Pro-
Waking up to a wooden roof, is a frequent even for me. Until I woke up to a different wooden roof.
And it was not just any different wooden roof, not in the times I woke up drunk by my friend Mischaele, no there was not hang over here.
Nope I was not drunk, and I did not have any lucid dream state.
That day was awful, there was little food to carry me through… well that was a lie. But honestly I was so tired I just did not care
There was food to carry me through, just… not for the rest of the month. Aside from that there was one big problem, ignoring the bathroom that made me feel like I was shitting in the middle of what could be a garage with holes in the wall.
Was the fact that in the bathroom that there was a mirror that showed that I was clearly knew was me.
After all it was either there was a break in reality with someone trapped to mirror me from the other side, where everything i did and even said felt like it was not me doing it.
Since the voice was definitely, definitely weird, worse yet with an accent that sounded like an abomination I could not recognize.
Thankfully I had what looked like a remote and what could be a TV, but honestly I don't know if it is. It's big, bulky and looks like it belongs in some wanna be old school future television show.
Messing around and I finally got it to turn on.
"..lieved to possess a stealth type talent. Be aware residents of Ghunard. Now up next after a brief commercial break, 15,737 year old, Monkey of the Mountain, demands a coital type talent worker drop r*pe allegations, because she provided service."
"The… what?"
Chapter 1 - Awakening
'Man this world is rough. The time for my awakening is almost here… just how far I am going to go is about to be decided by something I have no power over'
The principal on stage called for everyone's attention, "Students! It is almost time!"
Nobody settled down, students chattered, some jittery shuffling trying to remain at attention. There was order present, vaguely discernible lines, for the seven different classes of this year.
Quite a lot of students were betting on their chances of getting a decent resulting talent. After all it was almost time for the planetary world cycle to begin.
"SILENCE!"
The entire auditorium became quiet, nobody dared to peep a word. Rather nobody could after all the principle used his 'Talent', the very thing everyone will receive today.
I could not even look toward my friend as he was way back in our class' three lines, and gloat at how close I was to determining his talent.
"Well, I guess we now have an idea of what talent the principle has. Something related to words and ordering, I guess?"
Was what I tried to say but nothing came out of my mouth.
I saw the principle opening his own mouth and genuinely expected to listen to him.
"As you all know today signifies a month before our planet aligns with what is commonly referred to as 'The Greatest Mystery' of our planet."
But as the saying here goes, 'Expectations are meant to be crushed.'.
Because, I hear no such words. Not to say that we did not get the message, we got it loud and clear…
However… I thought them, not his words entering my mind but my own thoughts warped to match his voice, to the movement of his mouth. 'This is a distinct sensation, foreign, unexpected creepily invasive… and simply… Wrong.'
The feeling of rattling of my patch worked pocket watch, rattling was a distinct sensation and the only thing making me realize that I was shaking.
I could tell that there were other students who were uncomfortable with this sensation
Seemed like he did not care though even though one can assume he could hear us, or I guess we can speak… think him?.
"And this will be the day you all awaken! Your talents will reveal themselves to you, as rightfully so! All here have had to provide your own energy for the awakening. And while we are barred from asking you your talents but do come and query us for our various experiences!"
The revolting sensation kept flowing with every word that came out of our principles' mouth.
But our teachers have drilled into us this day… everyone's parents well some of their parents… have drilled this into us.
"Students lie down, take out you Nexus Cards! Remember there are no weak talents just people too stupid to polish them!"
Some reached into their shirt pockets with our school Insignia and took out their Nexus cards some their pants but it did not matter and held it in their hands and lied on the floor like a corpse being buried, and obviously I did the same as them.
The Nexus cards were once just simple black cards. However, over the school year we have provided our own energy, somehow, someway.
Be it punching those accursed walls, or enduring the freezing sensation of it absorbing our heat to have a cheap replacement of AC.
The card gradually looked more and more like a jar of liquid gradually filling it with a bright white liquid that sloshed around within the card.
We have all filled our Nexus cards to the brim.
" AND LET THE AWAKENIGN BEGIN!!!"
Each Nexus card shone like the sun, and the light focused on each card's holder.
And just like that I was not there any more, but was floating in a black reflective bubble.
'Our teachers mentioned that, they said that all talents no matter how objectively powerful or weak take the same amount of energy to awaken.'
Looking around my bubble, I took my time, 'After all they said that time basically does not matter, as you talent wakes up on it's own. We can't awaken it ourselves.'
A very confined space, exactly what I imagined a mother's womb to feel like, where time does no matter, neither where you are, nor who you are.
The one thing you could rely on was that the talent does Not CARE!
Anyone could get a talent, and anyone could use that talent to shoot to the sky… A talent does not care whether you parents are the owners of a planetary super-power, slaves, workhorses or even dead.
'Thank the Emperor, that the cirriculum provided some falsified talent templates for us to practise making them powerful… it was an interesting experience… especially that day… those guys are evil making a Concept types talent of the 'Wife' usable for the guys in the class… the amount of ways we had to twist that, talent's idea into something.'
Scowling looking back, 'Those guys never did provide the equivalent test for the girls did they… so how the hell do the girls keep getting consistently higher grades?'
For a moment I started to feel the entire vaccum become… substance. My talent was starting to awaken.
'Warp above please, I don't need a powerful talent, just a useful or normal one. I don't care for the Type or classification.'
After all in this world there are no 'Ranks' for talents, apparently there were until some sucker with a measured 'Failure Rank Talent' absolutely bulldozed everyone in some world and in the span of one trip became a powerhouse.
So they started to generalize our classification system into some of the oldest understood methods ever, and possibly most ineffective ways.
Game terminology roles Attack, Defence, Affinity, Support or Conditional. However these could not even hope to help us in our methods of understanding certain 'Talents'.
Once our teacher gave us a talent which, everyone was terrified of, he dubbed it 'Exponential', where every time you truly reached your limit your entire being is doubled and you have a 0.01% chance of permanently applying it. Every. Single, THING about oneself is doubled, regeneration rate across the board, body soul, Synchronization effects, intelligince… it was a terrifying talent… theoretically, however only worked once you reached your absolute limits.
And he drove it to home quite well that that is Very difficult.
Because according to this talent, reaching you absolute limit entailed and I quote 'If it was a cultivation world you would need to be burning your lifespan, blood essence, cultivation talent, soul energy, willpower, fate, luck, fortune, destiny and more.'
So for a talent like this there is no real or rather practical methods of abusing it.
The most recent classification system however is quite flexible, and way too confusing… so much so that it feels, incomplete.
There is 'Growth', talents that are geared to assisting in development or literal growth it does not matter.
Then the 'Effect', talents that give skill like effects that sap a unique energy accessed and regenerated by that talent.
The… weird, yet holistic 'Concept' type talent that reinforces a certain type of action associated to a word.
Then that is where the system really ends apparently we are supposed to vaugely interpret through very… flowery vocabulary what our abilities are.
Example the 'Exponential' Talent would be a 'A vaguely Concept type talent with Conditional Effect containing the potential for Growth type talent effects, centred around holistic self strengthening or preservation'
…
Yeah not very helpful, or descriptive really but this is honestly great. After all we were taught that our talents are the most secretive part of our selves.
And apparently some or rather most lovers do not know each other's talents purely to avoid people like mind readers.
But why not just mind read the talent holder themselves.
Well, imagine the talent space is like an organism, it will protect itself. And the most ideal way to protect something that can only be damaged when 'seen', is to hide really, really good.
…
Time flew by and for a split second I felt like I was being ripped apart and compressed at the same time.
Everything in the space became… observable, understandable… and somehow comprehendable.
But it did not change the fact that, and from all of the teaching and training we underwent, 'This was NOT supposed to happen.'
Our 'Talent Space' is NOT supposed to have it's rules ripped apart and, pieced together like a jigsaw puzzle.
And before I knew it mine was ripped into three, along with my very mind…
In a split second everything seemed just right.
No everything felt complete.
I felt just, right.
Like a key lost slotted into the right treasure chest.
And I knew it immediately, my talent.
There was no pain throughout the process just click like everything just fixed themselves.
____
The ability to 'lock' a universe's 'presence' onto myself, when traveled to. (Permanently)
Allows up to three different 'presences', and the ability to take on 'All' benefits of that universe's power system or 'laws'.
When the power system is locked with me I benefit slightly from my previous 'gains', in one form or another.
All are mutually exclusive, and do not directly interact with each other.
____
Honestly I don't know how to even say just how I could even use this.
…
'Alright calm down man.. okay back to school's teachings, there is a condition that I must have traveled to that universe, a limit is present in the number of 'power systems' that I could 'lock' but the ability to gain all the benefits of multiple power systems permanently is.. honestly extraordinary…
After all every world that we go to has some form of a power system be it science and technology, cultivation, people's perceptions or even merely the level of feats that they accomplish. Every 'world' or in this case mentioned 'universe' we travel to causes a fundamental shift in the power systems. And I have to chose…
*GASP*
And I was blind in moments, not like before but a blinding light.
So many fellow students were mumbling, groaning and some like me were shielding their eyes.