"Sure..." Erik said. Immediately he started channeling mana through his body. He felt it coursing through his neural links and slowly spread inside his body.
Soon after, a heat wave flooded over him; the area around them became humid once Erik released his mana into the atmosphere.
Immediately, the surroundings were affected by his power. The flowers started blooming and growing in size; many branches started coming out of them, multiplying their number several folds.
The branches started blooming soon after birthing flowers of many colors and shapes. The petals' hues became much more vivid and as if they were saturated with life.
Soon after, the scent of flowers started filling the air around Erik and Amber. A few insects also appeared to enjoy this sudden change, for they began buzzing around while flitting about from one flower to another.
The trees grew stronger, taller, and thicker, and their colors became vibrant green and brown. Their roots got longer, too so did those of the other plants surrounding them.
Some bushes sprouted new shoots here and there, adding to the greenery all around. But what really amazed the awakener was the tree with red leaves. The number of its branches increased many times, and many leaves sprouted.
Now that most of these new buds had bloomed, some even started budding on top of each other, forming a kind of canopy above the rest of the plant.
More importantly, though, the smell of woody fragrance reached Erik's nose when he got closer to the trunk. There wasn't any sign of rot or decay anywhere near the bark. The tree looked majestic.
Amber was mesmerized by the view, as it was like the god of nature descended into the mortal plane. She stared wide-eyed at Erik and the effect of his power on the vegetation.
"This is amazing!" Amber shouted, visibly moved. Her eyes glistened, and her face beamed with happiness. She wondered why people said Erik's power was useless. She knew it was because of the Jorm scale, but still, she couldn't possibly say this was a useless power since it proved otherwise. It wasn't worthless. No, it was the embodiment of life.
The young woman looked at Erik, and a warm, gentle smile blossomed. Erik smiled back at her.
This was the first time someone from the school said something good about his birth power. The only one who said so before was Mister Fox. There was something special about Amber, something Erik couldn't quite explain.
Maybe it was her cheerful personality, or maybe her kindness. Indeed, he appreciated both these qualities and understood why people liked her besides her physical appearance.
Though, as she saw the young woman smiling, his thoughts trailed back to the girl he met at the party the previous day. He couldn't forget her.
<Emily, was her name...> the young man thought, and he quickly lost himself in her memories. After a while, he snapped out of his trance due to Amber calling him.
"Erik!"
"What?" the young man replied.
"Nothing, I was trying to talk to you," Amber said.
"Sorry. What did you need?"
"Nothing important..." Amber said.
The two kept silent for a couple of minutes, watching the vegetation surrounding them with glistening eyes.
"Hey, Amber..." Erik said.
"What?" She asked.
"I never asked you why you decided to become friends with me..."
Amber didn't say anything for some minutes, as the truth wasn't exactly good to hear.
"To be honest, Erik, initially, I was only sorry for you..." Amber said once she gathered the courage to talk. Erik remained silent, learning that was not simple. He felt embarrassed, dejected, and slightly angry.
"Once I heard you did awaken a new power, I thought people would stop mistreating you, but I was wrong. I underestimated human malice. So, I decided to be your friend…"
Erik remained silent. Hearing these things didn't make him feel good at all. The young man wanted to ask many things to the woman. For example, if she took pity on him, why didn't she stop Logan, Conal, and Orson from bullying him? Why didn't she approach him before he awakened?
At that moment, Erik started to think that Amber may have approached him for opportunistic reasons and not because she took pity on him as she was saying. He already suspected that, but he was too happy he finally had some friends that he rejected the reality before his eyes.
But here was the problem, Gwen, Floyd, and Amber were his only friends, and he was also currently living in Amber's mansion. Should he quit his friendship with them, he would be alone again without a roof over his head. Besides, as things were currently, could he really say there was no friendship between them at all?
Multiple times Gwen, Floyd, and especially Amber showed worry for his well-being, and several times they did give him advice. They paid for his meals countless times, and Amber was even hosting him at her house,
"I know how all of this sounds, Erik, but I'm not your friend anymore because I feel sorry for you," Amber suddenly said.
"If you say so..." Erik said. Amber hugged the young awakener tightly and then patted his back.
"Let's go back inside," she said.
"All right…"
Later Erik went to his room. He was planning to develop his neural links before going to bed. Despite being in a very sour mood, he decided to keep training, as only through power could he achieve what he wanted. He decided he wouldn't let his emotion stop him from reaching his goals. So, he sat on his bed and put himself into the lotus position.
Erik paid sole concentration to the activity at hand for hours. Weaving the mana inside his brain like he was making a wicker basket, the young man concentrated on every detail.
As Erik continued to channel mana from the crystal to the brain, he became aware that he was beginning to feel something else in addition to the flow of mana.
It felt exactly the same as the last time he made a new neural link. The sensation only increased. The mana inside his brain swirled and flowed vigorously around the neurons.
And when Erik felt the flow reaching its peak, the young man felt a surge of mana within him that quickly began to spread throughout his body. This continued until he started to feel his neurons become interconnected by the ethereal substance.
Slowly a thin line of the stuff took form from the brain crystal and connected to the brain. After a few seconds had passed, the phenomenon began to stop until he couldn't feel anything anymore.
"I made it... a new neural link...," he said. Though, to which power it was related, he didn't know. Though, Erik noticed that his mind had become clearer than ever before. Thoughts came faster, and it became easier to think, and his mind became faster and sharper.
After channeling mana for a bit, Erik discovered his new neural link was related to Conal's power, which allowed him to shapeshift into a beast.
"This is perfect timing." The young man said.
He couldn't test it now since he was at Amber's house, but he planned to do so soon after school by going to his house. Then, Erik got up off the bed and stretched his muscles. His newly-made neural link also caused his muscle strength to increase. However, he also felt as if the world slowed down, probably due to the increase in dexterity.
<System, tell me the current value of my attribute points,> Erik thought.
[UNDERSTOOD. STRENGTH, DEXTERITY, AND INTELLIGENCE ALL INCREASED BY ONE POINT. STRENGTH IS CURRENTLY AT 19 POINTS, INTELLIGENCE ITS CURRENTLY AT 10 POINTS, WHILE DEXTERITY IS CURRENTLY AT 20 POINTS.]
<Good,> the young man thought. He then returned to bed, knowing that the stat increase would help him during his fight with Nathaniel. Though, as he recalled, he had to fight him the following day, Erik started growing restless.
For sure, this was not going to be an easy fight, and as much as Floyd, Gwen and Amber said, he was going to lose. Though, Erik clearly decided he had to try fighting, even if he lost with certainty. If he didn't, he would feel ashamed for not having tried at all. Since he planned on leaving the country, he had to improve, and this was the right opportunity to do so.
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