Before Cyril touched the awakening orb, he recalled what he had seen in his dream earlier, especially the part that said he could undo whatever curse was placed on him by undergoing awakening. Whether it was true or not, he could determine the truth or falsehood of those words just by placing his hand on the soccer ball-sized orb in front of him.
With that firm decision, he took a deep breath and held it in anticipation as he placed his hand on the round orb.
The next moment, a weak white light shone from the awakening orb. The light was disappointingly weak; it didn't even cover his body like it did with the others. After a few moments, a scroll-like projection with words was displayed for all to see the awakening result.
Enlightened Talent: Insatiable Hunger.
Talent Assessment: Only awakened in those with the endless desire to consume. Able to store energy by consuming food. The stored energy would allow the body to momentarily gain physical improvement. The more stored energy, the more chances of permanent physical improvement. A unique growth-type talent that has room for evolution.
Talent Potential: Grade 1 and Above.
…
Pft—
The spectators couldn't help but burst into peals of laughter.
"Isn't this just normal eating and digestion of food? So what if he got a growth-type talent? It is no different from a trash talent since it's only Grade 1 in its early stage."
"I know, right! From what we know, growth-type talent may be called unique, but they take too long to increase their grade level due to their uniqueness. Just look at his body. He looks so sickly that I doubt he'd be able to fulfill the requirements!"
The dignified and aloof old man also felt that it was a pity. With Cyril's frail and languished body, he wouldn't be able to handle such a demanding talent. He needed to eat food that had strong energy, and it might take a tremendous toll on his current fragile body, so it was useless to even attempt.
On the other hand, while everyone was busy hurling mocking words from seeing the awakening results, Cyril had a look of surprise on his face as he stared at something in the void of space.
Earlier, as soon as he touched the awakening orb, an ancient-looking golden page with stars at the edges appeared out of his chest and floated in front of him with a message on it.
Cyril felt his heart wildly palpitating, and he couldn't believe his eyes, but he calmed down and muttered: "Yes!"
Whatever the case may be, he thought, say yes first and worry about the consequences later. After all, he had nothing to lose. Even if he were to be merely hallucinating from losing too much blood due to his injury a while ago, he still had to indulge in this hallucination for his mental health.
As soon as he responded, all the texts on the starry-framed golden page disappeared and turned blank. Afterward, he could feel some sort of energy being absorbed from the awakening orb through his hand and flowing into his body and soul, making him feel an unprecedented clarity.
A new message appeared on the star-framed golden page shortly after.
The moment these messages appeared on the starry-framed golden page, Cyril's mind fell into a state of profound enlightenment as he comprehended all the listed talents and their effects one after another.
A short while later, as though he had gained an insight into the principles of the world, Cyril slowly opened his eyes with a profound expression on his face. He had fully assimilated the principles of all his talents.
Examining himself, Cyril realized that he had become slightly stronger. It was by a tiny, almost negligible amount, but Cyril couldn't help but smile with tears gradually welling up in his eyes.
'The dream was real! No, it isn't right to call it a dream anymore!'
Cyril came to the conclusion that the starry-framed golden page he saw in his dreamscape was real. Thanks to it, he had even managed to awaken multiple talents!
Furthermore, he believed that the starry-framed golden page had some relation to the crumbled ancient golden stone book.
At this point, Cyril felt extremely thankful to the living corpse— Paul— for handing him the golden stone book. Although he couldn't deliver it as intended, at least it became helpful for him.
On the side, the dignified and aloof old man saw the languished young boy smiling from ear to ear once the results were displayed, and he couldn't help but feel that something was wrong with his brain.
'Look at his joyous expression. Does this kid think he awakened a useful talent and ability? There is no doubt he did. However, does he think he can use it with his weak body? Obviously not!'
The dignified old man ridiculed him, but he didn't want to bother explaining anything to him. After all, he believed that if the languished boy didn't die right after the awakening ceremony, he would inevitably find out about the misgivings of having such a powerful talent without a strong and healthy body to support it.
Once again, the dignified and aloof old man thought it was a pity that such a talent was awakened in a hopeless kid.
Despite awakening more than one talent, the scroll-like projection remained the same, with no changes to its projected words. As such, it made sense for the dignified and aloof old man to not understand Cyril's current feelings.
…
Meanwhile.
Liam saw the kind of talent Cyril had awakened and couldn't help but frown as he thought: 'Such a powerful talent was awakened by him? The only thing limiting him was his languished body. If he could somehow find a cure for it, there is no telling how far his currently weak talent would evolve in the future.'
Based on what was known about growth-type talents, they tend to be weak in the early stages, but once they evolve to the second stage, they undergo a qualitative transformation. With that being the case, Cyril's potential would have been endless if not for his weak and languished body.
Liam believed that even he might not necessarily be Cyril's opponent. However, the premise was if Cyril had been born with a strong and healthy body, unlike his current one.
While Liam was having these thoughts, Cyril languidly walked toward them after climbing down the stairs. He couldn't wait to tell Silvia and Liam about what had happened.
Once he was only 10 meters away from them, Cyril abruptly halted his movement, and his entire body began shivering unceasingly. He felt as though a chilly bucket of water had been poured directly down his spine, causing his body to convulse in discomfort, his breathing becoming ruggedly heavy.