Hex Stones

Ever since the rumours got out, Wen Yu spent more of his time avoiding human interaction and studying. He'd gone through the available materials on Cross Federation studies and was now focused entirely on refreshing his memory on Science and Math.

He also pulled over Qi San or Huo Lan whenever he saw them idle to practice battle scenarios in order for all of them to hone their skills on military strategy.

This was pure torture for Qi San who was too hot tempered and lacked the patience to properly plan his attacks but Huo Lan was surprisingly good at military strategy.

The three boys were currently headed over to the training hall. It was already over a month since the cold incident and although Wen Yu normally visited the training hall, he never really assimilated. He decided to try again today.

The attendant boy was probably already there, he spent most of his time training. As for Fu Beiyong, Wen Yu didn't know much.

Although the boy was their roommate and also shared a senior with the rest of them, he hardly ever showed up for practice and rather chose to curry favour with the elites so he could receive instructions from their seniors instead.

Wen Yu couldn't care less. This was actually a fierce competition to select the best and if Fu Beiyong thought he had a higher chance of being selected this way, then that was his business. Whatever works for him.

They arrived at the private practice hall and Shi Anjing spared them a glance before he continued to fiddle with his bracelet whilst the attendant boy was sitting on the ground and staring at the wall.

Each boy got into position and waited patiently for Shi Anjing to attend to them.

The first quarter of the assessment was actually the most relaxing. The cadets didn't have much to do as they waited for the written exams.

Things only got serious during the second quarter as then they would be introduced to virtual Mechas and battle ground practice in preparation for the second and third assessments.

Wen Yu was especially excited about the prospect of virtual Mechas. These Mechas did not need spirit energy to operate because, well, they were virtual.

It was a new development that was about to be released to the general public by the Federation.

One would think they would have developed a virtual Mecha eons ago, but no, the use of Mecha was so classified that the Federation prohibited even complete information on Mechas from getting out.

The general public only knew that Mechas were all powerful and had seen them in some news events but not many had actually seen the real thing.

Shi Anjing soon got bored of his fiddling and walked over to the boys. He gave Wen Yu a curious look before activating the virtual space.

Again, the meadow and again the hex stones. The other boys quickly adapted and started absorbing spirit force with their eyes closed whilst Wen Yu just stared at the hex stone before him.

The meadow was cool and relaxing and the air smelled wonderful with various flowers but Wen Yu's back was beginning to be enveloped in sweat. He was nervous.

He'd always wondered why the hex crystal could be used to check for one's spirit potential but the hex stones couldn't, and what exactly was up with the different colours.

The hex stones were divided into five grades based on their level of purification capability; brown, blue, purple, gray and black. Ironic that the purest was black.

Obviously the brown stones were fairly cheap and could be found everywhere on the market but as the purification capability of the stone increased, the more precious it became and the harder it was to find.

Higher grade hex stones supported the assimilation capacity of high leveled spirit masters so they were no joke. At this time, black hex stones were basically myths due to how rare they've become.

Simply put, the hex stones were mediums used to magnify the sparse amount of spirit force existing in the atmosphere and clear it of impurities, making it safe enough to be absorbed by spirit masters.

The hex crystals on the other hand were larger and transparent. It contained zero spirit force and its only use was to determine the spirit potential of a person.

A hex crystal would reflect a myriad of colours, just like the rainbow, when a person of SSS rank spirit potential touches it. Black for SS rank, gray for S rank, Red for A rank, Blue for B rank and for people like him with C rank potential, a pitiful brown colour.

The hex crystal may not be as precious and highly sought after as the hex stones but it was quite uncommon and really hard to mine.

Wen Yu grit his teeth and stretched his hand to grab the floating blue hex stone. He immediately felt a pulling force from his spirit sea and he began to absorb the spirit force from the stone.

His spirit sea felt so empty and it was slowly starting to get cold. He bit his lips hard as he resisted the urge to breakdown. What was this? Why was it so difficult for him to assimilate?

He spread his spirit consciousness throughout his body and the strand of energy flickered and dispersed before it got to his spirit sea. Like always.

He was shivering and sweating at the same time and his veins were bulging. He always felt there was something wrong with him. Something that hadn't been found out by the expert doctors.

They only said the spirit energy permeation that the trailers had done to him as a baby had crashed and damaged his spirit sea and should have been enough to completely cripple his assimilation capability, but his spirit sea survived which was a miracle.

He felt things weren't so simple but no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't figure it out. If his spirit sea survived why was it that he could barely hold any spirit energy within? And if his spirit sea had been damaged, why could he still harness spirit energy?

He bit his lower lip till it split and he tasted copper and then he chuckled softly. How could the heavens give him everything? He'd already been blessed with a second chance but he still wanted more, wasn't that greedy?

But even if he was being greedy was it his fault? How exactly was he supposed to survive in this world when he was a weakling?

He grit his teeth and tried to absorb even larger loads of spirit force as he ignored the cold. It was just beginning to get intense and his limbs were beginning to feel like lead when he felt a palm on his shoulder.

He stiffened a bit before slowly opening his eyes. It was the attendant boy.