7 Absorbing

Soul Crystals are very beneficial to humans yet it can also be the other way around. As they contain some chaotic amount of mana inside of them because of being in the magical beasts for too long.

The chaotic mana can distribute your cells, making you a half-beast or maybe even the beast itself.

This is the reason why it is not recommended to absorb soul crystals that are at least four stages higher. Of course, it's possible to do it, but it requires incredible willpower and pain tolerance.

'Willpower? Pain tolerance? Those are the things I've had existed my whole life,' Kevin thought before taking a seat on the floor.

He sat in a lotus position as he placed the purple ore between his legs. It was shiny and quite large, indicating that the beast wasn't that of a small size either.

Kevin covered it with both hands as a crack appeared on one of its sides. Purple energy poured out of the rift, engulfing Kevin's body entirely.

Sweat formed on Kevin's forehead and wrinkles appeared on his face. He struggled in immense pain, yet he only grinned. Veins began to burst all over his body, sending mana towards his heart.

Kevin felt as if millions of poisonous ants were crawling under his skin until they finally bit directly into his heart, but the smile still didn't disappear.

Kevin's mana expanded with each passing second, making him feel stronger and stronger.

Eventually, the energy faded, causing the shiny ore to turn into an empty shell.

*Cough*

*Cough*

Kevin coughed up some sort of black sludge that immediately disgusted him. He quickly ran to the bathroom and washed himself.

'Status'

[Name: Kevin]

[Cultivation: Human stage 3]

[Skills: Ressurection of the dead, Ability sharing]

[Servants: 0/3]

"Such an improvement after a few measly minutes, just what were my years of struggles for" Kevin spoke to himself, remembering the constant hellish training.

Kevin was very pleased with his progress, he could clearly feel the increased vitality.

'It seems that I will have to rely on training for the next month'

There is another rule for absorbing the soul crystals, which is also the most restrictive.

After consuming the ore, the mana in a person's body would need at least 30 days to stabilize. If someone tried to absorb one crystal right after another, the chaotic mana would overwhelm their own, crippling them or in the worst-case scenario, causing them to die.

You're probably wondering why Sophia, the daughter of someone as influential as the vice president of Rain Hawks, is barely at the fifth level of a human if she can absorb crystals every month?

Well, the answer is simple: she is afraid of pain. Once she tried to absorb the ore of a level higher than her own, she was almost crushed by the chaotic aura.

From then on, her father doesn't mention anything about absorbing the crystals and just makes her go through a hell of a training.

'Thank you, Sophia..... but that's still not enough,' Kevin thought as determination flashed in his eyes, 'I need to get stronger'.

Kevin then proceeded to take out the coins he had accumulated over time.

The currency was changed to coins after the demon invasion, as paper money no longer had any significant value.

"I only have 236 bronze coins left," Kevin exclaimed unwillingly, "I'm broke."

236 bronze coins might as well be called 2.36 silver, which is an irrelevant amount of money, certainly not enough to buy a weapon.

'Maybe I should get a part-time job?' Kevin pondered, but after remembering that he was still a 16-year-old boy, the solicitudes disappeared.

After all, who would want a seemingly useless teenager with no experience to pun around?

"Anyway, let's just try my luck."

With that said, Kevin put on his dark jacket, which made him look even more intimidating and sprinted out of the apartment.

The streets were crowded as it was the peak hour, everyone was going to their respective jobs. Kevin felt many stares on him as he really stood out, precisely because of his white hair.

After walking quietly for a few minutes, he finally reached the destination. It was an antique shop with an already hollow pattern.

'So this is the cheapest blacksmith shop in town,' Kevin thought before going in.

The inside of the shop was even worse than Kevin expected, spider web was all over the place with a pile of rusty weapons attached to it, but the worst part was the smell.

It stank so badly as if a person had just been tortured in here, but considering the shape of this shop, that might be true.

Kevin was about to leave to look for other places, but suddenly a person opened the door. It was a burly man with a bald head and a short black beard. He was extremely short, probably not even reaching the height of a minor.

Awkwardness spread through the shop as their gazes met.

"I never thought thieves would still be interested in my shop," the person spoke as he walked past Kevin, obviously not bothered by him.

"I think you misunderstood, I just wanted to buy a weapon"

"Well as you can see I am not selling weapons anymore".

"I noticed that, good luck to you sir," Kevin respectfully bid farewell before turning around.

The shopkeeper looked at him from a distance before his gaze lingered on Kevin's white hair. His eyes instantly sharpened as he remembered something from the past.

And just as Kevin was about to step out of the ancient store, the spider web stopped him from continuing.

"What is the meaning of this?" Kevin spoke coldly, glaring at the shop's owner. The atmosphere in the room immediately tensed, making it quite uncomfortable.

"Are you by any chance a relative of Clara Gray and Rufus Gray?"

The question made Kevin relax as he answered:

"Yes, they are my parents"

"As I thought," the shopkeeper spoke as he extended his hand forward, causing the cobwebs throughout the room to shrink revealing a dark secret passageway below, "Follow me."

Kevin, knowing that this man had something to do with his parents, decided to follow him, but still remained alert and ready for the coming attacks.

"I'm not sure if your parents ever told you, but I was the one responsible for their equipment when they were alive"

"They were the ones who kept my little business blemishing and as you can see, after their death everything went downhill"

"Before that tragic day, I was working on some new equipment for Rufus, your father, but it never reached his hands."

"So you, as his descendant, can take his stuff instead"

Kevin was dumbfounded after hearing such a bump of information from the person he had just met a few minutes ago, he understood that there were still a lot of secrets regarding his progenitors.

Still, he was thrilled for the opportunity to get the equipment, after all, his parents were very powerful, meaning their equipment also shouldn't be lacking.

"Understood, I will accept it," Kevin said as he extended his hand forward, "My name is Kevin Gray, it's nice to meet you, sir."

"Hahaha, you have such a sharp tongue just like your father," the shopkeeper replied shaking Kevin's hand, "Alf Currey".

"Alright, enough of the chit-chat, let's go," Alf spoke as the dark aisle finally ended, revealing a rusty place.

"This is where I used to forge my weapons back in the old times"

"Back in the old days? Does that mean you don't forge anymore?"

"Yes, I'm already too old for such a job," Alf spoke, walking towards the side. He stopped next to what appeared to be a normal wall.

Alf began to trace cobwebs around the wall with his fingers, creating a symmetrical circle. Suddenly, the floor began to shake as another secret room appeared.

'His ability is quite useful'

With this thought, Kevin followed Alf into the room, and he must say he was not disappointed.

The decor there looked completely different, it was a modern all-white room with a sharp jet black blade in the middle of it.

Somehow Kevin sensed a tremendous danger coming from the blade, even though he was pretty far away.

"Do you sense that danger too?" Alf spoke with a wide grin, "This is one of my best products I've ever created, after all, it's a Third Tier weapon."

"Third tier?"

"Oh, you don't know anything about tiers? Well, since you are so uneducated I will tell you this, weapons can be classified into seven tiers, the higher the tier, the better the quality and material used"

"This blade was forged from a Superhuman Stage Magical Beasts ore"

Kevin quickly stored the new information in his head before continuing to listen.

"But this weapon only becomes useful when you reach the level of superhuman, because only then can you force mana out of your body."

"Force mana out of your body?" asked Kevin, slightly confused, as he had never heard of such a thing.

"You don't know anything at all? What do they teach you at school?" Alf asked, clearly expressing his displeasure.

"I think you misunderstood something, I'm still on the mere third level of human"

"WHAT?!" Alf shouted while placing both hands on his head, "The son of Clara and Rufus is so useless?"

Veins popped out on Kevin's forehead after hearing such heartbreaking words.

He's trying hard after all ...

"Anyway, just take the weapon already"