The staff on the control panel stand curiously gazed at Asher, taking a slight notice of how energy was already flowing through the metallic circle.

A brief thought popped into his head, but he instantly pushed it out of his mind, not believing at all that was possible.

Returning back to his impassive expression, the staff pressed a single red button on the control panel stand. Immediately, strange mystical energy began flowing through the wires connecting to the metallic plate.

The wires seemingly began to pulsate as the mystical energy flowed through it as if it was a living being.

It only took a second for the metallic plate to ignite in a standard blue glow.

Asher knit his eyebrows as that strange mystical energy flowing through the wires enter inside his body.

This energy running through Asher, while he certainly thought it was incredibly powerful. It wasn't nearly as potent from whatever energy he felt during his Merger process.

Even when Asher called upon his System's soul, he felt that energy was just a bit more potent than this.

But Asher didn't resist and let this strange mystical energy run through his body. The energy seemingly meshed well with his preexisting System's soul energy inside his body.

It was like these two energies are combining together.

After only a couple of seconds, a part of the mystical energy split off and went directly towards Asher's veins. The energy smoothly flowed into his veins and was directly absorbed right into Asher's already awakened System's soul.

'Chi!'

The metallic plate flashed a full blue shade, signifying Asher's awakening was a success.

The three staff all causally nodded as for this year, there was only a very minuscule amount of failures.

From the crowds of students, some of them began to take notice of Asher. Even they couldn't suppress their curiosity on seeing what a fellow student Magical Power is.

Asher flung his eyes open, dawning a slight smirk upon his awakening.

A new wave of energy now freely ran through his body, and Asher felt it was quite the tingling feeling.

But immediately when Asher opened his eyes, for the briefest of split seconds, both of his eyes shined an entirely blue glow.

However, neither of the three staff could possibly notice this. They only waited curiously to see what was Asher's magical power.

Only a second after Asher opened his eyes, he felt the new stream of energy in his body suddenly surge. The tingling flow of energy swiftly traveled through his right arm, going all the way up to his hand.

On instinct, Asher opened his right hand and focused on the tingling flow of energy.

Instead of letting the energy act freely on its own, Asher took hold of it in a similar manner he does with Aura energy.

For a split second, Asher felt the tingling rush of energy calm down a bit.

But he couldn't control all of it, and Asher felt a mass swirl of tingling energy form upon his right palm.

'Zzzt!'

A lighting spark burst from the center of Asher's palm!

"Oh? Lighting Powers, huh? That's not bad, not bad at all." One of the staff nodded approvingly at Asher's spark of Lightning.

The other two staff were in agreement; however, Asher's showcase wasn't done yet.

The second staff raised his eyebrows as he watched the lightning spark on Asher's palm stay instead of immediately disappearing. "Hoh? Can this boy do it?"

As the three staff watched on, another change happened on Asher's palm.

Asher's mind was calm as he focused on experiencing his Lighting Power surging in his hand. He decided since it was acting on its own, he might as well see if he can further his slight control he has over his Lighting power.

It took all of two seconds with no visible movement from Asher. But from his clear and calm focus, he took more control of his Lightning Power.

And the tiny blue lightning spark at the center of his palm intensified and had taken on a transformation to become a single line of blue Lightning!

The line of blue lighting only appeared on Asher's hand for a couple of seconds before it vanished away. That sudden surge of energy stopped flowing into Asher's arm as the strange mystical energy had fully merged into his System's Soul.

"Hm. Congratulations kid. You awakened Lightning powers, and it's pretty decent, actually." One of the staff said while having to nod his head over that recent display from Asher.

All three of the staff were honestly a bit impressed.

Typically, when one's Magical Power automatically surges on its own, it would be out of the student's own control.

Their Magical Power would only appear for the briefest of seconds as their System's soul fully assimilated and awakened.

But for Asher, he could be considered one of the decent cases.

Just like him, there had been numerous other students showing decent promise for the future by showing excellent focus and forcefully taking control of their Magical Power on the very first try.

Even if it's only a little control, that could still pave a long road for these students.

As Asher came back to his surroundings, he felt as if his six perceptions senses had enhanced. Before, he couldn't clearly hear them, but now Asher could just vaguely hear some faint whispers about him.

"Hey, you see that? What was that guy's name? I forget….but this lucky got actually got Lightning Powers!"

"Well, well, didn't this guy just get blessed with bastard luck? That's better than the common lot of us."

"I wish I had lightning instead of this shitty Mana Power…."

"Just an early head start, really."

Asher only raised an eyebrow at those comments. 'Envy will always be a problem.'

He slightly shook his head, not taking those students' comments to heart, and filled them out of his mind.

Asher had then briefly closed his eyes and said 'System' in his mind. He brought up his System's soul stats, and nearly everything was the same.

The only curious thing was his Lightning Powers.

Instead of just saying 'Lightning,' it actually read 'Ghost Lightning 1.'

Asher was a bit confused at first, but his mind quickly filled in a small lank. Most obviously, this was related to his Merger process.

Though he wonders what changes it will bring, Asher didn't dare to bring it up to the staff. He knows the fundamental common sense of not revealing your secrets.

Although he did hear Yuki suddenly say in his mind, 'It's Lightning….ah! This day just keeps getting better and better. You're in for a treat, Asher.'

Asher didn't comment on Yuki's statement, but he did feel his curiosity surge. Opening his eyes back up, Asher nodded to the three staff, turned around, and walked off the stage.

As Asher got off the stage, his eyes quickly scan through the crowds of students once again.

This time, much like his hearing, Asher's visual perception was enhanced after that Ceremony. He could clearly make out individual students' faces instead of them all just being a jumbled mesh of faces.

With a more accurate sight, Asher tried once again to scower out his friends.

He turned his attention towards his left, observing the several students lined up on the wall. And it took all of a second before Asher found two familiar-looking smiling faces.

They sat propped up against the walls and was a bit more isolated from the other several students.

These two smiling faces were one decently average-looking boy. He had a friendly, easygoing face, short brain hair, and wore a nice casual fit.

Next to the boy was a cute-looking girl. She had a delicate soft face that accentuated her gentle nature, neat shoulder-length black hair, and wore a casual fit that complimented her more petite body type.

When Asher had locked his gaze on them, these two had instantly noticed.

They both were giving Asher their widest of smiles while beckoning him to come close to them already.

Asher, of course, complied while giving these two a friendly wave.

As he got close to them, Asher spoke first. "Reese. Kylee. Sorry to be so late here; I just wasn't looking at the time. It's a pity that I missed both of your awakenings."

He had sat right down next to Kylee as there was a sizable space for him there.

Reese and Kylee only gave Asher a relaxed smile, shrugging off his apology. Reese had a slightly disappointed look as he began retailing to Asher,

"Don't worry about it, man. You weren't missing much. We're barely above the common Mana people. Get this. I only got Fire Powers."

"And I only got Water Powers." Kylee shared an equally slight disappointed tone when talking.

She had then pointed her gaze at Asher, giving him a more hopeful looking. "You….you, on the other hand, can make an actual decent living with Lightning Powers. And that control you show? I know you'll just make it far better than us."

"Not just far better; I have hopes he can make it to the ranking list. I mean, I don't think even that Hayato dude showed off that much control during his turn." Reese's tone also turned more hopeful for Asher.

Asher, all the while, simply had a slightly wry smile. This kind of low confidence isn't actually all that rare, from what he observed throughout his years in this Academy.

Students constantly compare themselves to one another and ones with lower future prospects couldn't help but develop a bit of a self-defeatist attitude.

Although, with the way their world works, it's to be expected.

It could be challenging to make an average living with typical Mana power or the bottom of the barrels powers.

Sects and Special Academies are all dangerous, harsh competing environments where getting left behind means you're essentially forfeiting your life.

For Sects and even Special Academies, the rules governing them are far less civil and often cruel.

It's why nearly over half of most society's populations go for common workers' jobs. But with the saturation of these jobs, the pay makes it hard for a decent living unless one puts in a tremendous amount of work.

But Asher never cared about what he was born with or abide by the expected norms of modern standards.

Even if he didn't have Yuki or awoken Ghost Lighting powers, Asher would still be determined to train and achieve his goals.

So he gave Reese and Kylee a wide, encouraging smile, telling them both, "Come now, don't be so glum. Like I always say, look on the bright side of things. We at least have the means to join a Sect or a Special Academy. It's much better than being common workers."

Though Asher spoke in a persuasive hopeful tone, Reese and Kylee didn't look too convinced. Their expressions turned a bit downfallen.