Seventeen years had passed since the otherworldly monster attack that ravaged Downtown Manhattan.
The skyline had changed, with gleaming skyscrapers dotting the horizon. The streets were bustling with people once again, and some new stone monuments could be seen on the sidelines of the buildings.
Manhattan had undergone a major transformation, with some iconic places like Wall Street and One World Trade Center lost forever or replaced by newer structures.
Despite the changes, Downtown Manhattan remained a vibrant and dynamic part of New York.
Klaus and Joanna sat in the back passenger seat, riding in a black limousine driven by a private chauffeur.
She was supposed to go to school today, but Joanna was good at making up excuses, getting her mother to grant her request to skip class.
They got off at a large building, with a 5 square meter fountain pool, and flags from various countries flying around it.
They had arrived at the central branch building of the Awakener Association in Manhattan.
Klaus felt a strong aura from this place.
"This is where the awakener gathers, huh?"
People with unique appearances were walking into the building. Some carried greatswords on their backs, some wore robes and carried staffs, some wore heavy armor.
At first glance, they looked like cosplayers attending a comic con event, but the equipment they wore was made of real materials.
Klaus glanced at his sister, she seemed to be holding her breath, nervousness evident on her face.
"You're ready, right?" asked Klaus reassuringly.
His sister snorted. "Of course."
Joanna's purpose for visiting this place was to find out what elemental affinity she had.
According to Luis, it was difficult to manipulate elements if awakeners did not know what elemental affinity they possessed.
Only gifted people were able to do so, and Joanna realized she was not one of them.
As they entered the building, they were greeted with a busy and hectic atmosphere.
The hall was spacious, but filled with a sea of people. The lounges that provided seats on the west and east sides of the hall were also packed with people.
About 10 meters from the entrance, a line of counters seemed to be filled with snaking queues. Female receptionists in dark blue blazers and white shirts were seen busy serving the awakeners.
"You can queue by yourself, right? I'll find a place to sit," Klaus said. Of course, he didn't want to bother queuing.
"Seriously, how am I supposed to find you later in this packed place? Come with me."
Joanna grabbed his arm, and she dragged Klaus into the long queue. For half an hour Klaus had to stand amidst a crowd of people and the smell of sweat.
When it was their turn to register at the administration counter, the receptionist asked her various questions, and then she appointed Klaus as her guardian. After a long conversation and annoyed sighs from the back of the queue, they were finally done.
Klaus and Joanna found two empty seats in the western lounge, they sat close together with dozens of other awakeners.
"Here, your number." Joanna handed over a piece of paper bearing the number 108.
Klaus squinted. "I don't remember ever wanting to take a test."
"Yeah, I know right. But I don't know why the receptionist gave me two queue numbers either. As you can see, it's a busy day." She looked around with a sigh. "It's okay to give it a shot, maybe you have a potential to become an awakener."
Klaus simply took it, and put it in his pocket.
Besides functioning to take care of certification, the Awakener Association office also received ordinary people to check their potential.
With each passing day, not only did the number of awakeners increase, but also the desire of ordinary people to become awakeners.
An awakener had a better career and economy, which was why many people wanted to become one.
"Queue number 107."
After waiting for about two hours, the awaited queue number finally arrived
Standing with her chest puffed out, Joanna ready for the test. She glanced at her older brother for a moment, asking for his support. Klaus just smiled and nodded, then she set off for the testing room.
Klaus sat alone amidst dozens of strangers. He stared into empty air, waiting for his sister to finish her test.
As the hours passed, Joanna finally appeared in front of him with a big smile on her face. Both her hands hidden behind her hips, indicating she had a surprise.
"So, how was it?" Klaus asked.
"You'd be surprised," Joanna replied with a giggle. She showed him a watch-like device on her wrist.
Klaus squinted, curious about the device. "What's this?"
"Smartlink."
Smartlink was a device given to people who had been verified as awakeners. Besides storing user information, this device could be used to communicate and access the internet.
She pressed a button on the edge of smartlink, and a hologram appeared.
[Name : Joanna Lee]
[Age : 15]
[Role : N/A]
[Talent : Cure]
[Elemental Affinity : Wood (Very Strong)]
[Battle Power : 644,554]
[Rank : A-Class]
[Status : Uncertified]
Instantly, Klaus understood the reason behind his sister's happiness.
"I am an A-Class awakener!" Joanna exclaimed in a loud voice.
The people around her quickly glanced at her, and whisper voices began to echo.
Based on what Luis had said, each awakener had a rank. They were divided into eight levels, from the lowest F-Class to the highest Top-Class.
Rankings of the awakeners depended on how much "battle power" they had. Battle power was an accumulation of physical strength, agility, endurance, perception, and mana capacity in the human body. Ordinary people normally had between 0~100 battle power, while F-Class awakeners had at least 4000.
A-Class awakeners were very good, there were only 10% of them in the world. The distribution of the number of awakeners was like a pyramid, the higher it was, the fewer there were. The highest rank, Top-Class, made up only 0.1% of the world.
"That's amazing," Klaus praised in awe. "But why is your status uncertified?"
"They said there are still two more tests, but it can be done at any time."
Klaus nodded. "Anyway, let's get out of here, I can't stand here anymore."
As he stood up to drag Joanna leaving this place, the speaker said the queue number 108. Instantly, Joanna pulled her hand.
"Hey, how about your test? I'm kinda curious about the results."
Of course, Klaus refused, he wanted to leave this place immediately. However, Joanna kept pleading and did not want to leave until he underwent the test.
In the end, Klaus complied with his sister's request.
He headed for the test room by following the staff's directions.
The test room was a white room, with a large iron ball in the center. At the end of the room, there was a rectangular glass that separated the participant from the assessors. There were three assessors watching Klaus.
"Please put your hand on the power gauge."
Klaus followed what the assessor instructed. He placed his hand on the large metal ball.
An electric sensation ran through his palm, his fingers feeling a vibration. Shortly after, a transparent blue hologram appeared before him.
<...>
<...>
<...>
<...>
"Hey, hey. Look at that!"
"Oh my goodness."
The assessors were surprised at the information the hologram displayed. They had not expected to see that someone would have eight elemental affinities, and all of them were extremely strong.
However, the test was still not over.
<...>
<...>
<...>
<...>
<...>
"This doesn't make sense. Is something like this possible?"
The assessor room was getting noisier. One of them thought that the system was bugging, but they continued to watch the test results.
"For real? He has more than 108 talents."
"Even the system is unable to load."
<...>
<10…>
<800...
<1,600…>
<23,000... >
<44,000...>
<96,000...>
<...>
<...>
<293,500…>
<462,500…>
<637,500…>
<812,500…>
<1,040,000...>
<...>
"What happened? He surpassed one million with just physical strength!"
"No, look. The numbers are still going up!"
They did not know what to do. This was unprecedented and the numbers kept rolling in. There was no protocol for dealing with a situation like this, so they just kept watching.
<...>
<3,013,000…>
<4,216,000…>
<5,66,000…>
<6,983,000…>
<...>
Suddenly, the lights went out and came on alternately. The assessors behind the glass started to panic.
"Oh my goodness. He is a God."
<...>
<7,013,000…>
<8,216,000…>
<9,999,999…>
And then, the room blacked out.