A faint glow surrounded her. She turned to Arthur, her voice filled with excitement. "It says here that the system recognized my perceptiveness, and gave me a title!"
"Here, look!"
DING!
<
[Congratulations, Player Lily, for your keen perception and astute observation! You have unlocked the title: "The Astute Seer"! May this title serve as a beacon of wisdom throughout your journey.]
Arthur grinned, genuinely proud of his sister's achievement. "Well done, Lil!"
Lily's cheeks flushed with a mix of pride and humility. "Maybe you should ask it something too. I don't know, maybe you'll get a title as well."
Arthur pondered his sister's suggestion and decided to give it a shot. He addressed the system, his voice filled with curiosity.
"System, is there any way for me to become stronger within the remaining time before the world's evolution begins?"
DING!
<
[Player Arthur, to become stronger, it is recommended to engage in rigorous training, practice your skills diligently, and familiarize yourself with your new body's capabilities. May your journey be one of growth and triumph.]
Arthur nodded, taking the system's advice to heart. While he didn't receive a title like Lily, he understood that the path to strength lay in his own efforts and determination. He turned to his sister with a determined expression.
"I didn't get any titles, but the system basically told us to train our skills. The more practice, the better our chances are of survival in the new world after evolution."
They exchanged determined glances, their minds buzzing with possibilities. Arthur continued, "We need to make the most of these 22 hours."
Lily cut in, "We'll delve into the system, asking it for as much as it could answer us. "
"Then, we train our skills."
Lily nodded, her expression resolute. "And we'll practice. We'll spar with each other, maybe give each other pointers."
"Sparring, huh?" Arthur smiled like a Cheshire cat.
Lily rolled her eyes. "Don't even start."
***
In the cozy confines of their living room, Arthur and Lily embarked on their training, eager to explore the depths of their newfound powers. The room was transformed into their personal arena, where they could push their limits and unleash their abilities.
Lily grasped a broom, her eyes gleaming with determination. She twirled it gracefully, channeling her divine swordsmanship skill. With each movement, she aimed to replicate the techniques she had read about in countless webnovels and imagined in her mind.
"En garde!" Lily exclaimed, her eyes shining with excitement. She lunged forward, performing a series of quick strikes and precise blocks. However, her movements were a bit clumsy at first, lacking the finesse of a seasoned swordsman.
She stumbled, realizing that it would take more than enthusiasm to master her divine swordsmanship. But she persisted, determined to refine her swordsmanship.
Meanwhile, Arthur focused on manipulating the ambient light in the room. He extended his hand, conjuring a small orb of radiant energy. It glowed softly, casting a gentle illumination around him. With careful concentration, he willed the orb to move, floating it in the air before his eyes.
At first, his attempts were met with mixed results. Beams of light flickered and faded, sometimes dissipating before they even took shape. He realized that at his current novice stage, he could only summon one orb of light, and even then, he couldn't really move it that much.
But, the past hours he had spent researching his [Light Manipulation] skill was not for nothing since with each failure, Arthur gained a deeper understanding of the intricate mechanics of light manipulation.
Especially, like how he discovered that his manipulation over light was dependent on two main factors: his imagination and his emotion. Although, inwardly he wondered how he was able to manipulate light when he literally had 0 mana, he didn't think too hard on it and simply put it down to the fact that his Legend was of the Conceptual Rank. After all, as a being who embodied the meaning of light, why would he require a conduit or a third party for light to bend to his will.
Now going onto the imagination part, Arthur discovered that whatever he could imagine, if he could imagine it clearly enough, something inside him would 'come out', but it wasn't an entirely unpleasant feeling. It felt like he just let out a burp.
But then the hard part started after he imagined something to be made of light.
Like how the orb of light dissipated into particles in front of his eyes, as Arthur let out a sigh. He understood the imagination part, and while he understood the emotion part as well, how do you even manipulate your emotions to be and stay happy, sad or angry for an eternity. And that wasn't even the worst part, because apparently, he needed to stay calm and focus at the same time for his light constructs to even exist for a few seconds. And, every time a single inkling of doubt or distraction crept into his mind, the light flickers before disappearing.
Arthur glanced over to his sister, and he didn't know if her sister could see it or not, but to him, he could see some sort of otherworldly glow around his sister's body. It wasn't sweat, he could confirm that at the very least. The closest word he could use to describe that glow would be 'aura', and something about how the silver-like aura seemed to be getting more visible told him that his sister was most likely going to break through to the next stage.
"I can't fall behind now," Arthur whispered to himself. He adjusted his posture, fine-tuning the control of his powers and this time, he decided to think.
Basically, he needed to be as calm as possible, and focus, right? But, how could he do something like that? It was one thing to be calm, but to focus at the same time as well? Not to mention, if this was really what was required of him to manipulate light, he wouldn't be able to fight very well due to how chaotic his future battles would be.
It was then that Arthur had a thought. Perhaps he was looking at this the wrong way? Why was it that everytime he felt that 'burpy' feeling coming out of him, he always felt. . . a little empty? Like that burpy thing had no will inside it.
Arthur snapped his fingers. "I was going about it the opposite way!"