After what had happened the week before, everyone had some rest. After that, there was no other option but to return to the normal routine. Progression could not stop.

Of course, this did not mean that Dante had not learned good lessons from the announcement. In addition to better understanding the way his body dealt with Qi, he was able to see for the first time what real power was. He could still remember the sensation he felt when he was about to become unconscious. The young cultivator felt a chill in his stomach at the thought that one day he might encounter powerful monsters like Fig out in the wild.

Dante watched Sabrina's face carefully. He didn't want to seem strange, but his concern for her was strong. Between the anxiety of almost advancing into gold and the sadness of having her most precious personal possessions stolen, Dante was cautious about how he dealt with Sabrina. If there was ever a time to be overly understanding, this was it.

Looking at her face, however, one would never guess all that she was going through at the moment. It didn't take long for them to reach the place he was sure would improve her mood.

It was time to go shopping.

This time, Dante was a little more secure of himself as he entered the enormous hall the disciples could spend slayer points. Carrying about 20,000 slayer points in his pocket, he looked around a bit anxiously. It was staggering how many points he had accumulated in just a little over a month. Hanging out with powerful people really helped.

"You have no idea what you're going to spend your points on, do you?" said Rim, as she walked beside Dante. She looked in detail at each tent they passed, but quickly lost interest.

Sabrina, on the other hand, looked like a bee in a sea of flowers. Her black hair swayed, even in the absence of wind. This way, she wouldn't even have to cultivate for the day, such was her concentration and the flow of Qi in her hair.

Hector had separated from the group. Of the three, he had the most points by far - over 80.000 - and he said he was going to surprise them. He had passed Sabrina in the ranking, and was now the best placed among the quartet.

"Let's go see Nana. I bet she has lots of new and useful things!" Dante still remembered fondly his first visit there, with Sabrina. How much he had changed in that time.

Following Sabrina among the crowd, Dante regretted they had left to go shopping on one of the most crowded days there.

Since the new monsters had been announced recently, everyone was investing everything so they could be the first to defeat them.

It's not like they're going to run away, Dante thought, laughing internally. If they were as strong as Fig, there would be no reason to run away. Not by cultivators who were not even golds.

"Let's reserve our rooms instead, Sabrina. We don't know how much it's going to cost," Rim said. It was unusual to see the red-haired girl be the voice of reason. Dante couldn't help but agree with her. The fateful day was coming, and there was no room for complacency. He knew that the Draco clan was on the prowl.

"You really don't like to see someone happy, huh."

Dante couldn't help wondering who would emerge victorious in a battle between Rim and Sabrina. He knew Sabrina's powers better, but he didn't underestimate Rim's skill with metal objects. Every night she spent fiddling with Qi artifacts in her room.

Heading to the entrance, they made their way to a newly placed slayer, who would henceforth take care of booking rooms for cultivation.

"What can I do for you?" asked the man, who had an identical appearance to Jarvis.

"We want to reserve two rooms for cultivation. We don't want to have monsters, just the sacred treasures. The strongest you have," said Rim, looking into the air as if calculating something.

The slayer in front seemed to stir a stone with his Qi. It didn't take long for him to raise his eyes again. Anxiety seemed to run through Dante, who worried about the two's advance as much as his own.

"Shadow Qi will be 30,000 points, and Metal Qi 20,000 points. That price is for a month, I should alert you. It is the recommended one if you want to advance," the man said, expanding his sense to Rim and Sabrina. It wasn't hard to tell that the two were at the absolute limit of silver.

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"Puff, a month? Just a week will be enough. Make reservations for just a week," said Rim with a sneer.

A voice that Dante hadn't expected came up, causing both he and Sabrina to jump, startled.

"You'll definitely want a month. Let's take that one, thank you," Isaac said, looking at the slayer.

"Right away, Elder Isaac!" said the attendant, as he turned his attention to the stone in front of him, which was also apparently supposed to function as a type of information communicator.

"And who do you think you are to go making these decisions for us?" Rim shouted, pointing a finger aggressively in Isaac's direction. "First you follow us, and now you're being a smart-ass?"

Dante swallowed hard. He knew that Master Isaac was a good person inside. Okay, a little too deep inside, maybe. And Rim could be a little difficult to deal with. It was an equation whose variables didn't match up very well.

"I think we should listen to him, Rim," Sabrina said, moving closer and speaking softly. "We don't want to cause any confusion, and neither you nor I know the details of how to advance. We were going to leave that up to Hector. It will be nice to have some more instruction from someone like you, Mr. Isaac."

Making a nod of approval, Isaac seemed satisfied.

"You better be right, old man. Otherwise, when we get back, I'm going to make mincemeat out of you, you hear?"

Realization seemed to descend upon Isaac at that moment. With a smile especially directed at Rim, he seemed to take his time, enjoying the moment. "Sorry, my dear, I thought someone had warned you. The situation is that since the rooms you intend to go to are at the far ends of the territory, a slayer will need to accompany you. For your pleasure and luck, that will be me. So, we won't be parting ways any time soon. I'm sure you will be able to absorb much learning from my words, provided you pay proper attention, of course."

Dante couldn't help but giggle a little. He had never seen this side of Isaac. With him, the master always got right to the point, focusing mostly on matters related to training.

"Now, let's all find the last member of our team and make the final preparations, shall we?"

Walking about the market, it wasn't long before they found Hector. After Sabrina and Rim paid for their respective rooms, everyone was free to spend their money as they saw fit.

Rim surprised no one by buying countless pieces of metal of the most varied kinds. This time, the girl was innovative, even buying a metal that seemed to repel others. Keeping that one among her things would be a challenge, for sure.

Sabrina, in turn, bought a hair clip so that she could completely hide her Qi when she wanted to. She had recently realized that her hair ended up conducting her Qi very easily, and moved on its own according to her emotions.

Hector did not reveal to them what he had bought, saying that everyone would know when the time was right. According to him, it would be more fun that way.

As for Dante, he turned to Isaac to find out what it would be wise to buy.

"You should not spend on spiritual treasures. In the next few training sessions, you will absorb enough fire and light Qi. I advise you to upgrade your ring or save the points. I mean, maybe you will find something worthwhile while you are here next time."

Before Dante could even show his dissatisfaction with the first ring he had bought, Isaac walked off. In fact, Dante didn't need to buy anything. He even felt a little bad about it. So many resources being spent on him, the weakest among his companions.

But he didn't allow himself to feel sorry for himself. This was just another reason to make progress, not to get rid of those who were sponsoring him.

Looking down at his hand, the item that had cost him the beginning of his training lay there, almost completely useless. It turned out that, because it emitted a frequent aura, the Qi from the ring was very weak and didn't even make a difference to Dante.

A little ahead, when he found a stall that piqued his interest, Isaac stopped and began chatting with the vendor, energetically. It seems Sabrina wasn't the only one who had a thing for shopping.

"Oh, hello!" said a voice Dante hadn't heard in a while.

Dante turned around and bumped into a female cultivator, whom he did not recognize.

"Don't look at me like that. You don't even seem to recognize me!"

Nadia, in fact, looked totally different from when Dante had last seen her. She had dyed her hair color, and her clothing style was much more towards a real cultivator than an ordinary girl.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. It's just that you, well, you look so different from when I last saw you," Dante said, ungraciously. He heard it was part of her Qi to make her look more attractive than she really was, but Dante doubted that even without a shred of Qi anyone would have the courage to call that woman ugly.

"Don't worry, I'm used to it. These slayer students, they all only think about appearances..." Nadia put her hands on her waist, showing disappointment with them.

"Ha, stop the drama, like you don't want the attention. Did you know, Dante, that she takes some of your Qi if you stare at her too much? If I were you, I'd be careful," Asta said, as he appeared on the opposite side of the two.

The boy, unlike Nadia, didn't appear to have changed at all. Looking closely, Dante thought maybe he had grown a little.

Nadia didn't seem to enjoy having her little secret out. With a punch a little too hard to be entirely in jest, she took Asta by the arm and they went on to the market.

"See you around. Let's go buy some things before those gluttons grab everything."

When Dante remembered who he was there with, he looked over and saw Isaac waiting for him with a hurried expression. Shopping time was over, finally.