Dante arrived at the temporary base, drenched in sweat. Ever since he left the place where he had witnessed his rivals talking about his team, he had been running at full speed. Qi pulsed in his channels, enhancing every step.

"We have to talk. Now," Dante said, as he stepped into the common room. Lucky for him, everyone was there but Isaac.

Dante was not surprised when the master appeared in the doorway a few seconds after he arrived. He had long ago stopped trying to guess what level of power the master was on. Any estimate was nothing more than pure speculation, for Dante doubted that he could even distinguish between people of higher caliber than platinum level. What they all had in common was that Dante would be crushed like an ant in a possible confrontation.

"And what happened to your clothes, huh?"

Dante's heart was beating so fast that he had forgotten that his clothes were almost completely destroyed in the battle against the tree-like monsters. He had gotten used to carrying several layers of clothes, for this was by no means the first time his clothes were destroyed.

"Here for now," Hector said, as he tossed a cloak to Dante.

Covering himself, he took a deep breath and explained what had happened. Only after he got it all off his chest did he say with a hint of pride that he had finally advanced.

"First of all, my congratulations. Now we can raise the level of your training!" said Isaac, with a grim smile. "About what you said, I confess I am not very surprised. The members of the Draco clan are not stupid, so they certainly realized that the four of you are probably the biggest threat to them."

"But they are occupying most of the ranking top spots. Why do they insist on that?" asked Dante, incredulous. He couldn't understand why they were going after them, and not focusing on getting more powerful.

"Sometimes having a rival is not enough. It could be that they simply want it, too," said Sabrina, thoughtfully. Dante sometimes forgot that the girl's life was marked by frequent living with many different kinds of people, so she understood interpersonal relationships much better than he did.

"Some humans are simply worse than monsters, too. Not everything has an explanation between heaven and earth. Maybe someone beyond the heavens can understand the human mind better, but it is certain that we have a new variable to work it. We have to assume, from now on, that all of you will be effectively hunted by the Draco clan," Isaac said as he rummaged through some parchments on the bookshelf.

"I think we should come up with a plan, if that is the case. We've already agreed to go on hunts together, but maybe something more is needed," Rim added.

Hector didn't seem to agree with her. "I think our most immediate goal is to get to gold soon. Most Draco disciples won't have a decent oversoul in the near future, which will put us in a comfortable position. Well, most of us."

Dante felt the gazes of those present focusing on him. It wasn't as if they felt sorry for him. It was more like... they were sorry that he still couldn't fend for himself.

Isaac seemed to share Hector's idea. He was proud of Dante's progression, but he was not naïve. "Hector is right. Rim, Sabrina, I will pass on the new guidelines to you today. Since the two of you are ahead of schedule, I believe we will achieve the goal in another week or two. Dante, we will continue with our training routine. Hector, I ask that you don't go too far. It will be difficult to help you if any problems arise."

"So you know that too," said Hector, with an investigative look. Hector had a slightly more accurate notion than the others about Isaac. Aside from the fact that he was clearly a powerful slayer, what was most impressive was how strangely helpful he was being to the group. Since there was nothing to be done, Hector kept his suspicions to himself. It's not as if the four of them together could do anything, after all.

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After cultivating for a few hours, Dante was energetic, even with the day's woes. So, it didn't take him long to go to his room to cultivate some more.

Just as he was getting into the process of concentrating on his core and Qi in detail, Isaac entered the room.

"Dante, now that you've advanced, get ready. I'm going to tailor the strength I'm using." Now was not the time to skimp on training. Isaac feared that his disciples would have less rest than was expected.

Taking off his clothes to avoid destroying yet another pair, Dante got ready. His Qi, besides being pure, was now stronger. It was amazing what a difference just one level could make. With each level, Dante felt his Qi flow firmer. It was as if the energy obeyed him more and more, his solid core ordering the flow of his meridians.

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As soon as Isaac held out his hand, the room immediately began to get warmer. Now that Dante was familiar with the process, it didn't take long for Isaac to start hurting the boy.

As much as the same thing happened every day, having his body virtually disintegrated was not a happy process. The hot Qi burned every layer of Dante's body, leaving behind raw skin. His Qi answered faster and faster, fighting for his skin to be regenerated as quickly as possible.

And so, another day of pushing Dante's body beyond its limit had come. The cycle of destruction and regeneration increase Dante's resistance to pain. It wasn't as if his nerves stopped transmitting the feeling, but his mind learned to find a certain kind of refuge within itself.

"Were you able to feel any difference yesterday?" asked Isaac, passing water to Dante, who took it in quick, thirsty sips.

"Clearly. I was able to control regeneration very easily, and my claws got stronger too. I think I was even able to optimize the absorption of other types of Qi a little more. The more time I spend here, the stronger I'll get, that clear."

Isaac found wisdom in the young cultivator's words. Dealing with so many types of enemies would be to anyone's benefit. But for his favorite disciple, the conditions made a true paradise of advancement. "I have the same impression. Your physique benefits from being affected by different types of Qi. Added to the environment we're in, it's an almost dishonest advantage. If you wanted, we could force your advance to gold in less than a week."

"What? How could we-"

"Don't be silly. Forcing the advance is a far cry from advancing properly."

Picking up some stones on the ground, Isaac positioned them side by side. In sequence, he began placing one on top of the other, as if he were playing some kind of children's game. "We cultivators must treat our bodies as a construction. Each floor should be built with great care, so that the ones above it can be built in the future. If we forced an advancement to gold, it would be infinitely more difficult to advance to platinum and beyond, for example. And I'm sure that's what you want, right?"

Dante looked down, embarrassed. He knew the importance of short, precise steps when it came to advancing in the martial arts. Still, the thought of advancing to gold in such a short time... it was hard to resist the temptation.

What hurt Dante the most was not his weakness. He knew that he was giving it his all, and soon he would be able to defend himself. The problem was, until this happened, he was a burden to his companions.

Isaac sympathized with his disciple's pain. He hadn't known the feeling for a long time, but he couldn't help but sympathize with the desire to protect his loved ones. It was one of Dante's greatest qualities. "Speaking of advancing, I've been thinking about an idea that will help you protect yourselves from Draco..."

Dante listened intently to Isaac's plan. His response was obvious, without any hesitation. The problem would be for the others to accept it.

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"Are you fucking crazy? Have you lost your mind, by any chance?" said Rim, as she waved her hands angrily in the air.

Hector, who had just arrived in the room, didn't understand what was going on. "Hey hey, what's that? Did someone mess with your new toys or something?"

"No, Hector. What happened is that this bastard here wants to stay training alone here for months, can you believe that? It wasn't enough that he was the weakest of us, but, noooo, he needs to make it worse."

Hector looked at Dante, raising one of his eyebrows.

"Not quite. I want to stay here precisely so as not to get in your way. It was Isaac's idea, actually. He suggested that I book a room with solar Qi for the next few months, and hunt when it's safe. With my physique, it will be the fastest way to progress. And this way. I won't put you in danger."

One of the advantages of the specially enhanced rooms was that they were almost inviolable. Besides, they were at a very distant point from the castle. The chance of anyone finding him was remote.

Sabrina looked at Dante, shyly. The shyness was more from remembering how foolishly she had acted with him in the beginning. Not that her feelings had changed much, as each time the young cultivator surprised her more and more. "I think we owe him that vote of confidence. We are all training every day, but I am sure you heard his screams in that crazy training regiment of his. Besides, he's right... among us, he will be by far the most vulnerable. I doubt they will mess with us that much now that we are close gold."

Dante opened his mouth to say something, but quickly closed it.

Sabrina, guessing what he was going to say, didn't let the bad mood take over again. "I want my belongings back, more than anyone, believe me. But we won't get anything out of a dumb move. What we can do is advance faster than them, so that when the time is right, we take it all back."

Although Rim wouldn't admit it, the idea seemed perfectly reasonable.

"Okay, but I'll leave you full of communicators. If anything happens, warn us. You're not alone anymore, you hear me, stubborn boy?"

Dante brought his hand to the back of his head. It was still strange to think that the road ahead of him wouldn't be that lonely. "I promise I'll let you know if anything happens."

"How are you going to book a room if you don't have enough points?" asked Hector thoughtfully.

"Actually, Isaac told me that we can make reservations through terminals in here. There's one near here, so I'll just need to go after points so I can keep renewing my reservation. My goal would be to exterminate monsters anyway. Nothing will change."

Despite the salvos, everyone was in agreement with the plan. After Rim, Sabrina and hector advanced to the gold, they would return to the castle, while Dante would remain there, training. He didn't know until when, because one of the requirements to advance to gold was to be able to communicate with the monster core, and he did not know how a legendary beast would react to all this.

Only time could tell. He just hoped that the monster inside him would be friendlier than the ones he was facing.