Chapter 18 — Departure
Ren's magic phone suddenly buzzed on the desk.
He glanced at the screen and saw an incoming video call from Elias.
Ren accepted the call.
"Ren! Did you awaken?"
Elias's voice came through immediately, though he sounded noticeably less energetic than usual.
"Yeah. What about you two?"
"We... both awakened successfully."
Ren raised an eyebrow slightly.
"What grade of talent did you two get?"
Elias fell silent for a moment.
Then he scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"We both got Tier 1 Middle-Grade talent. Mine is Wind Element."
"Adrian's too?"
"Yeah."
Ren nodded.
The result wasn't particularly surprising. He had already expected Elias to awaken with around that level of talent.
As for Adrian...
Ren couldn't help feeling slightly disappointed.
'So he really didn't have some ridiculous cheat.'
As a fellow transmigrator, Ren had naturally been curious about Adrian. He had wondered whether the other boy had received some kind of system or inheritance after transmigrating.
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Apparently not.
"What about you, Ren?" Elias asked. "What talent did you get?"
"Tier 2 Low-Grade Fire Element."
There was a brief silence.
Then Elias smiled.
"Congratulations, Ren. That's really good."
"Thanks."
"Which university are you going to?"
"Aethelgard Grand University."
"The one in the capital?"
"Yeah."
Elias nodded.
"That's a great university. Adrian and I are probably going to attend a normal university here in Nova City."
"I see."
They continued talking for a few more minutes before eventually ending the call.
Ren placed his phone down.
Their friendship hadn't ended, but something had changed.
It was normal.
Neither Elias nor Adrian had any reason to hate him for awakening a higher-grade talent, but there was bound to be some degree of jealousy when someone close to you started moving along a better path.
Ren didn't particularly care.
'Everyone has their own path.'
Their paths were simply beginning to diverge.
A few days later, Ren packed his belongings and left his apartment.
He didn't have much to take with him.
After everything he had accumulated over the years, most of it could easily be replaced.
He took a taxi to the central transport station and boarded a high-speed magic train heading toward the capital.
Inside the carriage, ordinary people sat in their seats, chatting with one another, checking their magic phones, and passing the time.
Ren found a seat near the window and settled down.
As the train began accelerating, Nova City gradually disappeared behind him.
Buildings became smaller.
Then the city itself slowly faded into the distance.
Ren quietly watched the scenery outside.
After several minutes, a middle-aged man walking through the carriage suddenly stopped.
He stared at Ren for a few seconds.
"Excuse me... are you Ren?"
Ren turned toward him.
"Yeah. Do I know you?"
The man's face immediately lit up.
"I knew it!"
He smiled.
"I'm one of your subscribers. I've been watching your training videos for years. You looked familiar, so I thought I'd come over and ask."
"Oh."
Ren gave him a polite nod.
"Thanks for watching. Sorry I didn't recognize you."
"It's fine, it's fine."
The man waved his hand.
"So, did your awakening go well?"
"Yeah. I'm heading to the capital now."
"That's great! With how hard you've trained all these years, I'm sure you'll become a powerful mage."
"Hopefully."
The two chatted for a little while.
The man didn't ask what talent Ren had awakened or which university he was attending.
Ren noticed this.
It wasn't surprising.
An awakened mage was fundamentally different from an ordinary person.
Most ordinary people understood that there were certain questions they shouldn't ask.
Ren had also already announced his departure from social media in his final video.
He had explained that after awakening, he would move to the mage side of the magic net and stop creating public content. He had thanked everyone who had supported his channel throughout the years before ending his career as a content creator.
The middle-aged man glanced toward the window as the train began slowing down.
"I guess we won't be seeing any more of those crazy training videos."
Ren smiled.
"Probably not."
"Well, don't forget your old fans after you become a powerful mage."
"Haha. I won't."
The train soon arrived at the man's station.
"Good luck, Ren."
"Thanks."
The man waved before leaving the carriage.
Ren watched him disappear into the crowd.
Meeting one of his subscribers like this was quite rare.
His channel had never been particularly huge. He had built up a modest group of regular viewers over the years, but that wasn't enough to make him recognizable everywhere.
And people's memories were short.
Now that he had stopped uploading, most of them would probably forget about him within a few months.
Ren didn't mind.
In fact, that was exactly what he wanted.
The less attention he attracted, the better.
The train continued toward the capital.
Ren leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.
He had spent eleven years preparing for the moment he became a mage.
Now, that moment had finally arrived.
His journey was only beginning.