12 Chapter 12

Acht returned to the reception lounge, the place was considerably emptier now and even those who were not there for the test had already left on their missions.

The boy didn't idle much and went straight to the receptionist. The woman was surprised to see him back.

"Welcome again, did you pass the appraisal?" She asked with a smile.

Acht nodded briefly without saying anything.

"Well, congratulations! You have passed the first phase of the examination. Now, for the real test. As you may or may not know, the hunter examination is a yearly test that is held on one specific date. The place of the test is different each year and so are the components of the test. So, please refrain from thinking that it would be the same as the year before or any other year."

"Understood." He said as noted her words in the back of his head.

"Good. The test for this year will be held in the capital city of the lower world, Lagradon. As for the date, it will be exactly 35 days from now."

'Lagradon? That's where the story of the book started.' He pondered. It was a massive city that held all the power in the lower world and was considered the shining star of this place. That's why most of the powerhouses of the Lower World were Lagradon.

He thanked the receptionist and left the hunter association's branch. A lot of things happened inside, the most important, however, is his gift.

'Gravity seems to be very strong. From one look alone, anyone will think that it's a great gift with no disadvantages or weak points, but that's most likely a wrong assumption. I need to find its weak points first and then learn how to control it properly.'

Acht passed through the main street walking leisurely. He was searching for a place to stay for the time being. Going to Lagradon will be the last thing he does.

"Hmm, this should be a good place." He muttered when he saw a luxurious building with a big sign that had 'Bluerise Hotel' on the front.

He had enough money to pay for anything at this point, so a few weeks in a 5-star hotel is not a stretch by any means.

He walked inside, the moment he saw the place, he knew that it was only made for the 'filthy rich'. Almost everything around him was made of expensive material from tables to chairs to even vases of flowers. It was a feast to the eye through and through.

"Welcome to Bluerise Hotel, how could I help you?" A receptionist called for him with a professional smile.

"I'd like to book a room for 3 weeks, is that possible?"

"T-Three weeks? Ehem, are you sure about this, sir?" The woman stuttered in response. In all of her time working there, she never met someone who booked a room for more than 4 days let alone 3 weeks, and the one who asked this was a child at that!

"Yes, are there no empty rooms?" He asked.

"Absolutely not, sir! I apologize for my rudeness. We have rooms free for booking. Which tier you'd like the room to be? We have from small rooms up to royal suites.

"A royal suite."

"Understood, please wait a few moments." The receptionist's mind was thinking of two single words: 'Filthy rich'.

Acht didn't bother with her funny expressions and waited patiently for the woman to do her job. A couple of minutes later, the receptionist called him again.

"Would you mind if you pay in advance?" She asked.

"No problem, how much is that?"

"25 gold coins."

"Here." He pulled out exactly 25 gold coins from his ring and gave them to her.

"Here are the keys. Your room is on the last floor, number 986. If you have anything you want to learn about, you could call the reception desk and we will help you to the best of our abilities."

Acht then left the reception and walked up the stairs. He could've taken the lift but he liked to do some light training on the way up.

It took 30 minutes to reach the last floor. It had only 3 rooms so the place was pretty quiet and empty

When Acht was about to open his door, the lift made a ringing sound and the door opened. He took a brief look at the person who came to this floor and much to his shock…it was Scarlett Goldknight.

Their eyes locked on each other and no one could say anything. They stood in their places with awkward silence taking over the place.

? "Good evening." Said Acht after some time.

"...Good evening."

Then he opened the door and entered quickly. 'What kind of bad luck is this?' he thought with clenched teeth.

This encounter alone could be more than enough to change the whole future of this world and it had to be in such a stupid way.

"Calm down, Acht. I just have to avoid her as much as I can." He took a couple of deep breaths and shook his thoughts away.

The royal suite lived up to its name indeed. It was very spacious, with a huge king-sized bed, a beautiful kitchen, a small bar section, and even an indoor pool. He had everything he needed and more in that place.

"Let's see. I should first take a shower, then I should train my gift and do some physical training."

Acht was a very organized person, he never liked doing things on a whim. It's probably one of the reasons why he became the king of assassins in his previous life.

After taking a shower, he sat down in the middle of the living room.

"Ok, let's see. He said I should think of the name of my element and channel my soul force." He said as he executed his words.

He felt the energy accumulate in his hand gradually. But this time, it didn't just stop. The energy started diminishing and he felt as if something was out on his shoulders. The weight wasn't strong but it was more than enough for Acht to notice.

'Good. Let's try to change the area of effect.' he thought with a small smile.

He looked at a pillow on the couch and tried to apply a stronger gravity to it. At first, nothing changed but after waiting for a few moments the normal pillow started changing form as if it was getting squished by a heavyweight.

"This is really good! But, it's very slow and it also consumes a lot of energy." He pondered loudly while looking at his hand.

He was happy with the results but he also couldn't ignore the glaring flaws in his power. The sluggish use of his power could be solved with continuous practice, but the big consumption of energy is what is bothering him.

"Wait, could I still absorb energy from the atmosphere around me? The book said that after awakening the only way for anyone to breakthrough soul levels is to consume soul force from other creatures. But, that goddess should've at least given me some privileges."

He was not sure about that idea but he wanted to try, nevertheless. Acht closed his eyes and calmed his breathing. The atmosphere around him changed and he started feeling the energy that was floating around him almost instantly.

'It's way denser than the slums.'

Then, he tried accumulating that energy in front of him. Fortunately for him, the energy followed his will, and soon enough a huge ball of energy was floating in front of him.

He then tried to merge that energy with his body. The ball approached him and then penetrated his chest. He felt the same feeling as when he awakened.

'It works.' he felt slightly happy with this discovery since it will cut down a lot of problems for him.

After absorbing the whole ball of energy, he felt his soul getting stronger by a small amount. It was very minuscule but he didn't get annoyed, he just kept his concentration and repeated the process again and again and again.

Hours passed silently while Acht was accumulating and absorbing energy like a tireless machine. At some point, his soul that was nourished to the brim with energy started changing, the snow-white color of his soul lost a small degree of its brightness and a hint of orange appeared in the middle and mixed with the white color…he reached level 2.

When he was fully done, he opened his eyes and exhaled a deep breath. Concentrating for almost 10 hours straight took a toll on his mind. Even his body was soaked in sweat to show his exhaustion.

"I felt it. My soul reached level 2." He muttered under his breath.

He stood up from his place and walked to the shower again. But…

*Knock* *Knock*

A knocking sound made him halt his steps.

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