Kaito's eyes widened, it was all too much information for him. Demon of Knowledge, an unauthorized blessing, angered Gods? His head felt like it was about to explode because of all this information. However before he could think or open his mouth, everything went black.
***
Soon after, a droplet of water fell on a young man's face. Then another, and then more followed. The frail young man was being doused by the downpour of water. His eyes stirred and his eyebrows furrowed.
Kaito's eyes shot open, he staggered and sat up with a bewildered expression. He began coughing as the water continued to pour on him. It seems like it started raining not long after he completed his trial.
'What where am I?! Oh... it's just my world...'
Kaito turned his head but all he could see was nothing but trees. It seems like he was thrown further into the forest than he thought. He gritted his teeth and prepared to utter multiple curses, but before he could a thought crossed his mind.
'Blessing. Right, the blessing! I received one from that Demon after the Gods refused to give me one!'
The young man sighed and thought of his profile, soon after a blue panel appeared before him and extended vertically. With a sigh Kaito began to read the words before him.
[Name: Kaito Yoshida].
[Attributes: Hated, Jack Of All Trades].
'So far everything seems the same...'
[Innate Ability: King of None]
[Unauthorized Blessing: Gift of Knowledge].
[Unauthorized Ability: Keen Eye].
'Hm..So I did get something new. But why is it unauthorized?'
The young man shook his head and focused closely on the descriptions.
[Gift of Knowledge] Blessing Description: "You have been bestowed with a piece of the Knowledge of the third Demonic Monarch. You will be granted with great knowledge of all your trials, this blessing will grant you a guide for the most effective way to clear the trial. This blessing will remain inactive outside of trials."
'What?! Wait, that's amazing! All enlightened enter trials with only their mission, but with this I'll have a head start!'
Kaito chuckled to himself while looking at his blessing. A slowly grin creeping its way onto his face. This was just amazing to have, but why was it unauthorized? Is it because it grants knowledge of trials or because it came from the Demon Of Knowledge? The young man shook his head and focused on his new ability, as if trying to dispel all the unnecessary thoughts out of his mind so that he could focus on what was before him.
[Keen Eye] Ability Description: "The eye of the Demon of Knowledge, this eye holds the ability to peek into the profile of anything, and provides the weaknesses and the strengths of the target."
The young man slowly stood up and leaned against the tree for support. He would celebrate further, in fact Kaito would be jumping for joy because of his new ability. But he couldn't. Kaito was hungry, tired, and most of all he wanted to get out of the rain. He was too tired to start questioning the identity Demon of Knowledge and why they decided to bless him.
With a sigh the young man used the tree for support while heading deeper or maybe out of the forest? He had no way of knowing, the rain was merciless and continued to soak him and everything around.
'I need something to eat... Why did it have to be in the middle of the forest of all places?'
The young man continued to walk forth, using trees for support and brief shelter from the rain. Of course the trees did not protect him from the rain well, but it did decrease the amount of rain that doused him significantly.
Eventually after a few tedious minutes Kaito was able to see more than just trees ahead. He could see a small plain of dead grass leading up to a dirty city with many broken buildings. Kaito leaned against a tree and sat down. He was tired and mentally drained, he couldn't bring himself to walk through the grassy plain while the rain doused him even more.
'This is such a joke. Whatever, I'm not going any further for now. I'll wait for this rain to pass and then keep going.'
Kaito remained motionless against the tree for a moment before extending his hands out with a sigh and cupping some of the falling rainwater. He brought the water to his lips and drank greedily before it could seep through his fingers. After a few more times of repeating this action Kaito leaned against the trunk of the tree once more and closed his eyes.
"It's going to be a long night, isn't it?"
The young man chuckled bitterly before trying to get as comfortable as he possibly could. Then he remained motionless, he was too tired to deal with it all now. Perhaps in the morning he would have enough energy to walk up to the guards of the Shell and confirm his enlightenment.
***
Kaito opened his eyes slowly, a soft ray of sunshine caressing his pale skin. It was no longer raining and it was a brand new day. The young man scoffed while getting up slowly and began to make his way through the large plain of grass, each stride made his mood worsen. He was currently thinking of what he was going to say to the guards so that they would let him go or escort him to the academy.
'Good morning, my name is Kaito Yoshida and I have recently enlightened. Can you allow me to pass so I could go to the academy? Ugh, no way! That sounds so stupid, damn it! What to say, what to say...'
As he continued to ponder different ways to approach the guards, Kaito forgot to pay attention to where he was walking and collided with the wall of a broken building. He fell down gracelessly onto the floor and yelped while holding his face.
"What the hell?!"
Now irritated, the young man stood up and kept walking while caressing his forehead. He scoffed while looking ahead, this time paying more attention to his surroundings.
However while passing through an alley he saw the corpses of a couple of unfortunate souls. The young man let out a sigh. The poisonous air was dangerous to ordinary people, but the enlightened luckily were not affected by the harmful atmosphere. Kaito forced himself to look away while walking forth and shook his head.
'I can't wait to leave this place, but then I'll have to deal with those pampered fools at the academy...'
***
After a long while Kaito was now a couple of feet away from the heavily guarded entrance to the dome. A shiver ran down his spine as he glanced at the four enlightened guards standing in front of a huge door. Kaito already felt small when compared to others but when compared to this door he feels like an ant. It was almost forty meters tall.
The guards soon noticed the frail young man that was standing not too far away from them. His clothes were dirty and ripped in many places. One of the two male guards scoffed and turned to the other guards. That guard seemed to be the leader of the four.
"Great, we've got another disgusting outer shell rat coming to beg for permission to enter. Don't fall for it and do not let him in just because he claims to be awakened, we need proof first."
The other guards looked at each other and let out a sigh while nodding. Apparently this was a reoccurring scenario that happened very often. So often that they seemed sick of it, yet they still had to put up with this. That was when the same guard who spoke out began to approach the frail young man.