The news spread rapidly.
A new project was announced by the Bartholomew Corporation and hundreds of buildings sprouted all over the Tritan Alliance overnight.
It was a great surprise to many organizations and members of the High Society. Everyone had heard about the great success of the Agriculture Project and the project's profits, but nobody expected that the Bartholomew Corporation would add another project to their busy schedule.
The Agriculture Project consumed lots of time, resources, and effort, and it wasn't their only project either. It was just one of many new projects.
However, what surprised most members of the High Society and organizations was that the new project was non-profit based. Once they found out that the new project, the 'Awakened Agency' was non-profit based, it was only a matter of hours before the powerhouses lost interest.
However, the same couldn't be said for ordinary Awakened. Some were curious about the Awakened Agency.
A young lost Soul stumbled through Rivera, a small city in the Silver Moon Province on Elyra. It had only been a few days since he manifested his War Rune, but the initial joy and excitement of becoming an Awakened had turned into a huge disappointment.
Damien Sylva was overjoyed to become the first Awakened of his family. He was exhilarated to have been chosen by the Will of the Origin Expanse and that he could earn a fortune as an Awakened to retire his parents and earn enough money to tend to his grandparents' diseases.
As long as he managed to kill a few Tier-1 Monsters, and procure some Ordinary Summoning Scrolls and Tierless Artifacts, he would be able to solve his family's issues easily.
Maybe, they could even move out of their small apartment in Rivera's outskirts into a larger apartment that would fit the family of 10 members.
His initial plan worked out fairly well. He managed to summon a 3-Star Priestess with the Fortune Summoning Scroll and managed to use the protection barrier shrouding the territory to kill a few Tierless Summons. Damien Sylva was fortunate enough to receive a 1-Star Tierless Sword Artifact from killing a Tierless Sabertooth Wolf.
The 3-Star Priestess tended to all of his wounds and alleviated his exhaustion, granting Damien Sylva enough stamina to continue hunting monsters for the following days. He earned a small fortune in the following days, and he would have been overjoyed, if not for awakening a 1-Star Soultrait.
Maybe, the 1-Star Soultrait would have been fine, if not for a Tier-2 Monster building its habitat right next to the protection barrier.
His great fortune turned into ill-fate ten days after he entered the Origin Expanse. The grace period of 10 days ended, and the protection barrier dispersed. As if the Tier-2 Monster had been waiting for this moment, it attacked Damien Sylva, killed the 3-Star Priestess and thrashed the wooden manor. Damien Sylva escaped death by a hair's breadth. He managed to conjure the Runic Gate and run away.
Unfortunately, his ill fate didn't end there. The Tier-2 Monster moved its habitat to the Summoning Gate and turned the area around the Runic Gate into a death zone. Damien Sylva attempted to return to the Origin Expanse and make a run to turn into a Rogue after losing his Lord Power, but he nearly died as a result.
There was no way that he could return safely to the Origin Expanse with his Runic Gate anchored to a place like this. It was worth trying to grow stronger, but he couldn't afford Energy Stones to absorb their compressed origin energy, and the training places that used origin energy generators were not only too expensive, but the quality of the origin energy produced with the generators was below-average as well.
There was no way that he would be able to advance to Tier-2 to slaughter the Tier-2 Monster anytime soon. It might take decades IF he had enough money to spend all day for the next few years in a training hall with origin energy generators. Unfortunately, he didn't have that kind of money.
His life turned south after he lost his Lord Power. His grandparents' condition worsened and the medicine to tend to their medical issues was too expensive. Damien Sylva couldn't afford it.
He was poor, his family relied on him now that he Awakened, but he couldn't even use the golden opportunity granted by the Origin Expanse. He did make some money, but the small fortune was used up faster than he could count to three.
He nearly died twice.
His Soultrait was useless, enhancing his smelling sense by a minor degree, and his land was inaccessible. There was no way that he could safely return in the next few years.
'Am I fated to become someone's Subordinate?' He wondered, his expression turning sourer as he realized another crucial problem.
'Who would take in someone like me? I'm Tierless and my Soultrait is trash. I don't have any expertise or knowledge that allows me to stand out either. Nobody will accept me…maybe not even if I accept a Soul Pact that turns me into a slave-like Subordinate.'
Damien felt that some Lords would hesitate even if he accepted to become their Slave. Maybe they would hesitate to nourish trash like him? His Soultrait was of no use, after all, and he didn't graduate from a good school either. He labor hard, but his grades weren't extraordinary because he had been busy tending to his grandparents when his parents were busy working all day.
'What am I supposed to do now?!?' He cried desperately in his heart.
Before he realized it Damien Sylva found himself in front of a fresh building with large glass windows. A bright and well- designed sign attracted his interest.
[Are you an Awakened and dissatisfied with your Soultrait and resources? Do you want to attain power? Acquire more Soultraits? Check out the Awakened Agency led by Michael Fang!]
Damien Sylva scoffed and was about to ignore the sign until his eyes lingered on the name 'Michael Fang'. He recalled having heard something about him in the Awakened forum. There had been many threads revolving around a young prodigy.
Damien Sylva opened the Awakened forum on his crystal watch and searched Michael's name.
"Michael Fang, presumed to have more than 8 Soultraits, capable of procuring Soultrait Symbols…has the means to upgrade Soultraits."
Damien Sylva's eyes widened the more he read about Micheal Fang. He was shocked, just like everyone else who stumbled upon the Awakened Agency in their cities.
His eyes drifted from the holographic projection to the entrance of the Awakened Agency.
'There is no way that my life can get worse,' Damien Sylva thought. He gathered the remaining bits of courage inside him and stepped inside the building.
Merely half an moment later, Damien Sylva could be found lying on the floor in the Awakened Agency, his entire being roughed up like he had been beaten into a pulp over and over again.
He failed the test.
"I should have expected tha–...." Damien mumbled, only for the receptionist to say.
"Don't fear failure. Failure is just another steppingstone to greatness," She smiled at Damien, "Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail."
As the receptionist's words reached Damien, he received several notifications.
[The Awakened Agency's training grounds and hidden library have been unlocked.]
[There are no failures – just experiences and your reactions to them.]
Damien's disappointment was wiped away in an instant, and curiosity pricked him.
'It's not over?'
No. It was the beginning of something great.
