(NOTE: The cluster of planets in which planet bloom-01 is known as cluster bloom)
The name of the team was Alpha squad. Ast laughed at first hearing this name but he saw that everyone in the team was a newbie from a nearby cluster system, who came here to practice and earn a name for themselves.
This region (cluster bloom) was considered a wasteland by the outsiders. Even the adventure guild didn't put any consideration into building its outpost here(that's why Ast was able to register easily) and it was merely built to have a strategic accessible location nearby. But it was home to Ast and he despised people looking down on his home.
Their team had 5 people other than Ast. Ast registered as a non-awakened and was given the role of a porter to take care of their belongings and animal carcasses that they would hunt.
Ast's team consisted of Tim and Tom, two brothers who would be the vanguard of their team. Both of them had a talent for 'Physical enhancement'. Tim's talent was level 3 and Tom's level 4. Both of their talents were in E grade and their skills weren't that great either thus Ast didn't pay attention to them.
Rita was their team's healer with grade D talent 'Healer'. Luka was a mage with grade C talent 'Flame control' and lastly Dave, a summoner with grade D talent 'Golem'.
Everyone introduced themselves to the group and told about their talent and skills, but what caught Ast's attention was the fact that Dave had lied about his talent altogether. Ast had the 'All Seeing eye', so he could see everyone's talent.
From what Ast had seen Dave had level A talent in 'Blood manipulation'. His talent was level 3 and he had one skill with him 'Blood Golem'. His skill level was also level 3.
Seeing this Ast was pleasantly surprised. He quickly copied Dave's talent into his temporary section. Ast started feeling a little dizzy.
"Hey, Sam what happened to you? Don't tell me you are already tired. I told you guys he would only be a burden. See, we haven't even started and he is already on his knees. Tsk" complained Luka. Having the highest grade in the team he was a bit arrogant.
Rita looked at Ast with a bit of pity. While Tim and Tom were also annoyed by Ast's behaviour. Dave kept his aloofness and didn't comment.
Ast on the other hand carefully looked at everyone's initial response and then ignored them. He looked at his talent window. Under the temporary section, there was a new talent 'Blood manipulation'. In front of the talent, there was its grade (grade A) and its level (level 1), but its level was greyed out, indicative of the fact that it could not be raised. (talent level cannot increase but skill level can)
Below the talent was a single skill 'Blood Devil'. Then the knowledge related to the talent and skill poured into Ast's head. He felt even weaker and now he was on both his knees.
His talent inherently allowed him to have a certain level of control over blood and increased his control over his own body. If he focuses, he could even harden some part of the blood to be used as a weapon. Next, he was understanding the powers of his skill when suddenly he felt a strong kick on his abdomen and was sent flying 10m and struck his back on a tree.
He felt intense pain and a splinter of wood had pierced his back. He looked up and saw the one responsible for his state. Tim was looking at him with a smirk on his face.
"Oh look, he isn't ignoring us now. Haha," Tim said a bit proud of his kick. Tim had used his skill 'explosive strength' on his leg and attacked Ast.
Ast was not kind or understanding in any way whatsoever. After Tim's sudden attack, he was furious and wanted to rush to beat him to a pulp, but he saw that everyone else was also on Tim's side so it would be a bit hard to confront all 5 of them together. Moreover, he had just got an awesome skill but hadn't understood its powers and limitations, so he had to be patient, even if he didn't want to.
But he was certain that Tim was now on his bad side and he had to pay for what he had done. It was abundantly clear to Ast that this action of Tim came from his superiority complex. And now Ast would help Tim, correct his delusion later on.