Kaiden sit on the second chair that was near the tea table.
"How are you feeling? Is there any lingering pain?" Kaiden asked his brother.
"I feel tired, but there is no pain."
Two brothers sit on their chairs in silence, which was interrupted by a servant that was carrying a salver with two glasses and three bottles on it. 'Must have seen my brother coming on his way' Edward thought. The servant placed the cherry juice in front of him and then turned to Kaiden:
"Would you like to have a drink, my lord?" Kaiden ignored the question and looked at Edward with a cold expression:
"I see that you are still ignoring my advice for you. Why do you insist on drinking mid-day?"
"As I always tell you, brother, this is just cherry juice. Why don't you just try it and see for yourself?"
Kaiden managed not to grit his teeth. It wasn't a well-known thing, but he was a very lightweight drinker. 'He probably knows.' He thought. 'This is why he always offers me to test it myself.'
"I will refuse. At least one of us should remain with a clear head since you just finished your Awakening."
"As you say, brother." Edward said as he raised his glass to drink the cherry juice. "Will you tell him what you want to drink then?"
Kaiden looked at the servant who was waiting for his answer:
"Orange juice."
The servant nodded, put an empty glass in front of Kaiden, and poured orange juice into it from one of the bottles he was carrying on the server. After taking a couple of sips, he once again looked at Edward:
"I heard that you wanted the doctor to leave the room after you woke up. Are you sure everything is fine?"
"Yes. I just wanted to rest a bit."
"Still, I recommend doing the Job appraisal and other checks as soon as possible."
He really wanted to rest for a bit, but in the end, he decided to listen to his brother's advice. He wouldn't leave him be anyways. He looked at the servant and said:
"Please let the doctor know that I am ready for the appraisal now." As the servant was leaving the room, he started to think about Awakenings.
'There was only one Awakening in the other world and it happened arbitrarily, only for a few people. Here, the first Awakening happens around the age of 15 and everyone goes through it. Even though how, when, and how often they happen change drastically, I think they are pretty close in terms of what they are. My control over mana after I Awakened here was pretty similar to my previous body. The only difference I can think of is that in the previous world, the Awakening always brought a Trait; but here it is a rare occurrence.'
He didn't regain his Trait when he went through his first Awakening, and he could feel that it was the case even after the second one. He didn't feel sad about it.
Even though it wasn't something he would hesitate to use, it was still something that he would feel at ease with its absence.
'But then there is the second Awakening which I never heard of in my previous world.'
He remembered the things he learned here in Ark. He was a teenager back then, but he could still hear his petty teacher's voice:
'While the first Awakening grants limited control over ambient mana, the second Awakening grants 3 development.
First, the quality of ambient mana control is greatly increased.
Second, one could now not only control the ambient mana but also store it within themselves. Using the internal mana is much faster and easier, also the maximum amount you can utilize before hitting the limit is much greater. However, the internal mana requires time to recharge. You can use your ability to control ambient mana to replenish your internal mana faster. Doing so is also the primary way to increase your internal mana capacity.
Third and last, your Job will be defined. When you succeed in your second Awakening, you can perform certain things to a much greater extent, and you will find the doors to many different ways to utilize mana ajar. In short, Jobs refer to your personal "theme", it is about the best way you can use your mana.'
Someone entered Edward's room through the open door. She was wearing a thin white coat over her clothes. Her dark brown hair was wrapped in a bun. He could see small wrinkles on her serious face. That was the face of their trusted family doctor. Kaiden took the initiative:
"I hope you weren't troubled much." She simply responded with a "No", then returned to Edward:
"I assume you decided to do the checks now rather than later?" She asked in a neutral tone. Edward nodded.
"Then please lie on the bed." He lay on his bask. The doctor took out some artifacts from her storage ring.
"Please try not to use any mana for a while." After saying that, she proceeded to use the artifacts on him one by one. To Edward's knowledge, they were tools to detect and measure mana flow in various ways, though his knowledge of the matter was rather limited. After she was done with the artifacts, she stored them back in the ring. Then she spoke:
"It looks like you didn't gain a Trait in this Awakening either. But don't be sad over it, it is a rare phenomenon anyway. That being said, you might get one in the future. After all, even though Traits mostly emerge during the Awakening, there are some exceptions." It was as he expected. The doctor continued:
"Now I will start the Job appraisal. Please follow my instructions carefully." Suddenly, several magic circles of varying sizes appeared around his body. The doctor asked him to do various simple things with mana like strengthening his body, preparing a force blast, or infusing ambient mana into several objects she pulled out of her ring. She then wanted him to repeat some of the tasks with more specifics. After that, she wanted him to repeat a set of mana exercises until he could no longer control the ambient mana.
Eventually, Edward hit his limit. He was already tired before the appraisal, but now he was utterly exhausted. She nodded her head as if to tell him that he could stop now. After a short pause, Kaiden curiously asked:
"So... Could you now tell us what my brother's Job is?"
With his strong destiny, the protagonist piques the interest of a peculiar Divine Being. As the mysterious entity temporarily pulls this soul to have a little talk with the person who he enjoyed watching the life of, he realizes that the soul in front of him is completely unaware of many trials and tribulations brought upon him by his destiny. Telling him that he wanted to watch the life of this soul again, The Divine Being reincarnates him in a different world.
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