"Everyone, fall in!"
"Draw swords, thrust!"
"Draw swords! Thrust again!"
On the wide-open training grounds, a middle-aged man in military green commanded loudly with a stern face.
At his command, a group of students, boys and girls alike, rushed forward holding heavy swords, slashing and stabbing!
Each movement carried tremendous force, the sound of wind slicing through the air.
However, after two rounds of heavy sword strikes, the middle-aged instructor frowned and spoke.
"Lancaster, your movements are incorrect, practice again!"
"And you, Fischer, when I said to go all out, to use your waist and hips for more power, what the hell was that move? Practice again!"
"You! Scaler, did you just slack off…?"
The instructor's stern reprimands made a few unlucky students sulk and reattempt their strikes.
Among them, someone muttered under their breath,
"Raziel's moves aren't standard either, why didn't you say anything to him?"
"At this point? Tomorrow, we're all going to awaken our Talents as players. What's the point of practicing anymore?"
…
"What did you say?" The middle-aged instructor's face darkened with anger.
"Tomorrow you're supposed to awaken your Talent, but don't you realize? Every time you train in the Knight's Hammer method, you improve your physical attributes, which gives you a higher chance to awaken your Talent. If you all keep acting like this, don't expect to awaken even the lowest level f-tier Talent. You might not even awaken a Talent at all!"
"By then, you'll all be nothing but ordinary people, living on the edge!"
"Next time, when the monsters invade, one of them could easily kill you!"
"By then, your classmates will have awakened D-tier and C-tier Talents and become powerful players, dominating the world!"
"Don't think that just because you're classmates now, it means you're on the same level. Once you awaken your Talents as players, the differences will put you in two entirely different worlds!"
"One will survive by sheer luck, while the other will enjoy all the riches the world has to offer!"
The instructor's voice grew louder, filled with anger.
He knew that these students were still young and couldn't understand how much today's effort could change their entire future.
The instructor had often woken up in the middle of the night, regretting not working harder when he was young. If he could go back in time, he would push himself to the limit.
Though he couldn't turn back time, at least he could push these kids to do their best.
After his speech, the students below straightened up, their faces serious.
Though they were still immature, they knew the instructor was right.
If they trained hard enough, they might awaken a Talent, even if it was a lower-tier D or E-level. That would still allow them to enter a higher-tier Player Academy for further training, opening up limitless possibilities.
If they were lucky, they might even awaken something better during today's training—perhaps a B-level Talent or even the rarer A-level Talent. That would earn them an invitation to one of the top Player Academies in the Republic!
With their potential, they could reach level 70 or 80 at least.
Not only would they become stronger themselves, but they could also elevate their entire family, friends, and loved ones, all of them rising to new heights!
Who wouldn't be tempted by that?
All the students couldn't help but feel excited.
Many of them even took up their heavy swords again, eager to continue swinging.
Seeing this, the instructor nodded with satisfaction. "Keep working hard. Otherwise, even if Avril admits you're from the same school, you won't have the face to acknowledge it."
As soon as he said that, the students' movements became more passionate. Whether male or female, there was a spark of longing in their eyes.
Avril was the pride of their Keller City Starlight Junior Player Academy.
She had shown an incredible aptitude for the Knight's Hammer method since she was young. She even experienced energy fluctuations before becoming a player.
Countless people predicted that she would at least awaken a B-tier Talent, or even an A-tier Talent!
She was a truly extraordinary individual.
Moreover, Avril also served as the head of the cheerleading squad at the academy, and her beauty was top-tier, not just in the academy, but across all of Keller City.
With perfect Talent and unparalleled grace, she truly lived up to the reputation of being a goddess among them.
Half of the students at the academy saw her as the woman of their dreams—because they were male. The other half saw Avril as their idol—because they were female.
Amid the bustling atmosphere, only one person remained unmoved, calmly wiping his weapon.
He was the one the few students who had been punished earlier were talking about—Raziel.
Raziel's movements were the most unrefined, but the instructor wouldn't scold him.
Because everyone knew that Raziel had been incredibly weak since birth, and the knight training method designed to unleash potential was utterly ineffective for him!
He was the complete opposite of Avril, the campus cheerleader, a rising star.
Raziel had long been written off. His chance of awakening a Talent was less than 1%.
Although Raziel excelled in his academic courses—history, mathematics, and other subjects like basic dungeon clearing and Wild Monster Habits—he always scored full marks.
But none of that mattered.
In this world, where powerful players ruled everything, if you couldn't awaken a strong Talent, you couldn't even get a spot in a stable team for leveling up.
His only future seemed to be working as a clerk at the Adventure Association, because of his excellent academic performance.
"Has the day finally arrived?"
"Awakening a Talent... It feels like a death sentence for me!"
Raziel sighed deeply.
He felt that his transmigration was truly unfair.
In his past life, he had seemingly died from an all-nighter gaming session, only to find himself transmigrated into a world where games and reality intertwined as Raziel.
At first, he was excited, thinking he could achieve great things.
In this new world, compared to the rigid social classes of his past life, becoming a player meant gaining powerful abilities and the chance to change his fate!
But then, Raziel realized he had been too hasty in his joy.
Once everyone became a player, they all started from level one. It seemed like a fair start, but the biggest inequality lay in whether or not you had the potential to awaken a Talent.
And in that area, Raziel's potential was beyond terrible.
In both lives, his mental strength was exceptionally strong, his memory and learning abilities outstanding. But what good was that?
Without a strong Talent to awaken, he was doomed to remain at the bottom.
However, in an instant,
He suddenly saw a strange flash of light before his eyes.
Raziel's heart raced. It felt as if something was about to break free!
The next moment, he felt a burst of rainbow-like brilliance explode in his vision!
And then, Raziel collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
The students who witnessed the scene weren't particularly surprised.
Everyone knew Raziel had a weak constitution.
What they didn't expect was for him to be in such a pitiful state today. He had only been practicing for a short while, and he could barely keep himself standing.
But Raziel himself, however, was filled with both shock and exhilaration in his eyes!
He knew exactly what had just happened.
He had seen it countless times in textbooks. It was the phenomenon of Talent awakening!
Most people awaken their Talent after becoming a player, but there were rumors that a very small number of people had the chance to awaken their Talent even before they became players!
And those Talents were extremely powerful!
At the same time, lines of text began to appear in front of his eyes.
[Hello, Contractor. Your permissions have now merged with the Talent System of this world, giving birth to the unique god-level Talent: Contractor.]
[This System will coexist with your god-level Talent and provide you with assistance.]
"This is the game I stayed up all night playing before I transmigrated!!"
Raziel's face lit up with joy.