15 Chapter 15

Acht looked briefly at the green liquid inside the vial. He only heard of these things in games and movies back on earth so seeing them in his hands was amazing.

He then opened the bottle and gulped down the whole thing in one swift motion. It tasted like mango juice and it felt really good passing down Acht's throat.

'I wouldn't be surprised if people got addicted to this stuff.' He thought as he felt the potion kick in pretty much instantly. His exhausted body started getting rejuvenated and his sore muscles regained their energy.

A few moments later, he stood up and cracked his fingers, and did some minor stretches before saying, "Let's continue."

"Good. Now, I have already seen your level. We won't be concentrating on close combat techniques since you seem prominent in them…Instead, I will help you train your gift." She said calmly.

"How are you going to do that?"

"Simple. Our gifts are just like any other skill we try to learn, the more we use them the more we become prominent in them. So, from now on, you will have to use your gift all the time even when you're not training." She explained while holding her huge bust in her arms. It was quite the amazing sight for the sore eye and Acht secretly appreciated it even though he didn't show it in his expression.

She then made a small gesture with her hand and a massive rock appeared out of thin air. She summoned that rock using the capsule's features.

"Now, I want you to use gravity to lift this rock in the air. This training will end when you can make this rock float for 5 minutes without falling. Have in mind that this same exercise will also increase your soul force level." She then walked away and took a seat not so far from where Acht stood.

"I see. Ok, let me try." He muttered and extended his arm toward the rock. Then, he started channeling his soul force to its full capacity.

The 40 kg rock started fidgeting and shaking slightly, then, in one single motion, it started floating in the air. It didn't fly that high, keeping the distance between it and the ground barely a few centimeters.

'This is hard. It feels as if all of the rock's weight is on my arms' he clenched his teeth slightly while trying to keep his full concentration on the boulder.

20 seconds passed and the rock was still in the air. But, instead of being stable, it was swinging left and right as if it was threatening to fall any second now.

Acht was starting to shake too, he was on the verge of releasing his power as he couldn't hold on anymore. Expectedly, a few seconds later, the rock regained its gravity and fell down to the ground.

"23 seconds. Not bad for a first try. But, you still have a long way to go. Restart again." Scarlett spoke from the sidelines as she looked at the chronometer in her hand.

"Yes." Acht nodded and wiped the beads of sweat accumulating on his face.

The process started again, nothing much changed this time either but Acht felt as if he was starting to understand his gift more. It was an incomprehensible feeling for him but he was sure of one thing: he was making progress.

His second try ended at 24 seconds, adding one more second over his previous record.

"Miss Scarlett, my soul force is depleted. How am I going to repeat this many times if I had to wait for my soul force to replenish each time?"

"Don't worry about that…here, take this." She then pulled a ring-shaped object out of her pocket and tossed it to him.

"That's a ring that will speed up your regeneration. Put it on and you will be back fully charged in a few seconds. Luckily for you, you are still a white soul awakener or that ring would've been useless for you."

Acht took a long glance at the ring before looking at Scarlett.

"Miss Scarlett. May I know something?" He asked with squinted eyes.

"Mm?"

"Are these objects expensive? I have to be frank here but I don't like owing people great favors so if it's inconvenient for you to give them to me then I have to refuse it."

He was genuinely annoyed. Acht never owes anyone any favor because that will make him vulnerable and this was not a different case. Scarlett could use this to make him join her family.

Scarlett's eyes widened slightly before a smile appeared on her mesmerizing face coupled with a beautiful laugh. It was truly a beautiful sight.

"Fufufu! Are you worried about me or about yourself? Don't worry, this is not a favor, consider it a part of our deal."

This was the first time Acht saw her laugh like this and he was surprised by that fact.

"Fine. But I will say this now since I didn't say it before…I appreciate your help." He responded.

"No problem." Her face was still smiling softly at him. She was enjoying her talk with him for some reason.

"Now, get back to training. You still have 11 hours of training." She ordered with a stern face.

Acht put the ring in his right hand. He waited for a few moments and his soul force was recharged completely.

The training resumed and Acht kept on repeating the same exercise again and again and again. He only stopped twice to take a break or eat something.

Each time he tried lifting the boulder, his proficiency would increase and so did his best record. From 23 seconds, he soon broke the one-minute mark and then the two minutes mark after it. He was getting better and better at an alarming pace to the point where Scarlett couldn't believe her eyes.

'What kind of monstrous talent is this?! He only needed a few hours to be able to use his gift considerably easily. How could that be possible?'

The hours passed like a flash and they finally ended the 12 hours they had in the capsule. Acht reached a stable 3 minutes and 48 seconds as his best record. He was also surprised at his progress but he thought it wasn't that much of a big deal and forgot about it.

As they walked out of the capsule, Scarlett said with a weird tone, "You had great progress today. Now, from here until tomorrow morning, I want you to increase the gravity of your body to double the normal amount. I want you to keep that for as long as you can each time. Is that clear?"

"Ok." He nodded with a calm look. He wasn't annoyed by her strict attitude, he knew that she was doing that for his own good.

They reached the hotel and got separated quickly. Acht entered his room and activated his gift. Instantly, he felt his body grow extremely heavy and he almost stumbled on his foot. He weighed 35 kg so his legs were now supporting 70 kg worth of weight.

"How am I going to keep my gift working when I fall asleep?" He muttered while shaking his head tiredly.

After taking a shower and struggling to walk for a while, he went to bed and tried to sleep. As expected, the moment his mind started shutting off, the gravity lessened on his body and he woke up instantly.

"This is problematic."

The whole night passed with him struggling to keep the gift working while also trying to fall asleep. It was a sleepless night for Acht.

The next morning, he met Scarlett in front of her room. She inspected him quietly before trying to talk.

"Did you no-"

"I didn't sleep the whole night. I couldn't find a way to keep the gravity activated while also falling asleep." He said with a slightly colder tone than usual. He was annoyed at his failure to complete the task.

"Oh, I see. I wasn't expecting you to succeed from your first night. Making your gift work even while you're asleep is something that takes months and even years of practice to accomplish."

"I understand." He nodded his head in approval with some lingering frustration in his heart.

"Never mind that. Did you eat breakfast?" She suddenly asked.

"No, I was intending to do so when I left the hotel."

"Let's go together then. I have something to tell you."

? They both then left the hotel and went to the nearest restaurant they found. It was in the same street as the hotel they resided in so it was a pretty extravagant place in its own right.

They took seats and ordered their food. After that, Scarlett looked at Acht deeply and said after long contemplation.

"There will be a small change in strategy for today."

"Why is that?" He asked confusedly.

"I heard that there was a dungeon break near the southern walls of bluerise city. They called me for a little help. It won't be a huge mission so…"

She then pointed at Acht and continued, "You will go with me."

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