Alex turned to the elderly woman on wheelchair. He waited for her to introduce herself.
"Rae," she grunted. The elderly woman looked at him with the same permanently annoyed expression she had worn since they met.
Alex already heard from his friends that Rae helped them hide when monsters entered the building earlier. Despite that act of kindness, she still looked like the sort of person who found smiling to be a waste of effort.
The rest of Alex’s friends introduced themselves as well. Kevin crouched slightly to speak with Charlotta. He had always been a sweet guy who liked helping others. Within moments the little girl relaxed enough to answer him with a shy smile.
Robert naturally started talking to Ophelia, while Tina continued watching the street alongside the older woman.
Sophia remained beside the wheelchair with a thoughtful expression. She looked like she wanted to ask something but hesitated until Alex noticed her.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Do you think we can level up too? Like you did?" Sophia asked hesitatingly.
"Level up?" Rae repeated with a frown.
Robert explained to the older woman what leveling up was, using games as an example.
Ophelia, the mother of the little girl, hesitated before adding, "I saw people talking about something online before the signal started getting worse. They were saying that people can absorb those things that appear near dead monsters."
"Things that appear near dead monsters... That would be Gene Potential," Alex said.
To test Ophelia’s theory, Alex reached into his Inventory and took out one of the Gene Potentials.
If this was how ordinary people awakened, he could help his friends become stronger and eventually have them join his faction. It was better to confirm it now than continue making assumptions.
"Tina, catch," he said as he tossed it toward her.
She caught it with both hands before looking at him in surprise.
"You’re giving this to me?" she asked, glancing between the glowing Gene Potential and Alex.
"If you think it’s risky to absorb it, then you can always let someone else try first," Alex replied.
The others exchanged uneasy looks. Even though Alex told them he absorbed Gene Potentials himself, none of them were Ascendants, and nobody knew whether the process worked the same way for ordinary people.
"I’ll absorb it if you don’t want to," Kevin said firmly. After seeing what Alex could do, he had clearly realized that if he wanted to protect his younger sister, he needed to become stronger himself.
"No, that’s not what I meant when I asked it." Tina shook her head with a sigh.
She focused on the Gene Potential in her hands while everyone watched quietly.
Alex had chosen Tina for a reason. She used to be one of the strongest people in their group, having been part of the boxing club and competed in several inter-college tournaments. He also remembered the story Sophia had told him about Tina knocking out two older men who had tried to harass them during a late-night walk.
A few seconds later, Tina’s eyes widened in surprise.
"T-There’s a screen in front of my eyes. It’s asking if I want to absorb the Gene Potential," she said.
"Go ahead," Alex said.
She accepted it without any further hesitation. The Gene Potential dissolved into her arm as though it had melted into her skin, then disappeared completely. Tina remained silent for a few moments as she read the messages in front of her.
"It’s saying I have a Tutorial Quest. I need to choose a Class," she said after looking up.
Alex gave her a brief explanation of how Classes worked and how they influenced a person’s combat style. He also advised her not to choose Rogue because the class relied too heavily on obtaining skills from the Reward Boxes, making it a poor choice for someone just starting out.
"You could end up getting traps too from your Reward Box. But it’s not like you know how to use them. With your background, Aura will be much more useful than that," he explained.
"What Class did you choose?" Tina asked.
"Mage," Alex answered.
His friends all looked at him with strange expressions, making him raise an eyebrow.
"What?" he asked.
"That’s the Class everyone online has been making fun of. People were saying Mages are weak," Tina replied bluntly.
Alex simply shrugged. It seemed none of them had checked Dwitter after he fired the Fire Bullets into the sky. Otherwise, they would’ve known that his magic was anything but weak.
Even so, he didn’t recommend that Tina become a Mage. His own circumstances were different, and he knew following the same path without his advantages would be far more difficult.
"I’ll choose Warrior," Tina said after thinking for a while.
A few seconds later, she smiled.
"It says I became a Warrior. I don’t really feel any different yet, though," she explained. Her smile said she was now relieved to have a chance of getting stronger and protecting herself.
"You can use Aura now. I’ll explain how to use it later, but first open the Reward Box you received for completing the Tutorial Quest," Alex said.
Tina nodded and focused on the notification in front of her. Before she could continue, Rae, the elderly woman, spoke up from the wheelchair.
"Give one of those Geney things to me."
Alex turned toward the old woman, who met his gaze without the slightest hesitation.
"I saved your friends, so I should be the one getting another one," Rae said.
He didn’t answer immediately. While he appreciated what Rae had done, she didn’t seem like someone who would able to fight much. Giving the next Gene Potential to one of his own friends would probably strengthen the group more.
Alex looked toward Kevin, Robert, Sophia, and Tina. If they wanted Rae to have the second Gene Potential, he didn’t mind waiting until he killed more monsters. It would only delay their awakening for a short while.
His biggest concern had always been finding people he could trust enough to build a faction around. Now that he met his friends, that concern had eased considerably. If they stayed with him, he wouldn’t have to rely entirely on strangers.
The Battle Instinct Spell kept his emotions calm and his thoughts focused. Because of that, he couldn’t ignore the possibility that even his friends might betray him if something dangerous happened later.
It wasn’t a pleasant thought, but pretending it could never happen would only make him careless.
Even so, they were still far more trustworthy than complete strangers. If he had to build his faction with anyone, he’d rather start with the people he already knew.
"I agree. Miss Rae saved us earlier, so I think the second Gene Potential should go to her instead of one of us," Robert said after a moment.
Sophia nodded in agreement, and Kevin did the same after a brief moment of thought.
Alex took out the second Gene Potential from his Inventory and handed it to Rae. The old woman accepted it with obvious glee before absorbing it without any hesitation. A faint smile appeared on her face as she watched it disappear into her arm.
Unlike with Tina, Alex didn’t explain the different Classes to her. He appreciated that she had helped his friends earlier, but he hadn’t liked the way she demanded the Gene Potential as though she was entitled to it. She could choose a Class on her own.
He then took out the last Gene Potential and looked between Robert and Kevin. Sophia wasn’t very athletic, only lean, so giving it to her wasn’t the best decision right now. Strengthening the people most capable of fighting came first.
"Give it to Kevin," Robert said.
"Robert..." Kevin began, knowing exactly why his friend had stepped aside.
..
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