When he opened his eyes, Dante took a few seconds to get used to the clarity of the environment, or rather, the absence of clarity. He would have to ask Isaac how to activate and deactivate the room's light.

After having a quick snack, he headed back to the training area. He hoped he would be able to go to his room today, anxiety taking over to sleep in his bed for the first time.

Besides, he still needed to thank Sabrina for saving him from the test. He also felt a curious feeling when he remembered Rim and Hector. Despite the brief contact, the thought of conversations with the two of them made Dante feel cheerful.

As soon as he entered the training room, he saw Isaac meditating. Or something close to it.

The master's skin was faded, like freshly dipped charcoal from a fire. He exuded an aura of warmth that could be felt by Dante even at distance.

Seemingly aware of Dante's presence, Isaac soon came out of his meditative state and walked towards him. Dante noticed, the moment Isaac left his meditation pose, that the warm aura was not only coming from the man, but also permeated the entire environment.

"Close your eyes and concentrate. I want you to tell me where you feel the energy coming from," Isaac said, as he walked toward Dante.

Isaac had to suppress a smile when he remembered the previous day. In a very short time, the young cultivator had already solidified his core, making his Qi more stable. The curious thing was that the boy didn't even realize what had happened, so it was unlikely that he knew what he was doing. The advantages of having a monster that has lived a thousand lives, after all.

The rapid evolution caused Isaac a certain tranquility, as he began to understand why the dragon had chosen Dante to carry a monster that only existed in long and forgotten legends. Of course, the legendary Phoenix also accepted Dante as its cultivator.

Like much of the stuff that involved cultivation, there was no mathematical explanation that offered the answers. Ancient monsters did not easily reveal the criteria that made it accept a new host. Dante would only be able to figure this out when he entered the next realm, and that would surely take at least a few years.

The successful fusion was a relief to Isaac. He didn't want to have to deal with another failure. He had learned long ago that when it came to a truly strong monster core, the monster had to accept its new host, or the certain result was death. And an unhappy dead one at that.

"It's right over there," Dante said, answering Isaac's question about the source of the fire energy being emanated. Dante pointed to the spot where a lighting flame had been the day before.

It took Dante a while to notice it, because the day before there had already been Qi of fire there, but now it was much stronger, as if the energy was more concentrated.

"You are right. That is a relatively common sacred treasure, called a living flame. As your Qi storage capacity increases, I will replace the lighting flames with more treasures, so that you will always be with an optimized environment. Now, tell me, have you been able to separate the types of energy that your Qi contains?"

"I was able to identify two types. Fire, as the predominant energy, and light. But, I could feel the light only weakly, so I can't be absolutely sure about that."

"You are partially correct. Your Qi does indeed contain fire energy, although it is not the predominant one, only the most easily identifiable," Isaac said, explaining to Dante. "The other aspect of your Qi is not exactly light, you see. The dragon mentioned that the monster that now lives within you is a fire-solar type phoenix, so the other energy is a light with a bit of yang with it."

Stolen story; please report.

Yang was one of the poles that made up all types of Qi in existence. While Yi was predominant in the cultivation types directed toward control, Yang made up the explosive energies, which fed only on raw power.

Thinking about what had been said, Dante was sure he had never heard of a phoenix that wasn't a fire or ice type. The information was useful, however, because it had been known that the more specific the type of Qi, the greater its potential, if used well. Dante couldn't be happier about it.

" How was your progress the day before?" asked Isaac, pulling Dante's attention back to reality.

" I felt that the environment is very rich in fire Qi. But, to me, it seems obvious that the main type of Qi of my Core is fire. In my clan everyone cultivated the same energy, so the sacred treasures, besides being rare and weak, were shared by all. The ones here seem much stronger. Much more solid."

"I see. Then I must congratulate you, yesterday you reached silver II. You did very well. I can already feel a noticeable difference in your core stabilization. Your body was probably ready for advancement long ago, it was just lacking enough strong ambient Qi for there to be solidification of your core."

Dante always knew that the lack of resources would oppose an insurmountable barrier in his progression. But... passing one of the ten silver levels with only one night. There the world was, proving once again that merit is nothing, but a utopia created by those in power.

Issac handed Dante a recovery pill, so that his body would not suffer. Dante promptly took the pill, and deigned to train again.

Later that day, Isaac released Dante to return to his quarters. He instructed the young man to keep an eye on the changes in his physique, so that together they could study them better later. The master explained that as the flow of Qi increased, the changes in his physical body would also become more noticeable.

Dante left the basement through an entrance that was not visible, just as he had been instructed. It was paramount that he did not attract attention. The abrupt change in his Qi type would be obvious if anyone had paid attention to his initial test.

Even in the face of remote possibility, one could not be too careful in this situation. He well knew how the scarcity of resources for advancement could arouse the worst of feelings in people.

When he reached the entrance hall, he came across a large panel, which was definitely not there before.

Trying to find a spot amidst the other people who were chatting near the new item, he quickly realized the panel's contents. It was a ranking.

The interest of those present in the ranking made its meaning obvious. The names arranged there belonged to the 100 people who had the most slayer points, that is, the 100 people who would be one step closer to their dream of becoming a slayer next year.

Next to the panel, a legend measured the points.

Monster Class F: 1 point

Monster Class E: 5 points

Monster Class D: 25 points

Monster Class C: 100 points

The clear discrepancy made it worth hunting and slaying stronger monsters. But certainly, a strategy of killing a large number of weaker monsters didn't seem uninteresting either.

Since people had apparently already started their hunts, Dante decided that the next day he would go out and kill monsters again. He couldn't wait to test his new Qi.

Before he left for his room, he looked up the names of his companions in the ranks. Not surprisingly, he found them all there.

What was striking was the position of the three of them. Hector was twenty-eighth, Sabrina was forty-third, and Rim was fifty-seventh. Dante was sure that only two days had passed since he had last seen them, and he doubted that in that short time much had changed.

In other words, the strongest between them, Hector, maybe the strongest among the disciples as well, was not even in the top ten rank. Something was wrong.

As he went to his room, Dante couldn't help but look at the staff in a different way. Before he got to know them better, he wouldn't give Isaac anything, and now he was aware that the man was monstrously strong.

He should consider that everyone working there was a properly graded slayer.

Climbing up the floors of stairs, it wasn't long before he reached his quarters. Facing the door, he looked around, as if he wasn't sure he was in the right place.

The door was different. In the middle, there was a small metal stripe, which ended connected with the doorknob. Deciding that everything here was very strange, he decided to knock on the door. The hope was that one of his colleagues was there.

Without delay, Hector, came to the rescue.

"Oh, Dante! I'm glad you knocked. Rim made some modifications to the door and hasn't had time to register you yet. If you had tried to open it, the result could have been... explosive."

Swallowing dryly, Dante again thanked his instincts.