Near the city centre of Milan, Lombardy, there was a ten-story building with a coat of arms representing a wolf large enough to be clearly visible even from a distance.
Inside, on the ground floor, one could find people intent on various things. There were those who were having fun with others, those who were joking around, those who were busy sharpening their swords or checking their weapons, and those who were simply relaxing at the bar corner counter.
All of them were Adventurers. More precisely, Adventurers from the Castiglione Wolves Guild, one of the two strongest and most important guilds in Italy.
Going up to the highest floors were the guild offices. These were in charge of managing various things: from quests entrusted by the Association to social media management.
Nowadays, where technology had taken over society, online notoriety mattered a lot. Always being present on social also allowed them to increase their fame.
Going up to the top floor, the tenth, was the office of the Chief of the Castiglione Wolves Guild, Michelangelo Rizzo.
The latter was intent on checking some documents. Precisely, these documents were about the Newbies in the portal that the deputy head of the Association's Investigation Department told him about. He wanted to get all the information about these people.
It was as if something was not convincing him. And he was sure that the Association felt the same way, only he had not pursued it further because they had no leads to follow.
Like them, he had not found anything interesting either. It seemed to have been a waste of time.
He remained positive, though. Maybe something new would come out in the future that could help him.
In any case, it was great to have the information about these new Adventurers. In the future perhaps they would apply to join his Guild. That way, he would have some information about them in advance.
The sound of a knock at the door caught his attention.
"Come in!" He exclaimed, turning his gaze ahead.
A tall man with dark red hair entered.
"Albi, what's going on?"
Michelangelo asked the man, calling him by a nickname. The latter's name was Alberto Ricci and he was his right-hand man, the man he trusted most in his Guild. After many years together, he considered him his best friend.
There was nothing the two did not know about each other.
"The president of the Guild called."
"Oh yeah? And what did he want?" Michelangelo asked, slightly intrigued.
It rarely happened that the President himself called the Guilds, even the most important ones. In fact, it was only on special occasions that he called them.
Albert had sat comfortably in front of him and was now pouring himself a glass of wine from the bottle already in the desk.
"Please, be my guest." Michelangelo sarcastically agreed with a wave of his hand. Alberto paid no heed to his joke and spoke.
"He said he would like to have a meeting between the Chiefs of all the Guilds next week." He said, immediately taking a sip of wine afterwards.
"A meeting? About what?" The Guild Leader slightly squinted his eyes, becoming serious again.
"About the recent incident of the open portal. I think the President is planning to take some precautions."
"Ah, I see. What did you say?"
"What do you think I did? I told him I would call back after I got your answer." He took another sip again.
"Well, if it's because of what happened at the portal, then you can tell the Association that we'll be there. After all, that was not the first portal that had stronger creatures inside than initially thought."
Albert raised an eyebrow, not understanding what he was talking about. Then, he cast a glance at the papers kept neatly in his desk, the same ones Alberto had noticed him watching very carefully until a second after he entered.
"Do those papers have anything to do with what you're talking about?" He asked, turning his eyes back to his boss and best friend and taking another sip from his wine glass.
"That's right. In Rome, a level 5 portal had orcs inside. But guess what? No one sustained a single wound."
Alberto made a slightly stunned expression. It was rare for him to let his emotions out openly, even with Michelangelo.
"Did you find anything strange in those documents?" He asked after a few seconds.
"Nothing, unfortunately. But it doesn't matter. I will follow these Adventurers closely. As they increase in level, they will have to register their details with the Association. I will keep an eye on them like that."
In fact, thanks to his level being so high, he could have directly asked the Association to give him a copy of that data, just the same way he had done a few days earlier with the deputy head of the Investigation Department.
A high level like his guaranteed him many privileges he could enjoy. And Michelangelo Rizzo gladly took advantage of them when he could.
"Speaking of Adventurers..." Alberto began, but he did not need to continue that Michelangelo spoke.
"I know. In a few weeks we will hold selections for Adventurers who want to join the Guild."
"Do you already have in mind the tests you want to take, or do we recycle the old ones?"
"No, we will take new tests. I don't want the Adventurers to be prepared in any way." He spoke immediately. Information from the tests they did to select Adventurers could not get out of the Guild. He always made sure that no one talked about it. He could have even recycled the old tests if he really didn't feel like inventing new ones.
However, there was a saying "better safe than sorry." Adventurers who wanted to join a renowned Guild would have done anything to secure a place, even finding out what the tests consisted of that only those who participated in them, Alberto Ricci and he could know. They could also have "forced" the Adventurers who had passed the tests, or even those who had not passed them, to tell them everything they knew.
After all, although Michelangelo made sure in every possible way that their mouths remained closed on the matter, money could be a good way to convince them to open them instead.
In short, it was better for everyone to devise new tests.
"Then I'll go call the Association and tell them we'll be present at that meeting next week." Alberto finally said. He drank the last sips of wine that were left in his glass and placed it on the desk before getting up from his chair.
"All right. See you later, Albi." Michelangelo greeted him with the nickname he used to call him. Alberto turned and walked out of the office, gently closing the door.
Michelangelo took one last look at the papers in front of him and let out a slight sigh.
'I hope this is not just a waste of time.' He said to himself, before taking them and placing them neatly in a file in which he usually placed these kinds of documents.
Samuele found himself in front of the Association's headquarters. This was the second time in his entire life that he had entered it.
The first was when he awakened the System. That, too, was a mandatory step to register him in the "Awakened Ones." Without this he could not even participate in quests as an Adventurer.
It had been a few weeks since that day and now there he was again, for an almost identical reason.
He entered the building and spoke to a very pretty-faced secretary.
"Hello, I should register my level."
"Yes, second floor."
"Thank you."
He then headed to the nearby elevator and went up in seconds to the second floor, where the Control Department was located. He immediately found an employee whom he asked about precisely where to go and arrived at the waiting room used for level control.
Unfortunately for him, he was not the only one waiting there. About a dozen people were waiting their turn sitting in that room. Samuele sighed wearily and sat down in one of the few remaining vacant chairs.
'I already regret this choice.' At that moment he just wanted to go home and rest. Had he even imagined such a thing earlier, he would have gladly put it off until the next day so that he would be more rested. But by now he was there and might as well wait his long shift.
After about an hour, he was finally called into the control office. The employee asked him to show him his status screen, and so he did.
[WARNING!]
YOUR SCREEN WILL BE VISIBLE TO ALL OTHER AWAKENED PEOPLE NEARBY.
{PROFILE}
NAME: SAMUELE RUA LEVEL: 12
TITLE: ADVENTURER
CLASS: LIGHT MAGE
PV: 2500
PM: 150
{STATISTICS}
STRENGTH: 13 SENSES: 10
INTELLIGENCE: 16 AGILITY: 12
VITALITY: 10 STAMINA: 13
{ABILITIES}
[PASSIVE SKILLS]
ELEMENTAL RESISTANCE
[ACTIVE SKILLS]
TIMELY BLESSING
[UNIQUE SKILL]
HEIR OF LIGHT
As the employee monotonously recorded all the information on the Association's database, he found his eyes wide with a stunned face.
'How is this possible! What had caught his complete attention was the last skill written in the boy's System, the unique skill.
Now, the employee was a man now somewhat advanced in age and had been in this profession for as long as the Association had existed. He knew full well what that subtitle "unique skill" represented. The Adventurer before him was a Gift. But that was not what had really shocked him. He was the one who had registered all the Gifts in Italy.
No, what shocked him most was that there had been no trace before of this unique ability. In fact, the Gifts were born as soon as they awakened the System. The employee did not believe that such a thing had ever happened in the world. Or, at least, there was no evidence of it.
Samuele saw his expression and asked with a slightly worried but at the same time curious frown.
"Is there a problem, sir?"
"Wha-? No, nothing." He gave a slight cough and composed himself. He resumed recording all the information and followed the protocol he should have followed in cases like this.
"Mr. Rua, to tell you the truth, there is a problem with your System. You should go to the top floor of the headquarters and talk to whoever is in charge. Don't worry, it's nothing serious. Once you get to the top floor, one of my colleagues will accompany you to the appropriate office."
Samuele raised a confused eyebrow. He did not understand what was wrong with his System. Was it defective? Could even a System become defective? He imagined the scene of the System communicating failure messages and needing to be repaired immediately and smiled internally. Meanwhile, he nodded to the Control Department employee and headed back to the elevator.
With another tired sigh, he headed to the top floor, hoping that would be the last stop before going home.
'Oh God, I hope there isn't another waiting room...'
Just as that employee had said, he found someone waiting for him, more specifically a woman.
"Hello, Mr. Rua. Please follow me." He said with a neutral expression that perfectly suited his very professional tone and turned around, walking very elegantly on his heels to the appointed spot.
As they reached the front of the office, there was a knock on the door and a very large male voice came from the other side.
"Come in!"
The woman opened the door and let Samuele in, who saw a man sitting behind the desk intent on looking intently at the boy. The latter felt slightly uncomfortable by that look, which he recognized to be from the most important man in the Association, Sergio De Luca. A man who had revolutionized the entire society. This man then turned toward the woman.
"You may go, Giulia. Thank you." He said with a smile, sending away the woman named Giulia, who nodded.
He then turned again to Samuele.
"I hope my secretary didn't make you feel uncomfortable." Joked the president.
'Actually it is with you that I feel uncomfortable...'
"No, not at all, sir." Samuele shook his head. The man then made a serious expression.
"Do you know why you are here?"
At his serious tone, he could not help swallowing his saliva nervously. The man in front of him was able to put even the most important person in the world in his place with just his voice. Used on him, even just to make friendly conversation, it made him incredibly uncomfortable.
"N-no, sir."
"I'll explain it to you right away, then. Surely you've already noticed your unique ability, haven't you?" At her nod, he continued.
"That ability is what makes the Awakened ones what we call 'Gifts'." Samuele immediately opened his eyes wide at the realization.
'Does that ability make me a Gift, then?' He thought
"That's right, Mr. Rua." As if he had read his mind, the President replied.
"I have a feeling that you are not just any 'Gift,' though." At his curious frown, he continued. "I have never seen a unique ability that had such a description. It's as if the System has reputed you as a special Awakened One."
"I thought all the Gifts were special." Samuele spoke.
"You are right, Mr. Rua. In fact, those who have a unique ability are more likely to become high-level Adventurers. Most of the Gifted have also reached level 90 and above. Three of the four 100-level Adventurers, the so-called "God's Elects", are Gifted. For this very reason, a great deal of importance is given to the Gifts." He paused for a few moments to give the boy in front of him time to assimilate all that information and then continued.
"But your ability is truly unique in the world. Have you thought about what is written in the description of the skill?"
He thought about it for a moment and shook his head. He hadn't thought about it because at that moment he had received too much information from the System and just wanted to shut everything down. Later he was too tired to even think about controlling the System, so he had not thought about it again.
"Then do it, please. Not now, but when you feel up to it. I don't want an immediate answer. Take your time to think about it and when you have some ideas about its meaning come to me."
"All right, sir."
"Now, moving on to the last topic..." He began and looked deeply into the young Adventurer's eyes. To Samuele, it seemed as if the man was looking inside his soul.
"What are you going to do, now that you know that you are a Gift."
"What do you mean, sir?"
"As I told you, the Gifted are considered very important and, as such, are treated as if they were celebrities. If the news of you being a Gift got out of here, you would have all the open doors you desire."
He thought about what he said and indeed it would not be bad. Being a Gift would grant him everything he wanted. Even if he stopped at level 20, he was a Gift. One of the lucky few in the whole world to have a unique ability. It would have meant big money.
However, that "if" mentioned by the president made him think of something else.
"Is it possible to have the news kept secret?"
"If you wish, certainly. You wouldn't be the first to ask me."
He thought about it carefully. What reason did he have to refuse? None at all. He would get everything he desired, mainly fame. This would guarantee him money that would surely make his parents stop working and enjoy their lives. It would not have been a bad deal.
His whole family, including him, had to make sacrifices in order to continue living normally. Everything Samuele had done so far, he had done for his family. Everything he wanted, every dream he had, he had put it on the back burner for his own family.
However, if he could choose to be selfish for once and only once....
"I would like to keep this information just between us, Mr. President."
"All right, but why this choice?"
"Because I want to enjoy this adventure one step at a time. If the news of my ability got out, that would cause me to skip a lot of steps. I want to see my change a little at a time. This is what I want."
The president could no longer hold back his smile.
"I see. So be it, then."
--------------------------------------------------------
Unbelievable! Two chapters in ONE month! Guys, watch out! The Apocalypse is near! Joking aside, I'll be honest with you. I have not been completely idle these past few months. I've managed to write a few chapters, but I haven't published them because I want to keep my distance with the chapters I'm currently writing. Right now, I have just finished writing chapter 17. Unfortunately, I am very slow in writing, due to work and other commitments, and when it goes well I write a chapter every two weeks. I am uploading this chapter to reward everyone who has added this book to their collection. To all of you, I say thank you, thank you very much. Regarding the next chapter, I would like to at least finish writing chapter 18 before publishing it, so I don't want to make any promises. Again, many thanks to everyone who read it or at least added it to their library. It means so much to me. See you in the next chapter!