Start awakening

'So that's why there were so many people here, throwing away so much money just to try their luck' Ivan thought to himself and continued to listen to the man's explanation.

"Also, by awakening here, you can use the pod which is filled with special liquid that has a slight chance of increasing the level of your talents and at the same time disabling them for a few minutes so that you do not hurt yourself. And the most exciting part…this place isn't only an awakening center, it is also a place for towers to scout talented Nexulytes! As long as your talent is good enough, there are dozens of Tower representatives here who will try to recruit you and train you, your life can only get better after that!

What more glory is there than being a Nexulyte? Power, fame, money? You'll get them all! 

So, what do you think? Is it too expensive or worth it?" 

The man grinned cheekily at Ralph as if he had successfully swayed the boy into paying an over price.

Ralph just stared at the man quietly for a couple of seconds before opening his mouth and slowly said.

"The price is still too much" Ralph had an adamant expression on his face as he stared hard at the man, it was clear that this young man wasn't planning to pay that absurd amount for the awakening.

"Tks! Why are you so stubborn? Most people would pay the same amount without even needing me to explain, is it that you don't actually have money to pay, huh, four eyes?" The man spat at Ralph in annoyance while pointing his finger at Ralph's face.

One of the man's coworkers quickly pulled the man back and whispered to him.

"Hey, watch how you speak to the kid. He's a future Nexulyte, you won't have an easy life if he holds a grudge against you" 

Similarly, Glen also pulled Ralph back and whispered to him.

" Don't argue with the worker, what if he refuses to allow us to awaken or do something bad to us? That might be the true price, isn't it natural for things like this to be expensive?" 

Ralph gazed blankly at Glen like he was looking at an idiot before shaking his head and pulling away from the boy.

" Like you said, most people would pay without asking, so the price must be lower than that, right?" Ralph resumed his bargaining with the man who had also pulled away from his coworker.

The man gritted his teeth, he had seen the other boy pull back this troublesome four eyes and said something to him. Who would have thought that the boy would still continue to argue after coming back!?

They continued to bargain for a couple minutes more before finally agreeing on a twenty bucks price for each person.

"Follow me" the man said with a scoff as he led the three boys to another room but he could not stop glaring at Ralph who was right behind him.

'You better pray you do well or else…'

"Wow! He actually lowered the price, from fifty bucks to twenty! You're awesome Ralph!" Glen exclaimed with sparkling eyes and gave Ralph two thumbs ups from behind.

Hearing the words of the other boy made the man become even more embarrassed and he started to walk faster.

They finally arrived at an enormous room that was as huge as two basketball courts combined, numerous sleeping pods were arranged in neat columns and one could see people entering and climbing out of the pods. Circular screens could be seen hanging above every pod, these screens displayed different information whenever a pod opened for the person inside to come out.

Different people in suits would then immediately approach some of the people who came out of the pods to talk to them.

"You see those people? They have successfully awakened their talents and are now being scouted by representatives of different towers, you can only imagine how bright their future will be. Compared to brats like you!" The man said as he shot a side glance at Ralph.

Not waiting for the boy to reply, he called a few people over and asked them to lead the three boys to a sleeping pod.

Ralph, Ivan, and Glen, were escorted to a roll of sleeping pods and assigned sleeping pods right beside each other. Ralph got the first one, Glen took the pod in the middle and Glen took the last one; the pod after Glen's was being used by someone.

"We are…we're finally going to awaken" Glen muttered, his voice and body trembling slightly as he touched the sleeping pod gently.

Ralph and Ivan looked at the trembling boy and was about to comfort him when the matured woman that was amongst the people who led them here patted Glen's head.

"Don't be nervous, kid. Even if you don't awaken now, you can always try another time" she said with a professional smile.

Glen shook his head before saying.

"I'm not nervous, I'm excited!" He exclaimed.

The woman was taken aback by Glen's response, she wore a startled expression on her face for a few seconds before reverting to a smile.

" If that's the case, good luck" 

She said to Glen as the sleeping pod opened with a shuooo sound.

Glen, Ivan, and Ralph exchanged eye contacts and nodded at each other before climbing into the sleeping pod.

(The liquid inside the sleeping pod was a special liquid that beside the disabling and calming properties, it won't get their clothes wet so they were not asked to remove them)

The three of them entered the sleeping pods and the lid closed up.

They realized that the liquid inside the sleeping pod did not submerge them completely and only reached up to their ears, their face was well above the level of the liquid.

After staying inside the sleeping pod for just five seconds, the three boys were hit by the effect of the liquid and began to feel drowsy. They knew that this was because of the liquid in the sleeping pod so they did not resist, all three of them soon fell asleep inside their respective sleeping pods.

"Aren't you going to go back?" Someone asked the man who had brought Ivan and his friends to this place after seeing that he was still standing there.

"No, I'm waiting to see the result of a stinking beat" the man said with irritation as he fixed his eyes on the round screen that was above Ralph's pod.

...…

For as long as Glen could remember, he had found it difficult to understand anything related to studying. There were no schools in the outskirt but his parents had tried to teach him some basic knowledge like alphabets and simple spellings, yet, the young Glen had found it difficult to understand whatever they tried to teach him. 

Though his parents did not blame him for this and still treated him normally, no elder brother would remain happy about the fact that even their junior was becoming better than them in such a simple aspect.

Shouldn't he be the big brother whom his little sister would run to for help in such regards? How come his little sister was then the one who was offering to teach him? 

Glen did not hate his little sister for this, of course. He blamed himself and got depressed occasionally, this was until he met Ralph and Ivan.

He has since then lost interest in trying to improve and focused on helping his friends, parents, and playing with his little sister.

Of course, these were not the only thing that helped Glen out of his depression. The secret was…his sudden love and understanding for animals!

Glen had realized that he was naturally attracted to animals and could somewhat understand that even the most dangerous looking dog would become like a cute pet after Glen made contact with it. He was able to know the right thing to do to get any animal to become friendly towards him.

He had found solace in this because he had finally found his perk as an elder brother. He would take his little sister around the outskirt and let her play with whichever animal she found appealing to her!!

Currently…..

Glen found himself walking on a footpath that cut through bushes, he did not know where he was going but just kept going while humming a tune along the way.

Rustle!!

The sound of something moving in the bush to his side caught Glen's attention and he went to take a look. Upon getting there, Glen saw a small white snake that seemed to have gotten caught in a trap. The tail of the snake was locked in iron strings and was bleeding.

"Ugh, who dared hurt such a cute snake? Don't worry buddy, I'll help you" Glen grumbled in anger and proceeded to set the snake out of the trap.

The snake showed resistance toward Glen and bared its small fangs at him, it thought Glen was the one who had set the trap.

"Calm down, I won't hurt you. Calm down" Glen said softly and slowly as he slowly moved his hand toward the head of the snake and gently rubbed it.

The snake finally stopped resisting and allowed Glen to release it from the trap.

(Don't try this in real life, you're not Glen. The snake would bite the hell outta you, hehe)

Click!!