Michael's family lived in a rented, two-bedroom apartment on the second floor of a six-story building, with four units on each floor.
The living conditions and environment could be described as modest–neither terrible nor particularly comfortable. Michael figured that once he had more money in the future, he would move his family to a better place.
Dreams of a brighter future for his family burned brightly within him!
Of the two bedrooms, one was Michael's, while the other was shared by his aunt and cousin. This arrangement had always left him feeling guilty about it, a sentiment that lingered even after his transmigration. Regardless of how close their ties were, it didn't change the fact that he wasn't a part of their immediate family. Still, he clung to a saying he had heard back on Earth: family isn't decided by blood.
Stepping into his relatively empty room, Michael sat on a chair next to a desk, which was cluttered with books and placed his plate on the table. Taking a mouthful of rice with his spoon, he pulled out his phone and opened his email.
A quick check revealed several emails from the Supers Association.
The first message was a congratulatory note on his Awakening, accompanied by a file containing the military-standard Cultivation techniques that the receptionist had mentioned.
The file contained two methods: a general-purpose breathing technique that had no elemental attribute and a meditation technique that was purely aimed at increasing one's mana pool, also without any elemental attribute.
Michael had a basic understanding of what these breathing and meditative techniques were. After all, he had also practised the free-breathing technique provided by the federation to all its citizens, though it never bore much fruit for him due to his lack of talent for Cultivation. However, this knowledge only deepened his confusion.
Though Michael hadn't yet taken the time to study the mysterious panel in his mind, one thing was certain: he wasn't mistaken about the level-up system he had seen there.
One piece of information he knew about Awakeners was that they could level up in the Land of Origin. This was the reason why Awakeners grew stronger more quickly, and the Land of Origin was often described as a world that resembled a game.
So this begged the question: why bother cultivating if leveling up was already an option? Though there were rumours which suggested that cultivation could lead to someone obtaining a second class, none of the teachers in school ever dared to confirm this.
Thankfully, there was a note in the file that soon cleared up Michael's confusion.
'Ah, so that's what it is!'
The note explained that while leveling up—which in turn would indeed make an Awakener stronger—it didn't mean that Cultivation was completely useless to them.
What if one leveling up wasn't immediately possible, but one still wanted to grow stronger? Cultivation could help in filling that very gap. It turned out that, aside from levelling up, Awakeners could actively enhance their strength through other means.
The two techniques provided by the Supers Association belonged to distinct systems: the Knight Cultivation system and the Mage Cultivation system. Michael was more familiar with the former than the latter.
According to the file, Cultivation systems and methods originated from the Land of Origin. For the Knight Cultivation system, practitioners had to push their bodies to their theoretical limit, eventually igniting a "Life Seed" within themselves—a critical step on the path of the supernatural. But it was no easy feat.
The theoretical limit of the human body was double the strength and capabilities of an average person. Even skilled athletes typically only achieved about half of this threshold.
To qualify as a Rank One Knight, an individual needed to push their body to reach twice the capabilities of an average human. This was a very daunting challenge to achieve under normal circumstances. However, with a specialized breathing technique, one could use it as a catalyst to reach their natural human limit.
Once a Life Seed was ignited, it introduced a new upper limit, allowing the individual to continue refining their Life Seed. This process thereby steadily increased their physical potential and strength.
While this method was primarily designed for ordinary humans, Awakeners could also use breathing techniques to enhance their physical abilities. The key difference, however, was that the Awakeners could not ignite a Life Seed—after all, as Awakeners, they no longer had limits.
However, the note in the file Michael had been reading contained an unexpected revelation: the existence of dual classes.
According to the note, if someone ignited a Life Seed before awakening—as long as there was no conflict between the Knight class and the class they eventually awakened into and it wasn't the same—there was a high chance that they could acquire a secondary class.
This potential applied specifically to the Knight Cultivation system, enabling the potential for a dual-class setup: a primary awakened class and the secondary Knight class.
Michael wasn't much familiar with the Mage system, and the note offered little to no insights about it.
'No wonder the principal and teachers kept mentioning that we'd eventually learn what we needed to know after registering with the Supers Association. And this isn't even the only email I received—there's still that mysterious supernatural platform.'
Michael suddenly felt enlightened. Things that had been unclear to him before now seemed to make more sense and the note that came with the techniques was really helpful for that. Unfortunately, he realized that he had missed the chance to ignite a Life Seed before his awakening, meaning a dual-class potential was out of reach for him.
Michael couldn't help but wonder. 'Hmmm. Is that why the principal specifically told Brian to stay back? I don't know much about dual classes, but if one class can make someone stronger, it makes sense that having two would pose a significant advantage. If that's the case, then Brian might indeed be special—even among Awakeners.'
Despite these thoughts, Michael didn't feel envious. He wasn't competing with anyone. Just having awakened was already an immense gift for him and he felt he was truly fortunate to receive it.
Michael continued to read through the note, and once he was done finishing, he set it aside. There was no need to rush into cultivation—he still had something else that demanded his attention.
Feeling excited, Michael turned to the other email sent by the Supers Association. It contained a link, which, according to the receptionist at the Supers Association, granted him access to a platform for all registered supernatural beings within the federation.
Without hesitation, Michael tapped the link. It opened a browser page with a simple, straightforward design.