Chapter 60: An Awakening Of Another Talent

Nero booked a training room and contacted Enis on his way inside. The familiar silver drone arrived shortly after he entered.

"Alright, Nero! Before we begin, tell me what you know about your Talent. I want to see what we’re working with."

Nero scratched his head. "Well, it uses Mana to activate, but the attacks come from Cell Energy. My cells produce and store it throughout my body."

"And how do you release that energy?"

"I just concentrate on attacking. If I focus hard enough, the energy eventually comes out of my hand."

"That’s your method? You just think really hard?"

"Well... yeah?"

Enis burst into laughter.

"Hahaha! Wonderful! Years of research into Awakener Talents, and young Nero has discovered the legendary technique of thinking really hard!"

"Hey! I only awakened two days ago!"

"I know, I know! Come on, show me what you’ve got!"

Nero faced the training target and raised his right hand, concentrating until Cell Energy began gathering throughout his body and flowing toward his arm.

BANG!

A blue blast struck the target, leaving a dent in its padded surface.

"Alright, that’s enough!" Enis announced cheerfully. "I think I know what we’re dealing with now."

"Great! Then let’s get started."

"My dear student, we have a tiny problem. You haven’t even gotten used to activating your Talent properly."

"But I’ve been using it for a while now!" Nero complained. "What’s wrong with the way I activate it?"

"Nothing, if your goal is to spend five minutes thinking before every attack. Personally, I’d prefer you stay alive long enough to fire a second one."

"..."

Enis chuckled before displaying a holographic screen showing two Awakeners using Ki-based Talents.

Their faces were blurred, but Nero’s enhanced perception allowed him to notice that the man on the right activated his Talent considerably faster.

"See the difference?" Enis asked.

"Yeah, the guy on the right is faster."

"Correct! Now, can you tell me why?"

Nero considered the question.

"Maybe he’s trained his Talent to a higher level? Is he close to the second phase, D-Rank?"

"Nope! They’re both at the same level of Talent development. The difference is that the second guy has learned to activate his Talent without consciously thinking through every step."

Enis enlarged the recording.

"You said it yourself, Nero. You need to concentrate before your Talent responds, but proper activation should eventually become as natural as breathing."

Nero began to understand.

Whenever he wanted to attack, he concentrated until Cell Energy responded. Sometimes it happened immediately, while other times he struggled to release anything.

’So I need to activate it without thinking? Just like breathing?’

"So what should I do? Got any secret techniques for me?" Nero asked eagerly.

"Secret techniques? No? All you need is Repetition!"

"...That’s it?" Nero was dumbfounded.

"That’s it! Unless you’d prefer running fifty laps, doing a hundred push-ups, and screaming your Talent’s name at the ceiling."

"Would that help?"

"Absolutely not! But I’d have a wonderful time watching!"

Nero sighed.

He had expected something extraordinary from the Federation’s greatest AI, perhaps even a secret training method.

Instead, Enis was telling him to repeat the same thing until he got better.

’Reality really is disappointing sometimes.’

"So I just keep activating my Talent until it becomes natural?"

"Exactly! You’ve already paid for the room, so go wild! Just focus on activating it without putting so much thought into the process."

Nero nodded and began practicing, sending blue blasts toward the padded targets.

At first, he still needed to concentrate before every attack, but as he continued, the activation gradually became more familiar.

Soon, Nero realized he could release Cell Energy from his palm almost instinctively, without having to consciously think about activating the cells.

’Oh? It’s working!’

He wasn’t sure whether the rapid improvement came from his High-Human body or the Training Amplifier, but after several more attempts, he could activate his Talent naturally.

Even Enis seemed surprised.

"Whoa, whoa! Hold on! You actually got it already?"

"Yeah. Is something wrong?"

"Wrong? Hahaha! Nothing’s wrong! I just didn’t expect you to learn that quickly."

"So, what are we learning next?"

"Nothing! That’s enough for today. Get comfortable with what you’ve learned before moving on to something more complicated."

"Seriously? We’re already finished?"

"Yep! Congratulations, my dear student. You’ve graduated from the prestigious Academy of Thinking Really Hard!"

"...That’s not a real academy."

....

Few hours ago, Victoria watched the last of the light surrounding Richard disappear.

Lyris was the first to approach him, wrapping her arms around him before the professors could reach his side.

"I’m glad you’re safe."

"I’m alright. Sorry for making you worry."

"Splendid work, Richard," one of the professors congratulated him. "Reaching D-Rank and undergoing a second awakening at the same time is quite an achievement."

Several members of the Student Council also came forward to congratulate him, and Richard thanked them with a polite smile.

"By the way, I felt some of my power escape during the awakening. Did anyone get hurt?"

"It went toward Nero," Lyris answered. "But Lilly stopped it before he got hurt."

"Thank goodness. I’ll have to apologize to him when I see him."

"You don’t have to go looking for him, Richard. It wasn’t something you could control."

Victoria noticed the uneasiness in Lyris’s voice, although something else had caught her attention.

’Nero?’

That was the name of the young man whose unusual reflexes she had noticed earlier.

"Nero? Are you talking about that boy with long hair and a fairly decent face?"

"That’s right," Richard answered. "Nero Martinez. He was with us during the Red Gate incident and awakened around that time."

"He was involved in that too? What Talent did he awaken? Something related to instincts?"

That would explain his reaction earlier. He had recognized the danger and prepared to dodge before most of the students even understood what was happening.

"I’m not sure," Richard admitted. "I haven’t asked him about his Talent."

"His Talent has nothing to do with instincts," Lilly interrupted. "He awakened Cellular Reservoir."

Victoria was surprised.

"Cellular Reservoir? Are you certain? He could be a double Awakener."

"Nero is a double Awakener?" Lyris asked in disbelief.

Lilly glanced at her.

"Nope, that’s not what I said. He only has one Talent, and it’s Cellular Reservoir."

She turned back toward Victoria.

"I was helping him practice this morning. You know how Cellular Reservoir works, Professor."

Victoria certainly did, which only made Nero’s reaction more puzzling.

Cellular Reservoir wasn’t known for enhancing instincts or reflexes, so how had he reacted that quickly?

’I’ll have to ask him myself.’

However, Victoria noticed something else while examining Lilly.

"Wait a minute. Lilly, have you reached D-Rank too?"

Lilly smiled proudly.

"Yep! It happened this morning while I was asleep."

A faint blush appeared on her cheeks, which Victoria found rather strange.

Before she could question her, Richard spoke.

"Congratulations, Lilly! Looks like you beat me to it."

"Thanks... We should have a match sometime and see how much we’ve improved. What do you think?"

"Both of you can calm down," Victoria interrupted. "We’re checking Richard’s condition before anyone starts arranging fights."

She turned toward Richard.

"Now, tell me what changed. What happened to your Light Talent?"

"Well, it did undergo a second awakening, but that’s not all..."

Richard sounded rather awkward despite having accepted everyone’s congratulations so confidently.

"I think I might have awakened a second Talent too."

Victoria stared at him.

"...You what?"