After returning to his room, Felix didn't waste any time and sat on the floor near the window, his body still in the battle state as before.
'Let's do this!'
He unhurriedly took out the advancement potion Mr.Dealer had given to him and kept it to the side.
Releasing a deep breath, he closed his eyes, focused his mind and circulated the energy inside his body to move around through his nerves.
Slowly but surely, his consciousness reached the peak of concentration as he could feel his blood crazily pumping out from his heart and travelling to the other parts of his body.
The rythmic breaths of the meditation technique controlled the blood path and all the nutrients it had, sending it to his internal organs and strengthening them.
This process took a whole hour, after which he felt his blood slowing down and not producing anymore nutrients, but all he needed was one last push.
Opening his eyes, Felix grabbed the potion and quickly emptied it down his throat, not showing any reaction to its horrible taste.
The moment the potion reached his stomach, a small explosion occurred inside, and then all the liquid got absorbed by his body within seconds, before his heart again started to pump out nutrient-full blood.
All of his organs greedily absorbed the nutrients, whoch nourished and enhanced their capabilities.
After his organs had reached their limit, Felix could now feel his skin and bones burning, which was the next part of the advancement.
Black sweat gradually oozed out of his body, turning him dirty and smelly as he grit his teeth at the convulsing pain in his body.
Another hour later, his body got relaxed and he opened his eyes back again, which produced a crimson hue in the dark room now that it had turned night.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations! You've attained the Rank 1 of Warrior Cultivation.]
[Ding! Your soul has strengthened and completely absorbed into your body, fusing with the previous soul's remnants.]
[Ding!]
[Sealed Memories detected. Do you wish to unseal it?]
Felix remained sitting in a lotus position, his brows frowning as he checked the system's message.
He should've been happy now that he had advanced to Rank 1, but the later part of the system's message confused him as he narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
"Previous soul? Sealed memories? Hey system, is it related to the previous soul living in this body?"
[Affirmative.]
[The soul of the previous host of this body has been completely dissipated, but as you had taken over this body at the moment of it's death, the brain which should've rebooted held onto some of the memorable memories.]
[The system then sealed them during your awakening incase of an unstability with your newly arrived soul.]
Hearing the system's explanation, Felix pondered about his situation for a minutes in silence.
'The previous soul was an orphan boy living in the slums, and taken into slavery moments before his death. There's no way such a person would have any worthwhile memories to have except for hardship and pain.'
He thought about the pros and cons of the unsealed memories, wondering what decision he should make until he arrived at a conclusion.
"You asked for my permission to unseal the memories, right? Does that mean I can refuse it and also delete them?"
No matter what, it was weird for one person to have two peoples memories, even if that person was the previous soul of his new body.
You're right, he had already came to terms with it and had completely accepted this body as his own, especially considering how handsome he was and the size of his little brother.
[Yes, you may choose to refuse unsealing the memories, but they cannot be deleted as even the system doesn't have the ability to tweak with souls unless you create a suitable skill related to such an action.]
Shaking his head, he wore some clothes and walked out of his room as he was starving after breaking through.
He made his way to the dining hall as it was dinner time and filled his plate with scrumptious food before sitting down at a table.
Almost halfway through his meal, Steve walked over and joined him too with a similar full plate of his.
The two boys wolfed down their dinner without speaking a word. Their teeths crunching and grinding the food as they devoured it until their tummy fattened up.
"Bwerp-"
Both of them reclined back on their chairs after finishing off, rubbing their filled stomachs and picking their teeths.
"Thank god this is all free food here...or else I'm not sure if we could pay for it.", Felix said with a sigh.
"I totally agree. The guild's dining hall is the only place where I don't feel poor....", Steve chuckled.
The two boys did chitchat among themselves, letting the time pass as their bodies digested and absorbed their meals.
As they spoke, Steve suddenly lowered his voice and suggested something he was thinking about.
"There's only a few days before the guild wars starts, and I was thinking of visiting the underground arena for some action. Are you interested in coming along with me?"
Felix tilted his head and gave the matter a thought.
He remembered the exclusive card Mr.Dealer had given to him as a reward, which permitted him to many special facilities in the underworld that he had yet to utilise, and the monetary rewards he had earned from winning the battles which was stored in the card.
There were still many things he had yet to do in the underworld, including testing out his newfound strength now that he was at Rank 1.
Turning to Steve, he nodded and agreed with his plan.
"Sure, I'll come along. There's some work I have to do there too."
"Great. Then, we'll move out tomorrow morning then."
Steve replied as he stood up along with Felix.
Suddenly his eyes widened in shock looking at Felix's tall body which almost reached his.
"Holy fuck dude, what drug did you use to grow tall so quickly!!", he exclaimed and patted Felix over his body.
Felix swatted away Steve's hands and responded with a strange face.
"Don't touch me like that dude, people will misunderstand. Also, the reason for my growth is that I've advanced to Rank 1 now. I thought you would've noticed it."
A look of realisation surfaced on Steve's face, masking his dejected expression as he couldn't perceive the power coming off from Felix as his senses had become dull from using the forbidden technique.
His battle with the Rank 2 bandit had resulted in more than just his defeat.
The technique he had used to forcibly manifest aura out of his body had left him with permanent damage in his mind and nerves, reducing his sensory and perceptive abilities during any combat.
The reason he had lost his mind in the training room was because of this, and also the reason for him to visit the underworld tomorrow.
"Haha, it seems I was too hungry to even notice that. Congratulations Felix, you're not even 15 and already at Rank 1. Though age isn't an important factor in getting strong, it's still impressive how you've changed from that little boy."
This time there was a genuine smile on Steve's face as he praised Felix wholeheartedly.
Felix smiled brightly and accepted his praise, both of them making their way out of the dining hall.
They then exchanged some talks and returned back to their rooms after a few minutes
Felix cleaned around his room, turned off the lights, and jumped on his bed, sinking into his dreams as he wondered the new things he'll encounter in the Underwolrd tomorrow.