The jubilation continued around Rowan.
The villagers crowded him, congratulating him repeatedly on his successful awakening.
Rowan thanked them with a smile, but inwardly he was shaken and confused—so confused and unsettled that he couldn't feel the happiness he should have after awakening. He didn't even react to the notification the system sent congratulating him on his new occupation.
"I was somewhere, and I met someone. I can feel it. I can hear these strange voices in my head as well, as though someone was having a conversation with me. But for unknown reasons, this voice is unclear, like listening to a voice message on a phone with a broken speaker," Rowan pondered.
Rowan couldn't help but believe he had somehow experienced scenes similar to anime, where the main character's soul or mind is suddenly summoned elsewhere, meeting powerful and important characters.
"Maybe I am just overthinking," Rowan shook his head.
He brought his consciousness back to his current reality.
He patted the shoulder of Riela, who was hugging him sideways.
He turned to look at Dragun and Blaze, who were currently gazing at him with smiles. Vishirk muttered an inaudible "Congratulations" to him as Dragun strolled closer, navigating through the small crowd with Rowan.
Dragun began by congratulating Rowan and then informed him about their next activity—testing for Rowan's affinity. He reached into his spatial pouch and brought out the Aether Crystal.
"Please, everyone, step away," he announced.
The crowd watched as Dragun held the crystal, understanding its importance, and moved away from Rowan.
Now, only Rowan, Riela, Dragun, and Vishirk stood in the center.
Rowan looked at the crystal, wondering what kind of ability he would awaken.
Dragun, equally curious, didn't prolong the process. He immediately instructed Rowan to place his hand on the Aether Crystal.
Instantly, the Aether Crystal exploded with an intense glow.
The crowd around Rowan shielded their eyes with their hands. Even Vishirk and Dragun were slightly disturbed by the blinding light. Only Riela could stare at the glow without major discomfort, thanks to her light magic affinity.
After a few seconds, the intensity of the glow diminished.
The crowd unshielded their eyes and stared at the Aether Crystal.
Dragun and Vishirk's eyes were also fixed on the crystal, wide open with shock.
The Aether Crystal was transparent!
"This..." Vishirk muttered.
"What happened?" Rowan asked.
Their reactions made him worried and confused, a feeling shared by the other villagers.
"You do not have any affinity, and that is unusual. It has never happened before," Dragun revealed, frowning.
The villagers didn't understand what was going on, but they could tell something was wrong from Dragun's expression.
"No affinity," Rowan asked calmly.
"Yes... this is so unusual. Everyone with a mana core has at least one affinity, even if the compatibility is low. But you seem to possess none of them, not even 1%," Dragun explained.
Rowan nodded casually. "That is bad, but what can we do?" he shrugged.
Dragun and Vishirk exchanged looks before returning their gaze to him.
Wasn't Rowan the one interested in magic, even hoping to awaken a soul magic affinity? Why was he acting so nonchalant about the situation? They wondered.
Riela was also confused by her husband's reaction to such serious news. He didn't appear the least bit shaken, which puzzled the others.
If Rowan had awakened naturally, they wouldn't be so surprised by his demeanor. But it was quite the opposite.
Rowan was very determined to awaken his mana core, even willing to endure the worst pain to achieve it.
Dragun and Vishirk couldn't help but wonder if something had gone wrong during Rowan's awakening.
As they pondered, Rowan contemplated in his mind.
"Should I copy Riela's water element affinity right now?" he wondered. If he copied and merged with her element affinity, he would experience near-death pain, which wouldn't go unnoticed.
"I think that is the only way to justify the future when I start copying other people's affinities. Once I am done, I would ask Dragun to test again for affinity, and that will help," he thought. Without hesitation, he opened Riela's character status and entered her skills section.
[SKILLS: FF-rank Magic, FF-rank Water Magic, FF-rank Light Magic, FF-rank Spirit Magic...]
Rowan didn't understand if awakening his mana core allowed him to see her magic affinities as skills. Usually, he only saw Magic and her tailoring skills when viewing her abilities.
He shrugged and proceeded to copy her water magic.
DING!
[Copy and merge with 'Water Magic' Skill?] [NOTE: Skill contains an element affinity and would cause unimaginable pain while merging. Continue? YES/NO]
"Yes," Rowan responded without waiting another second.
Dragun and the others were still observing his calmness at such an important moment when they noticed a quick change in Rowan's expression and body.
Rowan's eyes suddenly twitched. His body began to shiver uncontrollably, and he started perspiring.
Before they could fully comprehend, Rowan suddenly began collapsing.
Dragun and Vishirk's eyes widened instantly as they rushed to prevent him from falling. Riela and the other villagers reacted as well.
"What is happening to Lord Rowan!" someone cried.
"Is Lord Rowan okay?" another asked.
"Why did he collapse?"
"This is bad. Nothing bad should happen to Lord Rowan!"
They all reacted at once.
Dragun pulled out a healing potion from his spatial pouch and tried to administer it to Rowan's mouth, but Rowan's teeth were tightly clenched.
"This is very bad!" Dragun exclaimed, stepping back with worry in his eyes. He had witnessed many awakenings but had never seen anything like Rowan's.
As everyone fretted, the pain Rowan felt intensified—it was as though he was drowning in hot liquid while thousands of needles pierced his body.
In fact, Rowan couldn't describe the pain except that it was extreme and unlike anything he had ever felt.
Dragun even tried to activate a healing spell to help, but the spell refused to function, just like it had with Liara and Ren. This only added to everyone's confusion and worry.
After a few minutes, Rowan's shivering stopped. His body began to return to normal rapidly. Within seconds, everything settled, and Rowan stood up.
"Lord Rowan, what happened?" someone asked.
"How are you feeling now?"
"Are you alright?"
Everyone expressed their concerns for his condition.
Meanwhile, Rowan was greeted with a notification:
[Ding! You have merged with skill: Water Magic] [You can now use spells related to water element affinity]
As he studied the notification, Dragun and Vishirk noticed something strange about him. It was as though his aura had suddenly transformed, becoming stronger than before.
"Did he just awaken an affinity?" Dragun was puzzled.
Vishirk felt the same way. The others couldn't understand what Dragun and Vishirk were sensing, so they continued to check on Rowan.
"Rowan, we should check your affinity once again," Dragun whispered in his ear.
Rowan nodded, though he wondered how Dragun could tell.
"Would he be able to tell when I awaken other elemental affinities in the future?" he thought.
Dragun brought out the Aether Crystal. Rowan placed his hand on it, and just like a few minutes earlier, the crystal exploded in a blinding white glow that lasted for a few moments before disappearing.
This time, the Aether Crystal revealed a color, unlike the first trial.
"Water affinity!" Riela was the first to identify it as she stood close to him. Her face was filled with surprise and shock.
"We awakened the same element affinity, Rowan. This is a good sign of our love and connection for each other." She hugged him, her voice dripping with affection.
Rowan returned the hug with a smile, glad that his love was happy for him. The crowd shared Riela's excitement and cheered for Rowan.
On the other hand, Dragun and Vishirk remained confused about everything. What had just taken place was strange to them, even though they had been through numerous awakenings.
It was already strange that Rowan awakened without a single affinity.
But it even stranger that his affinity suddenly arrives a few minutes later.
It confused them without recognition but they kept these confusions at the back of their mind and celebrated with Rowan.
Rowan reciprocated the happiness with his people.
He even proceeded to give a speech.
Telling the people how the appearance of his new found powers would benefit them.
He promised them a safer future and they naturally believed him.
This time, luckily, Rowan was able to earn around 40 million evolution points from their combined reactions.
After his speech and some further Jubilations, everyone returned to their homes and Rowan moved on to the next phase of his plan.