The Veilwalker

Alex stared blankly at the numbers and wondered what the hell. Ross may have not been the only one to have had such a record, but the number of times something like this was seen was rare. Even with the size of the Human Empire that spans billions upon billions of light years, values like this didn't come very often.

The thing to also note was that beings who had values within the extremes of their awakening had the highest chance of becoming the ultimate powerhouses known to man.

Eein looked at his brother and smiled with pride. Ross had always been a bit of an oddball in their family, even for one-horned. Hearing the murmurs of his brother's feat, something even he didn't achieve nearly brought tears to his eyes. 'Looks like you've taken the first step to becoming our family's powerhouse' he silently thought.

After bathing in the glow of his record, he moved on to the speed test, and just like before had a record close to the extremes; 161 km/h. Now the only left for him to try out was his ability. Moving to the space allocated for that, Ross took a deep breath to regulate his energies. Right after awakening, a person develops the ability to sense the flow of mana within them.

Channeling the power within him to his right hand, he pointed out before him and his palm began to glow red until a flame was generated. To no one's surprise, almost everyone who knew him had pretty much guessed the same. His brother had a similar ability with the flames after all. In general, people of the same family tend to acquire a similar set of abilities.

The temperature quickly increased in the space as the intensity increased. Ross continued channelling his mana to see how far he could push it. His flames grew in size, and he moulded it into the desired shape of a small ball with some difficulty. After having his feel of testing out his skill, he stopped channelling his mana and stepped out.

"Aren't you impressed?" Ross posed, waiting for his mates to comment.

"Show off," said Alex before continuing, "I always knew you were a weird one, never thought you'd be across the board. Now, you're just a monster!"

"Of course. I'm awesome like that," replied Ross with his arms spread wide, basking in the glory of his awakening.

"I'll go next. Look forward to being impressed," Julia stepped forward to carry out her tests. The display by Ross had gotten her fired up. With a determined look on her face, she went to measure her strength level.

Alex quietly observed her actions with an amused smile. 'She's feeling competitive. I can understand that.' He thought before taking another look at Ross who was waving at his brother. As if noticing his gaze, Ross turned to Alex and asked, "What?"

Alex shook his head, focusing his attention on Julia who had already taken a stance. The two boys closely watched her actions, waiting for the moment.

~BOOM!~

Julia stepped back and looked at the display with fiery eyes, awaiting her results. Back at the spectator section, James closely watched her young Miss display. And if one were to look closely at his eyes, lenses could be seen recording everything. Whether it was a live feed or a recorded video, only the concerned parties knew.

Soon the result of her punch was displayed and while it wasn't as impressive as Ross's, it was still within the region where one could be considered a genius.

[552 units]

A wave of surprise spread across the floor. The people observing were curious as to who the youngsters were.

"Were newly awakened kids always this powerful?" Someone asked.

"You wish. They are probably from some powerful families." Another commented.

"Then why would they be awakening here?"

"Beats me. Whatever the case, these kids are about to take the empire by storm."

...….

Julia was glad about her results. She knew how rare it was for newly awakened humans to have such extreme results. People like Ross were rare exceptions. She quickly carried out her speed test and again, exceeded expectations.

Once inside the room for her ability reveal, she took a deep breath. A family as big as hers with all the branches of humans, could awaken any ability and was not specifically tied to one specific type and its variants.

She channelled her mana into her palms and manifested her skill. A cold breeze blew around her as the temperature plummeted to ambient levels. Above her palm was the forming of an icicle. It gradually grew in length the more mana she poured into it.

A smile emerged from her lips. She raised her head to look over to Alex and Ross and saw them giving her a thumbs up.

'Is it a coincidence or what?' Alex silently thought to himself. The way she described her persona and the colour of her hair made it seem as if she was destined to awaken an ice skill.

Julia made her way out and approached the duo. "Told you I'd impress you guys." She said with a brilliant smile. Even with her record overshadowed by Ross's own, she showed content for her own. Alex noticed this and was once again impressed by the kind of person she was.

"Indeed. Now I'm the only one left." Alex commented, preparing his psyche for whatever he would showcase. His friends gave him their encouragement as he moved forward. His family cheered him up while he made his way to the first test area.

'It's show time.'

Alex breathed out loudly and took his stance.

'Why am I even nervous?' he questioned mentally. The performance of his friends had placed a lot of pressure on his shoulders he wasn't even aware of. But he knew that regardless of his results, his family would still be proud. Momentarily closing his eyes, he abruptly opened them with his eyes flashing a dark hue before disappearing.

"Here goes nothing." He muttered silently and punched.

~BOOOM!~

"Eeh?"