Awakening

The days passed, and the first day of September arrived.

"Did I go overboard?"

Looking at the dozens of boxes that covered the large room, Damon couldn't help but mutter to himself. New clothes, expensive electronics, gym accessories—Damon couldn't help but chuckle at the thought.

"Ah... is this what they call becoming nouveau riche?"

He shook his head as he continued arranging the newly bought items. It had been over three month since Damon awakened the system. The magic exam was over, and he had emerged as the top student, earning a scholarship to Tian Lan Magic High, the best school in Bo City.

During this month, Damon didn't just study for the exams. He also visited most of the lottery houses in the city, using his map to pick the winning lottery tickets, which was the easiest way to make money at the time. Once he won, he didn't have to make it public or inform the lottery house owners. Instead, he contacted the companies organizing the lotteries and received the money directly, maintaining full confidentiality. This allowed him to repeatedly win without drawing too much attention, as long as he didn't buy too many prize tickets from the same company.

"There weren't any big lotteries... but still, it's a lot."

Looking at his bank balance, which still had more than a hundred thousand yuan, Damon let out a satisfied sigh. In his city, there were no lottery tickets with grand prizes, so he only targeted the best ones he could find. Living in an old orphanage with no money, Damon had always had to compromise on his expenses. But after gaining the system and winning the lottery, he indulged himself, buying almost everything he desired.

New clothes that weren't second-hand or torn, a laptop, smartphones—everything he'd missed out on for the past sixteen years. Most of what he bought wasn't necessary, but he enjoyed the feeling of being rich.

Walking out of the gate of his newly rented apartment, Damon looked down at the bustling crowd of students making their way to the school just across the street.

"Tian Lan Magic High..."

Damon gazed at the school where he would spend the next three years and where the main plot would begin.

"I should get ready..."

Cracking his neck, Damon muttered, knowing that today was not only his first day of school but also the day of his awakening.

---

"Hey, the-one-who-entered-through-the-backdoor, you're not gonna fail the awakening, are you? I heard that some people fail the awakening. A dreg like you shouldn't waste the energy of the expensive Awakening Stone," a loud voice echoed through the noisy classroom, causing all conversations to stop. Everyone turned to look at the speaker, a short, chubby guy.

'When will they shut up...'

Out of the corner of his eye, Damon watched the scene unfold as Zhou Kunsan bad-mouthed the boy sitting at the back of the class while the monkey faced, Zhang Xiaohou defended him. The boy in question didn't respond, keeping his eyes fixed on the Awakening Stone at the front of the class, holding a pendant tightly in his hands.

"Mo Fan..."

It had been a few years since Damon last saw the protagonist. Wearing the school uniform, Mo Fan stood nearly five foot eight, with a handsome face. Damon's gaze lingered on him for a moment before returning to their new homeroom teacher, Xue Musheng.

Damon was assigned to class 8, one of the twenty classes, and coincidentally the one with the main cast. The classes were assigned randomly, but within each class, test rankings determined privileges, encouraging competition.

"Damon Crown."

Being first in the rank amongst the students, Damon was called up first to awaken. As he made his way to the Awakening Stone, the classroom grew quiet, and everyone watched him curiously.

"Hey, who is he?"

"Is he a foreigner? He looks so handsome."

"He's the top scorer in the entire exam."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I was in his previous school. He's really smart."

It was the first day of school, and the students were unfamiliar with each other, but all eyes were on Damon. His appearance and height drew attention.

'Who the fuck is this?'

While Damon garnered positive attention from almost everyone, he also garnered negative attention from some. The blue haired boy whose handsome face looked calm a moment ago, frowned heavily looking at Damon.

With narrowed eyes he observed Damon who was ranked above him in the class much to the displeasure of his arrogant and competitive self.

"Student, place your hand on the stone and enter your spiritual world," instructed the teacher.

Ignoring the gazes of others, Damon placed his hand confidently on the stone, closed his eyes, and calmed his mind.

---

Floating in the empty void of his spiritual world, Damon looked around. The spiritual world could be described as a void or a night sky without stars, a crucial space for any mage.

[Awakening Stone Detected]

[Choose the elements (0/4)]

The system screen suddenly popped up in front of Damon, displaying a list of elements. Out of the 18 known elements, only a few were given special priority, like the elements of lightning and space. Wielders of these elements were rare and highly valued among mages.

Many dreamed of awakening these elements, but it wasn't for everyone. For the past three months, Damon had pondered which elements he should awaken first or, rather, which elements he should reveal to the world. The Mage Association and other authorities kept strict records of mages and their elements. Even though Damon had the Quadruple Awakening talent and could awaken all elements over time, he needed to hide this fact from the world.

In the novel, Mo Fan initially hid his dual awakening talent but later revealed it, which led to him being targeted by some.

Knowing about the true nature of authorities of this world and to avoid similar trouble, Damon needed to hide his full talent while choosing an element that he could use freely in public and that was highly valued.

"I choose..."