Dante awoke to the sun's rays clearing his room. Rubbing his eyes in a vain attempt to ward off sleep, he got up from his bed and went to the window. The night before, he had forgotten to close the curtains.

As he approached, it was remarkable the difference felt in his body when his skin came into direct contact with sunlight. His Qi reacted like a horde of ants heading for honey. The energy vibrated within his channels, begging to be used.

There was another unexpected benefit of his new type of Qi. While it was possible to absorb fire Qi upon contact with flames, the new Qi seemed to react much better to solar energy. He was eager to test the limits of his new powers.

Knock Knock

Wondering who would be at his door so early, Dante went to answer it. As he walked, he gave a slight smile as he realized that the wound that had not healed the night before had also dawned completely closed.

More and more the choice to accept the new monster core seemed right.

"Hello, good d-" said Dante, or at least tried to, until he found out who was there. None other than Sabrina, his savior, was standing there.

Self-conscious of his lack of clothing, he felt his cheeks warm. This time it was not an effect of his new Qi.

Seeing that the girl looked as embarrassed as he was, Dante closed the door in fright. Trying to breathe more calmly so that at least his nervousness didn't show through, he reached for a simple shirt he had brought from home and put it on.

Opening the door again, he still felt a slight warmth on his cheeks. His habit of sleeping with only his bottom half covered had come in handy. He could not even imagine what he would do if he were sleeping totally unprotected.

With an uncomfortable laugh, he said, "Hi, sorry about that. I forgot to get dressed to answer the door..."

With her eyes nailed to the floor, Sabrina did her best to look at Dante again. Social interactions were never the girl's strong suit. Fulfilling the stereotype, she always liked to stay in the shadows.

"It's okay," she lied. "I came here to call you so we could go hunt some monsters. Rim and Hector aren't going today, so I need you to come with me."

"What do you mean you need me to go with you?" Fearing that his speech had come out a little thicker than intended, he added, "I mean, I'm clearly the weakest here, and I don't know if I could help you with much..."

At least for now, he thought. He would measure his efforts to change that and return the favor to Sabrina as soon as possible.

"Ah, shit. That evil demon. She told me they had already explained everything to you." Sabrina tapped her foot, punishing the wood for a crime it had not committed. "Let's go get something decent to eat, I'll explain it to you on the way."

Confused, Dante left his room and headed toward the lobby door. When Sabrina didn't follow him, he looked at her for a few seconds, not understanding.

"I know you like pajamas, but I think you'd better put some clothes on before this," the girl said with an embarrassed laugh.

Dante felt his cheeks burn again. If it continued like this, it would be good for him to go back to his old Qi. Surely such heat would be beneficial to his cultivation.

He quickly went to the bathroom and took a quick shower. Since his body hardly ever got to the point of sweating, Dante took quick baths, and preferred not to use a bathtub.

After putting on his new uniform, a simple black outfit with blue details, he left the room and headed for the eating place.

As they walked down the stairs, Dante caught himself constantly looking at Sabrina. She was wearing a short-sleeved outfit with a long skirt.

It was as if she had been sculpted to eventually become a member of the Sapphire Sect. Her blue eyes constantly reflected the blue ornaments that adorned her surroundings. Her walk seemed to say to the shadows: not here. They readily obeyed, making way for their queen to pass.

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

Dante turned quickly when Sabrina looked back, colliding with his gaze. The absence of any words exchanged marked the path of the two.

Making a noteworthy effort to break the silence, Dante said, "Thank you so much for saving me in the forest, Sabrina. Nurse Amelia said I was very ill at the moment you brought me in, and just a few more minutes would have been fatal."

This time Sabrina's eyes betrayed her. She was fully aware that her cheeks usually blushed when she was uncomfortable. At that moment, Sabrina was absolutely uncomfortable.

With a slight cough to give her time to gather her courage, she said, "No need to thank me. I still needed the essences from those monsters, so in a way, you helped me," she lied.

Stopping suddenly, Dante looked at Sabrina with wide eyes.

"The test! I haven't talked to Professor Fig about it yet! do you know if everyone passed?"

Sabrina nodded as Dante spoke, even though she didn't realize it. "You don't have to worry. Mr. Fig said that the 'test' was just an incentive, because the approved got 50 Slayer Points."

The rest of the way, Dante just asked if anything else was said by the professor. According to Sabrina, he had said that lesson was the last they would have for now, so that from now on the students were free to get the points as they saw fit.

Dante couldn't help but notice that he was still poor on points. It turned out that the monsters he killed were not even enough to place him in the top 100. In other words, besides falling behind in cultivation, he would still have to regain the advantage that the others had gained during the time he had been away. It would not be an easy task.

When they arrived at the place to eat, they didn't go to get ready-to-eat food, as Dante had done last time. This time, Sabrina guided Dante to a counter at one end of the room.

Getting closer, Dante caught a glimpse of a large, fat man wearing an apron that had probably once been white. Now, the fabric was dyed in various colors.

"Brats! What can Big Dan do for you today?" the man asked, more shouting than speaking. He seemed to be the kind of person who was too much.

From the man's appearance, it was more than logical his profession. "Chicken and rice, please!"

Although simple, this was Dante's favorite meal. With his family's limited funds, it reminded him of home.

In response, he only received a stern look from Dan. The man stared at him as if he were fighting with his soul. The cleaver attached to his apron did not make the moment any easier.

"Sorry about him, Elder Dan. He's from the country, he doesn't know things." After that, Sabrina placed an order similar to Dante's, only adding a spice he had never heard of.

"These young people today.... This next generation of Slayers won't even be able to exterminate ants if it keeps up," the man said, complaining to himself.

After they had chosen a secluded table so they could chat in peace, Dante asked Sabrina, "What was that about?"

"Don't pay too much attention to it, you'll find it's pretty common around here. It seems that back when they became Slayers, the rules were different. People talked in a weird way, like 'this one is not worthy' 'This one apologizes, elder'."

Thinking about it, it kind of made sense. He couldn't imagine what the cook's real age was. If he was a slayer and was in the realm of sovereigns, it could hundreds, even thousands of years.

Taking some chicken along with rice, thought that it tasted amazing. It seems that the man was indeed a cook after all. After a few minutes, both Dante and Sabrina had finished, but silence still remained at the table.

This time, it was Sabrina who made the effort. She didn't know why she was having such difficulty speaking normally to the boy. Ever since she had seen his fight against the monsters, she had turned red whenever she remembered the scene.

"So, we need to talk about the monster hunting business," she said, totally capturing Dante's attention. "While you were gone, we were told of some safety rules. First, they informed us that everyone should carry a harvester and a map whenever they leave the base premises. That way, in the last case, they could find our location. But, rumor has it that deaths around here are normal, so I wouldn't count on it so much. Another rule, to decrease the number of accidents, is that every person going out to hunt monsters should not go alone. To ensure that this rule is enforced, it has been established that everyone must at least hunt in pairs, and that they will be told by the Harvesters if we break the rule. The consequence is absolute: the halving of all Slayer points obtained so far."

So that was what she had said about needing it. Breathing a relieved breath, Dante carefully absorbed all the information said by Sabrina. This was a challenge, before the starry blue of the girl's eyes.

"Did they say anything about how we can spend the points, or anything like that?"

"Yes! In fact, I think it's a good idea for us to stop by the market area before we leave. I've laid out a basic strategy, we can go over it on the way. As long as we stay within reasonable distance, we can do as we please," Sabrina said, lowering her voice in the last few words. Even though she knew that Dante would only slow her down, she felt anguish when she thought about the state in which she had saved him...

"It's okay. Don't worry, I'll do my best not to get in your way," the boy said, as he got up to go shopping.

After a few more minutes, they got up and headed for the market area.

Dante could not wait to spend his few points. For someone who had nothing, every scrape would be a lot.