"Aurora, that's actually a nice name."
"It is."
The old man snorted.
"Amerus, do you have a problem?"
"Yes, we are supposed to find the greatest champion; you are spoon-feeding yours chosen. He solely depends either on the system or the AI. If he continues, his growth will hinder."
"What will happen is beyond us. We eight chose different routes for our own champions, and I don't regret mine. He will definitely rise to the top."
"He does, but I wonder what happens to him if he loses the third leg. Even if that didn't happen, we need a champion who can make a decision on their own."
"You are right on that aspect, Amerus. I'm sure he will learn to survive without outer help."
---
Two and half months later
If one observed the outer sect quarters, especially the one that belonged to the young man who was once belittled as a failure, they would be in for one hell of a surprise.
One could say it would be a miracle to reach a level above them in a month.
What Erik achieved in that month could be considered monstrous.
After cultivating for nearly three months in seclusion, he crossed from Novice Realm to Mortal Realm. Yes, he is truly a monster.
With heaven-defying cultivation, body, and bloodline, he soared from Novice Realm to Mortal Realm as if he was just reaching from a lower level to an upper level.
The difficult part of these two and half months is the formation of the core. It took him a week to form the core. He already went through this stage before, so it easily formed. After the core formed, it took three days to reach his previous cultivation realm.
After that, the levels seemed difficult as he never broke to such levels. It took five weeks to reach the peak of the ninth level, and his breakthroughs stalled for a time.
The thing was, for any cultivator at this level, it takes months to break through unless there is external help.
With heaven-defying help he got, he broke through Mortal Realm and stabilized at level-1. He wanted to make more breakthroughs, but Aurora stopped him and told him to stabilize his cultivation or face future problems.
After stabilizing the realm, he checked the notification he got after reaching the Mortal Realm.
--
'Congratulations on completing the quest Reach Mortal Realm.'
Reward: Eye of Horus stored in your inventory
--
Looking at the notification, he is happy that he completed the quest before time and got a reward. Since the quest is completed, there is a chance of getting a new one.
He checked the inventory.
--
Inventory:
White-feathered Sky bird (1X2)
Black-feathered Sky bird (1X2)
Eye of Horus (1X1)
--
Hmm, what is this Eye of Horus, and what can it do? Erik thought.
When he looked for the reward, he saw the two techniques he borrowed from the skills hall. Damn, I forgot about those; he cursed inwardly. The Elder told him to bring them back by the time of the tournament.
He immediately took them out and proceeded to see what the eye was.
[Eye of Horus: Said to be the eye of a god who died during the great war of heaven and hell. Many gods fell during this battle, and the remaining disappeared from the mortal worlds and with them many secrets. No one knows the use of the eye or kept it secret.]
"Aurora, do you know about this eye?"
[I heard about Horus before. He was indeed a god who once ruled over the air. He was also a great hunter. It is rumored that his power comes from his eyes. There are many rumors in the eyes, but I don't know if they are true or not. I don't even know if he is alive or not. Many went missing during that war.]
"So, they will grant me his power?"
[I don't know, but all I knew is his eyes were unique. You have to check what powers you get.]
"Okay, how to use it?"
[Place it on your eye, and it will merge.]
"Is there any side effect?"
[I don't know.]
"Well, as you said, no pain, no gain. Every cultivator says the greater the risk greater the reward. Let's do this. Wait, which eye?"
[It doesn't matter. Just do it as you wish.]
"Okay," with that said, he placed the eye on his right eye, and the eye disappeared.
"Aurora, is that it?"
[Did it hurt?]
"No, wait, does it hurt?"
[It was supposed to be.]
"Why didn't you say that before?"
[Are you a baby? Any great reward comes with pain and loss. Don't forget it.]
"Yes."
[What happened with the eye? Let me check you.]
Aurora started an invisible scan on Erik.
[Huh?]
"What did you find?"
[Erik, what color do you say your eyes are?]
"Blue"
[What blue?]
"Deep Blue."
[It looks like the eye merged with you, but something weird happened.]
"What do you mean?"
[Your eyes turned to light blue, both of them.]
"Does eye color change when someone does this?"
[Yes.]
"Oh, then why did you say something weird happened?"
[I heard only the eye that merged changes color during the process, but it was not a guarantee. Yours is different as both eyes changed even after you clearly merged with only one eye.]
"Does that mean the process failed?"
[Who knows, unless we check it ourselves, we can't determine. We should do that when we go outside.]
"Should we go out and check now?"
[It's not a bad idea, but you have to learn those two techniques, and you have only two weeks when the outer sect tournament starts.]
"You are right. Since I reached Mortal Realm, Aurora, should I go register for the tournament? The prizes are good, better than the years before."
[You reached the Mortal Realm, and you can win decently, but you won't earn those top positions. Don't forget that this year, the age restriction was removed. As long as they are a disciple, they can participate. Many seniors who have excelled at combat will participate, and they will crush a newbie like you. So after wasting time, after getting hurt, you won't get anything in return.]
"You are right."
[Stop depending on me and think for yourself. Think of opportunities before you and analyze if they are helpful to you or not. Don't waste time because you see only the reward that is good.]
Erik felt ashamed when he heard those words. "Yes, I would learn these two techniques so that I can go out to hunt. It will increase my combat experience, and I can become powerful."
Erik then started to read the techniques. He wanted to become strong in the shortest amount of time, but that doesn't mean getting hurt where it can be avoided, which can only be considered a waste of time if he doesn't get something of value out of it. At that moment, he decided to be smart and analyze everything before jumping into the pit.