The Awakening Stage of Yunhai First Magic Academy was packed, but quiet. No one had any mind for discussions when all eyes were on the platform.
The [Talent Trial] Platform.
A crystal pillar stood at the center, glowing faintly.
Su Lan leaned back, arms relaxed, his ears automatically filtering out the useless speech of the teaching staff.
His looks were just slightly more handsome than the average person. Not too stunning, but he would throw hands if someone said he was ugly too.
His attention drifted between the crystal and the students.
Beside him, Chen Wang kept fidgeting. His body was that of someone bulking—except he actually didn't have any muscle.
As for his attractiveness scale, well...
One could only say he was probably skipped by the god of beauty.
"Damn, my hands are sweating." Chen Wang muttered, wiping them on his uniform.
Su Lan glanced at him. "It's not even your turn yet."
"How can I relax? We've gone through all those bullcrap lessons just for this."
"With that personality, if I ever get a talent worse than yours, I should just smash my head on a block of tofu. "
Chen Wang shot him a angry look. "What if mine's worse?"
"Then I'll pretend I don't know you."
Chen Yu froze, then twitched slightly. "You little bastard. If my talent's better, you have to call me Daddy for the rest of the day! "
"Deal."
At the front, Vice Principal Zhao finally finished his speech and stood beside the crystal.
As a former A-Class Hunter, his name had already spread to all students in the academy.
"The ceremony begins."
The students fell silent.
"Step forward when your name is called."
"Lin Qiao."
A girl walked up the platform and touched the crystal.
[Talent Awakening…]
[C Class: Flame Manipulation]
A small flame appeared in her hand.
More students stepped forward.
"Zhang Wei."
[D Class: Enhanced Strength]
"Next."
...
"Talentless, next."
Each successful awakener was full of smiles. Those who failed wailed and muttered about the unfairness of life.
Chen Wang unconsciously swallowed. "Little Su, our chances aren't looking good at all!"
After another person regrettably walked away the platform, Vice Principal Zhao's voice was suddenly a bit louder than usual.
"Li Yue."
A beautiful girl stepped forward, calm and steady. Unlike others, her eyes were burning with confidence as she stepped on the platform.
The moment she touched the crystal, the light surged.
[Talent Awakening…]
At this moment, cold air suddenly spread across the crowd.
"Hiss... Why did it suddenly become so cold?" The shivering students complained at the same time while staring intensely at the platform.
[Ding!]
[A Class: Frost Domain]
Boom!
The students erupted immediately!
"A... A class?!"
"As expected of the top student… I would already consider myself lucky if I got a C!"
Chen Wang grabbed Su Lan's sleeve. "Did you see that?! A Class Talent! Our Academy has an A Class Awakener!"
"I'm not blind!" Su Lan said back.
"That's a potential A Class Hunter in the future, the same level as Vice Principal Zhao!"
For a moment, even he felt it. That level was different!
The beautiful girl in the platform, Li Yue, stepped down without reacting. She looked like she had already expected this result from the start.
After Li Yue's successful A Class awakening, the tension among the students inevitably rose.
"Su Lan." Cice Principal Zhao's voice resounded throughout the nervous crowd, piercing through dozens of people straight to Su Lan.
Chen Yu elbowed him, signaling him to go up.
Su Lan stood up and unconsciously swallowed.
He walked to the platform with a cold expression, but his accelerating heartbeat already exposed him.
He stopped in front of the crystal.
'Please don't give me something useless. At the very least, not worse than Fatty Wang.'
Slowly, he placed his hand on the crystal.
The crystal reacted.
Light gathered, then compressed inward. The air around him felt slightly distorted.
A blue screen appeared.
[Talent Awakening…]
[Special-Class Talent Detected]
The crowd stirred.
"Special-Class!"
The result appeared.
[B-Class: Spatial Distortion]
Space around his hand warped briefly, then returned to normal.
The students reacted immediately, even slightly surpassing the noise during the A Class Awakening.
"Space talent?!"
"Even B-Class is strong, let alone a Special B Class Talent!"
Chen Yu's voice rang out. "Lucky bastard!"
Su Lan exhaled quietly, suppressing the urge to let out a long howl to vent his emotions.
Relief settled in immediately, followed by a hint of excitement.
As he prepared to step back, another system interface suddenly appeared in front of him.
It wasn't the typical blue system interface.
It was black.
Su Lan's eyes sharpened.
[Conditions met.]
[Eternal-Class Talent Unlocked]
'What the hell is going on?'
[Talent: Authority of ???]
[Effect: Establish rules within a defined area]
[Rules: Unbreakable, formless laws that act upon a specified area. Whenever a rule is set, all changes will remain in state for a period of time."]
Su Lan paused abruptly through his exit.
He slowly turned his head to Vice Principal Zhao, wanting to confirm something.
Vice Principal Zhao's face was still the same, only with a hint of approval in his eyes as he watched Su Lan awaken a Special Talent.
"Step down."
"..."
He tried to ignore the sudden anomaly and walked back.
Faint whispers of admiration from the crowd was audible, but he was thinking of something else.
'Vice Principal Zhao didn't see the black system? Could he be acting?'
'It couldn't be, right? he wouldn't stoop that low for a mere awakened.'
"Plus, no student reacted too.'
His suspicion was correct, because Vice Principal Zhao, and everyone else apart from him, truly couldn't see the anomaly—the black system, nor his extra talent.
"An A Class and Special B Class Talent in our academy, I truly came to the wrong place to show off." A student at the back muttered, feeling that his C Class Berserker didn't sound as pleasing to the ear now.
Su Lan found his seat beside Chen Wang and sat down.
Chen Wang leaned in immediately.
"Brother, how about I treat you to a good meal today? Everything's on me!"
Su Lan countered. "Trying to bribe me? Call me Daddy first!"
"... Tch! No one knows yet if mine could be worse than some...special talent!"
Su Lan ignored him, his focus on the black system interface displaying basic information about his talent.
'Rule Domain…'
He didn't fully understand this suddenly appearing talent, nor what rules are.
He would slowly and meticulously test both his talents out first before confirming anything.
'Is this what those novels call a golden finger..?'
Unknowingly, a small grin formed in his face.