3 The Blessing

…

The emergence of the mysterious portal, that was called Gate of Chaos by our ancestor, became another mark in history that we, humans had taken a step to a new era. The mysterious energy from the other sides became a chance for us to know more about the secrets that still hiding in another corner of the universe.

Nick leaned his body back to the chair, rubbing the space between his eyes after closing the book on the table. Whew, that's some heavy words you left there, dude! Nevertheless, he still smiled satisfied. Knowing something worth anticipating in the future, he couldn't be more excited.

"Finish your reading, little brother?"

Nick turned to look at the source of the voice. Several meters from him, a woman was sitting behind the receptionist table. She was quite young, at most in her twenty. She was quite pretty, a big sister that many people loved to have. She was very reliable, so his parents also trusted her so much and treated as if she was their family.

"Yeah, big sis Ann! It was quite a tiresome book as the big shot who wrote it loved to brag and say some big words. But it was interesting nonetheless."

"You really like to read so much, huh? I never knew a little kid and book could be compatible pair." Anna Maria couldn't help but giggling at Nick like he was an adult.

Nick shrugged, "What can I say, I'm still six! Many things don't appreciate how a young boy like me can achieve. That's how society treats us nowadays!"

Anna was amused by his antics. She suddenly had an idea to tease him, "Oh, so our little boy really wants to be an adult fast, huh? Ah, you know, your big sister has a way to achieve that, do you want to hear it?"

"Oh, I'm all ears!" half-doubt and half suspicious, Nick still listened to her.

"Since you like books so much, this big sister has books about the adult's activity. I can lend them to you to learn!"

Her eyes hid mischievous glint when she said those. Too bad, she wanted to fool the wrong person, as Nick was much more adult than her, mentally.

"Oh, really? Should I ask Mom to thank you then, Big Sis?" Looking at his grinning and his eyes as if they were saying I know it, she knew she was busted.

"Oh, what is this thanks about?" before she could say anything, Helena suddenly came and joined their conversation.

Anna could only sit there nervously, that was close! She looked at Nick, trying to make eye contact so he didn't spill anything to her boss.

"Nothing, mom! Big sis only wants to lend me some books, so I said thanks in advance, right big sis?"

Anna nodded her head right away. Despite that, Helena still looked at them doubtful because of their suspicious acts. Nick immediately cut her words before it could be spilled.

"Mom, I'm going to walk outside to take a breather, okay?"

"Sure, do you want me to come with you?" Helena offered to accompany her strolled around.

"Nah, it's okay. It's just around the neighborhood, I just want to refresh my head after all those readings."

"I've said before to read less and play more, you brat! Go then, remember don't take too long! Your father is going to finish his forging after 2 hours. We're going to close the store after that."

"Alright, bye mom!" right before he stepped outside, he turned his head to Anna, smiling slyly, "Big Sis, don't forget to bring the books that you mentioned next time okay?" Nick winked.

Anna's face blushed slightly at his words. Darn kid, how could he mentioned it now of all times. She cried inside after seeing Helena stared inquiry at her.

*****

It was past midday so it's still quite hot outside, but the breeze made it the temperature bearable. Nick strolled around with a cold drink in one hand and some a small box of fried snacks that he bought from a nearby stall.

It had been six years since he was born again. The majority of people in this Enlightened World started attended preparatory school at that age. It was the same for him, his parents had registered him to Northern Springfield Preparatory School in the north part of the town. Actually, it couldn't be said close to the store. It was thanks to Lillian, that girl had forced him to attend the same school as her.

"I'll keep worried if my little brother gets bullied by other people. At the very least they need to ask my permission first."

Those were her words, but he knew it was only her way to show her care. Yeah, her care. Nick didn't have that much confidence in his small thought.

*****

It was almost 8 am, but the big hall of the Northern Springfield Preparatory School had already filled with around three hundred something kids from the town and nearby area. It was a special day because many preparatory schools started their first gathering for new students at these days of the year.

In front of these new students, the school headmaster stood up on the podium giving some boring welcoming speech, with several teachers stood behind him. The students, also the teachers didn't have any interest to listen to the blabbering old man on the podium. Instead, they stared at their soon-to-be-teachers/students with interest. They talked to the people beside them in low voice rather than to the long-winded speech.

Knowing he was being ignored by the old and the young, the corner of his mouth twitched. The old headmaster couldn't help but jump to the most essential thing about this gathering.

"Alright, since none of you want to hear this old man's blabbering, we'll just conduct Crystal's Blessing right now then," the headmaster's voice made the teachers and some students stunned and blushed in embarrassment. But it soon disappeared with them cheered with applause. Damn, do you dislike my speech that much, the headmaster couldn't help but grumble inside.

The group of students then divided into ten smaller groups based on their classes. Each group consisted of around thirty students with one teacher. Nick was assigned in the first group, same with Lillian.

"Alright kids, my name is Isabel Conrad, you can call me Teacher Isabel. I'll be your teacher for your class one, I hope we will have a great time together," teacher Isabel smiled, continuing her instruction, "Now, I'll explain something to you. Look at this crystal in front of you. I'll call you one by one later, the one who is called will come forward and touch this crystal with both hands. Easy right? Let's get started then!"

She gave short instruction while showing them a head-size-crystal on the table. It had an irregular form with white color. The crystal was inside of the transparent-like-globe glass. Nick turned to look at the crystals from the other groups. Right, besides the same white color and the size of the human's head, each of them had a different irregular shape like they were naturally formed stones.

"Adam Conbert!"

After the first student was called, a skinny boy came forward from the crowd. He looked nervous in front of the female teacher. She just smiled and instructed the boy patiently the same as before. The boy took a breath and put his hands on the glass. He closed his eyes then after several seconds, a dim white light appeared from the crystal to his hands. It remained for about several seconds, then faded out. The boy opened his eyes with a confused expression, only to be reminded to go back by the teacher.

Nick knew that the so-called Crystal's Blessing from his mother and the book he read. Crystal's blessing was actually for humans, especially the kids to be exposed to a higher concentration of mysterious energy. Because the concentration was not enough, all humans were left with an incomplete blessing process when they were born.

One of the main goals of the preparatory school was to complete this process by absorbing higher concentration energy. One of the sources was the crystal in front of them. It was the natural occurrence for a place where high concentration energy solidified into crystals, of course, the time it took at the very least should be more than one hundred years.

As for what happened after the process, he didn't know. He will find out when it was his turn.

The calls kept coming alphabetically, and it was time for 'the big sis' Lillian. The girl beside him grinned excitedly. Nick was curious too about her blessing because it was public knowledge that Roberts Family was the most distinguished family in the town. They were specials, as very few families had the bloodline power.

She finished her turn and came back with a smile on her face. Nick didn't know if it was his misconception but he felt a bit warm after she came back.

"Nicholas Huang!" after three more students, it was finally his turn.

Nick came forward, curiously stared at the crystals inside the glass. He observed it closely, so close as if he wanted to paste his face to the glass.

"Put your hands not your face," teacher Isabel reminded him because there were still some students waiting for their turns behind him.

As he put his hands on the glass, he felt as if something different. His palms didn't feel like touching a glass. It was skin-warm and flowing, which is weird since he knew he touched a glass. But inside his head, it was something different.

[You got a blessing!

The process is complete!]

[Personal Information

Name: Nicholas Huang

Gender: Male

Age: 6 Years Old

Race: Human

Traits: Converter; Qilin Bloodline (10%)

Level: 0

Class: Normal

Job: -

Life Points:

Life 85/87 13/hour

Mana 123/123 23/hour

Stamina 99/108 17/hour

Physical Points (0)

Strengt: 2

Agility: 1

Vitality: 2

Endurance: 3

Dexterity: 2

Mind Points (0)

Intelligence: 3

Control: 4

Perception: 8

Resilience: 3

Focus: 5

Free Points: -