Chapter 6: Look Who Finally Came Downstairs

The dining hall fell silent as Lilia’s eyes widened in surprise. Even Albert, who rarely showed any emotion, seemed taken aback by the young man standing in the doorway.

Lilly had stopped eating, her fork still hovering near her mouth.

The reason for their reactions was simple. It wasn’t because he came to eat breakfast with us. They didn’t need to show such reaction to that.

It was because Nero looked completely different from yesterday.

His skin was now clear and healthy, with none of the pimples that had covered his face for years. The dark circles beneath his eyes had disappeared, while his posture had improved considerably.

Even his shoulders seemed slightly broader than before.

Of course, his facial features hadn’t changed much. He was still Nero, but it was almost as though someone had taken his previous appearance and corrected all its imperfections.

The scrawny, sickly-looking boy who always kept his head lowered was gone. In his place stood an average-looking teenager who appeared perfectly healthy.

"What happened to you, Nero?" Lilia asked, sounding serious.

Nero blinked in confusion before remembering the Hormonal Change Injection he had taken last night.

He had almost forgotten about the changes it had made to his body.

"I don’t know," he replied helplessly. "I woke up like usual and just felt better."

Lilly was equally confused by his appearance.

She remembered how Nero used to look. His face had always been covered in pimples, and no matter how much he ate, his body remained thin and weak.

Yet somehow, all those problems had disappeared overnight.

There was only one explanation she could think of.

He had awakened.

Lilia seemed to have reached the same conclusion, as she exchanged a brief glance with Albert before speaking.

"It seems you’ve awakened."

Nero responded with an awkward smile.

Awakened? Not exactly...

If they believed he had awakened, they were bound to be disappointed later.

However, he couldn’t exactly tell them about the System either, so he decided to let them believe whatever they wanted.

Lilia gestured toward the empty seat beside her.

"Come sit with us."

"Okay."

Nero walked over and took his seat.

Breakfast continued without much conversation, although the others occasionally glanced in his direction.

Nero, meanwhile, was busy enjoying the food.

It was his first time eating the dishes prepared by the mansion’s personal chef, and he had to admit that they tasted much better than what he usually ate.

So this is what they’ve been eating every morning?

He couldn’t help feeling that he had been missing out.

Once breakfast ended, Lilia set down her utensils and addressed him.

"Alright, let’s test your combat capabilities. That should help us confirm whether you’ve truly awakened."

Nero immediately felt a little nervous.

This is going to be troublesome.

He knew perfectly well that his physical abilities were nowhere near those of an Awakener.

If they tested him now, wouldn’t they immediately realize something was wrong?

Unfortunately, he couldn’t think of a reasonable excuse to refuse, so he could only agree.

They soon arrived at the training room in the mansion’s east wing.

The room was spacious and equipped with various training devices, including several dummies designed to measure an individual’s physical strength.

Albert approached one of the larger dummies positioned near the center.

"Young Master Nero, please strike this training dummy with your full strength."

Nero nodded and stepped forward.

He had never received any proper combat training, so he simply pulled back his fist and punched the dummy as hard as he could.

A number immediately appeared on the display above it.

[0.6]

The result left everyone confused.

A Power Index of 0.6 was slightly above that of an average healthy human. It wasn’t a bad result, but it was still far below the minimum requirement of 1.0 for an Awakener.

Lilia considered the result for a moment.

"Could it be a half awakening?"

"That seems to be the most likely explanation, Miss," Albert replied.

Lilly, who had accompanied them to the training room, remained silent.

Nero was familiar with the term.

A half awakening.

People who experienced a half awakening received certain physical improvements, but they failed to develop a complete Awakener Physique or unlock their personal Talent.

Unlike those who hadn’t awakened at all, their chances of fully awakening in the future were considered extremely low.

For most people, discovering that they had undergone a half awakening was hardly something worth celebrating.

However, Nero wasn’t particularly disappointed.

After all, he knew that he hadn’t awakened in the first place.

His current condition was simply the result of the Hormonal Change Injection.

Before receiving it, his Power Index had barely reached 0.3. Now, after a single night, it had doubled to 0.6.

That was already an incredible improvement.

’If a Rare reward can do this much, I wonder what an Epic reward would be capable of...’

The thought made Nero rather excited about his future.

"Nero."

Lilia’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

"I want you to train hard from now on. Can you do that?"

Nero was somewhat surprised by the question.

He had expected her to be disappointed after discovering that he hadn’t fully awakened.

Instead, she seemed more concerned about whether he would continue improving himself.

"Yeah," he answered after a moment. "I will."

"Good."

Lilia nodded approvingly.

"A half awakening isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s still better than not awakening at all."

She continued in a slightly gentler tone.

"If you work hard enough, there’s always a chance you might fully awaken someday. So don’t give up."

"Okay."

Nero nodded, feeling a little awkward about the encouragement.

He didn’t know how to explain that he already had something far more unusual than an Awakener Physique.

Of course, he had no intention of revealing the System, so he kept those thoughts to himself.

After that, Lilia checked the time on her watch.

"Alright, it’s about time for you two to leave for Pride University."

She turned toward her daughter.

"Lilly, Nero will be going with you today."

"Huh?"

Lilly seemed caught off guard by the sudden arrangement.

She glanced at Nero before quickly turning away, a faint color of red appearing on her cheeks.

"Hmph. Don’t get any wrong idea." She crossed her arms. "I’m only doing this because Mother told me to. I would never want to go anywhere with you."

Nero didn’t know what to say to that.

He hadn’t even said anything yet.

Was he that much of a nuisance to her?

Lily then turned around and headed toward the door.

"Are you coming or not?"

"Yeah, I’m coming."

Nero hurried after her.

The two soon left the mansion and approached a sleek black car waiting in the driveway.

Their driver was already seated inside, ready to take them to the university.

Lilly entered the back seat first, and Nero followed shortly afterward, making sure to leave a comfortable distance between them.

Neither spoke as the car started moving.

Before long, the Morgan Estate disappeared behind them as they made their way toward Awakener’s Pride University.

However, just then, his system activated.