Just as Dave stepped into this shinning portal, he developed this strange rush of sensation all over his mind and body.
It was a feeling he had never experienced before.
Every part of his body felt as if it was being torn apart bit by bit.
He couldn't cry out nor think. He could only endure the strange sensation of being torn apart and put back together, happening all at once.
Just as he felt like he was losing his mind, the forceful change came to an end.
He landed on the solid ground and staggered a few steps before dropping to his knees. His body began to shake uncontrollably.
He felt out of air as they entered the new atmosphere.
He felt dizzy, as if the world was spinning around him. He closed his eyes tightly, wishing everything would stop… even for a second.
Gradually, the shaking stopped and the dizziness began to fade away.
He pushed himself up, as he felt something soft and cool beneath his hands. He opened his eyes and blinked.
He wasn't on the hard-packed dirt of the training field anymore. He stood in a field of glowing, silvery grass that swayed gently, even though there was no wind.
The training field with its hard-packed dirt surface no longer existed beneath his feet. Now, he stood in a field of silvery grass. Each blade glowed softly, sending a gentle light upward.
He looked up at th sky and was totally dumbfounded.
The sky displayed a breathtaking cosmic artwork which combined purple and violet colors with emerald and gold clouds in a chaotic pattern.
The sky displayed two suns which included a brilliant white sun and a smaller crimson sun that created an unreal twilight effect across the land.
The mountains rose from the clouds in the distance with their twisted peaks reaching toward the sky.
The atmosphere carried a delicate fragrance which combined the scents of moist soil with the fragrance of night flowers in bloom.
This strange place displayed both stunning beauty and deep danger at the same time.
His team emerged from the portal near him while they struggled to regain their balance after the portal's exit.
Ragnar hit the ground with force before he managed to stand up while wincing from his fall.
Sophie tumbled into a rough but effective roll. She landed in a crouch and immediately began to scan the area around them.
Bran simply fell flat on his face. He got up looking totally confused.
"Well," Ragnar grunted, as he wiped a trickle of blood from his nose. "That was unpleasant. Every part of my body aches so bad."
Before anyone had a chance to respond, a gentle symphony filled the air.
All around them, the black Nexus Interfaces on the aspirants' arms lit up, glowing brightly from their holographic screens.
The two thousand survivors who spread across the field experienced a sudden wave of anxious energy.
A woman nearby shouted with both fear and excitement as she declared "It's happening!"
She displayed her hand to show her F-Grade 'Glow Stick' which produced a weak and dim light.
Her face fell. "Oh. That's… useful for reading, I guess."
The announcements arrived as a disorganized stream of new abilities.
"D-Grade, 'Iron Grip'!"
"C-Grade, 'Enhanced Hearing'!"
"F-Grade, 'Water Condensation'!
I can make a cup of water every hour! We're saved!" a man said with sarcasm as he looked at his palm in disgust.
The mood shifted dramatically. Aspirants with D and C-Grade abilities celebrated because their scores met the academy standards.
The F-Grade recipients expressed complete despair because their dreams of becoming warriors had vanished.
"What did you guys get?" Bran asked, as he watched his interface screen with fear in his voice.
"I got a C-Grade… 'Minor Fortification'. It is a fortification technique that allows me channel raw life energy to form a temporary barrier around me for few seconds before collapsing. It's not much, but it's something."
Ragnar let out a belly-deep laugh, smacking his chest with a noise similar to raw meat hitting a table.
"C-Grade! 'Stoneskin'! My skin can turn as hard as rock for a few minutes! Take that, you ugly-ass monsters!" He smiled, as he showed a complete expression of relief through his happy face.
Sophie displayed an unreadable facial expression during that moment.
"Grade B," she whispered softly, but not softly enough to go unnoticed by those around her. "Tactical eyes".
I can see simple weak points in enemies or defenses, but not in complex situations, at least, for now."
The announcement of a B-Grade talent drew attention to her instantly.
Several aspirants gazed at Sophie with a mix of envy and calculation .
A B-Grade indicated that someone possessed real potential. The difference between being a monster bait and becoming a serious threat existed through this distinction.
As the noise of the crowd grew louder, Dave felt his own Awakening.
It wasn't the sudden jolt or flash of energy others described.
It was a slow, profound stirring deep within him, as if a slumbering, ancient leviathan was waking in the depths of his soul.
It was an immense, quiet power that didn't feel like a newly acquired skill, but rather a fundamental part of him he had never known existed.
It was a deep hum that resonated not in his ears, but in his very bones.
A warmth spread from his core, a feeling of connection to the life, death, and energy of this strange new world.
With a sense of dread and anticipation, he finally looked down at the Nexus Interface on his arm.
The holographic text glowed with a light far more brilliant than the others, a radiant, golden sheen that seemed to hum with power. His breath hitched in his chest.
[Talent Awakening Successful]
[Name: Dave]
[Talent: Soul Assimilation]
[Grade: SSS]
[Description: The user can absorb the souls of defeated enemies. Absorbed souls can be assimilated to permanently enhance the user's core attributes or used to analyze and replicate the enemy's innate skills. Souls can be stored, merged, or modified to create new abilities. The potential for growth is limitless.]
SSS-Grade.
The three letters seemed to burn into his vision. He stared, his mind refusing to process the information. SSS.
The instructors had spoken of S-Grades in hushed, reverent tones as the stuff of legends, the power wielded by monsters and gods.
SSS was a realm of power believed to exist only in theory or myth.
A cold wave of realization washed over him, dousing the initial shock with icy fear.
Instructor Rostova's words came back to him, sharp and clear. Power is not just given, it is taken.
He looked around at the other aspirants. He saw the naked greed in the eyes of a man who got a C-Grade, saw the way a small crowd was already forming around Sophie and her B-Grade, their expressions a mix of respect and thinly veiled ambition.
Revealing an SSS-Grade talent here wouldn't make him a hero. It would make him a target. A massive, glowing, irresistible target.
The academy wouldn't see him as a weapon, they'd see him as a priceless specimen to be dissected and studied.
The other aspirants, driven by the kill-or-be-killed mentality drilled into them, would see him as a lottery ticket.
Kill him, and maybe, just maybe, his power could be stolen.
His heart hammered in his chest. His singular focus, saving his family, depended on him surviving.
It depended on him getting stronger, not on becoming the center of a greedy, desperate free-for-all.
"Dave? You alright, man? You look like you've seen a ghost," Ragnar said, his baritone voice cutting through Dave's thoughts.
"Don't tell me you got an F-Grade. It's alright, you can be our team mascot."
Acting purely on instinct, Dave's hand darted out and slapped over the Nexus Interface, concealing its golden glow.
"No, it's… it's fine," he stammered, forcing his voice to remain steady. He couldn't let them see. Not even his team. Not yet.
He quickly focused his thoughts on the interface, willing it to hide the grade, to change the display.
He didn't know if it was possible, but Soul Assimilation wasn't a normal talent.
It was ancient, older than the system itself, and, in its own way, aware.
Part of its nature was to absorb, adapt, and reshape the very essence of things, including the System's projection.
As if answering his unspoken command, the deep, primordial power within him stirred.
A pulse of black-gold light rippled through his soul, and the brilliant golden letters on the screen shuddered… then bled away into the dull blue of a lower-grade talent.
The change felt almost instinctive, like the talent had decided for him that revealing its true rank now would be suicide.
He took a shaky breath and lifted his hand.
[Name: Dave]
[Talent: Attribute Enhancement]
[Grade: D]
[Description: Allows the user to temporarily boost a single physical attribute by a minor amount.]
It was a pathetic, common, and utterly forgettable talent. It was perfect.
"Just a D-Grade," he said, showing them the falsified screen. He injected a note of disappointment into his voice.
"Attribute Enhancement. Guess I can punch a little harder for a few seconds. Better than nothing."
Ragnar clapped him on the shoulder, a little too hard. "Hey, a D is a pass! Means you're not getting kicked out.
Besides, every little bit helps. We've got your back."
Sophie gave him a sympathetic look. "Don't worry, Dave. A talent is just a tool. It's how you use it that matters."
He gave them a weak smile, a mask of relief covering the storm raging inside him.
He was an anomaly. A secret walking among them. He possessed a power that could shatter the very foundations of this new world, a power that could make him a god or get him killed before the day was out.
As he looked out at the alien landscape, at the swirling purple sky and the silver grass, he knew his path had just become infinitely more complicated and dangerous.
The hunt for his family was still his goal, but now, a new hunt had begun, the hunt for the truth behind the immense, terrifying power that now slept in his soul.