After that small incident (where they took Erika to the infirmary), the bald Lucio came and scolded the man with the ponytail. Then he said he should leave for the moment, and afterward, he told us the following.
"I hope this incident doesn't happen again, as Miss Erika ended up with significant trauma because of it," Lucio said. As he spoke these words, he glanced at Sylvia, then turned around and ordered, "Follow me."
Sylvia (now in her human form) followed Lucio into the library. She was the first to enter because she was at the front of the line. Unfortunately, I ended up last in line since all my classmates were quicker than me. I was angry with myself for reacting so slowly, but there was nothing to do except complain internally.
I noticed that each "supervisor" (people like Carl who oversee the recruits' tests) was bidding farewell to the recruits they supervised. The same happened with Carl, who came to say goodbye to me.
"Hope you awaken a good ability. See you," Carl said.
"Goodbye," I replied politely to his farewell.
Luckily for me, each recruit only spent about 5 to 8 minutes in the library. But before that, when the silver-haired girl, Sylvia, left the library, she had a strange smile (somewhat arrogant). She went to sit alone since she still had to wait for the elemental affinity and mana sense test.
"I've been thinking about her smug smile. What could it mean? From what I know, she has already awakened a strength-type ability, but someone insisted she could take the test to detect a magic-related ability. Her smile could only mean she successfully awakened a magical ability, but how? Are you telling me it's possible to awaken more than one ability? That wouldn't make sense, would it?"
After pondering various theories in my mind, it was finally my turn. Excited, I followed bald Lucio into the library. Upon entering, I saw rows of shelves filled with many books; the place was quite large. Lucio guided me toward a grand staircase with a clean red carpet. We climbed the stairs to the second floor, where there was a long corridor.
We headed to the first door on the right. Lucio opened it, and I found myself in a medium-sized room. Portraits of people adorned the walls, and in the center of the room stood a man with glasses, wearing a typical scientist's lab coat. He had black hair and emerald eyes.
Behind him was a strange machine. It wasn't large; it rested on a table, but in the middle of the machine was a mana stone. It was cube-shaped and appeared to be made of some metallic material.
"That crazy scientist is staring at me with a creepy smile," I thought as I looked at the man in the lab coat. He regarded me as if he'd found a new laboratory rat for experimentation.
"Marcos, this man is called Cedric, and he will be in charge of verifying your ability."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Marcos," Cedric said with an excited tone.
Instead of returning the greeting, Marcos remained silent.
"How does Lucio know my name when it was never mentioned? Well, perhaps he read some file with my information or something," I realized that Cedric and Lucio were both looking at me in silence, so I awkwardly attempted to respond.
"Uh, it's a pleasure to meet you too, Cedric," I stammered, and Cedric nodded in acknowledgment of my clumsy reply.
"Please stand in front of that machine over there; we'll make this quick."
As I stood before the machine, Cedric began explaining rapidly.
"This machine here is called the 'Gift Activator,' and it's used to activate abilities. As you know, there are 'passive' abilities that are always active and don't consume any energy, like super strength or super speed. Then there are 'active' abilities, which are harder to detect, and you'll only realize you have one if you're lucky. Alternatively, we can force the activation, as we're doing now," Cedric patiently explained while typing on a magical "keyboard" projected by the Gift Activator.
"I have a question: If I already know about my ability's existence, why can't I use it?" I asked curiously. I was learning a lot today. Cedric patiently clarified once more.
"Because you need to activate your ability for the first time if you want to use it. Even if you're aware of its existence, you still don't know what it does, and neither does your body. So unless you're lucky and naturally activate your ability, it might take many years to find the right feeling to trigger it."
Listening to his explanation, I felt a bit overwhelmed by the information, but after a few seconds, I managed to process it all.
"Understood," I replied. Then a memory surfaced, and I asked Cedric another question.
"Apologies if this is impolite, but what kind of ability did the silver-haired girl awaken? I saw her transform and gain significant strength and speed, yet it seems she also has an active ability."
Cedric didn't respond immediately as he had with my other questions. Instead, he glanced at Lucio, who leaned against the door. Seeing that Lucio nodded, Cedric continued.
"You can explain how Miss Sylvia's ability works, as her ability's information will soon be made public."
With confirmation, Cedric excitedly began explaining Sylvia's ability.
"Miss Sylvia has a rather unique ability. Although all abilities are unique to each person, there are often similarities, like super strength. A strength-based ability, while seemingly not unique since many people have it, always has subtle differences. For instance, one person might increase their strength by 60%, while another achieves 70%. Despite both abilities enhancing strength, there's always a difference, whether large or small," Cedric paused briefly, having spoken without pause. After a sigh, he continued his explanation.
"Miss Sylvia can transform into a peculiar creature, but not entirely. As you've seen, her transformation isn't complete; otherwise, there would be no human traces left unless, of course, she transformed into a humanoid creature."
"When she transforms, she gains physical enhancements, but that's not all. You see, some abilities have multiple functions, and Miss Sylvia's ability is one of those. When she transforms, she not only improves her body, but she also gains the ability to shoot icicles!"