The Unawakening

I was now headed for a small hotel on the outskirts of Axus City.

I had to save my money wherever I could, so I decided to walk the whole way to the front of the building using the system's in-built GPS system.

'System, what is my current balance?'

[You currently have 500AX to spend, however, on your card, your balance shows as 0AX. In other words, you are broke.]

'Was it necessary to say that last part?'

By no means was 500AX a little amount of money, however, due to the influence of the Atios Association manipulating the economy, the difference between expensive items and cheap items was huge.

For example, I could be spending 40AX for a night in a normal hotel, and in a bit more famous, more luxurious one, the price would be around 500AX for a night.

I had made a mental note, that in the future, I needed to become rich.

Anyway, I approached the counter that was in the middle of the hotel lobby.

The hotel itself was not that bad, but the location was not the most convenient.

Staff could not be bothered to travel a few kilometres every day just for work when they could be earning some money looting dungeons for example.

That kind of work was much more worthwhile.

However, for the unawakened civilians, all they could rely on was commodities to suit the wealthy, and this hotel was what made their living.

"Hi, how can I help you?"

I had already turned off my innate skill by the way.

"Do you have a private, soundproofed room?"

"Unfortunately, not all of our rooms are that exquisite, however, on the top floor, there is only a singular room on that premise, which might be able to suit your needs."

"Great, how much?"

"For the top floor room, it would be 250AX."

'Bloody hell, that is way too expensive for a one-night room.'

"I am sorry sir, if it is too expensive, you could try another ro-"

"No, I will rent it for a night."

I wasn't gonna pussy out here.

Anyway, this hotel would probably give you the cheapest soundproofed room you could find in Axus City, and for that price, I would be getting a room which took up the whole top floor.

"However, for the price I am paying, I trust that no one will disturb me while I am there right?"

"Of course. Please wait a moment while I get the keys to your room."

The nice lady brought me to the inside of an elevator and used my room key to turn a lock near the elevator buttons. This then lit up the previously greyed-out 5th-floor button to a soft blue hue.

HUMMMMM

The elevator let off a slight rumble, as it shot itself upwards, declining its speed within the next second.

DIIIINNNG

The doors opened, revealing the open landscape of my room.

No, it was better to call this a hall.

The size of my hall was massive, containing large white pillars that jutted out of the marble floor.

In the middle of the hall alone, there was a yoga mat built into the floor, and by the sides of the wall were training equipment and some wooden weapons.

Extending out of the sides of the entrance hall, was a room leading to my actual bed, which seemed rather mediocre compared to how luxurious the main hall was.

On the other side of the hall, was a pretty big bathroom, containing clean toiletries and a white bathtub.

"Holy shi-"

"This room was mainly used for awakeners to train and meditate, hence the large open area."

"This place has automated AC and air ventilation, and if there are any problems with your room, please let us know. Thank you for the stay."

The woman flashed a sweet smile, before returning back inside of the elevator.

I was still dumbfounded by how much of a steal I had just achieved.

'All of this for just 250AX.'

In this case, price definitely didn't relate to quality.

'I guess they had to reduce the price by a lot because rarely anyone came here.'

[Host, please stop being in awe of a room, you have been standing there for 10 minutes.]

"Ah right. Yes, I needed to eat those herbs."

'System, pull out the herbs from your storage.'

I had placed the herbs in the system storage to keep them in pristine condition after I had handed some to Alex.

Turning on my phone to glance at the time, I realised it was already past 2 am, so I started to hurry up the preparations.

As the black box materialised beside me, I sat on the yoga mat and took off my clothes, knowing that I would probably be sweaty after this.

'Alright, I can do this.'

Digesting the Azure Sigillum takes 6 hours of continuous meditation, because, after all, this herb taken raw, was poison.

Now that I think about it, couldn't Alex crush this herb into small enough molecules, let a drop of blood fall in, control the acidity of the poison, and essentially master all alchemy using his innate ability?

Wait, I have digressed.

Going back to the topic at hand right now, my body would need to steadily take in this poison, focusing on it enough that it doesn't kill me.

'Meh, fuck it, the system should be able to help if things go to shit.'

Opening the lid of the box of herbs, I gulped down a flower, not even bothering to chew.

For a few seconds, nothing happened.

'Oh, this is fin-'

"KUAARGGGHHH"

Okay, maybe I wasn't supposed to gulp it down whole.

[Warning! The system has detected that Host has intentionally digested poisonous substances, should I help neutralise?]

'No... I... can... do it.'

The poison that I had digested was like a ravenous monster trying to rip off each of my intestines.

By the time it had reached my stomach, my body was burning with pain, and it felt like I was suffocating from the air.

The nerves in my body were going haywire, and if I was standing up right now, I would have definitely collapsed on the floor by now.

My muscles felt like they were being squeezed by a hydraulic press over and over again, each time squashing it down with more pain.

"KKKHHHAARRR"

The pain was mortifying, deluding my senses, and distorting my sight.

Every single fibre of my being currently wished to never experience this kind of pain again.

Imagine a knife that has stabbed your heart.

Now imagine that knife was a chainsaw, slowly ripping through the tissue in your organs, dragging through your digestive system, and each blade that spun on that rotating metal, was burning hot with undying flames.

Not so mellow now is it?

And now imagine that very knife was burning the flesh behind your skin, melting it and pushing it together, before ripping past the skin as you pull it out, only to shank yourself again the next second.

These descriptions were exactly what I were feeling, for 6 hours straight.

No sane man would be able to survive this, nor be stupid enough to willingly put themselves in this position.

My mind had grown numb, and my mouth's saliva had dried out from screaming.

"Haaa... haaaa..."

The pain still went on, and I could only pant as I was paralysed in my sitting position.

Eventually, hours passed until I had lost track of time.

[Congratulations to the Host for surviving through the pain with just willpower alone. I highly commend your foolishness.]

[The {STRENGTH} stat has been locked to 'G' rank]

[The {STAMINA} stat has been locked to 'G' rank]

"I... did... it."

THUD

The next thing I saw was darkness.