Evolving My Undead Legion In A Game-Like World

Chapter 1061: Methods

The Federation had always tried to ensure that the Awakening Ceremony occurred at roughly the same time throughout the realm.

Of course, that was easier said than done.

Aurora alone possessed countless cities, different time zones, varying levels of development, and regions separated by enormous distances. Making every ceremony occur on the exact same day was practically impossible.

Still, with enough planning and preparation, the Federation had managed to reduce the overall Awakening Period to only three days. For an event involving an entire realm, that was already considered extremely efficient.

Aurora wasn't unique in this regard. In fact, many realms throughout the universe did something similar, and were even more coordinated, since the gap between awakening periods among many realms was surprisingly small.

Generally speaking, most conducted their ceremonies within a one-to-two-month window of each other.

This level of coordination was, of course, impossible to be mere coincidence.

Though the number of ordinary supernaturals in any established realm would always be greater than awakeners, Awakeners were simply too important to dismiss thanks to their unique nature.

No civilization was willing to ignore even the slightest possibility of increasing their numbers. The problem remained that Awakening was one of the greatest mysteries known to the universe.

No one could force it. No one could guarantee it.

Two powerful awakeners could give birth to an ordinary child, and two completely normal people could produce an Awakener. Countless civilizations had spent thousands of years researching the phenomenon, and none had truly succeeded.

Yes, ordinary supernaturals existed in enormous numbers. Yet despite that, Awakeners remained extraordinarily valuable.

If it took a thousand years for an ordinary supernatural to reach a supreme level, an awakener could cut that time significantly. And if both sides started with a hundred people, where ten from the ordinary side might succeed, thirty could succeed on the awakener side.

As one's power grew, the advantages awakeners held did decrease, but they never completely disappeared.

Thanks to this, as a result of wanting more awakeners, civilizations had experimented with every method imaginable to increase Awakener births.

Some focused on bloodlines. Some focused on resources. Others focused on environmental factors. Among the countless theories was one particularly widespread belief.

Synchronization.

The theory proposed that if enough civilizations conducted their Awakening Ceremonies during roughly the same period, the odds of producing Awakeners might increase.

No one knew if it actually worked. No one had ever managed to prove it, but nobody had disproved it either.

More importantly, it cost absolutely nothing.

As a result, over countless years it had evolved from a theory into a universal tradition. Whether in a beginner realm or an ancient realm that had existed for millions of years, many civilizations still attempted to synchronize their ceremonies.

These past three days had been Aurora's turn, with today being the last day, and the one on which Michael's home country conducted theirs.

At the dining table in Michael's home sat four figures. Michael. Aunt Mia. Jester. And Lily.

Among them, only Lily was dressed in a school uniform. Unfortunately, the young lady currently looked nervous. Her fingers tapped repeatedly against the table as she stared at the breakfast in front of her.

Today was her Awakening Ceremony.

Even knowing that this was only her first try, and that she still had two more attempts after this, Lily couldn't stop herself from feeling anxious.

"Jester."

"Hm?"

Jester looked up from his food and turned to look at Lily. Though his true body was an undead, the body he controlled was truly living. Through it, Jester lived a more fulfilling life than his brothers and sisters.

Lily frowned.

"Why aren't you getting ready?"

"I'm not going with you to school today."

Hearing this, Lily became even more anxious.

Over the past several months, Lily and Jester had become very close and got along fairly well. To Lily, Jester's absence from today's ceremony felt strange, especially because nobody had informed her beforehand.

The realization only increased her anxiety. It felt like losing moral support before an important battle.

Michael swallowed his food before answering in Jester's place.

"He can't go with you because it's not suitable. If anyone asks, tell them he's conducting his Awakening Ceremony somewhere else."

Lily looked toward Jester. The undead continued eating breakfast as though the conversation had nothing to do with him.

Seeing that neither of them seemed interested in elaborating, Lily could only keep her thoughts to herself. Though she wanted an answer, she wasn't stupid. In fact, she already had a rough guess.

Jester looked human. But only looked human. Inside, he was probably more than human. The more Lily thought about it, the more obvious the answer became.

Jester attending an Awakening Ceremony never made much sense to begin with.

As it happened, Lily's conclusion was almost entirely correct.

Michael had no intention of having Jester follow Lily to school. Not because it would cause trouble, but because it might create unnecessary questions.

Normally, every Awakening Ceremony involved at least a small number of newly awakened students, if Lily's school wasn't simply unlucky.

All awakeners could use the detect skill, and if one of those students used such an ability on Jester, they might notice something.

It wouldn't cause an issue, since even the school's higher-ups knew Jester wasn't an ordinary student, but Michael preferred avoiding such situations altogether. To everyone else, Jester was simply another youth, and Michael intended to keep it that way.

After several seconds, Lily finally nodded.

"…Fine."

Though she still looked disappointed.

Jester finally looked up. His green eyes met hers.

"Good luck."

The simple words caused Lily to smile, and a little of her nervousness disappeared.

"Thanks."

Jester nodded and returned to eating.

Aunt Mia finally set down her cup.

"Enough chit-chat. Lily, you need to be in school soon."

Lily immediately looked up.

"There's no rush. The ceremony won't start until afternoon anyway."

Aunt Mia immediately threw a glare at her daughter. She might be unable to do much to Michael anymore, as he grew stronger and took on more responsibility, but Lily was still under her roof.

Lily immediately lowered her head and returned to eating.

"…Okay."