Find out at the end

This time, Edward wasted no time and quickly perceived the grey energy around him. After carefully observing for a moment, he then focused on the other energies, each radiating different colors.

Edward couldn't resist his curiosity about these various energies swirling in the atmosphere.

Feeling an instant attraction, like a child drawn to a vibrant rainbow, he attempted to connect with them.

Yet, as soon as he reached out, those energies shied away, as if they were avoiding him. Edward inwardly sighed at this 'racist' behavior from them.

Turning his attention back to the grey energy, which seemed to 'like' him a lot, he wondered amusingly.

"Is this what they call love at first sight?"

Edward randomly thought, something he had never experienced with anyone else, as he reached out to connect with the energies.

Even with his beloved Emily, their bond had developed through numerous challenges over time.

Shaking off these random thoughts, he refocused on establishing a connection with the grey energy around him. As soon as their 'consummation' began, the grey energy, seemingly eager and with his green signal, surged into the center of his head.

"How much do you think he will be able to gather, Captain David?"

William asked, unable to contain his curiosity any longer. The amount of energy a ghost can gather during their first session is crucial for their growth.

"I'm not sure about that."

David replied and continued.

"But I have a feeling it will definitely be more than yours and probably even mine."

David spoke honestly, acknowledging the lack of precise methods to measure such things in their ghostly civilization. Still, his instincts suggested that Edward might gather more energy than both of them.

William didn't understand why David had such confidence in Edward. However, he, too, sensed that Edward was different from the usual ghosts.

As they finished their whispered conversation, Edward opened his eyes, feeling that he could no longer absorb any more of the energy.

"How was it, Edward? How much were you able to gather?"

Not giving David a chance to speak, William asked enthusiastically, which made David a bit annoyed.

"Am I the teacher or you?"

David complained inwardly, but he stayed focused on Edward, waiting for his response.

"How much?"

William asked eagerly, catching Edward off guard for a moment. However, Edward quickly understood what William meant.

David took over, saying.

"Yes, since you've already absorbed the energy to your limit, I'll explain now. Any newborn ghost that practices the 'Apparition Path' for the first time and absorbs the Yin energy to their limit sets that limit permanently. The more a ghost can absorb, the better. You could say it's a measure of 'talent' for ghosts."

This explanation made Edward feel a bit of pressure.

"What you mean to say is that I can only absorb this much at a time for my entire ghost life, right?"

Edward asked, double-checking the Yin energy gathered in his mind.

"That's correct."

David confirmed.

"The more you can absorb, the faster you can become stronger. For example, if I can absorb twice the amount you can, then I only need half the time to reach the same strength as you. But don't worry too much about this; what we ghosts have is time, so we can slowly become stronger over time."

Despite David's reassurance, Edward felt a bit downcast as he looked at the energy he had gathered. He was unable to shake the feeling of disappointment.

"I don't know how you measure the energy gathered, but I can roughly say it's about the size of a normal round grape."

Edward nervously expressed.

As soon as he finished, both David and William felt a bit disappointed. Clearly, this didn't meet their expectations.

"No need to worry. Your talent is almost similar to mine and better than William's."

David said, shaking off his disappointment and consoling Edward as he felt his nervousness.

"Oh... then what's your size, William? And, David, how long did it take you to reach your current tier?"

Edward asked, his spirits lifting at David's reassurance. As long as his talent wasn't bad, he felt relieved, having initially feared that his gathered energy was the weakest of all.

"Mine is a bit smaller than a grape, but not by a large margin. I'm considered quite talented in Sheffield Ghost Town, so you don't have to worry about talent, Edward."

William responded with a smile. Despite his talent being slightly lower than Edward's, it wasn't by as much as he had expected, which reassured him.

"I've been dead for around five years. As I said, it all depends on talent and some special methods I was able to use to reach this level. We'll talk about these special methods later; we still haven't completed your practice."

David spoke with a hint of pride in his voice, contradicting his earlier words. Edward couldn't be bothered by this.

From what he understood so far, both David and William were kind to him, but they each had their own pride. William, in particular, seemed quite competitive with him.

Since he doesn't know how vast the difference is between each tier and level, he is not bothered by the time mentioned by David. One thing he now knows is that David died five years ago.

"Now comes the next stage. All you have to do is spread the collected Yin energy to every part of your ghost body. Once you're done with this, you'll undergo a 'baptism' and reach Tier 1 Ghost Soldier."

David instructed.

This time, Edward promptly responded and closed his eyes again.

Following David's guidance, Edward tried to move the energy slowly throughout his ghost body. However, the speed at which the energy moved made him feel like crying.

During the gathering process, it had moved like a snake, but now, as he attempted to spread it, it was moving at a snail's pace.

Under the watchful eyes of David and William, Edward took nearly four hours to complete the process of moving the Yin energy all over his ghost body.

"Captain... Do you think it's possible for him?"

William asked, sensing that Edward was nearing the point of awakening.

"Don't know. You should understand, there's only a ten percent chance."

David responded with a mix of certainty and uncertainty in his tone.

"But both of us..."

William started again, sounding somewhat unconvinced by David's response.

"That's just luck. Also, don't dampen his mood, in case..."

David interrupted himself, taking his eyes off Edward, to warn William.

"I know, Captain. You know me better than others."

William promised swiftly. David nodded in satisfaction, acknowledging that he understood William's character better than anyone in the Ghost Society.

Just as they finished their brief conversation, the air around Edward began to spin and glow.

"This... This..."

William stuttered, unable to contain his joy at the scene unfolding before him. His voice trembled with excitement, despite his stuttering.

"Haha! It looks like little Edward is awakening his own innate ability. Our team is gaining another innate ability user."

David exclaimed with laughter, pleased that Edward had finally met their expectations.

"True, hehe! Brother Edward is now an innate ability user from today onwards, hehe, and our team will truly be a 'special' team."

William chimed in, laughing joyfully with happiness evident on his face.

Soon, the two of them contained their happiness and refocused their attention on Edward, who was nearing the end of his 'baptism'.

After about two minutes, Edward completed his baptism. However, he didn't open his eyes immediately, as new information was forcibly imprinted in his mind.

"Titan Ascent?"

It was a unique divine ability that allowed the user to level up by increasing energy consumption. This ability was divided into three stages:

- Stage one allowed the user to ascend one tier by doubling the energy consumption.

- Stage two allowed the user to ascend two tiers by tripling the energy consumption.

- Stage three allowed the user to ascend three tiers by quadrupling the energy consumption.

Edward quickly analyzed this special ability and concluded that it was incredibly powerful, despite the faster energy consumption. He couldn't help but feel ecstatic knowing that, as a Tier 1 Ghost Soldier, he could potentially reach the level of a Tier 4 Ghost Soldier.

"Looks like 'Titan Ascent' is your innate special ability?"

David asked, curious upon hearing Edward mention 'Titan Ascent'. He was unfamiliar with this particular ability name, although he knew new abilities could emerge occasionally.

Edward snapped out of his reverie and nodded in response to David's question. At the same time, he looked at both David and William in a questioning manner, as they didn't explain this to him.

"Congratulations, Brother Edward! Awakening a special ability during Baptism is very rare..."

William quickly explained, emphasizing how unusual it was for a Tier 1 Ghost Soldier to gain a special ability.

Edward was taken aback, realizing that not every ghost had awakened a special ability during their baptism.

**Chapter Title: Special Ability - Titan Ascent.**