One by one, their gaze was fixed on Ren.
Even though he was an outsider, news about him saving Elara had reached their ears.
Coupled with the stories of his spar against Darian, it made all eyes turn to him because they were curious whether he could become an awakener or not.
*Huff…
Ren exhaled slowly before placing his hand on the Awakening Orb.
One second…
Two seconds…
Three seconds…
It had been five seconds, yet there was no reaction at all.
No elemental appeared on the orb, and no projection of a beast emerged in the air.
The villagers thought he had failed to become an awakener, so most of them shook their heads in pity.
"Ren…" Elara looked at him with a sad expression.
Maybe it was because they had the same dream, or perhaps because they had a good relationship.
At that moment, she felt like someone was squeezing her heart, as if his pain had reached her.
"What a pity!" Darian stated.
Ren was a talented martial artist.
He believed he would become a powerful awakener if he didn't fail.
It was too bad that fate was so cruel to him.
'Maybe, heaven is jealous of his talent.'
He added in mind.
Ren let out a soft sigh.
'I knew it!'
He was glad he hadn't placed any hope at all, because it made the disappointment more bearable.
'Well, becoming an awakener is not the only way to be strong. I believe I can still make my predecessor's dream come true.'
Just as he was about to remove his hand from the Awakening Sphere, a tiny spark of blue lightning suddenly appeared.
A moment later, the entire orb was covered in crackling lightning.
The lightning didn't stop there.
It surged through his hand and spread across his body.
His hair danced wildly, and his clothes fluttered as bolts of lightning wrapped around him. At that moment, he didn't look like a human being, but like the God of Lightning himself.
'Hmm?'
An unexpected happiness consumed him as his gaze fell on the lightning.
Since his predecessor had failed to awaken, he thought the result would be the same. Never did he think that he would manage to become an awakener.
'My predecessor, look! I've awakened the lightning element. The path to standing at the top and protecting the orphanage is now wide open.'
He was suddenly glad that he had come to the Awakening Ceremony.
As Ren was smiling happily, the villagers widened their eyes in surprise.
Of course, they were happy for him.
They were just shocked because they previously thought he had failed to become an awakener.
"Thank God!" Elara wiped away her tears of happiness.
She was thrilled because now, both of them could chase their dreams together.
"Haha!" Darian laughed happily. "That's more like it! He is far too talented to be an ordinary person!"
"I'm happy for you, Ren." Aveline's face blossomed into a smile as she saw him enveloped in blue lightning.
While they were smiling happily, something unexpected happened.
A projection of a white tiger suddenly appeared in the air!
Its body was huge, its fangs were sharp, and its eyes sent shivers down the spine of anyone who saw them.
The villagers were stunned by the appearance of the White Tiger.
Ren had awakened the elemental path, so something like this wasn't supposed to happen.
"Wha… what's going on? Why is there also a projection of a White Tiger?"
"How would I know? This is the first time I'm seeing this."
"Does that mean he awakened both paths?"
"This is crazy! Some people fail to awaken, yet he awakened both paths?! Is he a god's son or something?"
"He has the appearance of an angel. Maybe he really is the son of a god."
They were dumbfounded by what they were seeing because they had never seen or even heard of something like that before.
"Haha!" Darian laughed loudly again. "Someone as talented as him indeed deserves something special."
"Interesting!" Sofia's lips curled up into a smile.
Aveline turned to her daughter and teased her. "Elara, it seems the heavens consider him someone special. You will have to work hard if you want to stay by his side."
Elara's cheeks turned red. "M-Mother, what are you talking about?"
"Hehe." Aveline giggled softly.
At the same time, Ren stared at the projection with wide eyes.
Like the villagers, he was also stunned.
He previously thought one could only become a mage or a shifter because there was no record of anyone awakening both paths.
'So I awakened both paths? Interesting.'
He suddenly could not wait to study them both because the idea of combining lightning with a tiger sounded very interesting.
The moment Ren removed his hand from the Awakening Orb, Sofia announced. "Ren has awakened both Elemental and Beast Transformation paths. His element is lightning, and his beast form is a White Tiger."
After he walked down the Awakening Platform, Elara immediately said, "Congratulations, Ren."
"Thank you," Ren replied with a soft smile.
"The Awakening Ceremony ends here." Sofia closed the ceremony. "For those who managed to become awakeners, go to the training ground tomorrow morning. We will teach you about mages and shifters there."
One by one, the villagers dispersed.
----
The following morning, Ren and Elara went to the training ground together.
The moment they reached their destination, they saw Sofia, Alaric, and several teenagers who had become awakeners yesterday.
The teenagers wore happy faces and chatted excitedly because they were finally about to learn how to use their new powers.
"Mages, head to the north and wait for me there while shifters go to the south and wait for Alaric," Sofia announced.
One by one, they moved to the areas corresponding to their awakening paths.
At that time, Ren remained in his position because he didn't know where to go.
'What should I do?'
He wanted to learn both paths, but the classes were held at the same time, so he had to choose one of them.
'Should I go to the elemental path class and ask Elara to explain what Alaric teaches in the beast transformation class later?'
After recalling her shy personality, he shook his head immediately.
'What should I do?'
He didn't want to miss each class because he needed knowledge to add the lightning element to his beast form.
As he was trying to solve the problem, Sofia and Alaric approached him.
"What's wrong, Ren?" Alaric asked.
"Are you having trouble choosing which class to take?" Sofia added with a gentle smile.
"Yes," Ren replied.
"You are staying at the village head's house, so how about you go to Alaric's class?" Sofia gave some advice.
Ren understood the meaning behind her words. "Do you think she would be willing to teach me about the elemental path?"
"I'm sure she will. If she refuses, just use that handsome face of yours to convince her," she teased him.
The corner of Ren's lips twitched.
"Hehe." Sofia giggled softly. "Alright. Go to the south area now. We will start the classes soon."
Ren nodded before following Alaric.