Chapter 8: Sharing Emily's Talent
'Share!'
Isaac felt a sudden surge of power rush through his body, stronger than anything he had felt during his awakening. It vanished just as quickly as it came.
A notification appeared before his eyes.
Talent: Genesis Farmer
Rank: SSS → SSS+
He was so stunned that he forgot about the students around him. Since no shockwave or anything similar happened, no one realized great changes had occurred within Isaac.
'SSS+ rank?'
'There was a rank like that?'
He wondered what changed along with the rank. When he saw what it was, it made his jaw drop.
First Talent Skill: Seed of Providence (Unlocked when user reaches Lv. 5 Initiate rank → Lv. 1 Initiate rank)
Skill Level: 1
Active Effect: Can instantly germinate a seed and make it sprout. (24-hour cooldown → 12-hour cooldown)
Passive Effect: Seeds planted by the user grow twice as fast and yield higher-quality crops. User instinctively senses fertile land, hidden water sources, and nutrient-rich soil.
Cost: 5 Mana (Scales with rarity of seed)
Isaac remained frozen from shock.
The cooldown for the active effect was cut in half, but that wasn't all. The skill now had passive abilities—powerful ones.
The biggest change wasn't just the upgrades. The skill's unlock requirement had dropped from Lv. 5 Initiate rank to Lv. 1 Initiate rank.
Everyone else awakened their first Talent skill at Lv. 5 Initiate rank, their second at Lv. 10 Initiate rank, and so on.
But Isaac? He had awakened his first Talent skill at Lv. 1 Initiate rank.
Since he was already Lv. 9 Initiate rank, that meant a second skill!
Isaac would have one more skill than what others got from their Talent!
He checked the second skill he received.
Second Talent Skill: Reaper's Bounty (Unlocked when user reaches Lv. 5 Initiate rank)
Skill Level: 1
Active Effect: The user can extract hidden properties from plants, turning them into potent potions, tonics, or alchemical ingredients.
Passive Effect: When harvesting crops, the user absorbs a portion of the vitality and natural energy within them.
Cost: 10 Mana (Scales with size of harvest)
While the active effect was useful, Isaac focused on the passive effect.
Natural Energy... did it mean Mana?
Mana was one of the most important stats. All skills required mana to function. But since awakeners also needed to fight physically, they couldn't invest everything into the mana stat.
This was a major limitation that forced them to use their strongest skills only as trump cards.
But what about Isaac?
He increase his Mana just by harvesting crops!
When his stat reached a high level, he could spam the combat skills he gained from Emily without worrying about Mana cost.
Isaac couldn't wait to start farming.
Fighting monsters?
Bah, why would he waste his energy when he could sit back and relax on the farm while growing stronger?
All he had to do was make Emily stronger and share her progress with himself. Coupled with his Talent, and System, he could grow stronger with ease!
'I wonder if I can get more wives? That would speed up my pace.'
Isaac shook his head, erasing the thought.
While he did want to be stronger, he wouldn't marry just any girl.
The situation with Emily had been urgent. Back then, he was weak and had no other choice.
But now Isaac had a powerful Talent and Emily.
'All said and done, the system doesn't recognize just any girl as a wife candidate.'
'I won't be able to take wives recklessly even if I wanted to, not that I was planning to do that.'
He had been checking the system after he came to the academy, but it didn't show him any other girl's profile.
Even if he were to marry them, he could not share their skills and benefits.
'The system must only recognizes women that are meet a certain standard.'
'I wonder what that standard is. If it was appearance alone, Professor Lorraine and Alice would definitely have been candidates.'
'Since they are not, looks clearly aren't the deciding factor.'
While he was lost in thoughts, Peter threw an arm around his shoulder.
"Look at Sir Honor student. It hasn't been five minutes since he got his talent, and he is already thinking hard about how to level up," Peter grinned.
"It's nothing much," Isaac replied. He wasn't about to admit that he had been thinking about potential wives, not leveling up.
Peter laughed, and Alice congratulated him.
Her face remained indifferent, but Isaac could see the genuine joy in her eyes. At the same time, he noticed the way she compared herself to him and Peter.
He didn't comfort her.
It would feel like mockery if a person with an SSS+ Talent tried to console a person who remained unawakened.
The ceremony ended without any more surprises.
Isaac and Peter were called by the principal.
As the crowd began dispersing, Alice turned to them.
"Come to the cafeteria after meeting the principal. I'm throwing a party for all the students on behalf of you two."
Isaac hesitated. He didn't like taking advantage of his rich friend like this.
However, he knew Alice wouldn't listen to him today.
He thanked her before heading toward the principal's office with Peter.
The room was long and quiet. The principal sat at the end of a long oval table. Professor Lorraine sat beside him, her sharp eyes watching them as they entered.
A girl with twin ponytails was already seated next to the professor. Isaac remembered her having a B-rank Talent.
"Please, have a seat," the principal said.
Isaac and Peter sat in front of Professor Lorrain and the girl, Luna. Isaac's seat was directly next to the principal.
The three of them were the only students with the a Talent higher than C-rank.
"Firstly, I would like to congratulate you three. You have awakened powerful Talents that will become the foundation of your bright future."
His words were calm but carried weight.
"With the greeting out of the way, I won't waste your time and directly say the reason I called you here.
"The United University Exams will start within a week.
"With your Talents, you have a good chance to enter the Top 10 Universities. However, it would be best if you could reach Lv. 5 Initiate rank before the test."
The principal's gaze swept over the three of them
"You won't gain a skill until you reach Lv. 5 Initiate rank. While your Talents make you valuable resources that most universities would want to nurture, they won't accept someone who didn't even put in the effort to unlock their first Talent skill before taking the most important exam of their student life."
He paused, letting the words sink in before continuing.
"Laziness and arrogance have been the fall of many geniuses. Most academies wouldn't want you until you show you have the ambition to make proper use of your Talents."
Isaac, Peter, and the third student, Luna, nodded.
The principal then explained the two basic methods to level up.
First option was to kill monsters.
It required leaving the city, and people who had yet to unlock their first Talent skills were not allowed to do as such.
That ruled out hunting monsters as a possibility for them.