The sound of insects, filled the night as I gazed toward the moon from the window of my bedroom.
'Enlightened, '
*Ding
A status window showed up.
[ Status ]
Name : Calin
Age : 20
Status : Full
Mana : 0/0
[ Attributes ]
Main : Enlightened (I)
Skills : -
[ Quest ] (1)
[ The Path of Enlightenment ]
- Talk with 5 people (0/5)
Calin sighed, he still don't know what kind of attribute this is. But since it's been marked as 'Secret' then it must be useful at least, even if it's not really that good.
He's been searching for what it means for a week at least. But then again since it's a Secret-Grade then it must really be a secret, especially when he couldn't find it in any records from the city's library.
Yeah... Unbelievable as it is, it's really been a week since he has awakened this attribute. By the gap of that time, he still didn't finish the 'E- Difficulty' advancement quest.
It turns out that as mysterious and simple as this ability seems to be, it's proven to be a big challenge to Calin, who never talked to anyone since he was ten years old.
Even all of his family members have already thought that he's become mute from not talking at all for such a long time. So they knowingly tried to let him be, as they thought that he would be disturbed and uncomfortable when they communicate with him, which was true back then. However, right now he really wishes that they would talk to him like they used to. Even his little sister who bugged him all day when he started to stop talking now has gone silent and just smiled every time she met him.
'Aargh! '
It's really frustrating when you know what you should be able to do easily couldn't be done even if you want.
'Maybe... I'll just write to them like I used to? Yeah, that must be it! Alright then, let me find a pen and a piece of paper. '
And with that, he spends the night preparing three letters to be sent to his family members in the morning.
'Hopefully, this would be considered talking.. '
As soon as the letters were completed, he quickly went downstairs to the dining table and placed the three letters he wrote on it. Then he quickly returned to his room just before everyone woke up.
Never he thought that Lunelle was watching him as he sneakily ran around inside the house.
***
That morning, the whole family is confused by the letters placed on the dining table. They have been made speechless by the content of the letters. It's not that the contents were inappropriate at all, instead, it's strange. Really strange. How can it not be strange when,
[ Hello Father, how are you? It's a great morning, isn't it? ]
[ Hello Mother, how are you? Your cooking is always great, what do we have for today's menu? ]
[ Hello Sis, how is your progress studying Alchemy? It must be hard, isn't it? ]
The boy who has always shut himself inside the room or gone who knows where suddenly wrote letters after a long time. Usually, he would write letters if there was something extremely important. However, this time...
Calin who peeked into the dining table from his bedroom suddenly fell onto the floor. He covered his eyes as he felt cringe spreading in his body. His ears feel hot as he couldn't help but be embarrassed by his family's reaction.
'F*ck, what should I do? Should I pretend to know nothing about it? No, it wouldn't work, wouldn't it? Think Calin! Think! Think like when you're beside the brother rock. '
He twitched about behind the door, not knowing that once again Lunelle is watching him through the gap he opened to peek.
***
"Brother rock, what should I do? Now, they must have found me as someone with mental illnesses. "
"Huh? They must have thought like that for a long time? No way! you're kidding, right? Hahaha, yeah you must be kidding. "
"You know brother... No never mind you must also be tired to hear my complaints all the time... I'm sorry, truly, I'm sorry. "
Again, just like usual Calin talked with the rock that afternoon. Unfortunately, the letters he wrote weren't considered as talking to people by the attribute. Knowing that fact he became depressed once again.
Combined with the fear that his family would hate his weirdness, he couldn't be at ease for the entire day. As such he then continued to talk with the rock for the entire afternoon.
"Brother rock, my sister is so awesome! Huh, you already knew it? Oh yeah haha, I've told you again and again aren't I? But let me tell you that this was a different kind of awesomeness from what I always mentioned. "
***
Meanwhile, Lunelle couldn't help but think about his brother for the entire day. The brother who has shut himself away for almost a decade suddenly started to open himself once again. It's indeed a good sign that he's trying to do so. But somehow, she couldn't help but think of ways to help him to realize it since she knew that he would become depressed if there were no positive reactions from their side. But too much of a reaction could also deter him, so it's a delicate situation that needed to be handled well.
Putting away her alchemy tools she started preparing to go home. The Alchemy class went smoothly as always. The things that people find hard to do somehow become a piece of cake in her eyes. Her talent in alchemy is deemed to be one of the best in the entire city. Even the headmaster of the City's Alchemy Associations promised to recommend her to join the Regional Alchemy Institute as soon as she awakens her Alchemy attribute, no matter what type of it as long as it's not the Common-Grade or below.
Of course, her talent also brought her many enemies. Especially those with jealous eyes who would try to mess with her from time to time. Fortunately, nothing has happened to her so far. She's being protected by the headmaster herself, surely no one wouldn't go that far to offend the headmaster by messing with her.
As such, she walked home peacefully without knowing that two black-robed figures were following behind her.