"Luis, you successfully Awakened, but you failed to awaken the Special Spirit. As per the agreement, you must pay the compensation of your awaken fee of 5 Million Dollars to the Flying Star Empire. If you do not have the money to pay now, you will have to pay it in installments with 10% interest!"
Hearing the words of the Awakener Instructor, the young man called Luis staggered and almost fell on the stage where the awakening process was being conducted.
His skin became deathly pale while his eyes became very red as tears were about to come out.
Awakening promised glory so it was hard for anyone who had the chance to refuse it, but if it was just awaken without awakening any spirits, it was hardly different from a disaster.
Someone would have to pay compensation.
The Flying Star Empire was not from Planet Velos. They were just colonizing Velos, they naturally weren't willing to help for free.
If there were spirits, they would indeed not mind helping for free because it meant they could have them as imperial troops.
The difference between Awakener with Spirit and without Spirit can be said to be like the difference between heaven and earth.
This is because those without spirits will not be able to use any skills so their fighting ability will not be very strong.
The reason for this is because all skills come from the Spirit.
Furthermore, it was very difficult for them to improve due to their weak original strength while leveling up required a solid foundation of strength.
Otherwise, even when one had reached the limit, they would not be able to level up.
They could only increase to Level E at best, making it difficult to even break through to E+.
By today's standards, an ordinary human is considered to be at Level F.
From F, F+, then E, it was not a significant increase if there was no Spirit.
Awakeners at Level E without a Spirit could only kill Level 2 Monsters at best.
The value of their Monster Core is insignificant. They needed to kill countless monsters if they wanted to repay their 5 Million Dollar debt.
This could take several years.
Of course, they might be able to find Spirits integrated into their bodies by luck while exploring Apocalypse World, but the chances of that were very slim, especially with their weak strength.
Luis was immediately taken down from the stage.
He was the first participant so his failure caused many of the other participants to panic.
Some even chose to withdraw, not wanting to take any chances.
Only some of the participants seemed calm. Those were the participants with a faint light emitting endlessly in their palms while for the rest, their palms only occasionally emitted the faint light.
A person can be predicted to be an Awakener by looking at their palms. If their palms emit a faint glow, it means they can become an Awakener. They only need the help of the Flying Star Empire to awaken.
However, there was a difference between palms that constantly emitted light and palms that only emitted light occasionally.
The former means that one can definitely awaken with the Spirit while the latter is uncertain.
Those who are not certain to awaken to Spirit are practically doing something akin to gambling.
Failing meant having a 5 Million Dollar debt and it had to be paid.
No one on Velos could escape the Flying Star Empire.
If they could not pay, they did not hesitate to take all assets including organs in lieu of money.
"Damn my life," Luis said as he walked aimlessly, earning the pitying stares of many.
He was probably the youngest of all the participants. He is 17 years old, still in Grade 3 of high school, and comes from a poor family.
The opportunity to become an Awakener that promised glory made him not think long before deciding to awaken.
Too bad it was a disaster for him.
He can see his future now, every day having to go to Apocalypse World to hunt monsters to pay off his debts.
Although the Awakeners were always going to Apocalypse World, hunting and such, they had results whereas he would not get any results.
'The Flying Star Empire is really good at cheating. How could the awaken cost up to 5 Million Dollars. It probably didn't cost anything at all. Too bad, only they know how.'
Luis was in such a bad mood that he wanted to curse the empire.
As he looked at the people of the empire who all had bright blonde hair and pale white skin, his heart instantly filled with rage.
DING!
(Congratulations, you are bound to the Monster Transformation System, a system that can help you transform into any monster you've ever seen either in person or through photos, including their regular kind, complete with all its skills!)
Suddenly he heard a strange sound that echoed directly inside his head that almost made him jump in surprise.
After that, he saw a virtual screen appear in front of his eyes.
(You can write with your mind here what kind of monster you want to be!)
The words were written on the screen.
Luis was more than just shocked.
He rubbed his eyes to make sure his vision was correct.
The screen was really in front of his eyes and it seemed that only he could see it.
He then entered the restroom, wanting a place with no one around.
His eyes kept looking at the screen.
'I want to be a cat,' he thought.
Shua!
Suddenly he was completely transformed into an orange-colored cat with a fat body.
He could see his figure as a cat in the toilet mirror.
His eyes couldn't help but widen at the sight.
'I want to be an eagle,' he thought again and instantly he became an eagle in the toilet.
Amazingly, he actually felt like he was really an eagle where he didn't feel awkward at all with his body.
He could move every part with ease.
When he flapped his wings, he flew inside the toilet.
'Will I even be able to become a dragon if I see one later?' Luis wondered.
However, his mind was on becoming human again.
Instantly, he returned to his original human figure.
It really only took a thought.
He then exited the toilet, trying to calm himself down from the overwhelming feeling of excitement.
He failed to awaken the Spirit, but something strange called the Monster Transformation System suddenly appeared, giving him the ability to transform into any monster he had ever seen.
Something like this was unheard of.
There was no Spirit that could give this kind of ability.
He no longer felt hopeless as there was now unimaginable hope.
However, he could not leave right away as he needed to wait for the division of the Statistics Watch.
It was something that could read the strength of his body and display the data in the form of numbers.
For Awakener, it was very important because with it they had an estimate of their strength.
On top of that, he also needed to wait for his Awakener Identity Card.
As of now, the awakeners were still those who were uncertain of being able to awaken the Spirit.
Luis's failure does not mean that others have failed as well.
Even in quite high uncertainty, some people actually manage to awaken the Spirit.
When they awaken the Spirit, their bodies produce an interesting phenomenon where the Spirit releases its power.
Those who have the Tree Spirit for example, grow trees from their bodies. There are also those who emit lightning bolts that produce a loud rumble.
Those who did not awaken the Spirit could only stare at them with envy.
As for those who were certain to awaken the Spirit from the start, their Spirit was even stronger.
"To hell with them," Luis said in a low voice.
They seemed to be mocking those who did not awaken the Spirit. He couldn't help but be annoyed even though he already had something to rely on.
After everyone finished awaking, the Instructors finally distributed the Statistic Watches along with the Awakener Identity Cards.
For this watch, they gave it for free to everyone.
Luis quickly put it on.
While wearing the watch, he could even arrange for a virtual screen to appear in front of his eyes.
This made him have two virtual screens, one from the Monster Transformation System, one from the Statistics Watch.
Only, the first one did not display his stats.
It was just something that acted to read his mind.
[Name: Luis Moonvale]
[Level: F]
(EXP: 0)
[Estimated Power: 12]
(Spirit: none!)
Luis immediately looked at his data on the virtual screen of the Statistics Watch.
There was no Spirit while the Estimated Power was only 12.
For each Awakener, there would be a difference in Estimated Power even if they were at the same level.
This difference depended on each Awakener's physical condition and most importantly their Spirit.
With a stronger Spirit, their Estimated Power could be many times higher.
'Will it change if I change myself?' Luis wondered.
He didn't know and needed to try it first.
After the Statistical Watches were distributed, people started to leave.
Those with the Spirit were recruited directly into the Flying Star Empire's army while those without the Spirit went home with a bond.
Every month, it had to be paid with very high interest.
Some people happened to be from wealthy families so they could simply pay the debt and leave in peace. They might even be able to buy a Spirit later from the awakener who got it and chose to sell it.
The awakening process was conducted at the Flying Star Empire's Military Branch Headquarters which was outside the city but not far from the city.
It was a huge place with many warplanes and even spaceships.
There were at least ten thousand soldiers in this headquarters. They were all natives of the Flying Star Empire.
With that number, they could watch over dozens of cities on Velos.
Their strength was enough to suppress any Awakener who tried to rebel.
Luis came on foot because he didn't have the money to pay for a taxi.
He would naturally go home on foot as well.
However, instead of following the road, he went into the forest not far from the base.
When he was sure there was no one around, he turned into an eagle again.
"Mm!" He looked at his stats, finding a change in his Estimated Power.
Although his watch disappeared while he was in eagle form, his virtual screen could still be seen by his eyes.
[Estimated Power: 7!]
However, instead of increasing, his Estimated Power decreased from 12 to 7.
Luis was a bit uncomfortable seeing the decrease in his Estimated Power, but when he thought about it, he thought it was natural since he had only turned into an ordinary eagle.
It had a weak physique and small size, how could his Estimated Power increase.
However, it was not without its advantages. He realized it even more when he started flapping his wings which made him fly high.
When he started moving in the sky, his speed easily reached 100 KM per hour.
7 points of Estimated Power, more than 6 points were probably concentrated on speed.
Most importantly, he can fly.
The higher he flew, the more amazed he was when he felt a sensation above the sky where he could see the vast world below.
This kind of experience was not something that could be felt by Awakeners who awakened Spirits.
Shua!
He then flew towards a large city full of skyscrapers about a few kilometers ahead of him, Velos City 33, one of the Main Cities on Planet Velos.
Since being colonized by the Flying Star Empire, there were no more city names because the empire didn't want to go to the trouble of listing the cities on Planet Velos, so they named all the cities by the name Velos with a number behind it, from one to tens of thousands.
The smaller the number, the bigger the city.
Right now, if it weren't for his mouth not being able to speak like a human, he would've been laughing out loud.
He preferred this ability to any Spirit.
With that speed, he could arrive at the city in no time.
He then flew above the city, circling it from the sky where he would sometimes meet other eagles.
Having had enough, he finally descended down, landing among the old abandoned buildings.
"Uhmmm..." He cleared his throat to keep his mouth from laughing.
After that, he transformed again, becoming a cat to see the change in his Estimated Power.
[Estimated Power: 4!]
'Reduced again!'
His eyes widened when he saw that.
He quickly transformed again. This time, he transformed into a horse.
[Estimated Power: 16!]
When becoming a horse, it ended up having an increase from 12 when he was in his human form.
'It seems that the stronger the animal I choose, the stronger my Estimated Power becomes. It's no different from a Spirit which, the stronger it gets, will increase one's Estimated Power,' he thought.
'However, for a horse that has 16 Points, this is still weaker than the Awakener who has a Spirit.'
He had heard that an Awakener at Level F, even with the weakest Spirit, would have at least 20 Points of Estimated Power.
As for those with Rare Spirits, their Estimated Power could reach 50 Points.
'Well, I haven't turned into a monster after all, I just turned into an ordinary animal.'
Before entering Apocalypse World, he did not dare to transform into a monster because all monsters had auras and even scents that could be detected by the Flying Star Empire's defense system.