Andrew looked at the text displayed in front of him and quickly swung his entire body, looking directly at Zachary as if hed seen a ghost.
"Wait, what the hell is this about system, I thought I was the protagonist!" He thought to himself, greed secretly present within that thought though.
Andrew immediately knew that this would mean his life would be a bit more lax wirhout that label, as the protagonists always pull the most trouble towards them.
[You wish, youre simply a wanderer in this world. If you didnt awaken the system and you never transmigrated, what do you reckon your fate would be?]
"…less than a fish within a vast sea…" Andrew thought to himself, he always suspected this, but gaining ahold of the system he kind of fell into the interpretation that he was the one to reach the top of the world.
However he knew this was still possible, but it seemed hed either have a comrade or a competitor now.
"If i can, i definitely need to get close to this protagonist, i wonder what fortune he came upon…"
"Status!"
Andrew quickly looked at the status of this kid, and his lips slightly curled into a grin.
"Target aquired," he thought to himself with a flash of new determination.
[Status - Zachary Yueler
Stats - (unavailable)
Talent : Low Grade - Level 1 Space-Void Body (Growth Type) - (2X ALL Stats, Low Affinity to the Space-Void dimension)(Unawakened)
]
"Holy shit… I absolutely need to get my hands on this talent…" Andrew thought to himself, quickly gaining his bearings and focusing back onto the front stage as if he noticed nothing.
He had never seen base level stats like this from a low grade level one talent. 2X all stats meant even the ones he hadnt unlocked yet would be doubled.
The awakening ceremony had begun, students went up one after the other with prayers to their ancestors in their hearts.
However, most people only asakened level one or level 2 talents, walking off the stage wirh a grimace, knowing they had somewhat lost their opportunity for a better life.
Getting to Dylan, he placed his hand on the orb and a bright light flashed fourth.
"Not to bad at all, 4th grade strength talent, youll be nurtured by the school well." Said the proctor with a smile on his face, quickly writing down his results.
After Dylan it was Andrews turn, as he had not copied a talent yet, the orb showed absolutely no reaction.
"Sigh… Andrew youve come a long way since last year, these results are really hard to stomache even for me…" said the proctor, shaking his head with a disappointed expression, before writing down his results.
Andrew himself had no qualms about this, he walked off the stage and sat back down next to Dylan who comforted him endlessly.
Other students who had awakened lower grade talents suddenly felt subtle relief, atleast they hadnt ended up like him, they thought.
The other kids still in line however got even more nervous, there were usually only one or two students per year who wouldnt awaken anything, they now hoped they wouldnt be next in line for the pity party.
It took a little bit to see another mid grade talent, being the 3 trust fund kids that stood at the peak of the status quota at the school.
The reactions from the light orb were even greater than Dylan's, even being the same grade of talent. However their special attributes caused them to release shocking effects.
Mayas released a cold aura and a bright cyan light, Michaels released a sharp electric blue aura that made the surrounding students hair stand, and Ron had released a slightly hot, bright orange colored aura that made the students present start to sweat.
The proctor nodded in approval at each one of these, he knew these would become the key figures in the school.
The principal seeing this from a distance could already smell the possible promotion and guaranteed pay raise.
Every other student had successfully awakened a talent, all being low grade with the highest a level 3 'awareness' talent among the normies.
Then came Zacharys turn, however at this point nobody was paying attention to the stage, they all had begun to return to their conversations about what they had awakened.
Even the proctor himself was picking his nose, not paying attention to what he was doing, casually flipping through the pages to make sure he marked all 108 students down.
Andrew however, was watching with great interest, although he only showed a casual expression while Dylan was yapping his ear off due to excitement.
"Lets see what scene Mr. Protagonist will show us…" He thought, quietly tapping his foot in anticipation.
On Zachary's side, an old wise voice telepathically communicated with him.
"Hehe, kid this is the day your fate changes, dont hide anything… show all you got to receive the best resources."
"I understand, Master…" thought Zachary, before placing both hands on the crystal.
At first there was no reaction, Zachary completely cleared his mind and allowed his innate energy to be sucked into the orb.
And then, the whole room went dark, as if all the light had gotten sucked out of it in an instant.
"Oh my god, whag the hells going on?! A power outage?"
"No, this is much different, i cant even see my hands infront of my face, did a secret expert visit the academy???"
"I think it came from that kid Zachary, i glanced and saw his hands touch the ball and seconds later this darkness eneveloped us…"
"No way! What level would his talent be in that case!?"
….
The principle seeing this was even more shocked, he had never seen a reaction like this before in all the years he had conducted this ceremony.
"This kids top priority for certain… darkness like a black hole, where light itself cant escape…" he thought with the words 'promotion' ringing just a little bit louder in the back of his head.
Andrews reaction to this was a smile, he couldnt see anything but he noticed the moment it happened.
He saw the talent stone turning so dark it felt like ones soul would be sucked from their body if they looked at it for too long, before in an instant light itself seemed to collapse inwards towards it.
"Hehehe, talent im coming for you~" he sung in his head.
After about 30 seconds, everything suddenly went back to normal in an instant.
Some people had fallen over as they were standing up when everything went dark, tripping over themselves inadvertently.
Everyones gaze suddenly went right towards the stage, the crystal had replaced by a white light no less brighter than any of the students awakening a level 3 talent.
The proctor gulped with a bead of sweat moving down his face, quickly looking at what talent was shown.
However his face went stern, before falling back into a neutral expression.
He quickly wrote down, space-void constitution… level one low grade.
After this, he quickly disappeared from where he was standing arriving next to the principal in the room above the auditorium.
"What should we do principal? The stone said low grade level one talent… however it seems much more exceptional."
"Well place him in the same class as those 3 kids from the influential families… i have a feeling this isnt as simple as it looks." Said the principal, stroking his chin in deep thought.
Back on the stage, Zachary had opened his eyes after a few seconds, he could immediately feel the changes within his body.
He could feel every cell, it felt like his entire perception of reality was supercharged.
"this is only level one of this talent… what will the effects be at mid grade, high grade… and maybe even beyond!"
Zacahary quickly walked off stage with his head held just a bit higher than before, as students looked at him with mouths agape as he headed towards the back.
He eyes up an empty seat, meanwhile a certain individual was eyeing him up like a piece of steak.
Andrews lips curled into a smile, as he glanced at the empty seat next to him.
"How do i copy a talent?" Andrew quickly asked the system
[Host just needs to make physical contact, and then the host can copy.]
A greedy smile formed on his face…
_______