When the three shiny bones appeared before the three, Luis presented them to those youths. "To the winner of Sector 4, I have a Bronze-grade Demon Lord metacarpal Soul Bone."
He indicated a white, blue, and red bone to Elke, which was quite small, but its size would not make anyone despise it.
How good a Soul Bone was not related to its size. The size of the bone was only related to the part of the human body it could fit into.
Elke knew this and was naturally pleased to receive this award.
Then Luis presented Larissa with her prize. "To the winner of Sector 5, we have a Silver-grade Demon Lord skull Soul Bone."
Larissa saw that green and yellow bone and promptly received it, a little regretfully, since the remaining bone with Luis was better than hers. In any case, she still didn't have a skull Soul Bone, so she didn't show much of her displeasure.
"For the contest winner for Sector 6, we have a Silver-grade General demon rib Soul Bone." He showed a black and gold bone, which was the entire right side of a human's ribs.
Lothur saw that and smiled, satisfied with the initial grading of something that wasn't even a little difficult for him to get. "Hmm, thanks for that, hehe." He told Luis right after he picked that up and put away the Secret Realm medal.
Each of the other winners of the Secret Realm slots was given a medal like Lothur's, something they would need to enter the Secret Realm.
As all the winners celebrated in their own way, Lothur looked at the characteristics of that bone.
[General Demon Rib Soul Bone] [Rank: Silver]
[Feature: once absorption begins, it will replace the entire right side of the ribs. It will become one of the 10 Soul Bones, with the ability over gravity. It also increases by 10% all physical characteristics and 20% all mental characteristics of the one who absorbs it.]
'Oh? That will be very useful for me, hehe.' Lothur celebrated, extremely pleased.
Anyway, with the handing over of those Soul Bones and the Secret Realm medals, the academy principal soon ended the event, reminding everyone in the stands that tomorrow's classes would be back to normal.
Before the three with Soul Bones left, he said. "You three, come with me. I will watch the surroundings while you absorb these bones."
The three readily accepted since absorbing Soul Bones without capable watchmen around was dangerous.
At the same time, the principal of the Morning Star Academy always did this with the winners of his competitions that gave this kind of prize. So none of the three would have any contrary thoughts about it.
So, in the blink of an eye, the four of them went to a location in the center of the academy.
...
The three youths didn't talk much when they arrived at Luis' training place. They just stood apart from each other and sat on cultivation cushions.
Luis stood watching them from afar while keeping part of his attention on the surroundings of that building to prevent strangers from approaching.
As he did so, he saw the difference in how Lothur absorbed Soul Bones compared to the other two people there.
'Uh?' Luis opened his mouth as he saw the Rib Soul Bone simply enter Lothur's body as if there was no resistance on the part of the demon's will to fall under that young man's control.
'How is that possible? Is he so good that the demon surrendered to him without even wanting to test him?' Luis wondered, ignorant of things that stronger beings, like the dinosaur Lothur encountered earlier, knew and could sense.
Amid this, Lothur was in pain, feeling the natural pains of creating yet another part of his spirit body but trying hard not to show it since he was anxious to increase his powers.
...
While Lothur, Elke, and Larissa absorbed their Soul Bones, Viktoria took Annaliese to her home, fearful that trouble would emerge if she took her to the Frost estate.
Unfortunately for her, when Annaliese fell onto the combat platform, someone from the Frost family realized something was wrong and ran to Mabel and Aiken.
After hearing what had happened, they ran to Doctor Snee's house and got that man to go after Annaliese together.
After hearing that Viktoria had taken her to her own house, they went alongside Doctor Snee to Lothur's house, where his wife had arrived with Annaliese just a few minutes ago.
Pa! Pa!
"Viktoria, open the door!" Mabel shouted, knowing she could not enter without being careful in Lothur's estate since all kinds of formations and poisons were scattered around the surroundings.
Viktoria was tending to her sister in one of the rooms of that estate when she heard her mother's voice and immediately felt her spine creep up, considering what might happen.
Gulp!
'What do I do?' She wondered, but nothing came to her mind except letting her parents in to find out Annaliese's situation.
She was worried about her sister, so this was no time to lie and leave her parents in the dark!
She soon went towards the front door of that residence to allow those people to enter.
"Where is your sister? Why didn't you go home?" Mabel asked as Doctor Snee ran ahead along with Aiken, heading toward the interior of that house.
Viktoria answered briefly. "Anna is just tired, so I brought her here... She wanted to see Lothur after he absorbed the Soul Bone he won, so she didn't want to go home."
"Tsk! You need to think a little more about yourselves and less about him!" Mabel said before entering the room where her youngest daughter was lying down, quite nauseous from headache and colic.
Doctor Snee was already checking Annaliese's situation when he noticed something peculiar.
'Hmm? That...'
...
As Doctor Snee discovered Annaliese's pregnancy, Lothur felt a chill run down his spine as if some trouble was approaching him.
But he tried to ignore that, going through the final part of absorbing that Soul Bone, which had practically finished forming another part of his spirit body.
After a few moments...
[Rib Soul Bone successfully fused with the host.]
Lothur saw the message from the system as he opened his eyes, feeling a little dizzy and his eyesight blurred.
But then, a force surged within his being, pulling the spiritual energy in the area into his body. Finally, he opened his eyes and began to feel his strength returning.
At the same time, his status appeared before him, showing how much his attributes had improved!
He hadn't changed his level or increased his talent rating. But with this Soul Bone, his attributes had jumped significantly, and now he had a new ability!
...