enjoyable time making two Mud Golems battle it out with each other.
That also helped my control grow by quite a bit.
I had been a little worried that summoning the Stone Golem would bring Harold around straight away. But it seemed this time around he was a little further afield.
I only had enough mana to sustain the Golem for around five minutes. It was near the end of that time when Harold finally appeared once again.
This time around I managed to keep control of the Golem. Letting it return to the ground in a more controlled manner.
I turned to the teacher hoping for some better news this time around.
"Headmaster I come with good news."
I didn't expect to get it. But I was more than happy to hear Harold's tone.
"The Dread Beasts haven't developed as much as I expected. It will be another few months before they begin their first assault."