Chapter 1 - Awaken
I was looking at a glistening book on the table, a [Skill Book], albeit a very low ranked one at that. [Fireball], an F ranked spell that only the most unfortunate beginners start with.
But this skill book took a majority of my remaining inheritance, and all of my savings. I was known to be a fairly smart guy before everything went to shit, so I planned ahead before spending most of my money
In the worst-case scenario, I still have enough funds to last me at least a few months.
In the best-case scenario, as planned, I would consume this skill book and hope for a semi-decent talent when I awaken.
Getting this skill book was not easy, but it was the only way to awaken if you did not awaken naturally. The rich had no problem awakening themselves, their children, and their children's children
I look at the skill book again before steeling my resolve and picking it up. Bringing it close to my chest, I close my eyes.
A few seconds pass before I see a flash of light, even though my eyes are closed. Opening them, the book in my hands had disappeared, and at the corner of my eyes something else had appeared
[Noah]
[Vitality: 10]The birth of this content finds its genesis in Nøv€lß¡n★
[Focus: - ]
[Strength: 10]
[Skill(s): Fireball]
Shining with blue light, the words brought confusion more than relief to me. Where the hell were the numbers for focus?
From the released knowledge, ever since the apocalyptic event that killed more than a billion people occurred, a new magical world took its place. People that are termed as Awakened appeared and others could also become awakened through learning [Skill book] that can be dropped from killed monsters
Yes, monsters. Magical beings that most commonly reside in dungeons, and occasionally come out whenever a dungeon break occurs.
Since more than a year has passed, it became common knowledge that those who are awakened are able to use skills, whether inherently gained or from skill books, to perform amazing feats and vanquish monsters
These awakened beings can increase their strength by killing more monsters and absorbing the [Life Cores] they drop, which add to the three attributes: [Vitality][Focus] and [Strength]
Sigh. So why the f.u.c.k is my [Focus] empty?
I focus once more as I cast what is probably my last fireball until I rest for a while before I can cast again
[Fireball]
The fifth fireball flew out and exploded just like the ones before
With a smile on my face, I wiped the perspiration on my forehead while feeling relieved. Being average is not bad, at least with this, I can count myself among the top of many people in the world today
I was still confused on the fact that no numbers were showing on my [Focus] though, which meant I couldn't get a gauge on just how much energy I had and how many times I could cast my skill
I hesitantly raised my hand again to see just how many times I could cast [Fireball]
...[Fireball]...[Fireball]...[Fireball]...
The more times I cast the skill and more fireballs flew and exploded in front of me, the more shocked I became
...[Fireball]...
The shock soon turned into incredulousness, as I had counted more than 50 fireballs flying from me and exploding
This...
10 times the normal amount of energy an average F rank has?!
I try to breathe to calm myself down. 10 times. That means my energy nears rank D Awakened. That was extremely rare, as long-distance awakened with skills like fireballs can easily take down an F rank monster, and 3 to 4 fireballs or equivalent skills can take care of E ranked monsters. D ranked Awakened individuals also triumph over D ranked monsters fairly easily with good usage of their skills
Am I actually one of the talented awakanees? I try to push down the pride that began rising before calling out another [Fireball], because I still didn't feel like I was out of energy
This both scared me and made me extremely hopeful in the future. When I kept casting the skill, I didn't really feel any energy leaving, nor did I feel exhausted
When I reached 100 casts, my shock increased.
When it reached 300, my head was pounding from this unknown situation
When it reached 500 casts, My whole body shook. I breathed heavily before looking around me, I was fairly deep into the barren field and had the cover of trees behind me
Glancing around and making sure there was nobody around me, I rushed back to my apartment to try and calm my nearly exploding heart
500 times I had cast an F ranked skill, and I didn't feel any exhaustion, what exactly was going on?