Sabrina listened carefully to everything Dante had to say. Although she felt he was being honest about the change in his Qi type, there seemed to be a piece missing from the puzzle.

She had never heard of any external procedure capable of changing the absorbed monster core. And she had heard a lot.

What interested her most, however, was Dante's relationship with his new Qi type. He was progressing at a frightening speed. It would not be long before he would catch up with her, if he kept up like this.

Dante’s body should have been ready to advance long ago, but the young cultivator should not have the necessary means. It was a shame, for the journey to power was not always fair.

That was, only if she didn’t advance too. Which would never happen, of course. Dante was the only person she saw a similar will to progress as she did. Maybe that was what made her so comfortable in his presence.

"So, let me get this straight. Mysteriously, you have undergone a change in the Qi type of your core. This mysterious change coincided with your entry as a disciple into the sapphire sect, and now you have no idea what you are capable of doing?" asked Sabrina. Although she liked the change in Dante's Qi, because it meant that he was less vulnerable than she had previously thought, the conditions were suspicious.

"That's it. It's not a comfortable situation for me either," Dante said, without lying. Although he had omitted the part about his secret training and the sapphire immortal, as he was instructed, he needed to tell at least part of the story to Sabrina. He owed her his life, after all. He would also need help to keep risking himself to discover the limits of his new abilities.

From the look on Sabrina's face, she was not entirely convinced of the story. Although Dante didn’t lie, Sabrina was also a little jealous of the situation. She had never heard of a Qi that emulated solar power, but this kind of eccentric Qi always carried with it eccentric possibilities. Possibilities that she paid dearly to have.

After Dante finished speaking, out of habit Sabrina scanned the area. Her Qi was especially useful in sites like this, where she could expand her senses with the other shadows present in the environment.

After years of training, Sabrina would from time to time analyze her surroundings. Especially that day, she was grateful that she had formed such a habit.

A re-check revealed that the sources of the Qi in the surroundings had changed. Sabrina suggested that they leave from there. Without Dante realizing it, she slightly changed the direction in which they were walking. She didn't want to worry him. Not yet.

Since they had started killing the monsters, Sabrina could feel the presence of three cultivators apart from her and Dante. All of them far surpassed the power felt in the D-Class monsters. If she were to guess, even the Class C ones.

For Dante's sake, and perhaps a little for her own as well, Sabrina decided not to approach the cultivators nearby. She was not sure if she was ready for this kind of challenge yet. Soon she would pass the threshold for gold, and then she would no longer need to be afraid.

As they walked away, however, one of the cultivators seemed to follow them. Sabrina couldn't see the details about him with her shadows. Since the situation with Dante was somewhat strange, and Sabrina suspected that someone else was involved, she decided it was worth a try.

"Does that strange guy who was following us have some kind of relationship to that pile of secrets of yours?" she asked.

"What strange guy, we were being followed?" Dante replied, startled. He hadn't realized anything.

In order to clarify the situation, Sabrina said, "With my Qi I can expand my senses. I noticed that a man in slayers' clothing was watching us the whole time. He reminded me of the beggars in the town where I work."

With a tasty laugh, Dante had to work hard to pull himself together. "He won't like hearing that, but you can be sure I'll like telling him! From the looks of it, he's Isaac."

Dante didn't know how to tell Sabrina about Isaac. So, he told her that he was someone who was helping him understand what happened in his Qi change. Suddenly, Sabrina keen senses jumped. There was something there, and it was close.

At this point, they had just entered the forest again. The flora was comprised of tall, thin trees.

"Huh, look what we found here, looks like we hit it big," spoke a man, coming out from behind one of the trees. Behind him came another one, a little shorter.

Sabrina immediately got ready. Those cultivators must have used some kind of mechanism to hide their presence. They were not as strong as the ones Sabrina had detected earlier. Accessing her core, she left enough Qi hidden in the strands of her hair for the attack to be deadly. Glancing at Dante, she made sure to put some Qi in his shadow so that she could protect him if necessary.

Although, from his narrative, maybe getting hurt was even a good thing. The problem was getting hurt without dying, because the cultivators didn't seem to have good intentions.

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"This is one of the girls the boss told me to keep an eye on, my friend. I bet the two lovebirds' harvester is overflowing with energy!" said one of them.

Sabrina looked a little surprised when Dante stepped in front of her and said "Who are you? What do you want?"

Did he really think she was a match for those cultivators? No, from what I know of him, he must be just acting without thinking. Like when I saved him last time. Sabrina appreciated the gesture, but knew that this way she would only have more work. In addition to fighting the cultivators, she would need to protect Dante.

"Let the little girl speak for you, little shit. She's the one that matters to the boss," the taller man said.

"I'm going to ask for the last time!" said Dante, as he built up his Qi in his fist.

Although he had improved, Sabrina doubted that he could handle either of the two up ahead. With a quick scan, she judged that both of them should be Silver VI or VII, while Dante was still at Silver IV.

As one of the men began to enchant yellowish Qi in a dagger, ready to attack, Sabrina began to form dozens of hands behind her. They would get what they deserved. Before she could do anything, she felt the air cool, quickly. It wasn't long before her breath marked the wind with a light mist, like a day that was very cold.

Without understanding what was happening, she heard screams that signaled a fight. Checking to see if Dante was all right, she began to expand her spatial awareness, but soon saw that it was a futile attempt.

Before they could react, each of the strange cultivators was hit by an iron ball, which traveled with surprising speed. As one was hit on the right side and the other on the left, the two collided, forming a human sandwich.

"Who's going to get who, you fuckers," said Rim, as she stepped out from behind a tree.

Coming close to Sabrina and Dante, a voice, male and gentle, added, "They were watching us too, but we realized just before they ambushed us. We were waiting for them to do something stupid. Just like this."

Sabrina didn't know why, but she wasn't too surprised by their appearance there. From the little bit they interacted, Sabrina knew that, they weren't so bad, after all. She was grateful to be with people she could get along with. Many cultivators were scum, willing to sacrifice anything. They didn't seem like that kind.

"You'd better let us go, you bastards! Our boss won't leave things like this if you do anything to us!" said one of the men, as Rim kept them pinned down with her metal balls.

More and more the idea that someone had Sabrina, Rim, Hector and Dante put together on purpose seemed more plausible. In normal situations, any one of the four would deserve some kind of highlighting, even if for different reasons.

"If you don't shut up, I'm going to make these metal balls go in one way and come out the other. Now, who's your daddy?" asked Rim, as she twirled two metal balls in her hand, with a look of defiance on her face. Sabrina had to admit, Rim's control was something out of the ordinary.

At first, Sabrina was even a little hostile towards Hector and Rim because she knew how capable they both were. She was used to always being the prodigy, and it was hard to lose the spotlight. It wasn't the lack of attention that bothered her, but the insecurity that she could defeat her opponents. She couldn't guarantee that with Rim, much less against Hector.

"Haven't you ever heard of the Draco family, bitch?"

Before they could speak any other word, Sabrina let out her shadow hands again, which quickly enveloped both boys. By the time she began to hear Dante's voice, it was too late.

Crack!

A guttural scream could be heard from the men.

"You broke my arm! just wait until my boss hears about this!"

Sabrina glanced back at Dante, pityingly. She knew that after what would happen, he would not look at her the same way. Rim and Hector would understand, certainly, but not him. At least not yet.

Mastering her shadow hands, she determined to squeeze them again. And again. Only this time, it wasn't an arm that was being broken. It wasn't long before Sabrina heard the sound of their spines breaking. It wasn't long, either, before the screaming stopped.

She was surprised when in Dante's gaze she found not disapproval, but a determination, as if the sun god himself had come down and created two new spheres, one in each of the boy's eyes.

"Don't worry, I recognized their name from the ranking. I know we couldn't let them leave," Dante said, trying to reassure Sabrina. It seemed that now it was her turn to stop underestimating him. He was a cultivator, after all.

The Draco clan was the one at the top of the rankings, completely dominating. The top three consisted solely of their members.

So, the moment those present heard the name, they knew what needed to be done. If the Draco clan was watching them, a message needed to be sent.

For Dante, this was especially satisfying. He was humiliated by a boy in the same uniform as those when he arrived at the castle. He felt that the next of the boy's blow would kill him, that day.

Why would he have mercy now? There was no room for everyone at the top.

" These bastards are known throughout the continent for taking advantage of any situation to get ahead of others. I believe in reciprocal treatment. They tried to kill us, there must be no mercy. Now, let's take a look at what they had," Hector said, as he took the Harvesters from the men.

"You know, I'm glad I'm on your side, guys," Dante said, as he approached.

"You'd better be. From now on, this is how it's going to be. If outside of this trial it's not uncommon for cultivators to kill for resources, imagine in this environment, that it's literally a competition," Hector said in an approving tone.

"Chill, I'm sure our little jellyfish wouldn't let anything happen to you," Rim said, teasing Sabrina.

For the first time in a long time, Sabrina gave a long sigh and let her shoulders slump. When she found out who, and why, had put her with those three, she would have them to thank. At least there she didn't feel out of place.

Although they couldn't take the points from the defeated slayers for themselves, by the rules, they did get some useful items. They could not count the monster points stored in the harvester, but could still exchange it for money to buy items.

Besides two harvesters with some essences, they found a ring of electricity and two daggers that created an aura of wind. Although they were not especially useful to anyone there, they would sell for a reasonable price too.

Before they left, Rim moved her metal orbs with precision, creating a ditch in the ground.

"No, that part is mine. It's not just you guys who are going to do the dirty work," Dante said, as he picked up the bodies and threw them into the ditch.

This was the life of someone who wanted to become a slayer. There was no talking to settle disagreements. Not with those who didn't deserve it.

There was no forgiveness.

What there was clash of forces, the strongest one would always be the correct one. After a productive day, the four of them returned to the base, a little closer.

Who knows, maybe in the future they would be a good team.