What Ares was doing was not normal training. It was more like a slow process of reshaping his body from the inside. Since he closed his eyes and started drawing spiritual energy from his surroundings, he felt as if something invisible was entering through his pores, flowing through his veins, then slowly taking over every part of his being. The process was not comfortable, and it was not painful either… it was something in between, a strange feeling that suggested his body was being purified, rebuilt, and pushed one step closer to something he had not touched yet.
As time passed, the energy was no longer just something external that he tried to absorb. It became closer to an extension of his perception. He started to feel it as he felt his own limbs, distinguish its density, follow its path, and push it inside his body with increasing awareness.
His senses rose gradually, not only in sharpness, but in depth… as if the world around him started to reveal an extra layer that was not visible before. Every sound became clearer, every vibration in the air became noticeable, and even the emptiness was no longer as silent as it used to be.
But the real change began when he focused on the dantian.
There… deep inside his body, where energy gathers and transforms, the hardest work began.
Absorbing energy was not the real challenge, but refining it… compressing it, polishing it, and turning it into those pure sparks that represent the essence of power. At first, the process was relatively smooth, but with every new spark that formed, he felt the resistance increasing, as if the energy itself refused to be reduced, to be confined, to be forced into a purer form.
Hours passed slowly… seven full hours of continuous focus, without interruption.
When Ares finally opened his eyes, the breath that left him was deep and heavy, not only from exhaustion, but from a strange feeling of fullness… as if he was no longer the same person who sat here hours ago.
At that moment, the system's voice echoed inside his mind, with its usual cold tone:
[Analyzing…]
[Vital signals have improved.]
[Physical signals have improved.]
[Biological functions are in a state of rising stability.]
[Neural signals are stable.]
[The host's physical structure is capable of containing a larger amount of spiritual energy.]
[Dantian fill rate: 5%.]
Ares frowned slightly. There was no frustration on his face, but a quiet dissatisfaction. Only five percent… after all this effort? He clearly felt that turning energy into pure sparks became harder with every step forward, as if the path itself narrowed the more he advanced.
He muttered in a low voice:
"Five percent… this is slower than I expected."
The system responded immediately, as if it had been waiting for that exact comment:
[After analysis, it was found that the reason for the increasing difficulty is the rising amount of energy required in each conversion process. The higher the purity level, the greater the resistance.
Host, you have only been training for one month. Reaching a 5% fill rate is classified as an exceptional achievement.
Compared to the data of the other children in the training ground… your absorption and conversion rate of spiritual energy is equal to one hundred times theirs.
What the host achieves in one day… others need one hundred days to achieve.]
Silence filled the room for a moment.
Then the system added, in the same unchanged tone… but with a different weight this time:
[Considering that these children represent the elite geniuses of this world.]
Ares exhaled calmly. There was no pride in his eyes, no surprise… only acceptance. For him, this was not enough to feel satisfied. He was not comparing himself to them… but to something beyond.
Something he had not reached yet.
Before he could continue thinking, he suddenly felt something change in the room.
It was not a sound…
Nor a clear movement…
But a presence.
When he raised his gaze,
Elder Faren was standing in front of him.
He did not hear him enter. He did not feel him. He did not see any sign of his arrival. It was as if… he had not come at all.
The elder looked at him for a short moment, then said in a calm tone carrying a hidden evaluation:
"Your rate of absorbing spiritual energy… is not normal."
Then he paused, as if weighing his words, before adding:
"But you must have noticed that relying on the energy in the air… is slow."
Ares nodded without hesitation. He had clearly felt that.
The elder gave a faint smile, barely visible, then continued:
"That is because what you are doing now… is not real training.
In fact, the real use of spiritual energy in the air is to restore lost energy, not actual training.
Training with spiritual energy in the air is very slow because its quantity in the air is small and scattered."
It was a simple sentence… but it carried weight.
Then he continued, as if giving a piece of truth and leaving the rest to him:
"Real training depends on concentrated sources. Spiritual plants, beast cores, things that carry dense energy… but the most common are spiritual pills… and spirit stones."
At that moment, Ares' eyes flashed slightly. Not surprise… but understanding.
He asked directly:
"How do I get them?"
The elder replied without real interest in the question, as if giving an answer he knew was only the beginning:
"Complete missions. Gather contribution points.
The rest… you will figure out yourself."
Then he disappeared.
No movement.
No trace.
He was simply… no longer there.
Ares breathed slowly, his eyes still fixed on the place where the elder had been standing moments ago. He did not try to understand how he disappeared… because that was not what mattered.
What mattered… was what he said.
He lowered his gaze slightly and muttered internally:
"If this is not real training…"
He did not finish the sentence.
He did not need to.
"Alright… where should I go to get more information?"
Suddenly, in his mind… one name appeared.
First Level Mission Hall.
A faint light flashed in his eyes.
Not excitement…
But something deeper.
A decision.
In the next moment…
He was already standing.
Rest was no longer an option.
Because what was starting to grow inside him…
Was not just ambition.
It was hunger.