Dante felt a bead of sweat slowly trickling down his forehead. Even though he had only known Rim for a short time, she didn't seem the type to save firepower. He had the feeling that if he hadn't knocked on the door, he might be dead at this very moment.

"Ha, stop the drama. You know very well that that wouldn't be able to hurt our friend. After surviving that attack, I doubt anything would be, really." Rim was in her room, but it wasn't hard to hear her shrill voice. The girl, unsurprisingly, looked like a heap, moving non-stop.

"You guys got wind of what happened, then. Do you know where Sabrina is?" asked Dante, thankful that he didn't have to tell the story again. He suspected that his new Qi was related to the way he had healed quickly, and each time a story was told, holes became easier to spot.

"It's only by saving you that she falls into your graces, is it? Our dark friend isn't here right now, but she should be back soon," Rim said, with a playful air.

Since he left home to follow his dream of trying to become a Slayer, Dante's life could be defined as one surprise after another. The appearance of the common area was no different.

With a visible gasp, he surveyed the environment. Everything was different. The old room, which looked like an average-looking area, was all changed.

Cushions had taken the place of hard chairs, and various items of all kinds could be seen hanging on shelves.

"We took the liberty of putting a little life into the place while you were gone. Since we'll be spending a lot of time here, we thought it best to make ourselves at home, don't you?" said Hector.

"We also reserved a place for you to put a personal touch, don't worry, it's just past the prototype H," said Rim.

After searching the room with his eyes, hoping to find the infamous prototype H, Hector pointed to a ball that had metal teeth around it. Next to it, a small space in one shelve was empty.

Looking at Hector, Dante raised his eyebrows in suspicion.

"What can I do? Rim is more... territorial than the rest of us," Hector replied, shrugging.

"Even your dark friend helped a little, surprisingly. After she came back with you all bloody from the forest, just like in a horror story, her mood improved considerably. Maybe you should border on death more often, my friend," Rim said, as she seemed to be cooking something in the room's kitchen.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Telling them both that he was a little tired, Dante went to his room and jumped into bed. His body was not tired, but his mind was.

As he lay there, looking at the ceiling, Dante thought how lucky he was to share his common room with such strong people. Always try to be in an environment where you are the weakest, or something like that. The old thinkers knew some things, after all.

Getting out of bed and going to his desk, Dante thought about what he would put in "his" space in the common area. He wasn't sure, as he hadn't brought many personal items with him.

Taking a red parchment from where he had kept it, Dante spread it out next to the table. There, were the two pillars of his clan's path. Although he could not follow it completely, Dante had some ideas to adapt to the techniques described there.

Remembering the theory he had developed, he picked up a knife. Without looking, he made two cuts, one on each of his shins. He made superficial cuts, because his aim was not self-harm, but to test a theory.

Taking one pillow that was left over on his bed, Dante got into a meditation position and concentrated.

First, he accessed his core, looking again at the Qi channels. He could see that the Core was a little brighter, as well as the contained energy filling a little more of the vacuum present there.

This should be the change caused by his advancement to Silver II. If just one sub-level made such a difference, he couldn't wait to see what gold, or beyond, would look like. Overnight, what had once been a fantasy was a feasible path.

He visualized the paths of Qi, focusing especially on those that led to the region of the newly acquired wounds. There, he saw that, even without any command, the Qi was interacting with the wounds, almost as if washing them away.

With a smile of victory, Dante almost lost his concentration. Pulling himself together, he tried to perform two tasks at the same time. First, he completely ceased the flow of Qi to his right leg, and then he doubled the flow to his left leg.

Since his control was not perfect, he could neither cut off the flow, nor double it accurately. However, the result showed itself immediately.

On his left leg, whose flow had been increased, he could feel the wound itching, as if it were in an advanced healing process. He waited a few minutes, and when he could no longer feel the wound, he opened his eyes.

His theory was right! The wound was completely healed.

Happy, he could not wait to test his new physique. If he could master a type of accelerated healing, he would never again be defeated in the way he had been before.

Next time, Dante would save his colleagues, and he would not need rescuing.

Like a banker charging interest, Dante was grinning from ear to ear. Dante's eyelids, on the other side, were closing, even as he was happy. It seemed that regeneration had an expensive price, after all.

Lying down on the bed, this time Dante didn't have time to look at the ceiling.

As soon as his body was comfortable, he fell into a deep sleep.