"The awakening ceremony... is this for real? Am I finally getting my power..."
Lukas was instantly fired up. He had read about this situation multiple times, where the protagonist, upon transmigrating, would awaken overpowered abilities.
With these thoughts in his mind, he wasted no time and hard-pressed the 'yes' button.
Before even his hand could make contact with the floating window, Lukas felt a warm current entering his body through his feet, before slowly making its way toward his chest. Lukas's entire body seemed to shiver in sheer excitement.
The next moment his teen body lit up like a bulb.
Meanwhile, witnessing this scene, little sister Risa's expression fell.
"This is not good. Big Brother's body lighting up so much is a sign of poor star energy aptitude; he might not have awakened a top-tier talent at all."
Her voice was filled with worry. Although Big Brother might speak too much sometimes, she wished the best for him.
Meanwhile, the crowd broke out in loud, mocking laughter. "He is definitely top-tier trash. Everyone, we might witness the first awakener with three-star potential, first in the history of Ravenstone City!"
"Hahah..."
The ones who laughed the loudest were all dressed in rich clothing.
Just at this time, on the face of the middle-aged man—the Deacon of the Church of One Above All—a frown had appeared. A cold snort soon reverberated in the hall.
"Silence! Even one star is a blessing from the Lord One Above All. No matter who you are, daring to make fun of the Lord's blessing will have to suffer the consequences..."
The middle-aged man's words instantly silenced the crowd. Once the grand name of 'One Above All' was mentioned, no one dared to laugh out loud.
The middle-aged Deacon's expression didn't change. He gave the crowd a cold glance and sternly said, "Who is next? Prepare yourself. I have to finish this ceremony in half an hour and move to the next city. If I am even a minute late, I might downgrade this city's rating in the next assessment."
Although these words were not said out loud, in the minds of everyone—especially the rich and arrogant—they reverberated like thunder. A city rating downgrade was just a death sentence to their families.
Their city was already ranked lowest; as a D-ranked settlement, it received the least protection and even fewer resources. If the rating were to be downgraded, they might become gradeless and lose all protection. Once that happened, they would just become an open target for the mutated beast invasion.
"Calm your anger, Deacon Mark, for your precious service. My grandfather had prepared a large banquet for you; he is patiently waiting for your arrival after the ceremony ends..."
Maybe this was what Deacon Mark wanted to hear, but after those words, his expression eased and a smile appeared on his face.
Rufus also calmly returned the smile while cursing under his breath. Grandpa was correct; every single member of the One Above All Church is a greedy bastard.
After this short incident, everything returned to normal. The next in line silently waited outside the awakening room for Lukas to come out.
…
[Ding! You have successfully awakened a talent]
[Talent Name - Basic Bonewalker (Evolving)]
[Star Energy Potential - Two Stars]
Lukas had blankly glanced at the window when he suddenly felt a burning sensation on the back of his hand. However, for some reason, he didn't feel any pain.
"Are those stars..."
Lukas brought his hand closer to his face to closely examine the changes. Right below his pinky and index finger, two stars had appeared.
His gaze drifted from the floating window then back to the two stars on his palm. After a brief moment, instead of complaining, he let out a sigh.
What was he even thinking? Just because he crossed over to another world didn't mean his luck would change.
While he was lost in his thoughts, the wall parted ways revealing an exit. Lukas also walked out, unwilling to linger for any longer.
He wanted to check the situation outside.
As he was walking out, his gaze happened to meet the young man coming in. The young man happened to see stars on the back of Lukas's hand and immediately a mocking grin appeared on his face.
"As expected from the top-tier trash, you even broke the record among the trash to awaken a talent with two stars…"
Lukas wanted to instinctively retort, but in the end, he simply shrugged his shoulders and walked out, not willing to pay any attention to a busybody loudmouth.
Meanwhile, the young man who had just mocked Lukas stood stunned as if he had seen a ghost.
It was only after Lukas was completely gone from his view did he finally mutter in a low voice:
"What the hell? Did this idiot finally lose his mind? Why didn't he react to my words..."
...
Outside the awakening room, Risa was already waiting for Lukas to walk out. As soon as she spotted him, she called out, "Here you are...!" She grabbed his hands and dragged him out of the large awakening hall.
"Little sister..." Lukas also didn't resist. As he recognized from the memories, she was Risa, his predecessor's little sister, just one year younger than him.
Once they were out, Risa immediately exploded like a lioness.
"Big Brother, how many times do I have to tell you? You can't utter such things publicly. One day you will get yourself killed!"
Lukas silently listened while scanning his surroundings. As far as his eyes could see, single-story buildings straight out of a western medieval city filled his vision. Curved arches and sloping roofs; warriors dressed in leather armor moved to and fro, talking among themselves. Most had grim expressions on their faces.
"Brother, are you even listening?"
Risa seemed to have caught him looking around and loudly yelled.
"Listen to me seriously. Now that you have awakened, by any means you will be teleported to the Star Dimension. You must not take any risk. Don't fight, just find the nearest teleportation station and return..."
By the end of her words, the speed at which Risa spoke increased. Lukas nodded his head, not understanding her urgency, until he heard the mention of the Star Dimension.
Star Dimension. How could he forget about it? Once a warrior awakened their talent, they would be first sent to the Star Dimension, a dangerous place filled with all sorts of monsters and exotic tribes.
Remembering all this information caused his heart to panic. He had barely gotten familiar with the new world and now he was being sent to a completely hostile place for no good reason.
"Brother... Don't worry about me. I still have a little bit of money saved so I will manage. You take care of yourself..."
Risa lied with a smile on her face so that her big brother won't worry. The last bit of money that they had saved up was used as the entrance fee for the awakening ceremony.
Lukas didn't reply but watched his hands slowly fade into nothingness, as if he was simply getting erased from the world. However, he simply took a deep breath and didn't panic.
It was just the inevitable. Looking around, he spotted many other young awakeners in the same situation as himself; most of them had just awakened and were sent to the Star Dimension for the first time.
Before he could continue thinking, Lukas felt his perception shift. Before he could realize it, his vision darkened completely.
[Welcome to the Star Dimension, young awakener]