Reincarnated as an Energy with a System

Chapter 1996: Jun’tal’s New Job

Over the following year, the world changed more quickly than most people had expected.

The Awakening Serum was no longer treated as an impossible miracle that only governments and the extremely wealthy could access. Conjora’s lottery system had helped reduce some of the anger surrounding the serum, especially once ordinary people began seeing monthly winners receive awakenings without paying anything at all.

There was still frustration, of course.

The serum remained expensive, production was limited, and there were always more applicants than available doses, but the existence of a legal path had changed the way people looked at it. Instead of believing that power had simply become another privilege reserved for the wealthy, many now saw it as something they might eventually have a chance to receive.

Other countries noticed the difference.

Several governments began introducing similar programs, sometimes through lotteries and sometimes through public-service grants, where people working in medicine, rescue services, or other important fields could apply for subsidized awakenings. The exact rules differed from country to country, but the trend was obvious.

The serum was becoming part of normal society.

That also meant more powerful abilities were appearing.

Every month brought new reports of people awakening powers that would have once been considered exceptionally rare. Some gained abilities that were harmless or only mildly useful, while others awakened powers strong enough that local authorities had to intervene almost immediately.

That was where the academy became increasingly important.

At first, most parents had been hesitant to send their children there. The idea of placing a newly awakened child inside a school designed specifically for dangerous abilities had sounded more like imprisonment than education, especially when the academy was still new and nobody knew whether it would actually work.

That changed after the first few students.

Stories began spreading about children who had once been unable to sleep near their own families because their powers activated unconsciously, only to return home months later with enough control to live normally. Parents who had spent weeks terrified of their own children started recommending the academy to others, and government agencies began treating it as the first option for difficult awakenings rather than the last.

The academy received official funding soon afterward.

Conjora, Veronoth, and several smaller nations contributed first, followed by others once they saw the results. The money allowed Glade to expand the dormitories, improve the suppression systems, and bring in more specialized staff.

The academy gradually became something far larger than the punishment Ning had originally assigned to Glade.

The academy’s success also created another idea.

Hero academies began appearing across several countries, though their purpose was different. Those schools focused on training young awakened people who wanted to become licensed heroes, teaching them combat, rescue procedures, laws, and the responsibilities that came with using powers publicly.

Ning’s academy remained separate.

It existed for the children who could not safely attend ordinary schools yet, the ones whose abilities needed to be controlled before anyone could even begin discussing whether they wanted to become heroes.

There were already a decent number of students enrolled by the end of the year, and Glade expected that number to increase steadily as serum access expanded.

Ning watched the changes with satisfaction.

Then he decided it was finally time for Jun’Tal to become part of it.

Jun’Tal was twenty-one now.

The frightened sixteen-year-old was gone. He had grown nearly as tall as Ning, with a lean but muscular frame that reflected years of physical training alongside his ability practice.

He had changed in other ways as well.

Jun’Tal carried himself with far more confidence than before, though some of the caution Ning had taught him had never disappeared. He understood exactly what his ability could do, and unlike when he first awakened, that knowledge no longer frightened him every time he used it.

His control had improved tremendously.

Many forms of energy had become natural to him. Emma had spent years giving him instructions, correcting mistakes, and eventually teaching him enough that he could continue practicing without her standing beside him every day.

Ning met him on the island where most of that training had begun.

Jun’Tal stood near the beach, watching the ocean while casually letting a metal fork hover before him.

Ning watched for a moment before approaching.

"Magnetism?"

Jun’Tal glanced back and smiled. "Yes. Repelling."

The fork fell onto his palm. "Did you come here to check my training, or do you need something?"

"I have a job for you."

Jun’Tal raised an eyebrow. "A job?"

Ning nodded. "I think it’s time you started living around people properly again."

Jun’Tal’s expression became more serious.

Aside from spending time with his family and the occasional visit to markets and relatives with them, Jun’Tal had spent the majority of his years on the island, training.

"You think I’m ready?"

"Yes," Ning said. "More importantly, I think you need something useful to do with everything you’ve learned."

Jun’Tal crossed his arms. "What kind of job?"

"Join the academy."

He looked surprised.

"I’m 21. I’m too old to be a student."

Ning laughed. "You’re not going to be a student."

"Then I’m too young to be a teacher," he said.

"No, you’re not going to be a teacher either. I want you working with the teams that bring in newly awakened children whose powers are dangerous or unstable."

Jun’Tal’s expression changed almost immediately.

Ning could tell he understood why before he even explained.

"You understand better than most what it’s like to wake up with a dangerous ability. And you’re strong enough that almost no one can hurt you," Ning said. "That makes you the perfect candidate for this job."

Jun’Tal looked toward the ocean again.

Ning stepped closer. "You won’t just retrieve them. You’ll talk to them, calm them down, and make sure they understand that going to the academy doesn’t mean their life is over."

Jun’Tal looked back toward him.

"You really think I can do that?"

"Yes."

The answer came without hesitation.

Jun’Tal considered it for another few seconds before nodding.

"Alright. I’ll do it."

He had spent most of his life since awakening learning how to exist safely in the world.

Now he would help others do the same.