"Awakening stone…" Caine softly whispered, his gaze sharp as he examined the glowing treasure in his hand.
As mentioned, one needed an awakening stone to unlock their innate gift, but that wasn't all.
Gifts were categorized into four tiers, each forming a strict hierarchical order. They were: The Gifted tier, The Blessed tier, The Childe tier, and The Heavenly tier.
Each of these tiers was further divided into grades, mirroring the structure of the Innate Circle.
The lower grades were Mortal, Earth, Sky, Heaven, Supreme, Chaos, and Origin.
The upper grades, meanwhile, were Boundless, Immemorial, and Immeasurable.
This meant that gifts could range from a mortal-level Gifted gift, which was extremely common, all the way up to the peak of an Immeasurable-level Heavenly gift, the latter being a legend—a myth, really.
To be born with a Heavenly tier gift was rare enough, but to possess one at the Immeasurable grade? That was unheard of.
It would be even more terrifying if one's Innate Circle matched that grade—just like Caine's.
Children with such terrifying potential had existed in the past, but they had all perished at birth. Their existence simply broke the balance of the world.
Of course, exceptions always existed.
'Let's see,' Caine thought.
Without hesitation, Caine ingested the stone.
BOOOOM!
A deafening explosion echoed through the air, yet the world remained still, as though a spectral force was holding it in place.
Qi swirled violently around Caine, thickening to the point where it turned into a liquid state, before being absorbed into his pores, opening his body to the surrounding energy.
Mortals usually couldn't manipulate or interact with Qi until they awakened their Innate Circle, but thanks to his rings, Caine had circumvented that rule and had been able to wield Qi from the moment of his birth.
But now, as his innate gifts awakened and his affinity to Qi unlocked, it was as if he could breathe freely for the first time after years of suffocation.
The countless hours of Qi training he had put into his first trial of the Samsara Festival now seemed to multiply exponentially, as his mastery over Qi ascended to a level even he hadn't thought possible. Insights flooded into his mind endlessly, like a rushing river of knowledge.
The Qi poured through him, nourishing his body and refining it at an astonishing pace. His robes tore apart as his muscles swelled and bulged, only to compress and be tempered repeatedly by the pure Qi flooding into him from the surrounding environment.
Simultaneously, as this transformation took place, information surged into his consciousness. His innate gifts awakened fully, taking root within him as though they were always part of his body and an extension of his very mind.
WHOOSH!
As his body completed the process of absorbing the vast Qi in the air, the world around him settled. Slowly, he opened his eyes, revealing silver pupils that gleamed with a sharpness that defied description.
Extending a hand forward, he opened his palm, then closed it again in the next instant.
BANG!
In the distance, a tree was torn to shreds by an unseen force. The next moment, Caine vanished from his spot, reappearing beside the tree's remains.
He nodded to himself before flashing back to his original position, sitting cross-legged once more.
'Perfect.'
Caine had always known, due to one of his wishes, that his innate circle and gifts would inevitably be powerful. What concerned him most, however, was whether they would be compatible with the path he desired to walk.
Powerful talents, if misaligned with one's chosen path, could become powerful shackles. In recent years, Caine had even contemplated ways to safely cripple himself if it became necessary. But fortunately, his fears had been unfounded.
This awakening not only granted him the perfect set of innate gifts, but also confirmed that his Innate Circle would harmonize with his chosen cultivation path.
'Let's see…'
In a rare stroke of fortune, Caine had awakened five innate gifts, all standing at the Quasi-Immeasurable Heavenly tier—just a step short of the true peak.
Suddenly, a screen appeared before him.
[Would you like to analyze your new state?]
Caine nodded silently.
[Analyzing…]
---
>[Name: Caine Lerouge Velios]
>[Realm: Mortal (Enhanced)]
>[Innate Circle: Immeasurable Grade (Unawakened)]
• Details of the pillars cannot be obtained due to the high circle grade.
>[Innate Gift: Quasi-Immeasurable Heavenly Tier]
• Five Innate Gifts detected: Warp (?), Analysis (?), Master (?), Control (?), Sense (?)
• Note: Due to the high grade of the awakened innate gifts, tribulation may occur soon.
---
'I guess I should have expected that. The 'innate' part of innate gifts must refer directly to us as individuals. Still, I wonder… I've heard of children born with their gifts already awakened. What do their gifts draw upon to define themselves? Previous lives, perhaps? Anyway…'
His gifts were simple on the surface, but the potential they held was immense.
For instance, Warp allowed him to manipulate space itself. As demonstrated moments ago, by warping space, he could teleport, but he could also create zones of chaotic energy that could rip apart objects, like the tree he had destroyed earlier.
But this was only the beginning. As he began to cultivate further, his gifts would evolve, growing stronger alongside him, despite already being at such a high grade.
Before Caine could continue experimenting with his newly awakened powers, the world around him began to blur and shift, as though the very fabric of reality was being altered.
Suddenly, he felt the ground vanish beneath him, and the next thing he knew, he was plummeting toward a massive forest that stretched out below him.
Just as he was about to react, a shadow zipped past him, slashing across his back. Blood began to flow freely from the wound as he twisted in mid-air, narrowing his eyes to spot the assailant—a massive eagle circling above him, preparing for another attack.
His gaze sharpened, and in the blink of an eye, he disappeared.
---
Caine reappeared on a thick branch deep within the forest, standing perfectly still, his presence completely concealed by his mastery of stealth.
The second trial was intricately linked to the awakening of his Innate Circle, though that wasn't the immediate goal.
He had been dropped into this wild forest, filled with countless ferocious beasts. His objective was to reach the center, where he would face the Beast King.
Along the way, he needed to hunt and ingest enough beasts to trigger the awakening sequence of his Innate Circle.
The problem was that Caine's Innate Circle was of the highest grade. The sheer number of beasts he would have to consume to meet the requirements would be staggering.
But, as always, Caine wasn't fazed.
'I just need to innovate.'