When he regained his consciousness, the first thing Dante noticed was the ceiling.

Adorned with small Sapphire crystals and made of a gray material, there was no room for doubt. He was in the infirmary. Again.

As soon as he showed signs of consciousness, it wasn't long before Amelia's soft voice reached his ears. "Well, well, if it isn't you again. I must say, when I said I had a feeling I would see you again, I didn't think it would be so soon," she said, as she approached Dante's bed.

The woman appeared to be wearing identical clothes to the previous day. The striking feature was the jacket, prominently white, which was in harmony with her hair.

When Dante tried to answer, he found a hoarse, dry throat that was screaming for water. He coughed fiercely.

"Here, dear, drink as much as you need. Amazingly, you came back even more bruised this time. I'm surprised you're still alive," Amelia said, as she offered Dante a glass of water.

As he drank, Dante noticed that the water tasted a little strange, almost sweet.

"Don't worry, it's just an herb that we mix into patients' drinks. This one, specifically, is grown in a soil irrigated with fire Qi. It will do your recovery good, so make sure you take it all."

"Thank you," said Dante, after taking long sips of the sugary drink. "You happen to know how I ended up here? The last thing I remember was being in a fight in the middle of the forest, and I was losing..."

"I don't know if I would call the outcome of the fight a defeat. Massacre, perhaps?" Amelia said, while sketching a slight smile. "Fortunately for you, while you were in the middle of the confrontation, a benefactor appeared and saved you from the beasts. A few more seconds and I highly doubt you would have been here to talk to me."

This was strange. Dante thought that would-be slayers would be extremely competitive, but someone had saved him. Maybe the shadows he thought he saw before weaning had something to do with it.

"Do you know who saved me? I would like to properly thank the person. I know very well that my condition was deplorable."

After mentioning his physical condition, Dante concentrated on assessing his bodily conditions. He frowned at what he found. In place of the wounds that should have been left by the monsters' attack, he found only skin.

Not only that, at the place where the wounds were, the skin looked... different. It was as if there was a residue of his Qi there, so that there was a slight burning sensation at the site.

"What happened to me? Did they give me some concentrated pill or something?" asked Dante, startled. He remembered hearing something about a point system while walking the halls, but he wasn't sure how the materials were gained there.

Amelia looked at Dante and blinked, surprised by the question. "They must not have gone through the point system yet. No, come to think of it, they must have gone through it today, while you were unconscious."

"You mean I missed another important explanation?" Dante said, sighing.

"Rest assured. I'm sure your colleagues will explain to you about what happened. As for who saved you, well, the one asked me not to reveal it to you." After some thought, Amelia added. "But, if I were you, I would thank a certain black-haired girl who lives right near you."

With a nod and something that looked like a wink, the white-haired nurse told Dante that he was well enough to leave his room, but that he should avoid channeling his Qi until he had cultivated properly.

Wasting no time, Dante left the infirmary. As he pondered where he should go, he noticed that a strange sensation was taking over his stomach.

Internalizing his perception to discover the source of the sensation, he discovered only... hunger.

It was only then that he realized he had eaten nothing since the previous day. Could it be that the lack of hunger, until then, was an effect of the new type of Qi circulating in his body?

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Knowing that he would not find an answer while standing in the hallway, he went to the cafeteria. As he walked down the halls, he noticed how many students there were in the school. He couldn't help but wonder how big the place was, for it to hold such numerous students.

Still, one thing puzzled him. The number of inhabitants of the place far exceeded the number of disciples in the introduction the day before. Could it be that there were people from other years or something?

After returning to the second floor, he headed in the direction showed by Marco.

Dante could quickly sense food. The smell of meat was music to his ears. It was strange that he hadn't felt that hungry the last day, given what he was feeling at the moment.

When he entered the room where the smell originated, he was surprised. The place was immense.

There were countless tables there. The height of the room was much greater than the reception area, so it would be difficult to find a monster that could not fit inside. The place was lit by large chandeliers, which were hung on chains so that they were not far from the tables.

As he searched the tables for one of his colleagues, he found his probable savior: Sabrina. When Amelia mentioned her appearance, Dante could hardly believe that he had been saved by her. Hector seemed the friendliest of his companions, but between Sabrina and Rim, Rim certainly seemed the friendliest.

As he pondered whether to join Sabrina, the young cultivator heard his name. Turning around, he saw that Asta and Nadia were calling him.

Walking over to their table, he noticed they were now no longer alone. They were at a circular table with four other people.

Dante discovered that this was Asta and Nadia's team. After some thought, he remembered those people. One of them was Yajeel, the boy with the enormous hands from the trial, and the other was the girl who had fought against him when Dante arrived at the school.

Little conversation followed, until hunger spoke louder and Dante went to get a plate and serve himself. On the spot, each cultivator chose what they were going to eat. It made sense, because different foods could cause strange effects according to the Qi they are grown with.

When he returned to the table, Dante ate until he was no longer hungry. Then he asked about the system Amelia had mentioned.

"Hey, I missed something today, about the point system or something," Dante said, directing his gaze at Nadia and Asta. Although he had only known them a short time, the two were the only people Dante Knew there.

"Damn, you really should try not to get knocked out all the time, kid," Nadia said with a slight smile. She wore red clothes, which gave her persona an eccentric look. Dante had a hard time not looking into her eyes, as if there was something magnetic in those beautiful red eyes. Actually, he could sense Qi when he looked at her.

"They explained the point system to us. Basically, everything we do from now on will be worth points. The biggest amount will come from the monsters, of course, but special tasks will also be offered by the sect's slayers."

After listening to Nadia speak for a few seconds, Asta's patience had reached its limit. The boy couldn't help but interrupt. "Of course! Not only should we kill monsters, but we'll get stronger for it! They also said that we can exchange the points for all sorts of things, from supplies to weapons."

Nadia gave Asta a stern look. "And the most important part, which our Asta forgot to mention, is that only the one hundred who have accumulated the most points within 12 months will be approved for the second round of selection."

Swallowing dryly, Dante wondered how much he should ask the others. Since he had always lived in the countryside, outside the circle of the big information, he seemed to lack information that the others were mostly basic.

Deciding that it was more worthwhile to be considered uninformed than to actually be, Dante mustered courage. "Do you know how Slayer training works? I don't know how many years it is exactly."

"I don't think anyone knows for sure. There are suspicions that there is even a difference between the great sects. All I know is that those who pass the first trial go somewhere else, away from here," Nadia said.

Summing up everything that had been said, Dante didn't know how to feel. On the one hand, he was afraid because there should be over ten times the number of people who would move on to the new phase of the test. However, he couldn't help but feel cheerful, because this meant that the more points he got, the more he would be able to quickly buy the resources he needed to advance.

After some more conversation, he said goodbye to those present and left for his room. His body was begging for some well-deserved rest.

Just after passing through the door leading to the cafeteria, he felt a hand brush against his shoulder.

"Mr. Dante, I need you to come with me. Your presence has been requested in the special training section."

The man was wearing an outfit similar to Marcos's. His friendly expression and quiet body language almost managed to mask the fact that the man's physique was impressive.

I wondered if all the employees there were slayers. If so, then our time here is even more valuable than I thought, even if I don't make it to the next stage. No, there is no such scenario. I came here to pass, not to think about worst-case scenarios again.

"Hello, Special Section, where is that?" Dante asked. It was better to be safe than sorry.

"Don't worry, I was ordered to accompany you directly there."

Wondering what he had done to deserve such special attention, Dante had no choice but to go to the meeting.

Come to think of it, there was nothing to fear. If any of the Slayers really wanted him dead, a simple glance would be enough.