BECOMING A GOD ONLINE

7. SPIRIT QI

Michael walked up to the twins.

They turned to face him.

"Hey, what's up?" Michael asked, trying to sound casual.

"Hi," they said in unison as they sized Michael up from head to toe.

His short hair was disheveled, and his black eyes, which normally carried an uncaring glint, were now scanning the two girls with open interest.

"I'm Michael. I heard you guys talking about the Ground of Awakening. I just got here, so I was wondering if I could tag along?" he asked, going straight to the point.

"You're heading there too? Of course, you can tag along," the twin with the black hair said, sounding surprisingly welcoming.

Michael had thought it would be difficult trying to tag along with these two beauties.

"Aina!" Kaida chimed in, her voice cold but melodious.

The contrast between the warmth of the first twin's words and the chill in Kaida's tone was striking.

The girl with the black hair was Aina, and the one with the white hair was Kaida.

Two names that shared similar vowel sounds.

Well, Michael knew their names now.

So it wouldn’t be that easy tagging along after all, he thought, glancing at Kaida, who seemed distant.

"He’s just tagging along, Kaida. Do you always have to be so cold?" Aina said to her sister, sounding slightly dissatisfied.

Kaida didn’t reply.

She only stared at Michael coldly.

"Damn, what's with that look? I’m just tagging along, sister."

Michael didn’t say anything directly to Kaida.

He just smiled at her as if to say, I'm a good guy, you know.

Scaring me with a stare? Keep dreaming.

"You can tag along. She’s always like that," Aina said, turning back to him.

"So you have a map to the Ground of Awakening? That’s even better. It saves us a lot of stress," Michael glanced at Kaida, noticing she was about to say something.

Not wanting to lose his chance, he quickly cut in.

"Yeah, Kaida, open the map. Let’s head out," Aina said.

"Hmph." Kaida shot Michael another look but said nothing more.

His smile was annoying, so she focused on the map instead.

As they journeyed toward the Ground of Awakening, Michael noticed that many others were heading in the same direction, judging by the crowd’s movement.

It didn’t take long before he synchronized well with the twins.

They were around the same age, after all.

But the difference between them was as clear as daylight.

While Aina’s constant chatter and jokes filled the air, Kaida maintained an unyielding silence.

Michael found himself growing more comfortable around Aina, which was inevitable, given her personality.

Whenever he tried to include Kaida in the conversation, however, she simply remained silent.

He occasionally glanced at her, trying to read her expression, but her face remained indifferent.

Noticing Michael’s awkwardness, Aina leaned closer and whispered, "She’s always like that."

Michael just shrugged.

He didn’t really mind.

"Wow, so magnificent!" Aina suddenly exclaimed.

Michael’s train of thought was cut short.

"Is this the Ground of Awakening?" he asked, confused.

"Yeah. Welcome to the Ground of Awakening," Aina replied.

Ground of Awakening?

Tsk. This was a mountain.

Not a ground, a mountain, right in the middle of the city, and it felt magical.

The mountain was enormous, easily taller than any building in the city, almost piercing the sky.

The strange thing was that unless you reached the center of the city, you couldn’t see this structure from afar, which should have been impossible.

It was as if the mountain had been hidden from view, shrouded in a mysterious veil that only lifted once you entered the heart of the city.

As they approached the foot of the mountain, Michael’s eyes widened at the sea of people gathered there.

The crowd was massive, easily over fifty thousand people.

But what he saw next nearly made his eyes pop out.

"What are those?" Michael asked, pointing at the people nearby.

"Powers," Aina replied excitedly.

"What do you mean by powers?"

"Spirit weapons. That’s what we’re here for in the first place," Aina explained.

He stared in wonder at a guy who had awakened an axe that could retract and extend with swift precision.

A sword and a bow made of pure energy.

A staff glowing faintly.

These were weapons people could summon at any time to fight.

Michael felt excitement building inside him.

He had never seen anything like this before.

Aina nudged him.

"Come on. Let’s see what we’re capable of."

So he simply sat down cross-legged like everyone else.

He had no idea how he would find Alex in all this.

"I hope I awaken something special. Something higher than Dad expects," Aina said, her tone unusually serious.

"Something special? Higher?" Michael asked, confused.

Was there a ranking system he didn’t know about?

"You don’t know anything about what we’re doing here, do you?" Aina asked, looking at him strangely.

"Painfully, no," Michael admitted, slightly embarrassed.

"Okay, here’s a quick summary of what my dad told me.

There’s a ranking system.

It depends on the type of spirit qi you’re able to grasp."

"Eh? Spirit qi? I don’t know anything about that," Michael said, growing even more confused.

Aina sighed in exasperation.

"You really don’t know anything about Elyria.

Close your eyes and try to sense your surroundings.

You’ll feel a wisp of energy.

It’s the source of everything in Elyria."

Michael closed his eyes and focused.

Surprisingly, he felt it.

It was invisible to the naked eye, yet clear when he concentrated.

He opened his eyes in shock and looked at Aina.

"You sensed it?" Kaida suddenly spoke, her voice filled with stunned surprise.

Aina froze mid-sentence, her mouth slightly open.

"Did you really sense it?" she asked.

"Yeah… is that a problem?" Michael asked, noticing the change in their tone.

"You… you really sensed it?" Aina repeated, stuttering slightly.

Around them, a few nearby people who overheard turned to look.

Sensing spirit qi on the first try was not normal.

Most people needed days, sometimes weeks.

Michael was speechless.

What was wrong with these two?