The Awakening Room was simple ten by ten, with smooth grey walls, floor, and ceiling.
At its center stood a tall mirror, ten feet high and three feet wide, its surface completely blank.
I stepped forward, stopping in front of it. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the edges of the mirror pulsed with a faint blue glow.
Slowly, my reflection began to form, starting from my feet. The glow crawled upward, revealing my legs, torso, and arms until finally, my entire image stared back at me, perfectly reflected.
I knew what was coming, and it took every ounce of my self-control to keep my body still and stop myself from shouting in excitement.
'Damn it. Can't you hurry up.'
My reflection and I locked eyes for a few seconds, and for a brief moment, I swore I saw a smirk on its face. Then, without warning, the image shattered into shimmering blue particles. They hovered in the air, swirling like tiny stars, before surging out of the mirror and straight into my glabella.
BOOM.
Everything went blank in an instant, and I instinctively shut my eyes. When I opened them again, a glowing blue screen hovered right in front of me.
I grinned, clenched my fists, and took a deep breath, steadying myself and scanned the screen.
[Status]
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Name : Billion Ironhart
Race : Human
Class : N/A
Laws : N/A
Level : 0
Talent :
- Generator 1
- Essence : 0/5
Attributes :
- Strength: 8
- Constitution: 7
- Dexterity: 9
- Psynapse : 7
Unused Stats: 0
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"What?"
I rubbed my eyes and looked at the screen again.
A Talent?
Me?
I got a talent.?
'No way. No freaking way. A talent? Me?'
My heart pounded as the realization hit like a thunderclap.
I shouted in my head.
'I HAVE A TALENT!'
I took a deep breath and shook my head.
"Alright, calm down, Billion. You have an image to maintain."
My eyes locked onto the Talent section.
I could hardly believe it.
In the entire world, only 10 to 12 people were publicly known to possess a talent. Even if the hidden ones were counted, the number wouldn't exceed 30 or 40.
And now, I was one of them.
I exhaled, a slow grin creeping onto my face.
I rubbed my chin, my focus locked onto the talent displayed before me.
'Generator I? What kind of talent is that? And the Essence is 0/5…'
The word generator sparked a few thoughts in my mind, but I needed to confirm them first.
I decided to check out my talent once I got home, no need to take any risks here.
I dismissed the screen and turned toward the door, deciding to step out and let the others have their turn.
As soon as I stepped outside, I felt the shift in the air.
All eyes were on me.
I straightened my posture, shutting the door behind me.
Scanning the faces around me, I knew exactly what they were thinking. They wanted to know if I had failed to awaken.
'Too bad for them, I don't fail that often.'
I caught Daniel's gaze and gave him a nod. His eyes lingered on me for a moment before I passed by him.
Descending from the podium, I made my way back to my position.
My eyes met Steve's, and I shot him a quick wink, more than enough of a signal to let him know things had gone well.
He gave me a small nod in return.
With that, I settled into place, and the awakening process continued.
****
I summoned my status screen again, this time focusing on the rest of my stats.
Race, Class, and Laws were all straightforward.
Nothing surprising there.
Then, my eyes landed on my stats.
I had to admit, I was pretty satisfied with what I saw.
This was what we had trained for at the academy. Every single one of us had spent years pushing ourselves to reach as close as possible to 10, the peak value before awakening.
Still, I did not like two things.
Psynapse: 7
And my Dexterity… still not 10.
I had pushed myself relentlessly, sprinting until my legs felt like lead, weaving through obstacle courses at breakneck speeds, reacting to strikes before they even fully formed. Every single day, I drilled my reflexes, honed my footwork, forced my body to move faster, sharper.
I was, without question, the fastest in my batch—by a huge margin. And yet, despite all of it, I hadn't hit the peak. Not yet.
'Frustrating.'
I scanned my stats, breaking each one down in my mind.
Strength — Raw physical power. It determined how much force I could exert lifting, pushing, striking. The higher it was, the harder I hit, the more I could carry, and the more explosive my movements became.
Constitution — A fusion of endurance, durability, and recovery. It replaced both Vitality and Regeneration, measuring how much damage my body could take before breaking, how long I could last in a fight, and how fast I healed.
Dexterity — The key to agility, coordination, and balance. It controlled my speed, reflexes, and precision. The higher it was, the sharper my reactions, the smoother my movements, and the faster I could strike or evade.
Psynapse — Mental acuity, reaction speed, memory and awareness.
I exhaled and clenched my fists.
'Good. But not good enough.'
I shifted my focus to the Class section.
The next big step for us was Class Selection, a defining moment in our growth. Everyone would get to choose their first class upon reaching level 25.
And starting tomorrow, that would be our goal: reach level 25 as soon as possible within the next year.
Because after that, we would officially become part of the Empire's army.
For this one year, we were soldiers on probation, not fully enlisted, but no longer just trainees. Our actions and skills during this period would determine the class choices available to us.
In short, this year would decide everything.
Then there was the Laws section.
It wouldn't matter for a long time, not until Level 150. That's when I'd have to comprehend natural laws and use them to break past that threshold.
For now, my focus was elsewhere.
Every level up to Level 25 would grant me five unallocated stat points, which I could distribute however I wanted.
The real challenge was deciding where to put them.
***
I heard Daniel call Steve's name, and my ears perked up.
I watched as Steve stepped into the Awakening Room, curiosity buzzing in my mind. Would he awaken a talent too?
If he did, then the two of us together… we'd shake the entire Empire.
Moments later, Steve walked out. His eyes met mine immediately.
He smirked: lazy, confident, half-lidded.
I smiled back.
I understood he had awakened.
But whether he had a talent like me… that, I'd have to wait to find out.
One by one, everyone stepped into the Awakening Room and completed their awakening.
Daniel remained in place, straight-backed, disciplined. A soldier through and through.
I watched as my batchmates stepped into the awakening room, one by one. Some emerged with an excited gleam in their eyes, while others walked out with slumped shoulders and misty eyes.
In our world, the awakening rate hovered around 70%—and every single one of them was destined for the army.
Soon, the process was over. Everyone returned to their positions, and faint murmurs spread through the crowd, some filled with joy, others heavy with disappointment.
Daniel stepped forward, locking the blue door with a key before turning to face us.
"To those of you who have successfully awakened, I congratulate you. I wish you all the strength you'll need to grow, to fight, and to protect our world from the threats it faces. And to those who did not awaken, I wish you luck in supporting our world from within, ensuring we live to see another day."
His gaze swept across us before continuing.
"Your probation period starts tomorrow. Today is your last chance to say your goodbyes to your families and to your batchmates. Graduates from across the empire will be mixed into different units and sent to different place around the world for the probation training."
Then his gaze shifted, locking onto the first row.
"Units will be formed based on your graduation rankings. There would be two types of units, the normal ones and the elites. The elite units will undergo most dangerous probation training. Your lives will become hell for the next year because the Empire demands strength—enough to protect yourselves and those around you.
Also we've recently received reports that the casualty rate among the elite units during probation has risen to 60%."
The atmosphere turned somber after hearing that.
"That's all from me," Daniel concluded.
"Be here in the morning. It's time for you to grow up and face the real world."