When the ancient and powerful voice of the temple master ceased to sound, the obelisk in the middle of the Awakening Platform started emitting a bright light, shooting it upwards against the ceiling.
At that moment, everyone on the platform felt the mana in the surroundings becoming increasingly agitated, as though they had been suddenly submerged in a 'pot' with boiling 'water.'
Their bodies experienced different sensations; some were shivering from the chills, and others felt muscle spasms. At that moment, all the mana in their bodies felt to have gone out of their control, making them unable to enhance their bodies with this natural essence.
Vicente kept his eyes closed throughout this initial moment, trying to immerse himself in this unique Polaris Realm experience as deeply as possible.
Meanwhile, he sensed a rising warmth from his forehead as pulses coursed through his body.
For those outside the Awakening Platform, it was impossible to comprehend what transpired within. Only those undergoing the experience could feel every sensation generated by the ceremony.
Therefore, Vicente was not familiar with these sensations despite having already witnessed Lauren's and Rory's Awakenings in the past.
Nevertheless, he did not lose himself amidst these pulsing sensations that passed through his body.
Vice maintained his focus on himself, disregarding these external sensations, to look inside himself, scrutinizing his own existence.
In this introspective process, he felt something hit the middle of his forehead, and all the mana in his body began to undergo a transformation.
A smile crept on the corner of his lips as he envisioned the powers he would attain.
Whether they proved to be good or not, they had to be an improvement over what he had without the presence of a Magic Gem!
Crack!
However, as he smiled in anticipation of the imminent transformation, he felt as if a great crack had started developing within his being.
The smile on his face immediately vanished as he thought that the gem about to merge with him had started breaking apart, an event that was totally out of the ordinary.
However, this wasn't the source of this sound!
After a few seconds of apprehension, a sudden realization washed over Vicente as he felt the mana in his body split into two distinctly unequal parts.
More than 80% of the mana was directed to one side, while less than 20% was consigned to the other. At the same time, he could also see a mental image in his mind that resembled a diagram of his body's outline, illustrating what was happening.
'What's wrong?' He wondered, looking at this diagram that was within his imagination.
Then, a vast shadow loomed over Vicente and his diagram, plunging the surroundings of his imagination into absolute darkness.
While everything in the space seemed to have turned black, only a minuscule light source remained beside Vicente and his diagram, which was now divided into a 99% portion and a 1% portion.
Subsequently, an enormous presence materialized within the darkness and opened its gaze, looking at Vicente. 'Don't look for me until your fifth pentagram. Now go!'
Vicente's eyes snapped open after he thought that this thing inside him had told him that, and he looked at himself, realizing that all of his clothes were soaked, his hair drenched, and his breathing agitated.
He was shivering and stared down at his hands, not realizing that everyone in the vicinity was observing him as the gem on his forehead finally started assuming its true form.
"Did he manage to succeed at the very last moment?"
"No, if I'm not mistaken, he completed forming his pentagram after the obelisk's glow had already faded away..."
"You must be mistaken. That shouldn't be possible."
Murmurs spread throughout the temple galleries as people gazed at Vicente, witnessing this young man's peculiar situation.
'Was he so nervous?' a member of the Awakening Temple wondered as he glanced at Vicente.
Meanwhile, everyone was looking at what had appeared on Vice's forehead. An irregularly shaped Magic Gem was nestled between his eyebrows, displaying a rather strange shape.
Typically, Magic Gems were seamless and uniform. However, Vicente's gem was divided into two parts. The above part looked like a pentagram with black lines, while one below the pentagram was shaped like a lying '69,' similar to the representation of the sign of Cancer horoscope.
Both parts of this Magic Gem gleamed with a yellow hue similar to the color of gold.
Rory and Vicente's other men were celebrating for him, but this young man didn't seem to be paying any heed to any of the people watching him.
Regardless of whether they were happy for him, curious, or making negative comments, he wasn't listening or seeing anything.
In the present instant, he was overcoming the fear he had experienced moments ago and was becoming aware of the peculiarity within his body.
'That... But... That's two Magic Pentagrams! That's not how it's supposed to be!' He exclaimed in his mind as he felt two pentagrams, not just one, like how it should typically be.
'The first Pentagram is Red... But what about this Yellow one?' He swallowed hard, detecting within his body a Pentagram much stronger than his body should be able to accommodate.
As he thought about this gradually, he slowly began to realize that all his characteristics were significantly enhanced at a much higher level, as well as his control over his mana.
He still needed to conduct a few tests of his newfound qualities. Still, he could already feel that he was faster, stronger, more flexible, and more agile. In short, every aspect of himself had been improved.
Even the speed of his thought processes had undergone a transformation, as had his ability to learn.
Best of all was the change in his mana, which had practically doubled in intensity. And with a bit of training, he could gain total control over it!
Because of these changes, while people were still watching him, he understood what had just happened and what his first powers were.
Amidst the continuous scrutiny of those around him, Vicente's eyes fluttered, and he thought of the only possible explanation, remembering a conversation from years ago.
'... without a space to ADD a second Magic Gem, the person who went through a second awakening would suffer a mental and physical collapse...'
He recalled the words said by the woman who had held him outside the Awakening Platform of the Saltstar City temple during the ceremony where Lauren had awakened her magical powers.
Gulp!
'Do I have two souls! Do I possess two Magic Gems?' He wondered, feeling that this was the only possibility that could provide a reasonable explanation for his situation.
After all, it was impossible to have two Pentagrams and only be at the 1st stage, as was his current case.
'But how? Didn't I just absorb one Magic Gem?' He wondered, but the sensation in his body was too potent for him to conclude that he only possessed one Magic Gem.
'I have two gems!' He finally broke out into a smile, envisioning the fact that he had transmigrated to this world would clarify the presence of the two souls within him.
And indeed, Vicente had not been reincarnated in Polaris Realm after his death on Earth. His soul had transmigrated to this world and occupied the body of Kate and Andrew's stillborn child.
He possessed a fragment of the soul of the one who was supposed to be the son of those two, as well as his own soul!
Amid this discovery, Vicente did not disregard his family ties and embraced the fact that he had gained two distinct powers.
He did not know where this path would lead him, but through these abilities that he would cultivate from this day forward, he was determined to seek his revenge and bring justice to the names of Andrew and Kate and rescue Lauren!
"One day! One day, I will unravel all of this!" He muttered to himself before surveying his surroundings and deciding to depart from there.