August 9th, 9 a.m.
James had spent some money on a good breakfast in a nearby city and watched the trains go by. It had been a long time since he'd eaten such delicious food. He wasn't worried about money.
After the descent of the magic upon Earth, several modes of transportation became inefficient, but one that managed to endure was the train. They were restructured and became crucial to the return of other methods. They are extremely important.
Equipped with magic technology, they took a significant leap forward, becoming a safe and stable way of transporting people and materials from one place to another. It's a long story. Even though they suffered great damage, all technology came back in full force during the era of awakened humans.
Currently, James was preparing to head to a Circle-4 city, where there would be a Ccha base and he would have more room to maneuver. He now had a game system — he'd be a fool not to use it in the best way possible for his current situation.
'So now I'm awakened?'
'But you'll help me reach it, right? I just need to get to level 5.'
'How fun, I feel like great things are going to happen in the future. I really am the luckiest in this world.' It was truly a fortuitous encounter. He couldn't be happier. He didn't even mind turning into a fish, actually.
Finishing his meal, he paid the restaurant with his phone and headed to board the train. It was the first time in his adult life that he was taking a train. The food and the ticket didn't cost more than 500 credits, but he had bought a VIP seat, so it ended up being more expensive.
He sat in a comfortable seat and relaxed, letting his thoughts wander through his mind. Being a fish had its advantages — he discovered that by getting wet, or wetting his head, his thoughts would vaguely become faster. It was a good feeling, like cleansing the mind.
He was playing with a half-full bottle of water. 'I vaguely know the concepts about awakening. The problem now is where to go. I'm going to join an awakened military school — I'm sure of that. The question is whether I'll go into the Ccha or a private one.'
Ccha was the first to create a military school, but over time, clans, guilds, sects began to gain strength, so they created their own schools — not to mention companies. The Ccha itself would send students from its schools to clans for certain benefits and money.
'If I entered with my own money — which is not possible — into a private school, I'd end up excluded. They're heirs and children of the wealthy. Mingling with someone like me wouldn't benefit their power. I'll have to enter the public school of the Ccha and then achieve a degree of excellence to be bought by some clan and then enter a private school.'
This was the second generation of heirs, trained since childhood to master martial arts, cultivation, magic, and mystical arts — the full package. They flew while James walked. Even the system couldn't cover the training of a lifetime.
As the name implies, heirs inherited many things from their parents. The name came from the inheritances — creations that appeared with the supernatural's descent into the world. The supernatural didn't bring just creatures; the world seemed to unfold. At these points, structures would appear.
They told stories from other worlds. It could be a house, a dungeon full of challenges, a giant tower, or an inheritance from an awakened being from another world. Nowadays, the world was already 2 or 3 times larger than it was 30 years ago.
'How much can I evolve ahead of other people, system?'
'What a shame. I'm just kind of clever. I have no manipulative talent. I just like acquiring information and benefits,' he thought, closing his eyes.
Trains had already reached a very high level — but humans hadn't. If it were just awakened people, the train could go at maximum speed, but normal humans would die at the speeds of the newer trains. So, they were still comparable to regular bullet trains from before the supernatural.
Much of this was due to new energy sources, mainly from the primordial crystals — a new mineral that appeared on Earth when essence emerged. They are full of essence, each rank signifying a different level of essence. Using them to generate energy — even in the most rudimentary way — was hundreds of times cheaper than other types of energy.
'What should my goal be? Power is too simplistic. The path is open for me. System, what's your goal?'
'Fun? You don't have some goal like… world domination, or making me kill something?' He looked surprised at the screen.
'Then I guess it'll be up to me. Just having power is simplistic. Having a guild isn't really for me. Should I create a sect? Or maybe govern an entire area?' At that moment, something popped into his mind. 'The sea. That's it — I can dominate the sea.'
Of the three domains — sky, land, and water — water was the most dangerous. 'Very few awakened are truly capable of fighting underwater. For many reasons, aquatic exploration is the hardest. But I'm a fish, and it seems I can become other aquatic beings over time. That would give me a huge advantage. I wouldn't be the only one exploring the waters, but the number of humans exploring is minuscule compared to other domains.'
'A strong awakened on land will also be strong in the air if they learn to fly — maybe even scarier — but if they are thrown into the sea, even if they learn to swim, they will have lost almost all of their threat. Only those with real aquatic abilities can fight underwater. It's a very dangerous realm — much more than land or sky for humans.'
'Sure, sure. That way I could join one of the aquatic clans… or explore on my own, of course.' He observed the landscape — it passed by like a blur, but in certain stretches, he could see a vast open field filled with exotic animals.
"We've arrived in Leicester, Circle-4 city. Hope you had a pleasant trip!" he heard the conductor's voice.
As he stood up, he saw some people looking at him. There was a very cute child with light hair and blue eyes who smiled at him, putting him in a good mood. 'At least kids like me.'
He stopped worrying so much about money, so he bought some clothes — along with other things like a backpack and various common items.
He was wearing civilian clothes, a blue shirt and plain white pants. His shirt had long, wide sleeves. Underneath, there was a second layer,tight to his body, made of special material. Though barely noticeable, it served as reinforcement and also helped fighters avoid ending up naked if their clothes were destroyed.
In short, it was just a high-tech pajama.
He had decent shoulders, medium height — not bad-looking, or so he hoped.
After grabbing his bag, he passed by the seats, which had rotated and been automatically disinfected by the train. 'That's cool,' he thought as he exited.
He saw that girl again — she and her mother walked together toward the exit of the train. As they left, she waved her little arms at him, which he returned.
The station was huge — in big cities, everything was big. He walked among people, smiling. It had been a long time since he'd been to a new place.
Once outside, he breathed in the city air — clean, breezy, and sunny. He caught a glimpse of the city's view next to a welcome sign.
'That must be the Ccha base in this city.' It was an enormous structure made of materials that looked extremely strong — a city within another city. It had a huge vertical structure in the center, painted in vibrant colors — a large skyscraper made of reinforced iron and bars of a dark metal. Below it was a more horizontal base, which alone must have been hundreds of meters wide. Surrounding it were several other structures, like government-linked schools and their other hubs.
'I need to go to the Ccha. There's no reason to go elsewhere. They'll already provide everything I need. But to enter, I'd like to be awakened already. I could enter without being one and then awaken inside — but that would give me a lower rank than the other students. Not good for my social circle.'
'But exploring a root alone wouldn't be smart. Entering one with other people, neither. System, what would be the best way for my awakening?'
'If the shop were open, I could buy some magical product for automatic awakening — but it's locked. I need to find a way to awaken manually. Shouldn't be too hard.' Awakenings often happened randomly, but there were many ways to manually awaken someone — which is why heirs had a 100% chance of awakening.
'System, I'll use a paid question from the free conversation. Could you explain how my fish self would become awakened?'
After a few moments, it replied:
'Ten thousand credits?' he looked at the screen in shock. It wasn't a massive amount of money, but for him, with only the items in his backpack, it was a lot.
'Damn, I'll have to request a government loan… but I have no collateral. I'm going to end up a slave when I awaken.'