Awakening (2)

Chapter 11 – Awakening (2)

By the beginning of today, there were only a few of us who had Awakened and received our Skills.

However, most were clueless about how it was supposed to work or what they could do with their various Skills. Although they were clueless now, a few of them would come to understand how their Skills worked little by little until they had a mild grasp of it, enough to at least manipulate it at a basic level.

After investing hours of meditation into absorbing Essence, I was only able to gather just 6 Units (U) of the peculiar energy.

Sigh~

That wasn't encouraging but I had a good grasp of why it happened. Even though my mind was mature because I had access to untold and yet-to-unfold events, my current body remained the same as it was at this age in my previous life.

It was still a body that had only been disvirgined with Essence just a few hours ago.

My body was still weak and acclimating to the concept of Essence. So, I couldn't absorb much. Even if I tried, it would be a waste of my time because my Pool of Essence was still small.

If I decide to push it and take in more than I could handle, I would suffer a leakage and that would be detrimental to my body.

I woke around 10 o'clock that morning feeling exhausted after what had transpired in the early hours of the same day. I looked around the room and I was alone.

Bright had gone out for whatever business he had that day.

I rubbed my eyes and yawned, trying to revolt against the strong urge to lie back down on the bed.

'Visible Mode,' I voiced, issuing a command to my Cube ID as it appeared in front of me, floating in the air. I looked at the black item and smiled.

'Status.'

—––

Name: Lucas Enstar

Skill: [Jack of all Trades]

Stage: Ore Stage [Initial]

Essence: 6/200

—––

Strength: 1

Agility: 1

Focus: 4

—––

Looking at the status window that reflected what my performance level looked like in numbers, I massaged my forehead and gave my point distribution a little more thought.

It was going to be a bit of trouble not to beef up my [Strength] and [Agility] but it was going to be worth it.

I had given it a considerable amount of thought and I needed my [Focus] to be a bit higher at this time than the other two attributes. This was mostly because of my Skill—[Jack of all Trades].

To use it at its best possible level, I had to have a matching amount of [Focus] stats.

Sigh~

'I wouldn't be able to absorb more Essence until tomorrow,' I thought with a sigh, having distributed the 6U that I had gathered already.

'I'll just have to wait till then to up the other attributes. That still works out fine. After all, by the time everyone that is meant to awaken does so, I will have about 30U worth of Essence to distribute.'

[Strength] and [Agility] were pretty straight forward and from their names alone, now could guess what they were for. However, with [Focus], it was a bit different.

[Focus] determined how a Hunter controlled Essence. The mental tenacity involved, its absorption, condensation, manipulation and basically every process that has to deal with the energy directly.

Simply put, as I intended to widen the capacity of my Pool of Essence and expand my ability to absorb more units of the said energy, I would need to increase my [Focus].

That was why my [Focus] was a priority now.

With that distribution of Essence points to my attributes done and out of the way, I got off my bed and headed to the bathroom to prepare myself for the day.

Within the next couple of minutes, I was done and ready to head out.

'Key Card Mode.'

Shutting the room, I headed out, making my way to the gymnasium.

—––

The gym was also located in the Eastern Wing of the Cube and about 15 to 20 minutes walk from our dormitory, a good distance for cardio exercise in preparation for whatever workout or sports one would choose to do in the gym.

The gym was the one place where a lot of recruits would be guaranteed to gather under the same roof. Although I'd been late heading there, I was sure I'd meet a reasonable number of Hunter Trainees.

Arriving there, I slotted in my ID in card mode, allowing the machine to run details on me before lifting the entrance door for me to enter.

Passing through the steel door, I found myself in one of the grand halls of the four levels inside the gym. This place was the second grandest hall and belonged to the Third Year Hunter Trainees.

Only a small number of them were present, either prepping for a workout or actually working out. A smaller group among them were engaging in sports.

I looked around and headed toward the staircase that led upstairs. The Third Year hall had limited options for me to observe and select and so, I went up to the next hall that belonged to the Second Years.

Getting there, there were a good number of them working out and doing sports. A few chatted and laughed while they kitted up for their sessions.

As expected, it didn't take more than a few seconds for all their eyes to turn toward me briefly, even those who shouldn't have seen me from where they were.

'Hmph,' I breathed and chuckled inwardly.

Of course, I was not surprised that they could pick up my Essence almost instantly. It was a given since they were Second Years with a larger capacity of [Focus] than I had, while I was a measly First Year Hunter Trainee who was still on the pathway to learning how to control Essence.

I could tell that their eyes were assessing me through and through, trying to seek out any vile or malicious intentions since my face was unfamiliar to all of them.

I scratched my head and feigned nervousness, letting out a wry laughter and making it obvious to them that I felt threatened by their presence as my eyes.

My acting paid off after some seconds of enduring their intense gazes. They could see that I felt a bit awkward and posed no threat to them in any way. Thus, they returned to their training, affording me the opportunity of a quick inspection.

As my eyes moved at a natural pace across the room to avoid raising any suspicion, I noted the few skills that were already active and in use inside of the Second Year Hall.

'That's good. At least, their Essence would umbrella mine, making me insignificant.'

A subtle smile appeared on my face.

'Super strength. Super speed. Body Transformation.'

Those were a few abilities I had noted and seen play out from the start. The rest were either a bit complex or already in motion before I came, so I could afford them.

As I observed the scenery, I felt a gentle tug on my black hoodie.

'Huh?' I instinctively let out before turning around to see a gorgeous lady standing behind me with a smile on her face.

She was a tall, beautiful figure of melanin. Her dark skin was the best I had set my eyes on, be it in my previous life or now. Nothing had changed about this lady.

Her low-cut hair that was dyed golden brown, along with a sparkling set of white teeth that flashed a warm smile at me, made her look even more adorable.

I knew her. Everyone knew her.

By the end of a recruit's first day at the Cube, there was a near 100% chance that one would have heard about her or seen her face.

One of the three prodigies of the Second Year Class and their Class President.

The melanin beauty, Lauren Austraborn.

"Hey there," she greeted me. "I don't think I've seen you around. Do you need help? You seem like you're lost or something."

Her gentle, soft-spoken voice was still ever enchanting and as her words entered my ears, I felt a soothing feeling inside of me.