White Star District.

Yulian Blossom Insititute of Awakeners.

In a classroom of some 50-plus students, an elderly bespectacled man slowly pronounced his words while giving a lecture. He was like a giant snail, the fat under his chin and at his forehead which also somehow gathered fat only heightened this likeness.

It was an odd but picturesque classroom with a mix of nature and technology. Desks were made of wood from the Blue Willow Tree whose wood emanated a calming scent that improved the mind’s clarity when thinking and studying.

The classroom lights were in the form of the Lantern Bug, a tame insect similar to fireflies that remained stationary for most of their lifetime.

Vines as thick as a baby’s arm hung on the dark brown wooden walls reinforced with refined stone. The southernmost section of vines had various bags made of different materials hanging down from them.

A black-haired young man with a clear complexion dressed in washed-out student clothes unhurriedly made notes, but the slight tremble of his usually steady fingers and occasional blank look in his eyes showed he was not at ease.

The snail-like professor tapped the alchemical whiteboard whose surface was covered with numerical and linguistic scribbles of their native language.

“I’m sure you little grasshoppers are quite excited since the awakening ceremony is tomorrow. Not to rain on your parades but it's best to be self-aware, it will save you the heartache. I’ve seen many slip into deep depression and give up on everything with news of their bodies found the day after leaving their families heartbroken.”

The teacher peered across the room seeing the students wriggling incessantly behaving as if there were thorns on their seats beneath their buttocks.

“Awakening is not the end all be all, we ordinary folk still have a role to play in these dark times. Take the recent holder of the Medal of Glory, he is an ordinary old man without abilities but with his excellent research talent he has brought about several breakthroughs in technology-enhancing efforts in combating the fearsome Aberrations. Take the New GX-Cannon Series being released, they are all his handiwork. There are many ways to contribute to Humanity's struggle against our great foes.”

The old professor saw that his words passed through one ear and immediately went through the other and the students barely paid him any mind.

“Ahem– While I'm sure your families have already sufficiently made preparations I must reiterate. The method of sacrificing to the gods to awaken similar ranked abilities is not a 100% guarantee it could be a Peerless Silver level cursed material or several of them. It means naught. The Grace and Gift of Gods are not some cheap item you can exchange like coppers and silvers, by the very nature of sacrificing offerings, it’s a show of piety, you may get a tangible reward for your efforts then again you may not, of course, such cases of obtaining absolutely nothing are rare but they happen every year after all Hallmaine is one of the six great guardian shelters and its population has long surpassed 10 000 for many centuries.”

“There’s still a chance you will get a low-ranked ability or none at all if the God sees fit. Even those with the blood of awakeners are not exempt and there are quite a few cases of even them failing, instead of placing all your eggs in one basket and having dry tears when the basket falls and eggs crack its still better to have a back up plan, for instance, mechanical g-”

The students all but ignored the exhortations of their rambling professor who had been here for so long that they had long heard of his ritualistic episodes on the eve of awakening. His droning tone a few beats slower than their youthful fast paced minds also dampened their enthusiasm.

Their seniors had long told them about his broken record track repeating each instance when the time for the ceremony came around.

Now they all couldn’t wait for tomorrow when they would awaken and shed their identities as mere mortals!

This was where they leapt over the Dragon’s Gate!

“Hey hey, Old Mclaren is still up to his old tricks. He’s boring as hell in normal times but now he’s just exhausting. Being an ordinary person supporting from behind desks versus on the frontlines purifying aberrants with one sword and spell… the difference is so stark even a blind man can tell. That’s even if we’re lucky enough to get a desk job.” One teenager chuckled with a shaky breath unable to completely hide his excitement.

“My old man finally got a hold of a Tough Black Iron quality material after borrowing from several relatives and colleagues. It’s a shoe from some expert from long ago maybe I’ll inherit all his abilities when I go up and awaken. Maybe he had a Bright Spark quality talent like [Unending Endurance].” One child short in stature excitedly repeated his words from the beginning of the week for the umpteenth time but at this time even with the exchange of proclamations of wealth and luck it had turnt into a background noise that everyone ignored after so many repetitions.

“Yea right, my father’s giving me the family heirloom for luck and the Heart Eating Grass Core as a sacrifice. He did the same for my elder brother and he awakened the Fading Ember talent [Stone Fist] .” One teenager lifted his nose high.

“If I can awaken a Scorched Earth quality talent like Senior Yuhan’s [Ancestral Possession] I could sleep with a crooked mouth!” One girl whispered to herself dreamily holding her face in hand.

“Pshh~ You wish. That’s no less than a one in ten, no a one in a hundred million chance. I still remember the uproar in the district when Senior Yuhan awakened, its said to have spread all the way up to the upper district levels on the stem. The awakening rate is already 1:10 and not everyone awakens abilities just being able to awaken is cause enough for celebration. We’ll instantly upgrade from Class E citizens straight to C class!”

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Sounds of chattering and students proudly declaring what cursed material they had and what ability they hoped to awaken echoed throughout the classroom. Only a handful of students remained mum and were slightly depressed.

The black-haired student in worn-out robes gazed at his peers with light mist in his eyes.

Awakening…

It was a normal concept to the dwellers of the Underground Shelter of Hallmaine but for him who only came to this world 3 weeks ago it was a strange occurrence.

Yes, Freed Williams was from another world.

The early 21st Century Earth to be exact.

He had died and been reborn to this world, well it was more accurate to say his ghost or remnant spirit crossed dimensions and possessed the body of the recently deceased Freed Williams but how and why such a thing occurred was beyond him.

Freed had spent the last 3 weeks trying to make sense of it all to no avail.

Reincarnation? Rebirth? Transmigration? Who could give him the answers he knew not.

This was a magical world that had a so-called normal development until thousands of years ago when a Great Evil invaded bringing pollution and destruction in its wake.

The dominant races at the time did their best to combat the Great Evil but ultimately failed, many gods native to this world were slain in the war against the Evil Gods brought by the Great Evil.

Yes, this world has real gods whose presence were close to the mortal realm, still within the cognition of the everyday man.

Unfortunately, only 7 Gods survived the war and with the sacrifice of the rest the Great Evil was temporarily kept at bay.

However the three dominant races: humans, ignells, and fairies were almost wiped out along with the gods in the battle against the Great Evil and its Aberrations, it was only through the grace of the Seven that they barely survived.

This was the beginning of the current epoch.

Rise of the Dark Tide.

The surface world was overrun with the Black Fog of Death brought by the Great Evil and this extinguished or polluted much of the flora and fauna also eradicating the living space of the survivors, humans had no choice but to retreat underground with the blessing of the Goddess of Life, Nature and Spirits.

The power of the Aberrants was great and terrifying, particularly for humans who were the weakest race without a high affinity for mystical energy and whose proud technological creations had been rendered useless after an initial struggle.

Thus the Seven Gods granted the opportunity to shed their weakness to selected fated ones amongst humans and with this power they could successfully fight against the Great Evil and its Aberrants.

The Awakening Ceremony in the mouths of the youths was the opportunity granted by the Seven Gods to step into the path of the extraordinary.

Unfortunately due to constitution, fate, luck, and talent, it was not an opportunity able to grasped by everyone and only a tenth of the population could succeed. In the hundreds of years before now this probability was even lower and only 1 in 18 individuals were successful, legend has it in the beginning it was as stark as only 1 in 50 and this was when the human population was much scarcer than it is now.

Even then those who succeeded weren’t necessarily strong enough to fight against aberrants and many were ‘weak chickens’ who would lose 4 out of 5 direct confrontations.

The true ratio of natural combatants was estimated to be around 1:50.

This was a depressing ratio for the struggling humanity forced underground.

Unavoidably this harsh living situation created a strict hierarchy among humans with the combatants at the top.

After hundreds of years of development, this system became even more mature and unfriendly to those at the bottom intending to keep them there and have them slave away for the benefit and luxury of the upper classes. It was no longer purely for the benefit of the human race as it once had been.

Due to limited land and resources, the class system was sufficiently strict and those who could not contribute to humanity’s struggle were all but considered disposable trash and pawns that could be trampled over at will.

Human life was like grass.

These were the Class F and E citizens.

The pitiful poor who struggled to survive and eat properly. Were it not for the grace of the gods they would not even have the chance to break out of this quagmire of class afterall it was human nature to lord over the weak. Holding down their fellow man was a practice unfortunately too common no matter the era.

Misery loved company but only if that company was thought to be equal or even superior to them, for those deemed inferior misery would transform into hatred and disgust.

In the present age nobles and the higher classes have already monopolized many of the profitable industries and even the most important food sources amongst themselves.

Many Class F citizens died from hunger even with the wonderful ‘Nutrient Solution’ from the blessing of the Goddess of Life and Nature being present. Even if they were lucky enough to taste it, it would be nowhere near the pure versions of the solution.

Alas, the Gods were unable or perhaps just ineffective or unwilling to care for the daily well-being of the less fortunate.

It's said their powers have weakened greatly after the War of Extinction and they were far from their prime.

As for them, the low-class slaves, what could they do? Run? Escape was impossible; the outside world was teeming with monsters. Hide? Where to, this was an enclosed underground space.

The only thing they could do was struggle and hope to break free from the system holding them down.

This was where Awakening came in. It was a Class Shift that many Class E and F citizens desired strongly even to the extent of staking their entire livelihoods and the livelihoods of the entire family on this one instance.

Unlike the athletes training years for a few minutes of glory, fame, and prosperity at the Olympics in Freed’s previous life, this solitary event could truly sink families and youths into the pits of despair if unsuccessful yet it was a given that the odds were against the common man and it would always be an uncertain gamble.

Even the higher classes couldn’t do without awakening as this was the method by which they sustained their superiority and raised their young. Of course unlike the lower classes they had a much higher chance of success with some guarantees.

Since awakening was a gift from the gods the higher classes also couldn't monopolize or rob it like they had with many other industries and opportunities.

Awakening was the source.

All powerful awakeners began from this point.

Low born or High born.

Freed clenched his fist tightly.

–‘This is it.’

–‘The crossroads.’