"All of you, attention!"
"Draw swords, thrust!"
"Draw swords! Thrust again!"
On the open field, a middle-aged man in dark green uniform shouted with a stern face.
With his commands, a group of teen boys and girls below rushed forward, each holding a heavy sword, slashing and stabbing fast.
Every move they made was heavy and strong, making the air whoosh.
But after two rounds of heavy-sword attacks.
The man in uniform frowned and spoke.
"Lancaster, your moves are not standard. Do it again!"
"And you, Fischer, when you thrust, I said go all out. Use your waist and hips to drive the power. What was that move? Do it again!"
"You! Scaler, you were slacking just now, right..."
With the instructor's harsh roar.
A few unlucky students could only pull long faces and swing their blades again.
But one of them muttered with a bit of complaint.
"Richard's moves aren't standard either. Why don't you call him out?"
"At a time like this? We'll become players and awaken talents tomorrow. What's the point of more practice?"
...
"What did you say?" The middle-aged the instructor's face changed, and he was very mad.
"Tomorrow you will awaken talents, but don't you know? Every bit you make your body better, the Knight Tempering Method you train will have a higher chance to awaken talents; if you keep acting like you don't care, don't talk about awakening even the lowest F-rank talent, you might not awaken talents at all!"
"Then, for the rest of your life, you will only be ordinary people, not sure you can live to the next day!"
"Any time monsters attack the city, they could kill you with ease!"
"By then, your old classmates who awakened D-rank or C-rank talents will become strong players and run wild in the world!"
"Don't think you're still just classmates now. Once you become players, if there is a gap in the talents you awaken, you will be people from two different worlds!"
"One has to rely on luck just to live, while the other can enjoy all the good things in the world!"
The instructor said angrily.
He knew these students were still young and didn't really get that a bit more effort today could change a whole life.
The instructor had dreamed at midnight more than once that if he could go back to his youth, he would train like crazy.
He could not go back, but at least he could push these kids to work hard.
After his words, the students below also looked serious.
They were not mature, but they knew the instructor was right.
If they trained hard and at least awakened a talent, even a lower D-rank or E-rank, they could enter a higher player academy to train, and their future would be bright.
If they were lucky and today's training drew out more potential, and they got some B-rank or even the rarer A-rank talent, then they could even get invites from top player academies in the United Nations!
In the future, they could at least reach level seventy or eighty.
Not only would they be strong, they could also lift up their family, friends, and relatives, all rising fast!
Who wouldn't be tempted?
All the students started to get restless.
Quite a few even picked up their heavy swords and kept swinging.
the instructor saw this and nodded with relief: "Work hard. If you don't, even if Rayna later admits she went to the same school as you, you won't have the face to admit it."
As soon as he said this, the boys and girls on the field moved with more passion, and their eyes, boys and girls alike, were full of longing.
Rayna was the pride of their Kaile City Shattered Star Junior Player Academy.
Since she was little, she showed a very high fit for the Knight Tempering Method, and even before becoming a player, energy waves had shown on her body many times.
Countless people predicted she would at least have a B-rank talent! Maybe even A-rank!
No doubt, a heaven-favored prodigy.
At the same time, Rayna was also the head cheerleader, and her looks were at the top of the academy and even all of Kaile City.
Top talent, unmatched grace.
That was her!
Half the students saw her as their dream girl—because they were male—and the other half saw Rayna as an idol, because they were female.
In the lively mood, only one person kept the same face and just slowly wiped the weapon in his hand.
He was the one the punished students had talked about earlier—Richard.
Richard's moves were the least standard, but the instructor would not call him out.
Because everyone knew that since birth, Richard had been very weak, and training the Knight Tempering Method to draw out potential was twice the work for half the gain!
He was the total opposite of the head cheerleader and future star, Rayna!
Richard had long been judged to have less than a 1% chance to awaken talents!
Even though Richard's academic classes had excellent grades,
for basic dungeon, wild monster habits, history, math, and other courses, he always got full marks, but it was useless!
In this era when strong players ruled everything.
Without a good awakened talent, Richard couldn't even find a fixed team to carry him to level up.
In this life, his only path seemed to be a clerk at the Adventurers' Association that serves players, since his academic grades were good.
"Sigh..."
"Has this day finally come?"
"Becoming a player and awakening talents is a death sentence for me!"
Richard let out a sigh.
He felt this transmigrate was really unfair.
In his last life, he likely died suddenly after all-nighters gaming, and then Richard transmigrate into a world where games and reality were mixed.
At first he was pretty excited and felt he could do big things.
Compared to the old world with fixed classes, becoming a player could give him great power and change his fate!
Then Richard found he was happy too soon.
After everyone became players, they all started from level one, which looked fair, but the biggest unfair part was whether you had enough aptitude to awaken talents.
In this, Richard was terrible to the core.
He had lived two lives, had strong mental power, great memory, and learned fast, but what use was it?
Richard could not awaken a good talent and could only be at the bottom.
Only, in an instant.
He suddenly felt a strange light flash before his eyes.
Richard's heart pounded, as if something was about to break out of its shell!
In the next instant, he felt rainbow-like light all over him burst in his eyes!
Then, Richard blacked out and fell headfirst to the ground.
The students around saw this and didn't think much of it.
Who didn't know Richard had a weak body?
They just didn't expect him to be this bad today. After practicing for only a bit, he could barely stand.
But in Richard's eyes, a flash of shock and wild joy showed.
He knew what that scene just now was.
Textbooks had talked about it countless times. It was the sign of talent awakening!
Most people awaken talents after they become players, but it's said a small number can awaken their talents even before becoming players!
Those talents are all very strong!
At the same time, lines of text appeared before his eyes.
[Hello, Contractor. Your access has merged with this world's talent system, creating the unique God-Tier talent: Contractor.]
[This system will coexist with your God-Tier talent and provide help.]
"This is the game I stayed up all night playing before I transmigrated!!"
Richard's face lit up with joy.