Snowfield City, Eighth Lord Academy.
The Grand Hall.
One thousand Basic Lord Students had gathered here to awaken their initial Talents.
The Dean and Chief Instructors stood at the front.
No one tried to quiet the students' noisy chatter.
After all, awakening one's initial Talent was an exciting affair; it was only natural for them to be unable to resist discussing it.
"Which of the three Awakened Talents did you choose?"
"I picked the E Level Talent, [Beastman Scholar]. It gives a 20% bonus Effect when performing an Enhancement on a Beastman."
"Nice, that's really versatile. I chose the D Level [Barbaric Strength], which increases Power by 1 point."
"Awesome! Power is a Basic Attribute, so that's super useful! I picked the E Level [Extraordinary Spiritual Power]. It boosts Spiritual Power by 3 points, but it's a shame it's just a Branch Attribute."
"I got the E Level [Swordsmanship Introduction]. It adds 5 points to my Swordsmanship Skill."
"How are all your Talents so good? All three of mine were trash. I had no choice but to pick the E Level [Goblin Scholar]. I've always hated Goblins, but now I'm stuck choosing them as my Race. Damn it."
"Goblins aren't bad. You can win with numbers. Besides, you should be happy you successfully awakened a Talent at all. Look at those guys over there with the long faces. They probably failed to awaken anything."
Nearby, some students remained silent, unable to hide the disappointment on their faces.
They had all failed to awaken a Talent.
Without an Awakened Talent, their territory's development would surely be at a disadvantage.
Falling behind on the very first step meant catching up later would be incredibly difficult.
One step behind, always a step behind.
Zhao Chi was also silent.
But he wasn't disappointed—he was astonished.
Three Awakened Talents were displayed before him, but he still hadn't made a choice.
Because another Talent had awakened automatically.
[Talent] Transplantation
[Level] S+ Level (Hidden)
[Effect] Can transfer certain data.
'A Hidden Talent?'
Zhao Chi stared at the system in astonishment.
'And it's S+ Level? Isn't the highest Level S-class?'
He had never seen anything like it.
The font for this Talent in the system was different, too.
It wasn't ordinary black text, but a radiant, glowing gold!
'This dazzling effect... truly worthy of an S+ Level.'
But the description for the [Transplantation] Talent was far too vague.
It was only four words: "Can transfer certain data."
'What data? How does it transfer it?'
He had no idea. There wasn't even a Note or an Explanation.
Zhao Chi was completely bewildered.
But he knew one thing: his luck was about to change.
He had transmigrated to this world two years ago.
He had simply gone to sleep and inexplicably woken up in the County Level city of Snowfield City.
He had been treading carefully every day since.
After all, this world was completely different from his original one.
This place was like a game world.
A game world that seemed to be a chaotic mix of martial arts epics, eastern fantasy, and western magic.
There were Martial Arts that consumed Energy and Spiritual Techniques that consumed Spiritual Power.
You could craft your own Medicine.
You could forge your own Weapons.
The most important subjects in school weren't literature and math.
Instead, they were Forging, Sewing, combat, Spiritual Technique theory, racial traits, knowledge of special characteristics, item functions, territory management... and so on.
Everyone here had a system that allowed them to view all sorts of information.
On top of that,
this world even had cosmetic outfits!
Maid outfits, nurse uniforms, school uniforms, and so on.
All of them could provide extra Attribute bonuses.
But, unsurprisingly, this world was also very dangerous.
The outside world was teeming with rampant Magical Beasts.
Only the Human cities were safe.
...Relatively safe, that is.
Magical Beasts were unpredictable and would often attack the cities.
If a city's defenses were ever breached, it would be a catastrophe.
Besides the Magical Beasts,
there were also many other races with high intelligence.
Their relationship with Humans was one of both friend and foe.
Sometimes they would unite to fight Magical Beasts; other times they would wage war on each other.
They were Alien Races, after all. It was impossible to ever completely trust one another.
Humans themselves were not particularly strong.
Their Power was no match for a Beastman's.
Their agility was no match for an Elf's.
However, Humans relied on the World Stones they acquired through war to carve out their own exclusive territories.
Within these territories, they could grow food and train Soldier Types.
This allowed them to stand against the endless hordes of Magical Beasts in the outside world.
Although other races also possessed World Stones and could establish territories,
Humans were clearly the most skilled at managing them.
It was just that...
World Stones were not plentiful.
Most people only got one chance to obtain one for free.
And today, in addition to activating their Talents, the World Stones would be distributed.
There was also a bonus from the academy: a Heroic Soul, which could be used to summon an Initial Hero.
That was why today was of the utmost importance for these twenty-year-old students.
The principal clapped his hands at the front of the hall.
Then, he urged, "Students who haven't chosen a Talent, please make your selection as soon as possible. We will be distributing the Heroic Souls and World Stones shortly."
Zhao Chi was immediately pulled back from his thoughts. He looked at the three Talents before him.
The first one:
[Talent] Female Scholar
[Level] E Level (Improvable)
[Effect] 1. When using Skills on female allies, Effect +20%.
[Effect] 2. When using Skills on male allies, Effect -10%.
It was a Basic Talent.
Its effects were average, not particularly strong.
It had both a positive and a negative effect.
Whether they were Human, Beastman, Elf, or any other humanoid race, females were naturally weaker in terms of raw power.
Therefore, females were at an inherent disadvantage in combat.
As for races like fishmen, kobolds, spider-people, skeletons, stone men, and so on,
they were either divided into male and female, had different biological classifications, or were simply genderless.
This Talent wouldn't work on such races.
So, to make this Talent effective, one would have to choose a humanoid race.
Specifically, a humanoid race that has females.
The Talent had racial requirements.
However, this was an improvable Talent.
It could be upgraded later and become stronger and stronger, which was a definite plus.
Zhao Chi looked at the second Talent:
[Talent] Judging by Appearance
[Level] E Level
[Effect] When using Skills on allies of the opposite sex, gain a +5% Effect bonus for every 1 point of their Appearance Attribute.
'This Talent...'
'To be honest, it's pretty average, too.'
This world had an Appearance Attribute, and naturally, the higher the Attribute, the better-looking the person.
This Talent was based on appearance—the better-looking someone was, the bigger the bonus.
'No wonder it's called Judging by Appearance.'
But good-looking people were rare; most were just ordinary.
An ordinary person's Appearance Attribute was only 4-5 points.
That calculated out to a mere 20%-25% bonus, and it was restricted to the opposite sex.
Its scope of application was therefore quite narrow.
It wasn't an improvable Talent either, so its potential was limited.
It was worse than the first Talent.
Zhao Chi then looked at the third Talent:
[Talent] Gluttony
[Level] F Level
[Effect] 1. Appetite +500%.
[Effect] 2. Fecal output +500%.
This...
'What is this thing?'
'It's a completely useless Talent.'
'Maybe it could help a little with making fertilizer.'
No wonder that student from before hated Goblins but still ended up choosing a Goblin-related Talent.
When trash Talents like this existed, what other choice did you have?
The third Talent was a non-starter.
It looked like he would have to choose between the first and second Talents.
Zhao Chi was a little disappointed.
None of these were the kind of Talent he had been hoping for.
'I guess I'll pick the first one. At least it's improvable.'
Just as Zhao Chi was about to make his choice, he suddenly noticed that these two Talents were shimmering with a golden light.
It was the same color as his just-awakened Talent, [Transplantation].
'Why is it glowing gold?'