Dante threw himself on the bed, completely exhausted. A week ago he had arrived in the capital of the Sapphire Sect. The short period of time was enough to make the cultivator regret it.

Next to his new routine, monster hunting in exchange for Slayer Points was a paradise. To Dante's exhausted body, training with Isaac was a reminder of a simpler time.

With a long sigh, Dante stood up and changed clothes. Despite the difficulty, he could see sense in what they were doing. As his new master had said, the cutting of a gemstone was always an extremely time-consuming procedure.

With one last look at his new accommodations, Dante observed that Hector's bed was as spotlessly tidy as ever. The others had said that the cultivators who arrived in the capital had better accommodations than those in the castle. But because of the unusual situation that had occurred, the disciples were sharing rooms for now.

Of course, the accommodations were far from being a hindrance to Dante. The quality of the furniture was even better than his old room, and everything was pristine. For him, it still felt like heaven.

"It was about time. Any longer and I'll think you're running away from me," Amelia said, as she approached Dante.

The mere sound of the nurse's voice was enough to make the cultivator swallow in terror. If someone had told him Amelia was like that a few months ago, Dante would never have believed it.

"Never, honorable teacher. This one lives to serve," Dante said with a small smile.

"Looks like Isaac taught you a little more than techniques. Lucky for you I'm not as sick of your little jokes yet as I am of his." With a little too strong a push on Amelia's part, they headed toward the infirmary.

As Dante walked down the hallway, he couldn't help but admire the capital. The city that served as headquarters for the Sapphire Sect was undoubtedly the largest that Dante had ever seen, or heard about.

In the distance, he could see some buildings that defied all limits of physics. Great towers that seemed to be made of crystal sliced through the sky, while colossal gems held buildings high above the ground.

To Dante, this seemed impossible. But recently he had learned that the impossible was only a matter of point of view. He could never imagine going through everything he went through while at school.

"You said you had an idea for me?" asked Amelia, as they walked. She had proven herself to be as competent a teacher as Isaac, and even stricter.

"Yes. I've been thinking, can I ask for something in exchange for my healing?" she asked.

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Amelia stopped suddenly. She raised one of her eyebrows toward Dante. "What do you mean? You just got here and already you want to charge something? Looks like I'll need to exchange a few words with Isaac.

Dante raised his hands quickly. "It's not that, teacher. It's just that I was wondering, would it be possible for me to ask the cultivators who I heal to attack me?"

Amelia's eyes widened. Short after, a big smile took over her face.

"Now I get it. But of course, my dear student. In fact, I have an ideal candidate to be your first 'client'."

Amelia immediately started walking again. Dante wasted no time, and followed the teacher.

As he walked, Dante could not stop thinking about Sabrina and Rim. He knew Hector was training with the swordsman, but his friends had not yet told him the details of their new training.

Since they had arrived, each had been assigned a teacher. It seems that their points were enough to pay for a month's tutoring with great masters. After this, they were to be inducted into their first external missions.

Honestly, Dante could hardly wait. It was for situations like this that he trained, after all. Besides saving his family, of course.

After arriving in the city, the cultivator had sent a letter to his family. He still hadn't received a reply, but the anxiety bothered him all the same. The longing for his loved ones was growing increasingly stronger.

"Who is the first customer?" Dante asked, anxiously. Until then, he had only helped with the recovery of superficial injuries.

Since he received the new Oversoul, Dante felt his control over Qi change rapidly. Whereas before he controlled the life energy within himself, now his touch on the outside world was almost as precise as within his core.

This made his potential for healing immense. Therefore, Dante had thought up a strategy to make his combat ability evolve in the same measure. After all, healing abilities were useful, but he was sure that his teammates would get stronger and stronger. He could not be left behind.

"All I can say is that he is a big friend of yours. We're almost there."

After a short time, they came to a large door. The infirmary in the place they were in had less room for accommodations, but each one was better prepared than in the castle.

Dante followed Amelia, anxiously. When she pulled back the curtain that separated the room from a bed, Dante swallowed hard. His idea didn't seem that promising anymore.

"Hello, Dante," Marco said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Marco? What happened?" asked Dante, as he approached the cultivator. A cut across the cultivator's arm from top to bottom bleed deeply. From the width of the wound, Dante assumed a blade was the culprit.

"Nothing too serious. I'm just getting back into training a bit, you know. Spending so much time taking care of administrative matters leaves us rusty."

Dante looked startled at the wound. It was hard to rationalize the fact that Slayers were not invincible, but just much stronger than ordinary cultivators.

"So? Amelia here told me that you had some idea. Something about a contribution to my healing. Can you explain it to me?"

When Dante saw Marco's smile, he knew that his idea had quickly gone from brilliant to dumb.

Anyway, that couldn't be any worse than training with Isaac, right?

Something inside Dante said that the answer would not be so pleasant.

"It's time for our ascension, human! Destroy the flesh and drool the blood. Let us toast towards our rightful place near the top of the Sect!" shouted the Phoenix, inside Dante's core.

Now that he had advanced a stage, communication with the monster had become easier.

But at times like that, the best response was silence.

He needed to prepare himself for what was to come.