By the time Karl, Leon and Mira settled inside the living room, the servants had already begun bringing food onto the long table prepared for the evening.
Arthur remained seated near the head of the table, occasionally glancing toward the three newly awakened youngsters while Leon continued examining almost every dish placed in front of him.
It did not take long before footsteps came from outside, the doors opened and a middle-aged couple entered alongside a young boy who appeared several years younger than Mira.
Karl immediately recognised them, Mira’s father was the current head of the Reed family’s guards, and their families had already maintained a close relationship long before Karl and Mira became friends.
Over the years, the friendship between their children had only strengthened that connection.
Mira’s parents immediately walked toward Arthur. "Old Master."
Both greeted him respectfully, while Arthur simply waved one hand.
"No need for all that tonight, your daughter awakened something worth celebrating."
Mira’s father smiled before glancing toward her, obvious pride appearing across his face.
The young boy beside them had already stopped paying attention to the adults. The moment he spotted Karl and Leon, his eyes lit up and he rushed directly toward them.
"Big Brother Karl! Big Brother Leon!"
Karl barely had time to raise his hand before the boy slapped his palm in an enthusiastic high-five, then immediately did the same with Leon.
"You are professionals now!"
His excitement only increased as he looked between them.
"Does that mean both of you are going to become super strong War Gods and go outside the city to fight giant beasts?"
Leon immediately straightened.
"Obviously."
Mira rolled her eyes from beside him. "You awakened Martial Saint three hours ago."
"Exactly, plenty of time to begin preparing my legend."
Her younger brother stared at Leon with even greater admiration.
Karl laughed quietly before placing one hand on the boy’s head. "We still have a long way to go before anything like that."
The boy clearly considered that answer far less interesting than Leon’s, but before he could continue asking questions, another voice came from the entrance.
"Looks like I am the last one here."
Leon immediately turned, his father had arrived.
As the head of Ardent City’s Awakeners Association branch, the man had spent most of the day dealing with matters surrounding the awakening ceremony, especially after Karl’s abnormal Celestial Phenomenon caused half the plaza to descend into confusion.
Even so, he had still managed to come personally. He first walked toward Arthur and greeted him respectfully.
"Old Master."
Arthur nodded. "You finally escaped from the Association."
"Barely."
Leon’s father looked around the room before his gaze returned to Karl. "Brother Asher still isn’t back? His son awakened today and that bastard somehow managed to miss it."
Mira’s father laughed slightly. "You know how Brother Asher and Sister Selene are, those two spend more time outside the city on missions than they do at home."
Leon’s father shook his head. "Some things really never change."
Karl remained quiet his father and mother had always been like that, frequently leaving Ardent City for missions that could keep them away for weeks or even months at a time.
Leon’s father eventually looked toward his son before shaking his head again. "I heard this brat spent half the ceremony shouting about his result."
Leon immediately protested. "I awakened an S-rank Martial Saint."
Arthur laughed before slowly standing with the help of his walking stick. "Since everyone is here, this old man will leave the rest to you."
Karl looked toward him. "Grandpa, you’re not staying?"
"I have already spent enough time listening to you little punks today."
Arthur glanced across the room before giving the parents a brief nod.
"Let them enjoy themselves, I am going to rest."
Mira and Leon immediately greeted him before Arthur left the living room and disappeared toward the inner section of the residence.
Once he was gone, the atmosphere around the table became considerably more relaxed.
The adults congratulated Leon and Mira first, while Mira’s younger brother repeatedly asked questions about classes, monsters and whether Shadow Assassins could actually disappear inside shadows.
Karl noticed something else beneath the conversation, both Mira’s father and Leon’s father occasionally looked toward him.
There was some confusion inside those gazes, along with a trace of worry that neither man bothered hiding particularly well.
Karl understood why.
Twenty-one-star compatibility should have been something worth celebrating even more than Leon or Mira’s results, yet his public talent rank was F.
Anyone who understood awakeners would know how contradictory that result was, but neither man questioned him.
Perhaps they had already spoken with Arthur, or perhaps the old man’s mood earlier had told them enough.
Karl was sitting here perfectly calmly; Arthur had appeared happier than Karl had seen him in years and the Reed family itself showed no signs of treating his awakening like a disaster.
That seemed enough for both men to leave the matter alone.
Leon’s father eventually placed his hand beneath the table and brought out two thin cases.
"Since the three of you awakened today, I brought something."
Leon’s attention immediately snapped toward him.
"Finally."
His father ignored him and placed one case in front of Karl before placing the other in front of Mira.
Leon stared at him for several seconds, then he looked underneath the table.
His father raised one eyebrow. "What are you doing?"
"Looking for mine."
"There isn’t one."
Leon slowly raised his head.
"What?"
His father opened Karl’s case, revealing a skill book sealed beneath a thin protective formation.
"I found two useful skill books on short notice, one suits Karl’s profession and the other should be useful for Mira’s class."
Leon pointed toward himself. "And your own son?"
"Unlucky."
Leon stared at him in disbelief.
His father continued without the slightest sympathy. "I couldn’t find anything particularly useful for a Martial Saint today."
Leon immediately sat back with his arms crossed, looking like a porcupine whose spines had suddenly risen in every direction.
Karl nearly laughed.
"You look upset."
"I have been betrayed by my own blood."
His father picked up a cup. "You’ll survive with what you already looted from the Old Master."
Mira carefully opened her case and examined the skill book inside before looking toward Leon with a small smile.
"Maybe your father recognised which one of us actually needed the good gift."
Leon immediately pointed toward her. "You stay out of this, fifteen stars."
Mira’s smile became smug. "Still one more than you."
Karl opened his own case and glanced at the skill book inside. He did not examine it too deeply yet, whatever the ability was, there would be plenty of time to study it after dinner.
Before Leon could continue complaining, Mira’s father placed his cup down. "I also prepared something for the three of you."
Leon immediately recovered.
"You did?"
Mira’s father nodded.
Leon leaned forward. "Where is it?"
"You’ll see tomorrow morning."
Leon froze again and Mira immediately sighed.
"Dad."
"What?"
"You always do this."
Her father looked completely innocent. "Do what?"
"Keep everything mysterious for absolutely no reason."
"It makes the gift more interesting."
Mira pouted slightly and leaned back in her chair. "Or more annoying."
Her mother laughed beside her while Mira’s younger brother immediately began demanding hints about what the gift might be.
Mira’s father refused every question; Karl watched the families talking around the table and remained quiet for several moments.
In his previous life, evenings like this had gradually become rare.
Academies, training, guild matters and everything that followed had slowly taken him farther away from the people sitting around him.
Now he had returned to a time when all of them were still here.
Leon suddenly raised his cup.
"Alright."
Everyone looked toward him.
He grinned. "Since I awakened an S-rank Martial Saint today, I think this celebration should mainly be about me."
Mira immediately raised her cup as well. "Fifteen stars."
Leon glared at her.
Karl laughed and lifted his own cup before the argument could begin again. "To all three of us."
Leon paused before reluctantly nodding.
"Fine, to all three of us."
Mira smiled and raised hers slightly higher.
Their parents followed, while Mira’s younger brother quickly grabbed his glass of juice and raised it with both hands, the cups met in the centre.
"To Karl, Leon and Mira."
"And to what comes next."
Karl drank with the others while Mira’s younger brother happily finished half his juice in one go and Leon and Mira immediately returned to arguing over whose awakening had been better.