Center of Attention

"Uh could y'all stop staring at me like that? It's becoming creepy," said Damien as his classmates looked at him with fanatic, shocked and envious gazes.

"Bro, you're lucky! All you need now is to awaken a good power and you're set for life!" chimed one guy.

Choruses of agreement followed.

What did it mean to get a 19 in the government test?

Well…

It meant that during the Awakening, Damien would get to use at least B-grade enlightenment fluid.

His name would be on the government's provisional list of seeds to be nurtured or given attention! 

He and his family would receive 24/7 government protection and surveillance until the Awakening. Based on the power he awakened, it could even continue till he left for a Superpower training center or awakened school!

When it came to people with potential, the government became the most generous setup.

  An increase in status, good life and other mind-blowing opportunities would be available to Damien and his family.

  Besides, the higher the mark, the higher the caliber of protection and opportunities!

Damien and his family would receive the best treatment because the mark he had was arguably the highest ever since the government begun their Awakening tests!

The past generational geniuses had had 16 to 18 marks and even then, the amount of resources poured by the government on them was simply astronomical. How much more Damien with a mark of 19! 

If Damien awoke a useful power tomorrow, he would be set for life! 

Damien could feel the envy and admiration his mates were looking at him with. They wished more than anything to be in his shoes. 

Damien wasn't used to that much attention.

He was the oddball of the class.

He was mostly quiet and withdrawn, choosing not to join in the banter and shenanigans of his mates but rather thinking and pondering over many things

It wasn't that he was stuck up or something.

The problem was, he found it hard to relate to other people.

Most people he had met couldn't even follow his thought process!

To Damien, people were like an open book. 

Damien loved to think and meditate. His thinking had led him to see how hypocritical people were. Apart from his parents, he had this thought that people who came near him almost always wanted something from him.

Besides, most of his mates were hypocrites, especially that rich prick called Victor Kaiser.

If his mates heard his thoughts, they would probably pound him.

Giving a shaky smile, he returned his focus to the holographic desk and put it on secret mode to check the longer version of the results sent to him by Mr. Davis.

/[Name: Damien Walker]

  [Age: 16]

  [Mark: 19]

TEST BREAKDOWN

Probability to awaken a Spirit based power: 90%

Probability to awaken a Soul based power: 90%

Probability to awaken a Body based power: 90%

CONCLUSION

Candidate has a high probability of awakening a superb power. Should be taken note of. There is an additional chance of Candidate awakening in more than one path.

CLASSIFICATION: S \

Damien looked at the report stunned. Even though the government test report was brief and couldn't really determine the kind of power he would awake, it gave him a fair idea of how much potential he had. 

90% probability to awaken in all the three Paths? That was crazy!

Many would be content to even have a 30% probability to awake in all three Paths!

With such broken results, the possibility of his awakening being successful by a large margin was more than guaranteed.

Mr. Davis cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"Okay folks, so that is the end for today! I recommend that you all eat food with lots of nutrients and sleep early! You must be well rested so that you will be able to cope with the injection of the Enlightenment fluid.

By seven in the morning, all of you should be here for us to depart to the Awakening centers. Tardiness will not be tolerated! If you are late by even a minute, you might as well forfeit your awakening!

Is that clear?"

"Yes sir!" the students responded enthusiastically. 

Mr. Davis smiled and said, "I guess we are done here then. Good luck to you all." He walked out the doors of the class, leaving the students.

Immediately, the class became noisy as people started to check the reports sent by Mr. Davis personally. 

Taking advantage of the chaos, Damien tried to slip out quietly but he was stopped by a couple of his mates and Victor, one of the six who had a good mark.

Victor was a tall guy with dark brown hair and extremely good looks. His father was a prominent personality in the city with a C grade citizenship. 

Naturally, Victor was a typical young master with everything in his grasp.

Seeing Victor always left a bad taste in Damien's mouth.

"Where are you rushing to in such a hurry Damien?" Victor asked.

"Uh… I don't really feel well so I wanted to rush home early," Damien replied.

"Where's the hurry, Damien? At least you should let me treat you today… at the Paradise. What do you think? I bet a celebratory meal will help you feel better," Victor said with a convincing smile.

"No thanks Victor, but I have to get home," replied Damien as he turned away and made his way for the exit.

"Just because he had a 19 he has become snobbish," one guy sneered.

"Don't forget he's always been like that. He probably thinks he is better than us now,"

"Yeah! If he awoke some power like extreme strength or thunder manipulation I bet he wouldn't ever put us all in his eyes," one guy chimed in. 

"Don't mind that arrogant prick, Victor. I'll go with you to the Paradise instead," said Freddo, moving closer to Victor. 

"Alright Freddo," replied Victor with a curt smile.

Damien just kept his head down and walked out the class.

Why did he refuse an offer, especially one from a rich kid like Victor no doubt? 

First of all, he didn't really like Victor.

It wasn't that he was jealous of him or something but rather Victor gave him 'weird' vibes.

Whenever Victor got near him, he felt as if he was looking at a hypocrite. 

He couldn't tell him that to his face though.

To his mates, Damien might have seemed like a snob but he had his reasons. While a meal at the Paradise sounded lovely, the motive behind it was questionable.

Damien's mind had advanced to the point of him being able to evaluate or see how the world truly was. 

In older times and even currently, people were only valued if they had something of worth or they were the ones worth something.

Once you had either or both of those, the tendency of people to exploit or manipulate you was very high.

Either way, people would always be drawn to you.

Call Damien paranoid but he was right.

It was with these thoughts that had led Damien to being a recluse. Even though he was in a class with many people, he kept his distance and hardly interacted with them, making it difficult for his mates to get close to him. 

Victor's gesture seemed harmless but Damien was paranoid. 

Victor almost never talked to him in class and even out. Why would he make an offer to treat him all of a sudden after learning of his mark? 

It was obvious that Victor wanted to get close to him and ingratiate himself with Damien. For what purpose? 

Recruitment.

Victor came from an upper class family. This meant that he was in a constant political game of making connections and friends, accumulating power and prestige for himself and his family. Thus, he was constantly under pressure, making friends, having lackeys and doing everything to be relevant to his family.

Damien wanted no part of that. 

He didn't want to be any rich kid's lackey and he certainly didn't want to entangle himself with such matters. All his life, he had kept his head down and avoided minimal contact with people.

His parents were middle class and fairly doing well. He had no desire to get involved with the likes of Victor.

This was because once he accepted the invitation to the Paradise, Victor would do everything he could to form a connection. If Damien then awoke a spectacular power tomorrow, Victor would continue to get close to Damien till Damien became something like a friend… or a lackey. 

Victor's family would also swoop in and make Damien theirs. 

By the time a worthwhile opportunity came which Damien would want to take, Victor and his family would hold him back because by then they would own him. 

Damien would rather risk preventing any connections with opportunists and insincere people like Victor than take the risk of getting acquainted with them.

With such thoughts in his mind, Damien finally exited the school premises.

Still in thought, he arrived at the gates.

Suddenly, a hovercar with a government logo on it stopped by him and two men in black shades, black jackets and black ties got out.

Damien raised his head to take a look.

"Are you Damien Walker?" asked the blond man on the left.

Damien nodded.

"Very good. I'm agent Finnick and this is agent Daniels. We are here to take you home," said the blond agent.

He and his partner showed their ID cards which Damien looked at carefully. Satisfied with its authenticity, Damien nodded and got into the hovercar. The agents joined him inside and the car took off.

This was when Damien finally realized that his life was now no longer the same. He was now a governmental asset due to his worth.

It was inevitable that the people he was trying so hard to avoid would all intensify their efforts to get close to him.

He would now have to shed the nature of a recluse.

After all, regardless of how evil people were, seemed and behaved, he would sooner or later need something from them.

Damien didn't know if he should feel good or bad about it.