A Breakthrough

Reaching the first tier was never a problem, in fact, it was regarded as the easiest part of a supernatural being's growth. According to Sol's knowledge from the few books he read, he needed to fill his body with energy, down to his cells.

When one is filled with world energy, it converges to the mind and forms the sea of consciousness and this marks one's growth to the first tier.

Filled with the world's energy, Sol felt all that energy converging towards his head. The energy surged vigorously and violently which left Sol with a deep squint as he felt a throbbing pain in his head.

Unknown to him, veins began bulging from all parts of his head taking the shape of the third eye.

Xiu!

Suddenly the third eye-shaped veins began glowing and pulsating to the rhythm of his heartbeats.

Whoosh!

Sol found himself in a dark room and at the center of this dark room was a twirling ball of energy, spinning violently and growing rapidly with each passing second. 

"Ooh God…" Sol muttered in shock as he tried to move away, but he couldn't move his body.

He felt like his body was rooted down to that spot, leaving him helpless as he watched the expanding sphere of energy inch closer to him with each passing moment. 

"Fuck.. Fuck… fuck!" Sol screamed anxiously as the sphere of energy became unstable.

Boom!

Sol's eyes yanked open violently and he exhaled heavily. He looked around only to realize the cave was empty, and the campfire had been snuffed out. 

He shifted his attention toward the exit of the cave and was stunned to see the daylight shining brightly.

"Don't tell me I was like this all through the night…" Sol muttered in shock.

He put his legs apart and they felt sore. His body was covered in beads of sweat. He dragged himself over to a dark corner in the cave and sat there as he tried to understand what just happened.

"Status…" Sol muttered weakly.

[Name: Sol Ark]

[Tier: 1][Ember Initiate][Novice practitioner]

[Race: Ark][Race: Warlock]

[Type: Hybrid]

[Potential: C+]

[Race Tier: Alpha]

[Title: Prince]

[Title: Chosen Of The One]

[Condition: Weakened state]

[Status: Host is under the effect of the Immortal blood scattering seal]

[Seal efficiency: 90%]

[Experience points: 050]

"Wow…" Sol was left speechless by what he saw.

Wasn't the novice practitioner the name given to tier-one witches?

It was at that moment, Sol remembered the story of his parents. His mother was a witch and his father was from the Ark family but that was why they put the immortal blood-scattering seal on him.

Sol could feel the Ark family power within him, but his witch powers felt non-existent. He wondered if it was the seal or if they was really there.

In the end, he had no intentions of using it. Should the other alpha races find out about it, he would be surprised if they band together to attack the Ark family in hopes of killing him before he grows and becomes a bigger threat.

Putting those thoughts aside, Sol shifted his gaze to his battle type and was shocked to see it had changed from Ru-Destros to Hybrid. He had read about hybrids being almost non-existent.

While it was in almost every book, there has never been a person who was able to achieve this. It was more like a myth that no one believed was real, but it just happened to him.

"What the hell is going on?" Sol couldn't help but ask. "Why is everything happening just after he reached the first tier?" 

Sol had a lot of questions to ask, but he couldn't. He had aching joints and felt incredibly weak due to the side effects of using the embrace of the One.

Last night he couldn't notice the pain much because the pain from his injuries seemed to overshadow it, but now those injuries are almost healed, and the pain has subsided, he could finally understand what it means to be in a weakened state.

He felt sick.

Thud.

Suddenly the sound of footsteps disrupted Sol's thoughts and his eyes let out an orange flash as he looked towards the entrance only to see Katherine's petite figure.

Sigh.

Sol let out a sigh of relief and slumped back on the wall. He thought it was Lukas and felt like death had come back for him, thankfully that was not the case.

Katherine walked in with a dead rabbit in her hand. There was no sign of blood or wounds, but its head slacked backward, and this led Sol to believe she killed it by breaking its neck.

'This is not a woman, she's a demon' Sol reminded himself.

"No welcome back. No, hey, where did you run off to?" Katherine said in an annoyed tone, seeing Sol still in a corner of the room with an indifferent look on his face after her arrival.

"You were gone?" Sol asked with a raised eyebrow. "That explains why the cave was quiet."

"Bastard!" Katherine growled. 

Sol was amused but tried his best not to laugh while he placed his index finger over his lips.

"You should lower your tone. I'm sure you don't want us to get caught by the enemy," he said with a mischievous smile.

Katherine could only shoot him a glare before ignoring him. She was about to walk away, but then she froze and turned to look at him again with a look of shock in her eyes.

"You…" she mumbled. 

Sol revealed a satisfied smile as he struggled to rise to his feet.

"You only noticed?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

Katherine was shocked. While she expected Sol to grow faster due to the magical abilities of his pendant, she didn't expect him to reach the first tier this fast. 

At this moment, she wondered if letting Sol live was the right choice. She believed she could have just killed him and taken the pendant. While it may take her years to have it bound to her, it was still worth it.