It has been around two hours since the O'Neal's and the Andersons met and began conversing with each other, suddenly the chip Brian O'Neal was holding suddenly lit up.
"Well, it's seeming it's our turn." He said as he stood up with his family.
"I wish you luck." Mathew said
"Same may Eryssia bless you." Reyna also spoke
"Thank you both." Lucia O'Neal replied grabbing her daughter's arm. " Let's go dear."
Amara waved goodbye to Lucien and Seraphina, who managed to befriend Amara, as she left with her parents. This reminded Lucien that soon it was going to be his turn, and he began to feel nervous again as if butterflies were fluttering in his stomach
Reyna seeing this placed her hand on her sons back as it began to glow green, applying a type of healing magic that helped in soothing a person's nerves and soon he began to feel all better.
"You shouldn't stress yourself my dear, whatever happens we'll love you all the same." She assured him.
Lucien looked into his mother's eyes and strangely felt at peace, and he took in a quick breath feeling at peace. A few minutes went by and soon his Id chip also began to glow.
"Looks like it's our turn, come on let's go." Mathew said as he stood up followed by Reyna and Seraphina.
Lucien was the last to stand up and he took his mother's hand as they entered the awakening room.
The Awakening chamber was smaller than Leon had expected, its metallic walls smooth and unadorned. In the center of the room was a single chair, surrounded by intricate machinery that hummed with latent energy. A technician stood beside a glowing console, his expression calm and efficient.
"Lucien Anderson, right?" the man asked.
"Yes," Lucien answered, trying to keep the tremor out of his voice.
The technician gestured to the chair. "Take a seat. The process is straightforward—some warmth, maybe a little pressure. Nothing to worry about. When the Awakening completes, we'll see your status interface and then you're free to go.
Lucien hesitated for a moment, he calmly looked at his parents behind him who calmly nodded at him, before sitting down. The chair adjusted automatically to his frame, and the technician stepped back, tapping at the console.
"Beginning sequence," the man announced.
A circular device descended from the ceiling, its surface glowing with pulsing light. As it came closer, Lucien felt the air shift, a strange warmth spreading through his body. The warmth grew into a steady pressure, then a wave of energy surged through him.
A voice, soft yet resonant, echoed in Lucien's mind.
[Awakening Detected]
Unique status interface activated.
Leon's eyes snapped open. A translucent screen materialized in front of him, hovering silently in the air. The technician, still focused on his console, showed no sign of seeing it.
It's just for me, Lucien realized, his breath catching.
The screen glowed faintly, lines of text scrolling across its surface.
[Awakening Complete]
Subject: Lucien Anderson
Race: Human
Status: Awakened
Talent: SSS
Elements: Shadow, Chaos(Locked)
Lucien's heart pounded as more details appeared, each line more unsettling than the last.
Core Attributes: Strength: F- Agility: F- Endurance: F- Intelligence: F-
Hidden Attributes: Charm: D- Focus: D
Blessing: Herald of the Goddess of Shadows and Chaos
Abilities
Aspect of Shadows
Abilities under this Aspect focus on stealth, deception, and using darkness as both a weapon and a shield.
Core Abilities
Veil of Shadows (Passive)
Automatically shrouds the user in a dark aura when standing in dim or no light, reducing visibility and suppressing sound by 70%. Effect: Enhances stealth and evasion capabilities.
Umbral Step (Active)
Teleports the user a short distance (up to 20 meters) to a shadowed location within sight. Cooldown: 10 seconds.
Eclipse Blade (Active)
Conjures a blade of pure shadow energy, which ignores physical armor and targets the soul. Effect: Inflicts direct damage to vitality and drains energy from the target until dispelled by the user or if a stronger opponent is able to break free.
Phantom Cloak (Active)
Grants complete invisibility for up to 15 seconds, provided the user does not attack. Bonus: Movement speed increases by 25% while cloaked.
Nightmare Chains (Ultimate)
Summons shadowy chains from the ground to bind and torment all enemies within a 15-meter radius. Effect: Inflicts fear, immobilizes enemies for 10 seconds, and deals gradual damage. Cooldown: 5 minutes.
Aspect of the Spear (Spear Mastery)
Abilities under this Aspect center around mastering spear combat, channeling both physical skill and supernatural power.
Core Abilities
Piercing Fang (Active)
A powerful thrust attack that can penetrate multiple enemies in a straight line. Effect: Deals 200% weapon damage to all targets in a 10-meter line.
Spiral Vortex (Active)
The user spins the spear in a circular motion, creating a vortex of wind that knocks back enemies and deflects projectiles. Cooldown: 15 seconds.
Lance of Eternity (Active)
Temporarily extends the spear's range with pure energy, allowing for long-range strikes. Effect: Adds 10 meters of range and deals an extra 50% damage for 20 seconds.
Aetheric Strike (Active)
Channels energy into the spear's tip, delivering a powerful strike that explodes on impact. Effect: Area-of-effect damage within 5 meters of the target.
Dragon's Ascension (Ultimate)
The user leaps high into the air, channeling energy into their spear, and descends with devastating force. Effect: Massive area-of-effect damage (20 meters), with a chance to inflict "shockwave" status, stunning enemies. Cooldown: 10 minutes.
Synergy and Combination Abilities
For users who manage to awaken both Aspects, special hybrid abilities are unlocked:
Shadow Lance (Hybrid Ultimate)
Creates a spear forged entirely of shadow energy, combining the lethality of the spear art with the stealth and mystique of shadows. Effect: The spear phases through shields and barriers, striking vital points directly. Bonus: User becomes invisible while the shadow lance is active. Cooldown: 10 minutes.
Phantom Vanguard (Hybrid Passive)
Enhances spear techniques with shadow energy, increasing critical hit rate by 30% in low-light conditions.
Eclipse Strike (Hybrid Active)
Unleashes a flurry of spear thrusts, each laced with shadow energy, targeting multiple enemies at once. Cooldown: 1 minute.
(The chaos element is still locked, please complete your second awakening to unlock it.)
Lucien stared at his status in utter disbelief, he blinked a couple of times and wondered if he was dreaming.
"Surprising, isn't it?" The technician asked. "Congratulations on awakening an A rank talent."
Lucien stared at the technician wondering if he had heard him wrong. Suddenly he was enveloped in a warm hug from behind.
"I'm so proud of you baby, an A class talent really is marvelous." Reyna said as she hugged Lucien tightly.
"Indeed, Lucien this is something worth celebrating." Mathew added as he came over holding the data pad the technician gave him.
Lucien thought he was hearing things as he knows he has a SSS rank talent not an A rank talent, but looking at the data pad Lucien was surprised.
Subject: Lucien Anderson
Race: Human
Status: Awakened
Talent: A
Elements: Shadow
Core Attributes: Strength: F- Agility: F- Endurance: F- Intelligence: F-
Blessing: N/A
Abilities
Aspect of Shadows
Shade's Touch (Passive)
Reduces the sound of the user's footsteps slightly in dim lighting, making them harder to detect. Effect: Minimal stealth enhancement, useful for quiet movement only.
Flicker Step (Active)
A short, jerky movement in the direction of the user's choice, covering up to 5 meters. Limitation: Requires shadows nearby and has a noticeable delay. Cooldown: 15 seconds.
Shadow Lash (Active)
Creates a whip-like tendril of shadow that strikes a single target. Effect: Minor damage can trip or disarm weaker foes.
Glimmer Cloak (Active)
Slightly obscures the user's outline in low-light conditions, making them harder to notice but not fully invisible. Limitation: Ineffective in direct light or against attentive opponents.
Binding Wisp (Active)
Summons a weak shadowy chain to momentarily slow an enemy's movement. Duration: 3 seconds.
Aspect of the Spear
Linear Strike (Active)
A basic spear thrust with increased speed and minor piercing power. Limitation: Can only strike one enemy, with no effect on barriers or armor.
Sweeping Arc (Active)
A wide horizontal swing of the spear, designed to knock back enemies.Effect: Moderate force but no significant damage.
Point Guard (Passive)
Improves the user's ability to deflect melee attacks with the shaft of their spear.Limitation: Only effective against weaker enemies or slower attacks.
Lancing Dash (Active)
A short burst of speed toward an enemy, ending with a thrust.Range: 3 meters. Cooldown: 20 seconds.
Echo Stab (Active)
A quick follow-up strike after a successful attack. Limitation: Damage is reduced if the initial attack misses or is blocked.
Lucien looked at the data pad and his status screen seeing as some data had been changed and then he remembered the goddess he once met.
"Could it be she's the one hiding my true status?" He wondered "She even made me her Herald!"
"Hey there kiddo you aren't going to say anything?" Mathew asked excitedly
"I'm just surprised that's all." Lucien answered
"Well, we are already done so let's go celebrate." Mathew said leading his family outside. When they made to it back to the lobby they were surprised as they saw a lot of people running around frantically as if all hell broke loss.
Mathew grabbed one of the association's employees and asked
"Hey what's happening? Is there a dungeon break?"
The employee though angry at being stopped quickly answered
"No, a kid has been chosen as the Herald for the Goddess Eryssia."
The news was so surprising that Mathew let go of the employee in shock, who quickly scampered off. He turned to look at his wife who was also in a state of shock. This came as no surprise as the main Goddess of humanity had never chosen a Herald before one can expect the amount of chaos this can cause to the entirety of the human domain once news got out.
At that moment something suddenly clicked in Lucien's head, as if a memory that had been locked away suddenly resurfaced.
"Ah shit!" Lucien said.