I'm The Only One With Cancer-Chapter 151: Finally, Rewards! II

Looking at the item in his hand, Zen’s shock could not be measured with mere words.

The ’stone’ before him looked special in many ways other than its effects.

It appeared almost weightless in his hands, translucent yet crowned with a shifting iridescent sheen, like moonlight caught in crystal.

Within it flowed luminous strands of colour—crimson, gold, sapphire, and hues unnamed by mortal tongues—intertwining in endless, fluid motion.

They twisted like fate’s own threads, overlapping and dissolving into one another, only to reform in new, unknowable patterns.

It was not merely beautiful.

It was alive in a way that defied reason, its presence humming with a quiet, ancient power that made the air around it feel reverent.

"T-Talent..."

However, aside from all the visual aspects of the item, Zen’s eyes remained on the effects of the item.

Particularly, the part where it said: Could grant the player a chance to awaken a talent upon usage.

"I’ll can finally have a talent of my own...!"

Zen muttered, his expression showing indescribable joy.

At his words, Arthur tilted his head slightly, "Don’t you already have a regeneration-type talent?"

Adara also watched from the side with a confused expression.

"Actually, Teacher, I... don’t have any talent at all."

Zen scratched the back of his head, feeling a little embarrassed about this misunderstanding that he did not bother to clear up.

’To my defense, I didn’t think I would have to explain it like this. After all, aren’t talents something that can only be awakened randomly and purely through luck?’

Despite the thoughts in his head, he still explained, "The regeneration type ’talent’ I have is really just a skill from a certain disease I’ve had in my world. Through some luck, the System was somehow able to stabilize my condition while giving me benefits..."

Words rolled off his tongue, making Arthur and Adara’s expressions shift from time to time as they listened to his story.

Feeling that he really did not need to hide anything from them, Zen even recounted the nights he cried alone in his ward.

In fact, he was not really planning to tell them everything— just a little summary of where his supposed regeneration-type talent came from.

Yet when he saw the sincerity in their concern and felt the unexpected relief of finally unearthing the emotions he had long forced down for his family not worry too much about him, Zen found himself opening up, words spilling out before he could stop them.

This lasted for about thirty minutes— not even a fraction of the ten years he had suffered alone in that ward and the countless nights he spent crying alone.

Despite this, Zen’s face looked visibly refreshed.

"Haaa~ I didn’t think that I would be able to say these things to other people. Thank you, Teacher and Aunt Ada...? No, why are you crying?"

Just as he was thanking the two from the bottom of his heart, his face froze as he saw their expressions.

First was Adara, who sniffed continuously while using Arthur’s sleeve to wipe off her tears and snot as she spoke with difficulty, "Hic... Hic... It must’ve been so hard..."

"You... punk. Why are you only telling me this now?" Arthur spoke between pauses, clearly stopping himself from getting emotional.

He even downed a glass of milk, acting like it was booze.

"Ugh..."

Not knowing how to deal with them, Zen waved his hands, "No, no. I’m fine! As I’ve said, I’m just really thankful to have you listen to my story..."

"Ah!" "Hic!"

Unfortunately for him, his words made the two even more emotional.

’How can they be so silly!?’

Zen shook his head with a faint smile, ’I should probably give them some space...’

With that thought, he finally turned his attention to the notification he had received earlier, before Arthur handed him the Talent Stone.

’Let’s focus on this first...’ he told himself, despite the excitement bubbling inside him at the thought of finally awakening his very own talent.

[Ding!]

[The System has detected that the Saintess of Fire is sharing her blessing with the player!]

[Loading...]

[Blessing Bestowal Success!]

[A new skill has now been granted to the player.]

Zen hurriedly read the earlier notifications until his gaze finally landed on the details of the skill Adara had shared with him.

{Blessing of the Fire of Life

Grade: Mythical

Tier: Low

Effects:

+1000% Fire Resistance

+1000% Healing Effect

Description

A blessing directly from the Divinity of Fire’s Life Flame Attribute. Grants the user the ability to imbue flames with regenerative properties, allowing them to selectively heal themselves or others through fire.}

’A Mythical grade skill!?’

Zen could not help but shout in his mind as soon as he saw the grade and tier of the skill that Adara had supposedly shared with him.

The tier being low did not dampen his mood by even a bit.

After all, a low-tier Mythical skill was still way better than a top-tier Legendary one!

As he continued reading through the skill, Zen could not help but notice something familiar.

"Life Flame Attribute?" He muttered under his breath while immersed in his thoughts, ’Isn’t that just like the Blaze Attribute I have...’

However, this did not escape Arthur and Adara’s eyes as they finally came to their senses while looking at their student with flames in their eyes.

Seeing them approaching, Zen did not know what to do.

After all, the feeling of conversing with someone normally after one had opened themselves up to them was quite strange...

Fortunately, Adara seemed to notice his worries and smiled, "Since you now share this blessing with me, it won’t be too far-fetched to call us family. Furthermore, I’m your teacher too, but just keep calling me Aunt Ada, okay?!"

"Yes, Aunt Ada," Zen responded with a smile as well.

Arthur chimed in with a serious expression, "The blessing she gave you is equivalent to her life itself. So make sure not take it for granted, okay?"

"W-What? Yes, Teacher." Zen could not help but be taken aback at the sudden revelation.

Adara giggled, "Don’t be bothered by what my husband said—-"

Before she could finish her words, she felt a glare burning holes in her back, but Adara pretended not to sense it as she enthusiastically spoke to Zen.

"It’s just like the Blaze Attribute that you have now. However, while the Blaze Attribute is the Fire Divinity’s aspect of burning, the Life Flame Attribute is its aspect as the embodiment of vitality, survival, and as a source of life."

As she was speaking, she glanced behind her and saw that Arthur seemed to have been distracted by her explanation.

Adara immediately heaved a sigh of relief as she continued, "In simple terms, the Life Flame Attribute represents the idea that fire isn’t just something that burns, but helps life as well."

"Oh..." Zen could not help but feel amazed as he really did have difficulty imagining fire outside its aspect of burning, heat, and other destructive characteristics.

’Wait, since the Attributes are essentially just the characteristics of the Divinity, I wonder just how many attributes make up a divinity...’

Random thoughts appeared in his mind as Adara finished explaining.

Arthur coughed and added, "Originally, we planned to teach you this through magic, which would be more arduous. Though with your talent, I believe you’ll be able to accomplish it in no time, but..."

Although his teacher did not continue, Zen already knew what followed.

"Of course, even though magic and skills has its similarities, the steps needed to activate them still differed as unlike magic casting, activating a skill is way simpler. Moreover, the skill Mana Assembly, only being Epic grade, shows the limitation of magic."

Arthur continued, "To really reach the pinnacle of magic, you’ll need to train your Mana Assembly and reach Transcendent Proficiency. So, practically, Adara sharing her blessing with you is the best way... to get stronger in the fastest way possible."

As he got to the last part of his words, Arthur made sure to make eye contact with Zen, to which the latter immediately understood, ’He didn’t forget...’

The fact that their goal from the start— which was to get stronger in the fastest way possible and slay the gods— was not forgotten by his teacher, made Zen smile.

Feeling a bit left out, Adara pouted, "Since you told us earlier that your regeneration type talent wasn’t really a talent... don’t you want to awaken one now?"

"She’s right. The Talent Stone is a special item that’s capable of overturning one’s fate. Talent awakened through its consumption will give you a talent that’s not below Legendary grade." Arthur further added.

Hearing their words, Zen seemed to finally snap out of his daze as he could not help but feel the bubbling excitement inside his heart.

However, just as his excitement reached its peak, he looked at Arthur and asked, "Um, how do I use this?"

After all, aside from the item information, there were no other notifications about the System asking him if he wanted to use it or not, unlike skill books.

Seeing his confused expression, Arthur chuckled lightly, "It’s simple, really. Just crush it."

"Are you sure?" Zen inexplicably felt anxious about destroying such a precious-looking thing.

"Punk, why would I even lie to you? Do you want some extra training sessions?"

"I’m going to crush it now!" Zen immediately replied.

Click— BANG!

[Ding!]

As soon as he crushed it, a system panel appeared before him.

Seeing its contents, Zen’s eyes widened in shock.