BECOMING A GOD ONLINE

8. WHAT THE HELL?

Aina's eyes widened in astonishment.

"It took us 30 minutes to sense it… or is it because we're in the Ground of Awakening? Spirit energy is thickest here."

She glanced at Kaida, who nodded in agreement, still looking stunned.

Micheal shrugged, feeling a bit perplexed by their reaction.

"I just did what you told me to do. What's the big deal?"

Aina's expression turned serious, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

"The big deal is that you sensed the spirit energy immediately. That's unprecedented. Most people take days, even weeks, to sense it for the first time. And it's only when you sense the spirit qi that you can awaken your spirit weapon," Aina said, feeling agitated by Micheal's unconcerned reaction.

"And you guys sensed it within 30 minutes? Isn't that too short judging from your words?" Micheal asked, his brows raised.

"That's us. We are naturally special. But you?" Aina rolled her eyes at Micheal.

"But me? I'm badass," Micheal replied, smirking.

"Hmph," Kaida snorted. She felt like they were making Micheal feel too special.

"What about the ranking system?" Micheal asked, feeling that their reactions were not worth the hype.

"That? Umm…" Aina took a deep breath. "Well, my dad said the ranking system is more of a classification system and it's only used at the begining of the game." 

Micheal leaned in, intrigued. "Go on."

Aina nodded.

"There are only two categories of spirit weapons — common and uncommon."

"The common types are simply normal weapons. Take a sword for example. When you awaken a common sword weapon, it allows you to convert spirit qi into sword qi."

Micheal nodded.

"The uncommon weapons are different," Aina continued. "They come with a hidden ability, something like a berserk skill."

Kaida added calmly, "But even if a weapon looks impressive, it still depends on the user. If I’m more skilled with a basic bow and you can't properly use your special ability, or your special ability needs sacrifices of some kind, I still win."

"Exactly," Aina said. "And besides, all of this can still be made up through arts or skill books. You can learn elemental techniques. You can learn special abilities. A weapon just gives you a head start, not everybody awakens a weapon after all."

She crossed her arms.

"It’s not anything truly special. It just makes you more powerful at the beginning of the game."

"Because weapons aren’t the end of everything in Elyria," she concluded.

"So how do we awaken our weapons?" Micheal asked.

"Just lead the spirit qi into your body and then guide it throughout your body. When it saturates your body, your weapon will naturally awaken," Aina replied.

"Okay, let's do this then," Micheal said, sitting cross-legged.

Micheal closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as he focused on the spirit qi surrounding him. He could feel its energy coursing through the air, a vibrant and pulsating force that seemed to reverberate with an otherworldly power.

Micheal reached out with his mind, attempting to guide the spirit qi into his body. He had just seen others do it.

However, as he tried to connect with the spirit qi, he realized that it wasn't responding to his attempts. It was as if the energy was ignoring him, refusing to be guided or controlled.

How could he explain this? It was as if his mind wasn't reaching out properly.

He tried again, focusing his mind and reaching outward.

But the spirit qi remained elusive. Micheal's brow furrowed in concentration.

Am I doing it right?

Was he doing something wrong? Was there a technique he was missing? Or was the spirit qi simply not responding to him?

Micheal kept on trying though and kept on failing.

Micheal's eyes snapped open, a hint of frustration creeping into his expression.

Damnit, what the hell am I doing wrong?

Micheal looked at the girls beside him and discovered that they were staring at him, their expressions perplexed.

"Am I doing it wrong?" Micheal asked, his brows creased.

"You are not, but we can't tell why it isn't responding to you," Aina replied, shrugging her shoulders.

They hadn't started practicing earlier. They wanted to see what made Micheal so special.

After all, his ability to sense the spirit qi in seconds was astonishing.

"Fuck this spirit qi. Is it discriminating against handsome guys?" Micheal cursed.

"Micheal, maybe you should try relaxing your mind," Aina suggested, her voice soft and encouraging. "Don't try to force it. Just let the spirit qi flow into you."

Micheal nodded and took a deep breath, trying to calm his mind. He closed his eyes once more, focusing on the sensation of the spirit qi surrounding him.

But even as he relaxed, the spirit qi remained stubbornly out of reach.

Micheal didn't find this funny in any way.

It should have been an hour since I started trying this.

Micheal was frustrated.

Just then, while he was deep in thought, he felt a chilling and burning sensation.

It was like his skin was freezing and burning at the same time, as if he had been thrown into the bottom of the ocean with burning coal.

He immediately opened his eyes and—

What the hell!?