Year 1 ~ {Grandpa Xiao}

As more and more people arrived, the crowd began to grow. In order to control the situation, a few guards joined the two guards at the door.

It has been almost half an hour since Alisha went in and Sasuke was still sitting on the stair. From there, he watched those who arrived after him.

Some people seemed to have already formed groups in which they came with. Sasuke watched their interactions.

He couldn't see the use of forming any group at the moment. Everyone was yet to awaken and they will all end up in one temple or the other.

Those groups were bound to split up sooner rather than later.

Sasuke's train to thought was suddenly interrupted by the pleasant female voice in the sky.

{Realm Announcement}

{Congrats to Unit Leader, Haruto Akimitsu, for being the first player to awaken with a 3rd tier Soul and Spiritual Power.

As the rule of his zone states, he will directly enter into any temple as a personal 3rd level Personal Disciple and will receive a weekly allowance of 3 Pure Spirit stones and Soul gems and 1 silver coin}

The announcement brought silence to the previously noisy area.

Sasuke looked up at the sky where the female voice came from.

"3rd tier Soul and Spiritual Power?" Someone exclaimed, breaking the silence.

Everyone began to talk again and the area became even more noisy than before.

"Wow, someone already awaken with Soul and Spiritual Power of 51 - 70 points" another person said

"I didn't know there was such a ranking system"

"What? Did you just jump into the game without reading the users guide?"

"It was clearly stated in the auxiliary chapter. You'd better go back and read it of you don't want to be more confused later on"

"I've heard that name before though. Isn't he the Unit Leader of our zone's unit 2?"

Over a thousand voices mixed together made Sasuke unable to sit still. He stood up just as the large door of the Awakening Temple opened.

Sasuke watched Alisha walk out of the building. It seems she didn't trigger any announcements.

'Perhaps she awakened the same tier as Haruto or she didn't awaken high enough to trigger an announcements'

Any which way, Sasuke was happy she was finally out. His behind was already hurting from sitting on the hard ground.

Who knew awakening took so long.

"Next!" the guard at the door yelled making Sasuke roll his eyes.

Alisha let out a small laugh

"I'll wait for you by the fountain" she said before walking past him.

Sasuke glared at the guard who yelled even though he couldn't know because of his hair. He was really hoping to get some tips for Alisha about what to expect in there.

Walking through the doors, Sasuke was meet with an ordinary looking room with a long flight of stairs in front of him.

Counting with his eyes, Sasuke estimated there were over two hundred steps going up. No wonder it took so long to awaken.

Sasuke sighed and began walking. If he didn't think of how many stairs was still ahead of him, he will finish faster.

On his fortieth step, he suddenly felt a strong sense of danger above him and directly jumped three steps ahead.

A figure landed on the step he had been standing on. Sasuke didn't clearly see the person before the attacked him again.

The figure moved fast, attacking Sasuke with a punch. Sasuke leaned back, dodging the fist and immediately moved to his right. He threw a punch at the figures face but they suddenly vanished and appeared behind him.

Sasuke turned around, quickly dodging a kick and successfully landing one when the figure was recovering from their failed attack.

The figure staggered, climbing up the stair blindly before stabilizing themselves.

Sasuke could finally see who it was that attacked him.

"Good lad, you're fast" the old man said with a laugh.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. The old man in front of him suddenly looked harmless and the strange danger alarm going of in his mind was turned off.

The man now had a friendly aura around him.

Sasuke was about to say something when the man suddenly appeared right in front of his face, staring at him. A strange wind blew Sasuke's hair out of his face, revealing his eyes for a second.

"Good lad, your eyes must be very special. You were able to accurately follow my movement just now" the old man said and stepped away from him.

"With such reaction speed and sharp eyes, I'm sure you'll awaken with a special attribute. You should use them carefully in the future if you don't want to get in trouble"

Sasuke watched the man clime up the stairs and followed after him.

"Who are you?" he asked "what do you mean I'll get in trouble?"

"You can call me grandpa Xiao. I'm the current keeper of this temple" the man replied "I felt you aura the moment you stepped in and couldn't help but test out your ability earlier"

"If I'm not mistaken, you're the Zonal Leader, Sasuke Hazuyuki" Grandpa Xiao said

Sasuke's eyes widened in shock and he stopped walking

"How do you know who I am?" he asked

Grandpa Xiao turned around and smiled at him, reviling a roll of still white teeth.

"While we were fighting just down, you sleeves raised exposing your seal" he explained

"I mean no harm to you and understand you intend to keep a low profile but I'll give you a piece of advice, young lad"

"Just like at the gate with the guards, keeping a low profile will do you no good. If people don't know who you are, they will only disrespect you thinking you are a nobody. Even if you weren't the Zonal Leader, you still shouldn't allow people disrespect you all in the name of keeping a low profile"

Grandpa Xiao started walking up the stairs again and Sasuke followed.

"Of course keeping a low profile has it's benefits. You'll be able to mingle with everyone else easier and not expect any special treatment. However, keep up that mask and you'll create foes out of friends when people find out who you really are"

"As for you eyes, if you do awaken an attribute for them, you must use it carefully. Eye attributes are one of those that cannot be hidden even when not in use. There are many people who would hunt you for awakened eyes"

"ah, we have arrived. It's time for you to awaken, young lad"

Sasuke looked around. They have arrived at the end of the stairs without him knowing.

Grandpa Xiao placed his palm of the door in front of them and the opened slowly, producing a gush of wind.

Inside, Sasuke saw a bright light floating in the middle of the room.