“Hahaha! It fucking said, ‘Please try harder.’ Like hell trying harder is enough to awaken an ability. You are so pitiful that even the AI is taking pity on you.” One of the students burst into laughter upon seeing the ‘Advice’ section of Randy’s statistical data.

“Oh, you are fucking right. I didn’t see that as I was focus on this bastard’s ridiculous basic statistics. I mean, how could someone who hadn’t even awakened his ability have those high statistics that is on par with an E-Rank Ability User?’

“I know right, this fucker is a monster, at least when it comes to training but alas, that does not mean shit when you face an Ability User.”

“You are right, I had a 60 for my physical strength statistics but when I use my ability, I am still stronger than this loser.”

“Oh, you had a 60? Mine was lower than that. I had a 50 for my physical strength when I last checked.”

“If you really think about it, this fucker is indeed a monster that reign champion in terms of raw strength but too bad the world doesn’t focus on raw strength when checking for power. They only look at your ability and Energy Type or Energy Compatibilities.”

“That’s right, it is indeed a shame, he was just too unlucky to not be able to awaken his ability even when he had already turn eighteen years old. After all, once you reach that age and you still haven’t awakened it then you would most likely not be able to awaken it for your whole remaining lifetime.”

…

What these colleagues of Randy were saying were indeed true, once someone fails to awaken their ability at the age of eighteen, they would most likely not be able to awaken in the near future even if they go through the extreme method of exposing themselves to fleshly opened rifts that suddenly appear. One of the pecks of the rifts that desperate people take advantage of was the fact that it exudes otherworldly energy and those close to the rift or dimensional gate would be affected by the energy. If you are compatible with the energy type then you might awaken your ability, if not, then only despair awaits you.

Due to the slim chance of awakening an ability that way, not many people try this method and also there is a chance that a monster or a beast or whatever creature that is on the other side would suddenly jump out of the rifts and pounce on you ruthlessly. Although there are regulations set on the rifts enacted by the government, but even they cannot be perfect as some rifts appear spontaneously without their notice and citizens would have to report its appearance before they inform hunters and warriors of the government to handle the situation. Of course, the government had a means of detecting some rifts, but they could not keep track of them all, which leads to people with nothing to lose approaching them and trying to expose themselves to the otherworldly energy coming out of the rift.

There had been a warning issued by the government about the prohibition of such methods, but not everyone would listen to such a warning and that is how it had been until now. Randy thought about using this method to see if he would awaken his ability but after thinking about it, he decided not to. First of all, there is a risk to doing this and also if he gets caught by a government official or any inquisitive citizen, he would be in a big trouble even affecting his academy’s reputation; so many repercussions will be borne from his actions, so he did not dare to try this method and continued to utilize the academies specialized methods of awakening abilities.

Randy waited until all the students got their fill of his statistical results before putting it away. He had already become numb to it all. The instructor did not bother to stop the students from harassing him, in fact, it seems like he was also enjoying it deep down as he turned a blind eye and proceeded to call various names of students and they received their parcel just like he did. Very soon, a name was called which elicited a quietness in the room. One could hear the breathing rhythm of the student opposite them due to the sudden quietness. The instructor called the name again with his expression full of respect for the teenager in from of him.

“Jeremiah Zhang, as expected you have improved drastically in controlling your ability. Very well done, Good job. You are the role model of every student in this class who are still struggling to control their abilities.” The praise from the instructor did not elicit any reaction from the teenager in front of him. He only had a cold expression as he nonchalantly walked and grabbed his chip without saying anything. He knew very well that his teacher was only polite because of his family background, and not actually impressed with his ability or his ability to control it well compared to the others with different abilities.

…

Randy only glanced at this colleague and then bend his head down again. This guy was one of the people who bullied him in and outside of the institution. Most of the time, he only sends his men to deal with him, so he rarely dealt with him himself. This Jeremiah Zhang’s father is the director of the Ministry of Education for the Ability Users. In this Sky Rise City in the Eastern District, there were only a handful of things that he could not do. So, even the instructors of this academy were afraid of him, more precisely his father.

…

Just like that, all the other students received their parcel containing their statistical results. Some were happy about their improvement in their ability control, while others had a not so contented expression on their faces since they were still struggling with their ability. One needs to fully understand their ability if they wish or want make use of it in the future, so there were training grounds where you can test out your ability and depending on the type of ability, the room for the training ground would be different as there are a variety of abilities just in this academy alone.

But ultimately, they are classified into two: The Physical and the Mental abilities. The physical ability would be any ability that rely heavily on your body like enhancement abilities, and the mental abilities are abilities that rely heavily on your mental strength like telekinesis. It was debatable whether elemental abilities are physical or mental as they tend to rely on both physical and mental strength to utilize, but in the end, it was place under the physical ability category since casting spells rely on the energy in your body and not that of your mind.

…

After school.

Randy did not go home like the rest of the students and instead, proceeded to head to the academy’s special gymnasium since today was Friday, and it would be the weekend the following day, so he would not be able to come here to train. He always goes to the gymnasium of the academy before going home. He wanted to increase his strength as soon as possible even if it is only his physical strength. Randy made his way to a highly sophisticated building that was in a form of a triangle with three equal sides. There were three sections to this building. The first section was the first floor where most of the student who wanted to train their physical bodies frequented; most of these people had physical abilities like [Physique Enhancement] so they needed to be in top shape to maximize their abilities.

The second floor were where those who awakened an elemental abilities or other similar abilities go to train their abilities, of course that section is also split in many room types based on individual ability types.

The third floor were where those that had fully mastered the control of their abilities go to further improve or step into a next stage of their ability through the guidance from the instructors who had experience with said abilities; the amount of people who goes to the third floor are few and far between as not many could fully control their abilities until they partake in the university entrance examination. Those who accomplish such feats were hailed as geniuses and Randy knew one such person. She was his childhood friend. They lived in the same neighborhood and since their parents knew each other, it was not easy for them to get to know each other. They even went to middle school together and now they were in the same high school or perhaps it is better to call it an academy instead, since they focus heavily on training abilities.

…

After going through security and the verification of his Identification Card at the entrance to the Training Center of the academy, Randy made his way into the sophisticated building. When he entered the building, he was met with gazes of curiosity and those of pity. Most people working in this training center knew about this diligent youth who had frequented the training center of the academy almost every day ever since he came to the academy four years ago. They knew very well how hard this youth had been trying when it comes to physical training, but none of that matter if he cannot awaken his ability before the university entrance examination. Randy saw their gazes and he ignored them. He was already used to their ‘pity’ towards him by now.. He did not need their pity, it is not like if they feel pity towards him, he will suddenly awaken his ability or something.